That is a beautiful specimen you have there! Good on ya for rescuing it.

Looks like a lot less damage than we went though. It seems just all the intake valves bent.

Wild how all so similar but from experience though there isn't room for valve open and piston in the same 3d volume when bent it apparently does have enough room it doesn't hit solid on the head and bend rods. Kind of like the internal engine fuse.

We just meausured for flat with a straightedge and picked the flattest head.

It was very satisfying to get the engine to run after reassembly.

My daughter was looking for her first car. I had a friend who had a well maintained 2003 4.4 with 129K that happened to have the timing chain tensioners go. (Well maintained other than the timing chain guides, lol) Unfortunately he drove it home a number of blocks...

Got it cheap enough and found a good decent mileage block for cheap. The idiot I bought the used block from had attempted to use what looked like some type of epoxy/gasket sealer on the OUTSIDE of every oil leak on the engine...

Completely disassembled it to inspect and sent the heads to the shop to have them inspected. Replaced 2 guides and valves.

Just got the timing chain and front cover on it last weekend. So I'm feeling your pain.

The glue it thing does remind me of a crazy story though.

I had a tire valve stem split wide open like a banana.

When I described what happened to wife she said "well don't you have some tape or something"?

(After the laughter subsides): hmm I do have some of that sticks only to itself tape I grabbed just as I was leaving the house thinking it might get me back to the hotel if a cooling hose springs a leak.

Ten minutes later: it was repaired with tape and we were on our way.

Day was saved by naivety.

Nice! I have some of that silicone tape, too. Haven't had a chance to use it on anything yet.

The prices for these X5 have come down to the price that anyone can buy one, but they can't afford to bring it to a dealership for repair, and they lack the mechanical know-how and tools to fix them properly. They come on a forum like this hoping for a cheap fix so that can be out driving their BM Double U again. End of Rant

My in-laws fix everything with scotch tape.

OK, looks like I now need a 4.6 intake cam. The flopping VANOS unit chewed up the end of the cam and no way to fix it......the fun continues. Anyone have anything? I have looked at the auction sites and will continue to peruse. Any help would be appreciated.