Help me locate a rebuilt ATC-500
 

Welp- Nearly 180k miles and almost 20 years, it's time for a new transfer case or a rebuild for the '04 4.8is. The BMW dealer network is out of the factory parts. I am weighing the rebuild locally vs the new part in whole.

Any thoughts on rebuild services, replacement parts or the like? Thx, fellas. I have ab 6 weeks before I take my little road trip partner off to college. :wow: I'll be towing for the 1st time. That should be its own parade of hilarity. :rolleyes:

Props. I've used these guys to replace the chain on mine out of OCD Preventative Maintence if you want to give them gander

https://cobratransmission.com/BMW-ATC500-Tranfer-Case

Thanks! I have heard fof these guys. A buddy replaced his Honda with one and he was happy. Didn't know they do ATC500's! I have already asked about delivery times. :thumbup:

Anyone ever heard of Zumbrota? I haven't, but they have pretty good availability.

https://usedtransfercases4all.com/

Very happy with these guys. $500 including shipping and six month warranty.

Update: Evidently, there is an actuator rebuild kit available. At the least, I was advised that building THIS would tell us if the actual Xfer case was fncked. :dunno: All tested OK after the $400 rebuild (vs a $2k unit).

And it turns out that the rebuild for the actuator may have (actuator'ed) WORKED! So, the stock Xfer case remains. Less than 45 days before we send the baby girl and her little 128i coupe off to college. This will be a moment for the E53. I intend to hook up a a U-Haul for the 1st ever tow (that wasn't 4 bicycles) on the E53. Let's see how THAT goes. :popcorn:

How to tow anything in ANY car advice now accepted. I haven't towed anything ever before.

Great news transfer case - sounds like you didged a bullet there. Having said that, the ATC500 t'fer case itself seems to be near indestructable.

As for towing... well, where do you start. I guess thet first thing is... you have the factoy tow hitch and towing (wiring) module? This is a good idea, as the module detects when a trailer is attached and beyond extending the lamp hot & cold monitoring features of the LCM to the trailer lamps, it also disables the rear parking sensors and modifies the ABS and DSC profiles to make the vehicle more stable with a trailer when cornering and braking.

Do you mean the repair gear set which is available as original BMW part and costs about 110€? Part nr. 27102413711

Towing is not that complex, you'll be fine.

The big things that are important are:

1) Make sure you get adequate tongue weight. In a car with springs, that's easy - a tape measure and dude on the tailgate is generally enough to work that out. (Just measure the before / after height of the hitch and make sure it's similar when you have the trailer loaded.) If you have air, that's a bit more complicated, but basically remember to put the heavy stuff in front of the trailer axle.

2) If the trailer starts wagging, hitting the brakes is the wrong move. Try gently letting off the accelerator, but you may actually need throttle to get control back. If you have a brake controller (you won't with u-haul), the manual brake override is also good for straightening things out.

Otherwise, just remember that you'll be accelerating and braking slower than you're used to. It's no big deal. The X5 tows quite well.

That's some good advice. Depending how heavy the load you should not be able to lift the tongue when loaded. Test your brakes regularly. Eg at every red light, a soft brake long before you need to to make sure you have braking power long before you need to stop.