After 14yrs and 194k miles...
 

Today was the day.

I transferred the title and accepted the transfer of the funds for my (not so) trusty N62 4.8is. The title reveals I am the 2nd owner in 2011 with just 11k miles at the time.

I have SO MANY pictures. A dozen years ago, I would have made a tribute. And maybe I will. It's bittersweet.

It goes to a kid at the local dealership who loves the uncatted AA tune and silly TQ. He's the kind of guy that is converting his E38 sporty shorty to manual. I did the seals and water pipe in 2016 and 106k miles or so. While (I hope) the water pipe will stay, the thing started smoking again. I'm just not doing seals again. Those, along with the leaking rear main were quoted at $16k from a trusted independent. The mirrors wiggle. The suede covered sunroof is separated, and allll the adoring things about a 21yr old smokey beast have become more acutely present since I started moving unicorn parts to the *OTHER* 2004 E53.

The 'Toaster,' a 2015 X3 3.5Xdrive was $less than $10k private party. Sure, it needs the things an N55 needs, and I will do them. That's in the plans. And some other silliness. If it's gonna be an appliance, we may as well make it toast better than most, amIrite? I drove it for work a couple weeks ago, 6hrs in the rain. Peppy. Easy.. mindless.. I'm in the shadows between 55 and 60yrs old.. Easy is what easy does. Baby girl was 7 when we bought the blue one. She cried about selling the 3.0 E53 to our neighbor. She'd come home in it when she was 4lbs 9oz.

This was the easiest transaction I have ever had. The new owner kid from the local dealership and I share the same bank. He transferred the cash into my account and I signed a title.

I have sooo many pics.. Many of them at the PCD Spartanburg homecomings for years as my little girl matured from car seat to front seat passenger. We took her to no fewer than 30 college campuses and 22 National parks in the E53.

Over 194k, we spent hour upon hour on RT66. We'd been to Acadia in Maine. Later that day in after climbing Mt Washington in New Hampshire, she emerged to announce that she just got her period. We'd just dropped her mother at Bangor for a flight home. She found a stranger who helped her through the things. I went to the beer aisle. I took her to the Ben and Jerrys HQ in Vermont for Ice Cream. It seemed like a last grasp of her youth for both of us. We visited the National monument for Women's Rights in Ohio on the way home. I wanted her to be acutely aware of the work generations of women have to to equate their role in our society. After that, we stopped into the Corvette manufacturing facility and museum. She really really liked the 'vette. I am not sure if that's something they grow OUT of or INTO. Gold chains will tell.

We took it to the Southernmost point in the Keys, Seattle a 1/2 dozen times, and both borders. Once she was done with the 12 trips to Disney, roadtrips became our calling.

We'll all miss my '04 E53 4.8is. It was a longshot lifetime buy in 2006 that became a reality in 2011. I think we did right after so long and so many miles, no matter how long or how much $ it took to find the joy.

I'm not going far. More on that tomorrow. We hope. :p:

Well I'm glad it is going to a great home.
Hope you have something fun coming down the pipeline

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Awesome that the car went to an enthusiast. Hopefully the new owner joins this forum, and your former car would continue to have a life of its own here :D. We can follow and appreciate it knowing where it came from :thumbup:.

I'm up late in anticipation. But like any good wish.. It's not real 'till it's true...

The 0400 wakeup is sooner than I'd like. I just hope I don't fall asleep on the plane and end up in another country. :wow:

Also.. StopTech calipers and drilled rotors from the white one are available. MAYBE 15k miles. And that seems like a lot given we bought the thing with 32k and it has 66 k on it now. I just KNOW the purchase wasn't that long ago. The rotors are a lil rusty from being in boxes as you'd expect.. but they're here...

Along with adaptive Euro clear corners.. Said the Temptress. :D

Call me bro!


E53 RiPPeR
XOuTPoST jUNkiE
ReVELaTiON 22:21

If any of us has hung out on the E70 board, this one miiight look familiar. :D

Yep. Flew out today and got my 1st Diesel. I'm looking forward to hauling bikes and towing the E30 on it's adventures as the New Year rolls around- if I can wait that long.

After 14yrs and 194k miles...
 

Prop.. I think that particular X suits you very well! Wise decision. ;)


E53 RiPPeR
XOuTPoST jUNkiE
ReVELaTiON 22:21

Thanks for your vote of confidence! :thumbup:

I will offer that doing seals again on the 194K mile 4.8is weighed heavily on me. Letting it go was more of a relief than I expected. It helped A LOT that the kid I sold it to was so happy. His buddies at the dealer love that thing and he got his moment in the sun when he drove it to the back lot. :huddle

https://xoutpost.com/attachments/tes...720710_ios.jpg

Even though we spent the time and effort to move over the parts from Ole Blue to the white one, the impending doom I feel from it is unsettling. With the addition of a purpose built bike and tow vehicle in the E70, I fear I may be out of the E53 business for good.:(

And the diesel DOES feel good! I drove an E70 back when they were new. I never liked them except in V8 trim with big tires. The one I drove felt huge and lumbering and impossible to find the corners on. Even then, as an owner of one SPP E53 or another since 2001, I STILL resented the trend toward huge headlights and what we all THOUGHT were HUGE, ugly grills across the line. Boy did BMW go off the deep end on that! :stickpoke

This one has all the things I would have done. Silly big brakes, KW suspension, Big sway bar, upgraded turbo and tune with ginormous wheels. I will admit I would have stuck with 20's, but the 21's do catch the eye.

The ride home was ALLLL the b@lls that my E53 had and much much more. :popcorn: The deleted DPF(?) doesn't 'roll coal,' but after an onramp apex and full throttle, it was clear this thing was diesel powered. NGL, with that much torque underfoot, I giggled. I can't wait to pull that off with 4 bikes hanging off. I used to LOVE the E53's LOUD exhaust and AA tune wiping the floor with little 4cylinder this and thats but with 4 bikes hanging off the back.:cool:

https://xoutpost.com/attachments/tes...115771_ios.jpg

The 4.8is was one of the most fun BMW's I have ever owned. This one is a worthy replacement.Within minutes of hitting the driveway...

https://xoutpost.com/attachments/tes...251735_ios.jpg

https://xoutpost.com/attachments/tes...642287_ios.jpg

It's been a long one for sure! I remember waaay back when you put the bid dam near sight unseen for the mileage.

I said goodbye to my 4.8 after just shy of 10 years.

Nice to see you ended up with the dog hauler :), small world too.

THat is EXACTLY why I bought this one! Mileage! :rofl: I heard from sooo many mechanics who drive M57's that this thing was just getting started.

This is the 1st vehicle I have purchased that my wife near instantly said, "I like it!" :wow: She likes the seat and says it's comfortable. There ya go. This one will have some time with us, I think.

I love my N62 V8 still and the shape of such e53 that I keep maintaining it. Heck it's costing me $2500 right now but I love it still... Having SAID THAT, is love a diesel X5 as I hear they are very reliable but where I live it is NOT warm in winter so when the X5 would randomly spend time outside in winter...I would hate to start that thing. And more importantly I do not drive the X5 far.enough to work from home daily to warrant buying a more fuel efficient vehicle or keeping a diesel engine healthy. I would like to do the DPF delete as you have mentioned but then my garage would fill up with smoke each day I start it...so not really an option :(
I'm jealous tho and I hope you enjoy it just as much as your e53.

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We're not far away..

The OTHER N62 rests easily in the garage. She drove it to work today (~2miles, I've walked it). But the white one is short lived. We're both ready to move on. Every time I see her in it, I like the way it looks. We did it right. All that remains is the under ride install, a couple paint imperfections and the E53
Unicorn is complete.Tho, I do want the mirrors to work again. Isn't that the nature of a 20yr old car? Always one more thing chasing perfection.

I exchanged the E70 today for the E30. I had the E30 rear subframe, transmission mount and an Ireland Engineering rear sway installed. The E70 needed a transmission gasket, both front axles and pulleys/belt before my June travel adds ~2k miles.

It's nice to have the E30 home.

what is wrong with them? send me a PM, as I may have a solution, and will you be selling that white one after you have it all repaired, or you keeping that "unicorn"?

this week, here has been abnormally hot and at a convenient timing. my e53 has been at my Mech all week, working on multiple items, so I've been happily driving my e31 with alllll windows down this whole week, as the temps are between 25° C and 30° C (78° F - 86° F) and thats kinda early in the year for us to get this warm, but the e31 (or Mini Clubbie) work great while the e53 is being loved on by my mechanics.

PS: yes after a nice drive in the e31, I usually pop the bonnet and remove oil cap and dipstick to allow heat to dissipate from the V12. It is an ungodly heater tho in the garage. 8 hrs after it was turned off, the garage is still super hot.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...01b6ee2de0.jpg

You could always just unload the brakes and bars. Wink.. wink.. ;)


E53 RiPPeR
XOuTPoST jUNkiE
ReVELaTiON 22:21

handling the heat
 

Are you concerned about seals baking and oil caking from internal heat? I'm not familiar at all, concerning e31's, and don't know if there's an electric pump to move coolant, either.

I'm also not a purist, so modifying even a "classic" wouldn't be sacrilege to me, if a mod would help performance and/or durability. The last iteration of my '66 Chevelle drag car was fully modified, especially for performance.

As for cooling both the engine (427/441 cubic inch, 14+ compression) and the transmission (Trans-braked Powerglide), I used electric pumps to cool the fluids, especially on hot days at the dragstrip.

I used a Meziere 55gph 12v electric water pump (not a mechanical, belt-driven pump), and would run it and the two electric fans attached to the aluminum radiator, between rounds to keep the engine cooler. And, though I used a separate oil cooler (with fan) for the transmission, which had its' own internal pump operating while the engine was running, I also had added an external 12v pump circuit (with ball valves at each end) that I'd run in the pits, sometimes.

So, if you're concerned about static temperature, and wouldn't be averse to adding a little (and possibly hidden or with quick-disconnects) plumbing, you could quickly remove excess heat from the fluids (and engine, transmission). Just an idea to consider.

No not really at all. I'm actually worried about the condensation that could build up in engine after it cools, as I don't often drive it on long drives, but more so shorter trips. So after a nice hot drive, I remove the oil cap to allow as much steam to be removed from the oil as possible.

Same as my MINI Clubman with an N14 engine
As those also cause the "mayo" issue a bunch. Hell any engine can that only drives short trips.



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Good luck on your new journey. I am not quite there yet compared to your mileage but can imagine what you are going through after all those good memories and time. But you’ve made the right decision. Hell, I am hoping to get to 350k in km but that is a huge ask. My next step will probably be an E70 as I struggle to fit in the later models plus the cost is way beyond me. You should get your best picture with the family with it and frame it then sit it on the wall or somewhere. Get another one for the garage.

cheers!

:D

I figure if yer gonna clear 198k, may as well add some style points!

RiPPiN’ N’ DiPPiN’ :D


E53 RiPPeR
XOuTPoST jUNkiE
ReVELaTiON 22:21