first POST! just drove it home
 

just bought my dad's '03 e53 3.0 and drove it home 750 miles yesterday. 102k miles, dealer serviced, likely never seen the top side of 75mph. I honestly don't think anyone has ever ridden in the back seat! It was a no brainer to replace my aging e36 coupe, which I will sorely miss. (BTW, i am selling for $5k ish....97k miles.

Suffice it to say, i had 12 hours in the SAV yesterday to form my initial impressions. Only one thing truly concerns me. The car seems to tramline badly.

This is on bone stock 18" wheels, and with brand new tires and brand new control arm bushings up front. Moreover, it was aligned at the dealership last Thursday.

Maybe tramline is a bad word. The car 'floats' while at speed on the highway and requires CONSTANT input to stay in the lane. I wouldn't say it 'pulls' to one side or the other. But once it starts in one direction, it goes.

I just want to know if this is a common issue on e53's or if i should look at tie rods, shocks etc. I would hope the dealer would have mentioned if the tire rods were sloppy. The frustrating thing is that the 'floating' is the antithesis of what i have come to love about my BMW's. it's NOT acceptable.

Also, how many miles should one expect to get out of the OEM shocks? 60k-80k? similar to the e36 and others? are the factory alignment specs known to be off? do i need a camber kit from Rogue? different toe settings?

Congrats on the purchase and welcome. I am a fellow e36 owner as well. I have a 94 325i with over 315,000 miles on it.

If the X is wandering and everything suspension-wise is tight, it may be the tires. Some tires tend to do that. Wandering/tramline isn't an issue that comes up too often here. I noticed my 4.4i with the sport package felt a little bit like that after I installed my latest set of Pirelli tires, but it seems to have gotten better after they were broken in. I never had this issue with my Toyo's. The other thing to keep in mind is that you went from a much lighter, lower and probably tighter e36 to a bigger heavier "truck" with taller tires. It will feel more floaty than your last car. You can always upgrade the suspension and get larger wheels to help counter that. My X has the sport package and floaty is the last word I would use to describe it. It actually feels tighter than my e36.

I have about 115,000 on my original shocks and the ride is still tight, for what it's worth.

hmmm...well...i say brand new tires. maybe i meant 1500 miles. regardless, i suppose they could use some breaking in. but i'm a little skeptical that the issue will self correct. i'll probably break down and take it to my local indy.

i'm really gonna need to get used to this thing. i bought it because it was a deal i couldn't refuse. it's a much different animal than i am used to however.

congrats!

Welcome and congrats!
I hope you resolve the wandering issue...
I just want to second what FSETH said earlier about going from a smaller to larger vehicle. I also went from an 00' 3series w/ sports package before I purchased my X5 from my father-in-law(coincidence!:D).
Unfortunatly it didn't have sports package so I ended up with the 17inch wheels w/ the "balloon" tires. Needless to say, the car was not as "tight".
I don't know what your experience is with other large suv type cars, but over the years I have driven a number of different suv's of different brands, and recently test drove a 2011 Infiniti FX and MB ML350. With the exception of the Cayenne no other vehicle felt as car-like in terms of handling as my X5. I have never driven an E53 with sports package, I have always wondered if it is as good as I hope it would be!!

Give yourself some more time to adapt to you new vehicle, you will miss the handling of the sedan but you can always do what I did and buy a Mini Cooper S to scratch that itch:rofl:. But seriously, just know that in an emergency situation (i.e. avoidance maneuver at high speed) your X5 will do things that would flip most Suv's and spin most cars. Then, like I did, you should pull the X5 over and give it a hug and a kiss!


Again, welcome!

Rui

i'll give it some time, but i'm convinced something is amiss. i've had a bit of SUV experience in my ex's crappy old Ford Explorer. so nothing really relevant to the situation. that said, what i am feeling on the highway at speed seems as if there is a very slight adjustment which needs to be made.

i don't believe i have the sports package....pretty sure i don't.

and i have the 17" wheels with balloon tires. i was impressed though b/c it got 22mpg all the way home.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_7GKMSzisErQ/TE...00719-0736.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_7GKMSzisErQ/TE...00719-0736.jpg

youre right, no sport package,

my suggestion in list of mods would be to get:

1. Style 87 or 168 staggered wheels (maybe even semi gloss black painted)
2. DEPO headlights with LED angel eyes
3: Matte black grill
4. LED Tail lights

i'm sure others will comment

**btw has the front drivers side quarter panel ever been repainted? or is it the angle i'm looking at

Not a tech and, hard to diagnose from afar, but tramlining/wandering should
not be a situ, esp. with those Style 57 17" wheels. Occasionally, possibly on
some weirdly cambered or rutted road/truck lane, but rarely...Something is amiss:
front end suspension, alignment, tires themselves, etc.

My '01 3.0 with 19" 132s tracks like it's on rails; and, when I ran those lil'
17" wheels with dedicated snow tires in winter, it tracked like it was on Velcro...

All anecdotal, I realize, but something is not correct. "Dlr serviced" sounds
like a good selling point, but there must be something not in order.

If you drove an E53 with sport pkg and 19s or 20s, you might be tempted
to go home and put a For Sale sign on yours. ;)
GL, mD

it's the angle you are looking at. my dad drove it off the lot brand new in 2003, so i have the complete history. No surprises - unless......

i'm not aimin' for fly in this ride. those wheels are very nice, but the most i see modding is possibly some 3 way separates up front with a JBL MS-8. that along with a removable SQ sub/amp in the rear. i'm gonna have to be okay with pretty much bone stock components.

for the time being, i just continue to be astounded how QUIET the inside of a car can be! plus, the transmission has got to be the silkiest shifting i have ever experienced.

M20>M52>M54.....i'm progressively adopting BMW technologies on average 5-7 yrs after they are released ; )

all of my spare change is dedicated to my noisy car....with the boosted M20.

if this were a 4.4 or greater, i might look at making some power moves etc....but i learned my lesson on the M20 on trying to make the small engine model out-do the big engine model. probably won't got that route again.

I recommend you find a dealer selling a comparable X5 and take it for a drive to to compare. Though it sounds as if there is something wrong because my 2001 4.4i doesn't wander (non-sport package).