Looks awesome TiAgX5 :thumbup:

Great call to put it back into serviceable shape!

I'll be on the lookout for you as I'm in the Coppell, Lewisville, Flower Mound area as well.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/To...A=w640-h480-no

Mike

I'll keep an eye out for your X also.

Not too many pre-facelift 4.4s on the local roads these days. Most are 3.0s

Been enjoying it after getting it back from Valve stem seal and related gaskets repair. It's my DD now since we sold the 528i a few weeks ago.

Good to see you are still around!

It's always something....

Got the wife to go out without the baby (finally) for a nice dinner and her door handle shit the bed... I swear I should name this one Christine as the wife thinks BMW's only fall apart [emoji1787][emoji848]

New latches are on order (4 each) on the bright side with the new shoes, bushings and arms it's like it's on rails.[emoji106][emoji106]

Sent from my SM-A730F using Tapatalk

Good to see you're still on here too Brian.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Took the E53 on its first camping trip. Pulled about 3000 lb. camper beautifully. The beach has vehicle access through deep, powdery sand. Tractors roam the beaches collecting fees to pull out stuck vehicles. The X5 handled the sand with aplomb - even pulling 3 standup Jet Skis on a trailer. I didn't take any X5-specific photos, but here's one of my sons on the beach with the X5 sitting there also...

Attachment 76420

AM.

Nice. I like the color and I have the same wheels.

Thanks! Yeah, when I was searching for an e53, blue was my second choice to white. I also much prefer these 17" wheels to the common base 5 spoke wheels. Blue paint is vulnerable to sun, however, and I've got some damage to fix. I don't want to mess with a full re-paint, but I need to re-paint the hood (clearcoat peel) and the bumper covers (fading). That project is in cue behind several others at the moment.

One reason I opted for an e53 was to be able to pull a bigger camper than what we currently have. While it handled our 3K lb. popup well, I'm concerned that the 3.0 will struggle a bit pulling, say, a 5K lb. hardside trailer. Perhaps if I just resolve to drive no faster than about 60mph it could work.

I was REALLY pleased with how the X-drive system handled the soft sand. We watched several similar AWD vehicles get stuck, but the X-drive system did a great job of powering the wheels through it. Even my niece's Grand Cherokee gave us a bit of a scare before barely managing to pull itself out of its own way.

AM.

I am pulling a 3k hard shell camper with my 2003 3.0, and I have been pretty happy with it. Loaded it is probably 3600-3800. I think the weight is less of a deal than the aero drag. I cant hardly tell the difference between full tanks/fully packed and completely empty.



I do have to downshift to third to maintain speed up grades, at least at elevation. We tow ours over a 5,000ft pass several times a year. But at sea level it has much less of an issue. And it never needs a downshift to stay at 65mph on flat ground, though I like to stay at 60 for fuel economy. My last tank coming up the hill was 11.9mpg... Ouch


I would never take my pre-xdrive X on the beach though! Three open diffs is just asking for trouble on sand.