Assuming you're talking about a problem with your car vs. a desire for an upgrade ...

I once had a stuck idle air control valve (IACV) on my 6-cylinder E53 that had a similar effect. No codes or anything, just terrible lag when starting out. Easy to remove the IACV and do a gently rock / shake test to see if it is stuck or not.

In my case, it was stuck because I had removed it while doing major engine work, and I cleaned out the IACV. But it seems I mostly loosened all the gunk rather than removing it, since it must have frozen solid, locking the valve in place. Solution, once I isolated the problem was just to do a much more thorough cleaning and it is still good.

Yes, my condolences too. I'm now about 2 years and 6k miles since my head gasket job on my 2001. Sounds like you and I did very similar things. VANOS rebuild, TimeSerts, etc.

I know cylinder #6 is a little tough to work on, just being so far back in there, so doing the TimeSerting and torquing, etc. are just a little harder to do with less clearance above the block.

On the careful head inspection, even the YouTube star 50skid almost got burned by a cracked head in his M54 HG video series. Easy to miss, especially if it was maybe such a small crack that it did not leak for 5k miles.

Hopefully things go well on the recovery. :thumbup:

Removed the awfully thin plastidip(what a pain when it's sprayed thin) on the trunk emblem frame and also plan to remove it from the rest of the badges...Attachment 77802

Ooooh, plasticdip coverings. Why that was such a trend I have no idea.

It doesn't look bad when done right, but this piece was already showing spots of the chrome through. I prefer the original chrome badge look...

Goo gone is the winner for thin or old plasti dip removal! Doused the badges with it and waited until I can easily scratch it off with a finger nail. I feel it looks much better!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8cc071890a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...cd85eab22b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0916aaa066.jpg

Looks great! Do you not like black badges or they were just done so poorly it looked bad?

I dont mind black badges but the plastidip looked very faded and it was very thin. I would actually prefer gloss black badges and grilles. At this point, I figured I can retain the factory look along with the new DINAN badge I will mount at some point without the need to redip everything...

I'm in the same boat. Prefer gloss black badges but I have had no luck finding a black option. BMW did not start doing OE black badging until the F chassis vehicles. :(

I am using plastidip and their "glossifier." Comes close to looking like OE gloss black badging but it's not perfect. Doesn't trip my OCD... so good enough.

https://i.postimg.cc/xjPzdHD7/20190204-224923.jpg

What did you do to / for your E53 today??
 

Yeah, the black looks good. What’s your opinion on those carbon fiber looking roundels, either color blue or black?