No offense taken and none meant. I ended up with 2 of the 4 bimmers more or less by sheer happenstance. My fast car is a 300zx. I didnt get my first bimmer but 6 years ago. Before it was mainly old 4 runners, hondas, and nissans. I love older vehicles but they take work to keep running so not a good choice for me at this point. Also I would exactly say that having a lot of bimmers is fortuitous hahahha

FYI---Scanners on sale https://www.ecstuning.com/?trk_msg=P...022_CW_mkt2446

Can confirm. Not a smart decision. Only reason to do it is you love the way they drive (which I do), and can tolerate the constant headaches. We own 5 currently so that 2 are in perfect condition (no check engine lights, clunky suspension, road trip worthy, etc) at all times. 2 aren't running at all... though one is a donor vehicle for a future project.

BMWs are a bad habit. I don't recommend anyone get into the "hobby." My wife and I are masochists... :dunno: I've never lost money on one (purchase price vs sale price), but I've certainly lost a lot of time and maintenance costs to them. But we've tried other marques and so far... aren't happy with anything else.

Finished the transmission test drive and adaptations reset.

Drives like new!!

Already got my 1st flashy cam ticket with it....[emoji28]

Sent from my SM-A730F using Tapatalk

Woot! :thumbup:

The white witch terrorizes the desert once again!

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

So good to hear.

My new to me 35i shredded it's serp belt but didn't ingest it though it did wrap around the alternator pulley. I'll be looking at pulley/tensioner soon to figure out if there was a reason besides age that took out the belt.

Died while wife was driving downtown Chicago on the way home after ten 12 hr days working Chicago auto show. She was not happy about the 3 hours delay.

I'm going to get a breaker bar and t 55 for serpentine belt in both our cars. Took an extra 90 minutes because I didn't have the right tool.

"What, doesn't everyone carry a T55 around in their toolkit?"


-German Engineers

I typically have with but my torx set is in my storage garage. Three other thing that will go in the kot is the hex required to put the car in neutral when car has no power.

Picked up a set of virgin headlights! The lights will polish up nice and new. Clear tint will go on to protect them. The current X5 lights have sprayed clear. Someone had previously polished them and clear coated them. After years, the clear is cracking. Once they are off, A small spot will be tested for removing painted clear chemically. Along with headlights misc bolts, folding mirror micro switches, and soon blower motors.

Thanks to TheFixer!!

I'm finally declaring victory after a two-week bout of my e53 being out of commission. I loaned the vehicle to my youngest (adult) son so he could sell his aging Toyota from college and save up to buy something newer/nicer as both he and his new bride had only beaters to drive.

The saga started when my son called me stranded along E470 in Denver on his way to DIA for a work flight. Based on what he told me (he's a mechanical engineer, but not as experienced with auto mechanics as Dad) I was confident the alternator had died on him. I happened to have a spare H9 battery, so I grabbed it and headed up there (a bit over an hour away) to rescue him. My rescue attempt didn't go as planned, so we ended up towing to my middle son's house in the Denver area. Once there, we got it sorted out and running, so I could drive it home - switching batteries halfway to make it.

Once home in my driveway, I ordered new brushes for the alternator (Valeo 140) and after installing, set out to fire the beast up. It was getting dark, and I had to access the disconnected battery from the back seat since the rear hatch couldn't be opened. Fumbling in the dark, I made a HUGE mistake and connected the battery cables to the wrong posts. Sparks flew and smoke rose from the alternator. I was SOOOO disgusted with myself!

Long story, short... I ordered a used alternator, swapped in the new brushes, tested every fuse and relay in all 3 fuse boxes (75ish?) replacing several that were blown, and I'm happy to say that all is well once again.

Since I had to wait on the used alternator, I decided to go ahead and replace the OFHG since the alternator would be out. I also found the hoses to the PS reservoir were leaking, so I replaced both hoses and the reservoir.

Of course, while I was working on the E53, I gave him his mom's E83 to drive and the TC actuator gear gave up the ghost on him (148K miles, so not unexpected). I don't think he's impressed with his dad's choice of automobile brand!

AM.