We sold both our e53 for trading "sideways" for E70s and I was lothe to "sidegrade" to e70 after reading lots of posts regarding loss of road feel/feedback and then wife got hers about 9 months before me.

It is true the wonderful road feedback is dulled. However, note that I've driven 5-6,000 miles with the N55 and 500-1000 in wife's N63, I'm mostly on board with the "improvements".

My 35i rides a lot smoother than my old 3.0i and smoother than wife's 50i. I'm very happy with the trade "over".

Where the E70s beat the crap out of the e53 since we just had m54s; the passing power is amazing. 70-100 zone to get around some traffic to get into an exit lane etc as wife says; "don't even worry about it, she'll get you there".

I never got to drive 4.6 or 4.8 e53 and that was meant to be my next car when corona car pricing made a nice e53 cost more than a decent e70. I wanted to get a newer model year to stave off some of the plastics degradation.

I still read/post on e53 forum prob more than the e70 since my '01 e53 was my first BMW and prob still my favorite.

I run an 01 4.4
I’ve recently driven an E70 4.8 which I found it to be a bit sluggish- or maybe requiring more throttle pedal travel- to get it going at a bit of pace.
I did drive an E53 4.8 a few years ago but didn’t find it different enough from mine to warrant buying it. I regret it now though as it was only £2000..

Anyway, I’ve just replaced the main driveshaft giubo trying to chase down a vibration. I’m probably going to keep it now as I reckon prices will start to creep up in the next 5 years or so due to constant pressure to ‘tackle climate change’ or some scam so old school V8’s will be sought after. Just my opinion.

Changed oil and replaced oil level sensor. I was hoping the new oil level sensor from a different manufacturer would give me oil temp readings in the Ibus app on my Avin4 - nada:(. In any case, I have to say that after tightening up the reinforcement plate bolts, my X5 handles much better! They must have gotten loose with time. I didn't replace them but torqued them up to 56 ft/lb + 90 degrees. What a difference. Steering and suspension feels tight and smooth!

I get oil temp with mine. But you have to cycle between oil level or temp. You touch the label and it will switch between the two.

Cool, thanks! Is your X5 4.4 or 4.8? Mine is a 4.4 N62 and I can only have coolant temp or oil temp options in the Ibus app, where Oil temp is always at 0 F. May be I'm missing something, but haven't seen that toggle between oil temp/level. I'll check again, but which label are you referring to? Could you please take a picture?

:( I left mine at home While I flew in airplane fir the 2st time since March, 2020. I was a wet noodle for the days approaching but I remembered today how it could be a fun way to run around. I found some new folks at he counter.. missed some others, and met some more..

In case you're wondering, we've DONE a roadtrip to BOS before. t was awesome. Bjt yeah. Rallied from the last 1k miler on Thursday and just was OT gonna take the x-cross country drive. No this time anyway;)

It's full of new Xtrons stuff, TPMS stuff, and general goodies.. But that E38.. it just WANTS so much LOVE!

I have a 2006 3.0.

My left taillight (blinker) is going out again. I am pretty tired of fighting with these things and repeatedly trying to repair them. It looks like I can get brand-new ULO replacements for about $150 per side on either ebay or AutoHausAZ. I looked at FCP, ECS, and Pelican and they are all more expensive than that.



I don't think buying used would be a good option because I would just be rolling the dice. Some of the used taillights on ebay look alright, but the sellers never take pictures of the housing with the gasket off, which means I can't see whether there are any broken plastic tabs.



Anyone else have any other options?

Ugh, even tail lights are common problems on these things? Is there any part that doesn't commonly fail? lol. I thought I was getting toward the end of the "common problem" list with all the repairs I've done.

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

There is a wired fix for the problem. I don't recall the specifics I think a bulb holder from a Mercedes is hard wired to the wiring loom and completely eliminates the contact problem. Each lamp gets directly wired as virtually all cars on earth are done.

Otherwise a proper fix as I've demonstrated in the past is not difficult. Tinning with solder for example is no more a fix than wrapping the bulb contacts with aluminum foil.

Rebuilding the steel contact plate with heat proof shims and self tapping screws is a near permanent fix. (You do need to also keep three contact clean by remove and replace the bulb socket maybe annually to scrape off the corrosion that leads to the overhearing that melts the plastic)

That said, I replaced my headlights with aftermarket halo models and was planning on doing similarly for the rears. I would look into some nice LED tails that will refresh the tail end for a "butt lift" concept