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

That one also needs to go next to the xoutpost one as well!

Xoutpost certified mechanic. [emoji1787]

Awesome!

Removed the MK3 navi and Dietz multimedia interface from my x5. Anyone interested, PM me...
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Full wash, clay bar and ceramic coating. 6 hours well spent...
https://i.ibb.co/gdqnFqH/20201025-095408.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/vLX209G/20201025-095432.jpg

Looking good!

Looks fantastic Wayne! :thumbup:

Looks great!

Last weekend I found that one of the bolts securing the diff to the sub frame had snapped. This weekend I pulled the differential out so I could drill and extract the broken bolt. What a PITA.

I gotta say - the factory paint on these things is insanely good. With not much effort (relatively speaking!!) the 15-year old, quarter million kms paint comes up like a showroom finish... simply amazing...

Nice catch! Had that let go on you those diffs aren’t cheap... believe me I know...

I was just surprised myself, pulled the back brakes apart and found a broken lower caliper bolt on the passenger side! Thankfully just the head had broken off somehow and the caliper stayed in place and amazingly I was able to grab the bolt with vice grips and remove it “easily” enough.


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Received my Xoutpost decals from Jordi. Gotta represent!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...88d1ab1cee.jpg

Lucky!

I got the driver side apart and swung over to the passenger side and had a WTF moment... I looked down in there and thought no bolt - no way. Pulled the top bolt and went to swing the caliper out of the way and it was stuck - thank goodness it was just the head or that would have been a huge mess!

I painted the calipers blue while I was in there as well [emoji16]. Pretty happy with them but I do wish it was just a bit lighter - but I’m definitely not redoing them, I totally happy (enough).


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REALLY LIKE those! But I’ve never been able to being myself to put anything on my cars... must be my OCD or something...


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Trust me! I am right there with you! I was back and forth on putting them on and then just impulsively did it during a bored moment. They can be easily removed so no big deal. For now I'm a fan...

So I’ve been struggling changing the bulbs in these two, I can’t find a way to open them without seemingly breaking them. Any tips? Has anyone done this?

Doesn't the assembly pop out with access to the bulbs from the inside?

Yes. For the front one there are 2 metal clips on the housing. If you just keep yanking they will bend. Can be bent back to shape after. Or you can use a trim tool and release them before pulling. That works best. They are located in the button side.

Attachment 79108

Gave her a bath!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ee3c1c22a7.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...56052a1e7e.jpg

My second favorite wheel style


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Cleaned and conditioned the leather with Armor all leather care with beeswaxhttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...cbe64e8252.jpg

Is that armour all beeswax any good..??

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Swapped my driver seat switch since the steering wheel controls have never functioned since my ownership. I bought a used range rover switch, which now allows my steering wheel controls to function but I did not realize until after, that the power headrest button on the range rover switch is 2 way vs the original 4 way button that also controls the upper part of the seat. I should have purchased it by the latest upgraded part number of 7119869 https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a676121042.jpgAttachment 79138

Mods toward a red-neck overlander
 

Modded Subaru cross rail to fit my x5 & added light bar

duct-tape and bailin' wire to mount the light controls

added on-board air supply to deal with leaks/flats

Pic of house on warm, sunny November day; not all Canada is snow an mooses...:D

Tightened my leaking axle boot with the new set of clamp pliers I ordered (gotta love reasons to buy new tools). Now I don't have to replace OE style clamps with worm clamps anymore. Also spent some time cleaning all the grease off the area.

Oil change with Liqui Moly 5w40 and AT205. Also rotated the front coilover that I initially installed clocked incorrectly. Now it has correct adjustments for camber. Tonight I'll finish buttoning up the bottom of the truck after getting the motor mounts replaced a couple days ago.

Would you care to share which clamp pliers you got?

I'm kind of losing trust in my own clamp pliers, as both of my new cv boots are leaking. :(

Nothing special. Bought some that were cheap, but not too cheap. Coming from the dykes I had been using, they are a HUGE improvement. Did a good job tightening the boot clamp that was leaking. They came super loose and required a little tightening before use, but that took only a few seconds.

Ebay ABN Boot Clamp Pliers

Thank you.
They are just like mine. Different brand but exactly alike.
Unfortunately that means my issue most likely boils down to improper use of a perfectly functioning tool. I hate when that happens. :damn:

:bustingup

Not necessarily though. I was reading reviews on a bunch of these before purchasing and it seems some, though appearing identical, have different grinds (some crooked, some incomplete) on their clamping end. As a result they don't do a full crimp when you attempt one. Maybe that's what's going on. Just a thought.

I nave actually used (to good succes) a pair of pliers you use to take nails out of wood, though not sure what the english work is :) I guess the sharp edges give good initial grip, just don't overdo on the pressure or you need a new clamp :)

found a good deal on winter tyres (pirellis scorpions) with 5mm of thread on good 19 inch alloys. Have to say tyre noise is greatly reduced and the car is definitely a bit more comfy because of the extra rubber

https://i.imgur.com/1DAKk61.jpg

looks a bit less bad-ass though :p:

Nipper, flush cutter. That would work. I've used a diagonal cutter but the nipper better as the edge stays parallel.

I'd say those are probably the best looking factory 19inch e53 wheels. Great winter setup!

Especially since the wheel looks like a snowflake

All true. I have used nippers and diagonal cutters in the past for this purpose, but now I have these:
https://www.amazon.com/Knipex-Tools-.../dp/B01I3H6UIC
Knipex Tools 10 99 i220 8.75" Ear Clamp Pliers

Attachment 79183

Nice feature is that you can get in there from the end or from the side with these (as you could do, choosing either nippers [end] vs. diagonal cutters [side]), as needed based on how easy it is to get at the clamp.

Also, the "cutting ends" that you'd have on regular cutters are flat here, so you will be less likely to cut the clamp (as I used to sometimes do and always needed to be careful about, before getting these).

How do you like them? I was about to buy a set just a few weeks ago, but they were out of stock everywhere. I think they are being discontinued. I ended up with some Blizzaks instead.



It's supposed to snow this weekend so I might get to try them out.

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

:shakehead: Welllll... I just found out the my exhaust vanos solenoid has been pressurizing oil through my harness all the way to my DME. :banghead:



:doh:

Ugh... through the electrical connector on the bottom vanos unit?

I've seen this issue on a friends higher mileage 03 e39 540 msport. New vanos solenoids with disassembling the DME cover and a bunch of electrical cleaner spray resolved the issue..https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6e4981fde7.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b8d354ef6d.jpg

Yep. From that connector, all the way to the DME.

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

One good thing is that it didn’t get into the DME. That would have been a disaster. The last time I spoke with RMS, they no longer have files for tuning my setup. That DME is literally one of a kind.

My E53 has been in surgery since the third week of June. This is really testing my ownership.

Ahh.. oh well.. I’ll be fine. The email I received today pretty much shows everything under the hood, is being, or has been replaced. Maybe this is a good thing.

Talk about a 100,000 mile tuneup. :dunno:

Replaced the ultra finicky brake light. Purchased full assembly from eBay and just replaced the bulb alone. Still have the taillights assembly(less bulbs) that I won’t need, anyone interested can pay for shipping

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[QUOTE=xbimma;1194384]Replaced the ultra finicky brake light. Purchased full assembly from eBay and just replaced the bulb alone. Still have the taillights assembly(less bulbs) that I won’t need, anyone interested can pay for shipping

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PM'd

Scary. Could they clone it if you sent them the DME again (or was it dyno tuned)? I'd worry about no backup, but then again what are the chances the vanos will send oil to the DME again. :wow: :D Sorry Happy, hope that's not a jinx.

Today I drove Red for the first time since motor mounts. Put about 100 miles on her. Let me tell you, it feels like a new truck. ALL of the idle rattles and vibration are gone. AC off at ~550rpm it's dead silent and smooth. Super happy with that result. :thumbup:

I took the X5 for an alignment, which I wasn't overly impressed with since they did not want to use the camber adjustment plate on top of the coilovers to bring it into the green in the front. Manager said his master tech wasn't in and the guy doing the work wasn't comfortable using those adjustments. Guess I should give him points for being honest.

Then picked up my Dad to spend some time with him and we went to BMW to get the state inspection done. $7.00 is about the cheapest you can walk out of the dealership paying. Always cool to see the techs and SAs fawn over the truck. They said they don't see them anymore let alone one with the aero kit and Dinan goodies on it. And had a nice conversation with one of the younger sales guys who was an actual enthusiast w/ an E46 M3/6 and 03 ZHP 330ci/6. Rare to see an enthusiast at the stealership anywhere but the service techs.

Tomorrow I'm going to have a go at restoring the shadowline trim with the "magic in a bottle." I'm tempering my expectations (especially after Purplecty's posts), but still, worth a shot.

Today the White Witch blew a seal (not in a porn kinda way either) in the hydro boost steering [emoji2959] I found a crap used one and hope to have new seals installed this week [emoji850] and what sucks the most is I had just installed new tie rods 2hrs previously.

I hope the wife doesn't find out as we have a pediatric consult coming up and she's still bent out of shape from the whole Zamboni incident [emoji1019]

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A clone would be awesome! I personally would like to know if that is possible.

RMS does not have a four wheel dyno. The owner tuned it on some track in Los Angeles.

Yeah, no back up is definitely in play now! I will just have apply my faith, to that worry.

No hard feelings on the jinx quote. EOD and I have a similar relationship with our E53’s. We’re always waiting for the next surprise. She’s never left me stranded, but boy it’s always something.

That is one of the best feelings! I’ve been trying to get my E85 burning Chevy Tahoe to that point. It’s hot! Sounds like a souped up cop suv. 30” Flowmaster has a very unique tone. Just a bit of buck at idle. My gut tells me fuel pump is due soon.

Well, Red’s alignment is a bit more complicated. Just say’in. LoL...

Quality time is priceless.

7 BUX! And I though I killed it at $17.

The midtown BMW stealership in Houston for some reason has a humongous X5 sign at its location. They just recently sent me correspondence stating that I can do my airbag recall there. That should be an interesting encounter when we show up. Provided we can make it out of the Docs office.

Yes. I’ve been meditating on my trim for awhile now as well. I hope it goes well.

For me now, I will be focusing on the leather in my Chevy Tahoe.

Nice chat, Crystal. Thanks! [emoji106]

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

DAMN!!! I ended up jinxing you...

I am definitely not sending you a birthday present!![emoji1787]

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

Phwahahahaha...! Dang it! [emoji1787][emoji1787]

If my wife finds out I'm not going down alone!!

I'll let CW's wife know that you have package deal of 2 semi-complete aero cars ....

That's how you do 2 birds, one stone[emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]

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Damn...!! Now we’re all going down! [emoji29]

[emoji1787]

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Over the last few months had occasional battery failures (dead battery symptoms). Usually occurred when or immediately after son has driven the X5. Figured it was something he did..

This last time, the battery failed to recharge with a 2 amp charger overnight... Hmm.

Pulled the battery and noticed it was a Duralast AGM size H8 with a Dec 2016 date code..This was an expensive battery when new. Kind of surprised it failed so soon.

I replaced it with a FRESH (Nov 2020) Ever Start H8 non-AGM battery from Walmart.
...$129 +12 core..

Back in business.

:bustingup

Just had the same experience in my X5. Old battery date code was 04/16 I think. Went with Sams Club, Duracell FC H8 at $121.42. 4 years is about all you get out of a battery with the electrical demands of modern BMW's I think. I now consider it a service item for 4 years replacement.

Though our E70 does a much better job of maintaining a battery with all its monitors, shuts off various systems and the like to maintain ability to start. I've left that truck for a month and it starts right up.

Replaced my power steering pump with a rebuilt Bosch from FCP. 6 months after replacing it with some off brand, out of warranty piece of junk. Low frequency growling/rattling at low idle is gone again. Hopefully this one lasts longer, but if it doesn't, lifetime warranty.

Soooooo......

Good news, bad news!!

Good news- wife doesn't know about the gasket (yeah [emoji3060])

Bad news- I have a bad connection in the radio that caused a complete restart while driving with the wife [emoji2959] (on the way to the hospital) [emoji44]

I am [emoji117][emoji108]!!!!

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Trying to catch a break anymore, seems like fishing without a line!

That part that is gripping though, is that the E53 drives so well. Most other vehicles in its class are ruled out IMO.

The standard gearbox makes it very hard for me to part ways. But I can’t lie and say it hasn’t crossed my mind. And now, I am so ridiculously committed, to let her go will probably be giving her away. :dunno:

First real snow of the season here in South Lake Tahoe. Took my daughter out for some good snow driving lessons through the neighborhood. 2001 3.0i E53 performed amazingly well in 1-2 feet of fresh snow.

Attachment 79191

Looks chilly! I grew up on Wells Fargo Ln. I love that place!

Have to say I like the pirelli's a lot, not much noise at all and good grip!

That looks familiar:

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That was from a single overnight storm on the exact middle of spring in central Wisconsin 2018.

(Homemade gaiters made from Saran wrap).

Andrew...

How do you get your sand so white? [emoji1787]

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

Photo just over exposed.

I was visiting a buddy three hours from home and only part of the state that got hit with that was where I was. Hi some crazy luck I had my special snow tires with me so I put those on. I get about twice the grip with the 235 versus the 255 it is just amazing. Plow through snow where it’s 5-7 inches above the bumper literally plowing through. Very fun. I've driven through open fields with 7 inches of slushy snow.

Man you guys really got hit! It snowed all weekend here but it was so light and fluffy that it only ended up being an inch or two. Didn't get to test out my new blizzaks at all.

Update...

Gasket fixed!

Servotronic torque converter can be the cause of your steering wheel shimmy at certain speeds. (if everything else was tried) don't ask[emoji849]

I do not have a short in the radio![emoji3060]
I have the newest update on Car Launcher Pro and it plays poorly with auto brightness on the radio. [emoji26] I may have to wipe everything and reload it making a new account so it doesn't try to reinstall all the same stuff.

PS... Be careful installing "MyWiFiTV" as it also plays poorly with many other apps.

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

EOD, step away from the Witch..! And nobody spends.. Money, time, and heartache. Hahaha...

LoL.. I am beginning to think our 5’s like to throw fits in our presence. [emoji1787][emoji1787] [emoji12]

What? I have no idea what you mean and furthe....

Ok she's not looking over my shoulder now and YES I know exactly what yo...

(Hi honey, no nothing is wrong with the BMW)[emoji850]

PS. Where is the send a medevac emoji??[emoji1787]

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^ This is my life, I fix one thing and something else goes. Can't let the wife know. .

Hmmmm. I do have a steering wheel shimmy only at ~70mph and only for the first 10-15 minutes of driving. Then it smooths out. Front end is all new. No brake shimmy/shake. Was chalking it up to the aftermarket wheels just to put it out of my mind.

Is the servotronic torque converter a serviceable part or does it require rack replacement?

If smooths it e implication is heat is the cure:

Warm vs cold tires
Warm grease in wheel bearing
Warm grease in CV axle

I've had shakes in several cars from cold tires. The tire will have a bit of a "D" shape after sitting in one place for a while especially when low ambient temperature.

Will have to check front tire age, they are least almost 5 years old and have ~22k on them.

Bearings and axles have not been serviced yet in my ownership. Did just tighten the boot clamp on the right axle as it was slinging grease. Perhaps it had lost enough to cause an issue. If so I'll run it until I have clicking or other noticeable issue. The short steering shake does not bother me enough to warrant my looking into it too deeply. Was just curious about EODs servotronic issue in relation to mine.

As always, thanks for the info Andrew.

Try this next time you notice shimmy; get off the road and do 3-4 figure eights in a parking lot then jump back on the highway.

I have a bad CV that has on occasion caused a solid wobble, the figure eight worked in the bearings and it smoothed right out.

My wife knows! And I get it sometimes. But, she encouraged the supercharger, when I was just window shopping.

Funny how things work out! [emoji6]

Those tires are getting there Crystal, regardless. Check’em out.

Hi all


Did nothing today.... or yesterday... in fact for the last 11 months I've not had any dramas, failures, repairs, scraped knuckles, software resets, windows stopping, suspension collapsing..... nothing....


nada...... NOT A SINGLE THING!!!


(yup I sold them)..... kind of an anticlimax.... (lol)

Today, what I did with my E53, being that she is out of sight, out of mind. Was, to daydream I was racing at Sebring.

But it wasn’t her! LoL..



https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...757d6db8d1.jpg

Happy.....

Stop dream driving my car!!
Park it next to the Bugatti and don't leave it on empty this time. [emoji1787]

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Finally got my X in for an alignment after putting the BC coilovers on and lowering my ride 2". They were able to get the front camber into alignment because they are set up for adjustment up top. They couldn't get the rear camber an better than -2.8. Looking at camber adjustable control arms now. It doesn't look like Hardrace is making them for the E53, at least that I could find. Anyone know of a source? I've found lots of weird foreign brands via Google, but no Hardrace.

"Discovered" a weird feature on my 2001 3.0i. I don't know if it is temperature dependent (I'm up in South Lake Tahoe, where it is close to freezing temps), but never noticed it before ...

When taking the key out, with the wipers set to intermittent, (and maybe it has to be pretty cold as well), it moves the wipers up to 12 o'clock as the car shuts off.

This makes sense if you're worried about snow accumulation freezing the wipers into place down low. Also, you could pull them away from the windshield when up high, to prevent them from freezing to the windshield.

I tested it a few times, and was impressed. It automates something I used to have to do with my other cars when parking during snow - setting the wipers wiping, then pulling the key out at the right time to kill them when they're up high.

[emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787] Hahahahaha...

I had the guys fill’er up! But, I could not resist one last stint!

I’ll have better manners next time! [emoji6]

That's kinda cool. Never knew about that feature. But then again it rarely drops below freezing here. We've been in the low 80's w/ 60% humidity for the past 2 weeks. :(

That is super cool!!

I wish mine would point downwards towards 6 o'clock to keep them from burning up when it's hot out. [emoji1787]

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My X has never done this, and I park it in freezing weather all the time. I wonder if it has to be coded or something. Too bad my laptop that I spent great deals of effort getting to work with PA Soft took a dump on me a few months ago, otherwise I could look. I could really use this feature, haha!



What drives me nuts is that the passenger-side wiper can't be pulled up while it's in the fully-down position. I'm sure many other X's like mine have chipped paint on the hood where people have tried to do this many times.

In Texas, I will never know if my X5 has this feature. :rofl:

Got mine detailed this weekend as I may have a potential buyer. Sorta bittersweet feeling I guess.

Well the snow will be here before long so I'll be testing this feature also.

One of the things I hated about the design of the wipers in the e83 is the fact you can't leave them off the windshield because the arms hit the hood.

For all those lucky enough not to have to deal with snow, what usually happens is when you're driving around and park the car, the heat from the engine will melt the snow which will slide down the windshield and form a solid chunk of ice right where the wipers rest. Ice pick is a mandatory tool to have in the car if you're an e83 driver.

"When taking the key out, with the wipers set to intermittent, (and maybe it has to be pretty cold as well), it moves the wipers up to 12 o'clock as the car shuts off."

Since a few people seem interested in this feature, I did a few more tests on it today.

- Worked at 54*F exterior temperature (as high as it went)
- Confirmed it only works when the front wipers are set to intermittent. Does not work when they are set to off, or when they are set to a constant wiping speed.
- The wipers drive quickly to 12 o'clock as soon as the key turns to OFF/LOCK (the position before you can pull the key out). So you don't actually need to remove the key to make this happen.
- I don't know if this has been programmed in somehow. My car in general, other than having the high cluster, is pretty stripped and stock. I definitely did not program this feature. The only programming I did was to change the breakpoints on the temperature gauge.
- This feature (since I've noticed it) is completely reliable. Works this way every time. Maybe I never noticed it before since I'm usually in the Bay Area, where we either have no rain at all (e.g., April-Nov) or storms bringing heavy rain from Dec-Mar, so maybe I never used the intermittent wiper setting before, and it has nothing to do with temp???

When you refer to intermittent mode, do you mean rain sensor mode or does you car not have the rain sensor and have a true intermittent wiper feature (unlike mine, which has no intermittent mode, it has a rain sensor mode instead)? :dunno:

That wiper function could be related to this parameter in GM3. As default it's not active.

ABKLAPPSTELLUNG (Windscreen wipers service position to facilitate wiper blade change)

I'm pretty sure I don't have a rain sensor. On my wiper stalk, the bottom position is off. Then the first position above that is what I am calling intermittent - so it does a wipe, waits a fixed amount of time, then repeats.

The next position above that is constant wiping at a slow speed.

Sounds good. It would be a convenient position for blade change.

The fact that it does it automatically from intermittent wiper mode when turning the car off, maybe (not confirmed) temp related ... that's what made me think it was a snow related thing.

On the temp - I'll be returning to the bay area in a few days, where it will probably be closer to 70*F - will test again there. Maybe the whole temp theory is wrong.

I have left my wipers on rain sensing for months in all seasons never had wipers park upright but it's common for people in central north (what people for no good reason call Midwest) to pull their wipers off the glad e overnight when snow is expected so could be related concept for parking the wipers to do that.

Wife's X5 the train sensor isn't working so there car was smart enough after attempting to and failing calibration the first click is intermittent so I'm curious if her car will park wipers upright when in intermittent mode.

Picked up some really pretty Style 87s yesterday.

Not looking forward to buying tires for them but I am very much looking forward to getting them mounted on the X and putting some miles on them for sure!

Planning to keep my 18s with my Conti DWS06s as winter tires and mount some super sticky tires on the 87s for spring and summer :D Oh the fun!

Nice! [emoji106]

Thanks!



That was pretty much what I thought, but my wife... well... she just couldn't understand why it needed new wheels and tires when - "the ones you have are perfectly fine, you just bought the tires that are on there" she kept telling me.


I tried to explain, to no avail of course :rolleyes: But alas, they're home and clean and waiting for the sun to come back up over here in Ohio... if that every happens.

Nice find! Where did you find them?

Friend of mine buys storage lockers and found them in there when he opened it up. Saw they were BMW and had no idea what they were off of or what they’d fit so he called me and asked me about them since he knew I had a Beemer - and the rest is history. I loaded them on the spot and rolled they home with me.

Couldn’t believe my eyes when I walked in! Fronts tires are actually in pretty good shape, rears may have a season or two left on them (if only driven in the summer months) and the rims themselves are in exceptional condition except for a little bit of curb rash on one of the rears.


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Wow what are the odds of that? It was meant to be!

I did kick him back a bit of a finders fee, which is what my wife was upset about... but how do you pass up a very clean set of Style 87s (with two good tires on the fronts and two "decent" tires on the rears) when they literally just about fall into your lap! I thought about bolting them on to just see the difference, but I didn't want to tease myself and then want to keep them on... I figured "good things come to those who wait" - LoL...


I've wanted to grab a set of wheels for quite a while but never pulled the trigger, just wasn't a priority, but I couldn't pass these up! - I would have kicked myself forever...

Well that's a no brainer...

LoL... I know exactly what you mean! For me, 21” Austrian made wheels! That I found at a Chevy 4X4 salvage center. Definitely a no brainer!

Whata find!

That’s when you know it’s the right time!

very nice set of wheels! makes me miss my summer wheels that are in storage now

Thanks!

That’s about where I’m at... only had them a couple of days and am dying to get them on... but I’ve already winterized everything and am just going to bite the bullet and leave them in storage for now... killing me though.


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Played around a bit with the audio install. Got the DSP rack done, all wiring (though I may go back and wrap in tech flex instead of just the Tesa tape), and tested the DSP with the lap top. Getting signals from the Android head unit. Now I can split everything, Xover, and time align everything after I get the amps and sub in.

Attachment 79320

Attachment 79321

Your attention to detail is impressive! I'd like to add a sub and amp to mine as well...

Thanks. I appreciate that. The tech flex came in today (primary black w/ silver interwoven) so I did a new wire as an experiment. Showed it to the wife. I am in process of re-doing all the visible wiring. :dunno: Oh well, it should look better. :D

I've had an amp and sub combo in this thing and it was nice. I ended up deciding that I wanted to build my dream system from when I was into audio. But of course I was too young (read: poor) to have more than an entry level amps/subs/speakers. So I've been gathering gear, and this is going into it.

https://i.postimg.cc/gJCx26Rz/20181004-151057.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/HxXy52Tc/Attach...105-185617.jpg

I had already built an amp rack and sub setup, but am scrapping it and rebuilding in favor of something a little more elegant hopefully. That's the idea anyway. Look for completion sometime in 2025. :rolleyes:

Wow that looks great! Where will you mount and instal the 3 amps?

Looks awesome CW! Gonna be best sounding system on the forum is my guess! If you ever want to trade back to your old setup, I’ve kept it in good working order...just need a better head unit!



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Following back up on that weird feature I found and mentioned in
https://xoutpost.com/1194865-post12885.html

Been back in the bay area for a couple of weeks now. Normal temps again, and this "feature" still works every single time I turn the key to off while the wipers are in intermittent. I think I had just never noticed it before since I don't drive this car that much, and hardly ever (maybe never) had the wipers on intermittent, and never parked the car like that in the 6 years I've owned it.

I don't think my 2001 high cluster 3.0i has rain sensing. My wiper stalk goes from bottom to top in these positions (from testing, and they all appear to be independent of rain or not): off, intermittent [adjustable interval with the knob on the stalk], slow, fast).

So I no longer thing it is temperature dependent. The operation of this feature is 100% reliable. Kind of surprised that I'm the only one who has this. Car is not tweaked or pimped out in any way at all. No LEDs, aftermarket alarms, secret switches, other programmed features I'm aware of. :dunno:

So trying to help others, I guess the story is that if someone wants this feature it is probably possible to turn it on if you know the magic. :thumbup:

Thanks. Here is what I built before. The new setup will be very similar but with better fit and finish. At least that's the plan. The sub downfires next to the amp rack.

https://i.postimg.cc/13qnKM8y/20190427-002754.jpg

It's either going to be the best, or the worst. :D This is my first excursion into DSP/time alignment/etc so we'll see.

The E53 passed its emissions inspection this morning, first time since 2014! I was a little concerned if the readyness flags would have set. But it appears they did as it passed without any issues.

I had dropped the insurance and the tag on this car. When I re-registered the car last year after putting the motor back in, the MVA folks said, "oh we'll simply get you a waiver from the last emissions inspection until now and it is due in May". Of course the VEIP stations closed due to Covid and the new deadline came in October for December 7. (Car is too old to go through the self service kiosk unfortunately) Another item on the to-do list out of the way.

Ordered another set of angel eyes as the previous lot never showed up. I think I will call the glass guys to find out if they can get me a windscreen at a decent price as the crack has been there long enough (10 years I think) :-) Starting to think about putting my new winter tires on.

But it is running strong and we are using it as a run-about every day.

Do you have foxwell? It can access the rain sensor if you have one and walks through calibration. Wife's is disconnected and used to run full speed on the intemittent setting but after a calibration it runs intemittent. Annoyingly not speed sensitive.

I'll have to check that out with my foxwell when I have a few minutes. Though I think mine works pretty well. More to be a tinker than anything, haha.


Thanks for the update oldskewel.

If you have rain sensor your definitely want it engaged.

I do have a Foxwell. I went and told it to deal with the rain sensor and it said it could not find it, which is correct. I don't have one. :D :D Confirmed visually by looking at the windshield, where a rain sensor would be, etc. No problems with this part of my car. I think the whole wiper system is working as it should, with the addition of this apparently rarely-programmed feature.

But completely unrelated news ... my right rear window regulator clip FAILED again. I replaced just that clip and the window clip in my dealer-replaced genuine BMW regulator back in 2017. Heard a crack a couple of weeks ago (while up in Lake Tahoe, rolling down the window so my dog could enjoy the scenery and smells), stopped using that window, and finally checked it just now. The Power Windows Solutions brand clip I bought from Amazon has just cracked clean through. This clip is a full plastic one vs. the originals and some replacements which are part steel and part plastic.

Not that this is unexpected or newsworthy. :rofl: I would not even mention it if I weren't already posting. I swear, these BMW doors and windows ... :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Got the wiring/load support rack built that sits behind the DSP rack yesterday. Slowly but surely making progress on this audio setup...

Attachment 79355

Attachment 79356

Not today but in the last week I finally got a battery in the 4.6 and have run it for a bit on a few occasions. Think I need to change one or both belts as they squeal on startup...

Plan is to start using it more again after having mostly used the 318 E91 for the past year.

Updated the Navigation software on Black Bastard with the downloads from this forum.

Everything about the navigation software is terrible so it's not really getting used, but I heard rumors that the ACCEPT thing you need to click on goes away after 10 seconds with the software update. We'll see

I think the auto accept feature has been out there for 10 years now. I updated my E46 with the last nav firmware version around 2010. :dunno:

Mine auto accepted and I never updated it. Perhaps the PO did at some point.

Got a little more work done on the wiring and the wiring rack. Here's what it looks like in the truck.

Attachment 79359

I'm new to the game :D

Even when I dig some old laptop/PC out of the trash I still update the firmware if it's out there. Most of these have been 15+ year old machines but old habits die hard I guess.

Looks great :thumbup:

off topic here but I can't seem to get the multi quote working on here and have tried with Chrome and Edge. Is it just me?

Thanks.

Nope, you have to do mulit quote manually. I usually hit the quote with a hotkey mouse button so it auto opens another tab. Then I copy/paste into the tab I'm working in all the quotes from the others. It's janky, but it works, and doesn't take too much extra time.

I use tapa talk on the phone to xo so if I want to multi quote I quote somebody, post than quote the second but just copy the contents, close the quote wo saving and then go edit the first quote and paste in the second.

I spent the day washing, clay baring and ceramic coating the X. Followed by a deep clean of the interior and under hood, followed by bees waxing the interior and mothers plastic protecting the under hood [emoji106]. Super happy with the end result, my wife thinks I’m insane where as I see time we’ll spent [emoji16]

I am absolutely going nuts to get my 87s and spacers installed... but I already have them wrapped and stored for the winter.


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Installed a new alternator. How do you know your alternator needs to be replaced you ask? When the windings begin to smoke like burning leaves.

Oh yummy! Like your own little personal bonfire under the hood... yuck.


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Or when your battery light comes on when your on your way home from Nashville, ask me how I know.....

I had to stop at an ORilleys and swap it out in the parking lot. Thank god they stock OEM Bosch and Valeo replacements. Plus the 3.0 is a breeze to work on with minimal tools.

Indianapolis will also work to stress test your alternator also I used oreily and largely because you can find them anywhere and lifetime warranty and OEM part


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ABS module removed again
 

My car came up with a real Christmas display a week ago and after searching on XO and checking with INPA decided the CANBus was not communicating. Could not connect to the transmission module. For most this seems to be caused by the ABS module pulling the CANBus down. After disconnecting the ABSM from the harness I could once again read the transmission ECU and so, pretty sure my ABSM is back on the fritz. Pulled it out this morning after getting the bumper and headlight off a few days ago.

Fortunately, the previous repair in 2018 had a three year warranty. They told me to send it back to them. Keeping fingers crossed they can improve on the previous job. (If they can't then I am not looking forward to coding a different one to my car.)

PS: The hoses for the PS, coolant pump and oil filter make it very tricky to get the inboard screws out. To re-install I will probably pull the fan and shroud to get better access.

Most people relocate the oil filter holder to work on ABS.

Thanks. ABS module repair is my next project.

The oil filter hoses are not really a problem as can be seen in the picture. The real problem are the power steering hoses and the hoses running to and from the aux coolant pump. Taking the PS and coolant hoses off would also work but I did not feel like draining my cooling system again, nor did I feel much like opening my PS circuit. Working through the headlight opening is a bit easier and taking the bumper cover and headlight off was 20 minutes tops.

I guess everyone has their own preferred method. Last time I took the ABS module off, the front of the car was completely disassembled and the engine was out. That seemed a bit much for the problem at hand this time :-)

I just hate taking off the bumper cover. I'm too OCD to be happy with the way I would be able to get it to fit again.

My buddy from Boston has swapped his abs module half a dozen times, I know he just pushed the coolant reservoir and PS and oil hoses out of the way without disconnecting anything.


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Finally cold enough to fire up the heated seats and steering wheel. Gotta love the creature comforts of a 17 year old car. :nanana:

Brother, my wife made fun of me for years over my heated steering wheel - right up until she drove it one morning when it was -6 out! She came home and apologized immediately - her words - “I’m sorry, that is NICE!” [emoji16]


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:thumbup: Very underrated features. Especially in our dinosaurs. ;)

Hey, I use heated seats in 105 degree weather. Really helps to soothe my back. Especially after surgery 3 years ago.

Honestly one of the best $150 retrofits I have ever done on the X.

Used sport heated wheel $90 fleaBay
New steering wheel trim $45 FCP Euro
New heated steering wheel relay $15 FCP Euro
1 hour labor in the driveway :thumbup:

Looks like Mrs OB is making full use of her heated seat too :thumbup:


I know they keep my CEO in a warm mood ;)

I looked into putting heated wheel into my car, I read it was more difficult to get the power to the wheel . Would love to know more info about that.


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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...663e27b1d1.jpg

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Check your wiring diagram. My LCI was all prewired for it, even plugged into the clockspring even though the clockspring did not have the pins in the connector. I should point out I did have to buy the clockspring for another $95 so my cost was actually $250 for my retrofit. What year is yours?

That's incredible. Apparently I have a lot of courage but I only pull out those "big guns" maybe once per year

I have 01. Sport wheel and don't like the non sport. I also don't like the look of most of the m sport wheels with the disconnected airbag (like after thought giant button) mine is well integrated into the three spoke wheel and I think all the heated three spoke I saw had the big weird airbag

I tried to pull your wiring diagram but I forgot BMW AG shut down New TIS. :banghead:

Here is the document link I used and it is for 2001-2006 but you will need to see if you are prewired. 12V and GND wouldn't be too hard to run from the fusebox if needed but check and see if you are prewired. Page 5 of this document shows how to confirm.

https://xoutpost.com/pdf/Heated%20wheel%20retrofit.pdf

HA! Man that is for sure! I always just told her she was crazy and that one day she’d figure it out. I had to rub it in just a little bit when she caved in and had to admit, after driving it, that it was a REALLY NICE FEATURE, she even admitted that the seats were nicer than hers that they warmed up further up the back [emoji16]

I told her so... it’s the little things in life that make it worth living and you couldn’t pry my heated steering wheel out of my cold dead hands - because they wouldn’t be cold!! 🤪


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And that officer is when he "fell" off the ladder....[emoji1019][emoji1787]

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Very underrated features. Especially in our dinosaurs. ;)

Hey, I use heated seats in 105 degree weather. Really helps to soothe my back. Especially after surgery 3 years ago.[/QUOTE]

:iagree:

There are other free WDS options around, including this one for Android...

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...wdsviewer.free

You could have WDS right on your dashboard display! ;)

Thanks Wayne! :thumbup:

Or this.

https://bmwteka.com/

Bravo!

Here is the document I followed:

https://xoutpost.com/pdf/Heated%20wheel%20retrofit.pdf

Ridiculously well documented and complete.

My family is stoked that the rear seats are heated too!

Didn't they shut it down and then a few days later you were able to create an account and log back in?

It's closed closed again?

Still shut down.

Replaced the radiator and put in a new temperature switch.

The old one was leaking badly on the left side.

Replaced the steering u-joint. The old one was grinding on mostly bare round metal ball, I peeked into the old joint and found the plastic or rubber bits have mostly perished.

Tried for two days to replace the engine mounts. Started on the passenger side and was able to remove the old one when the top bolt came off with the nut for some reason. But it was still a pita to remove. I had to jack up the passenger side of the oil pan with a block of wood on top of jack, the way pelican parts showed on their instructions.

Anyway the new mount seem to have the top bolt molded into the mount, I can’t take it off. With the extra height I just can’t clear the small space between the engine bracket and whatever was on top.

The good thing is the mount looks decent and aftermarket, so it’s been replaced before.

Yep. I tried to do the registration (and a member tried to send too for me) but I never get the email from the site to complete registration.

Lots of work there. What were your symptoms for the steering U-joint?

The motor mounts are best done just lowering the subframe and supporting the engine from above. On the N62 it's almost impossible to do it any other way. :rolleyes:

There's this nagging steering wheel shudder when i'm doing parking lot maneuvers, like backing up and then moving forward, very slow speed steering turns.

Also getting this annoying tick tick sound coming from the steering wheel itself. This happened right after the dealership did an airbag swap for the recall.

So i'm guessing they botched the job somehow. Will have to remove the bag and investigate.

I did manage to get registered, got a confirmation email and I logged in successfully 3 days after it was "shut down"

I can't seem to find the email and it's not letting me log in anymore.

I guess BMW registered for access and shut them down again :D

I am able to log in just fine today. Not sure if anything changed but I registered earlier this week. :dunno:

I just tried it and it says "Site closed"

nowhere to input a login/pw

Thanks to Clavurion I tried again. I was never getting an email from them. Turns out it did not like my ISPs domain. I used a google email and it worked fine. So I have access again, which is good because I'll be replacing my wife's transmission in the diesel soon. A low-mileage unit just got delivered last week. So I'll need the info. :thumbup:

AHA!!

I didn't notice right away the torso icon in the right hand

*Hacker voice* "I'm in"

Installed interior LED lights from Alla Lighting; easy but really nice result. Discovered that my driver's door puddle light was not plugged into the connector & that the connector was peeking out below the door card, so that problem was not a burned out bulb. :dunno: Waiting for the mail to run today and deliver my 2 Philips for the dome lights.

Bought a sport wheel with cosmos black trim on ebay and cleaned/conditioned/polished it...but after enjoying the heated non-sport wheel the past couple of weeks I don't have the heart to put it on lol.

Exterior winterized over the last couple of days with a wash & coat of Collinite 845 with Wolfgang Fuzion on top, Jescar Bead-It on the windows & Gtechniq T1 Tire & Trim. Ready for crap winter weather & dirty, salted, WV roads. :(

Completed my roof rail delete by installing painted plugs in the holes. I think I like the look of no roof rails with the 2" drop I put in it when I put in the coilovers. I know it needs to be washed. It's been raining here.

Bought it lol

New (to me) https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1f3e5cd60f.jpg

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Looks great. Welcome to the family. :thumbup:

Thanks!

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Looks nice. Welcome to the club! How many miles?

Thanks, just turned 130k miles on a 2001

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Congratulations

Changed the rear axle CV joint half shafts. The clicking was finally getting to me.

Got only about 24K on the "Lifetime" Duralast AutoZone units, which they replaced for free. Originally bought in April of 2017.

In all fairness though maybe they are sub par parts and maybe all the 1200 mile trips I do hauling a 4,000# trailer might have been a bit much for the budget parts :dunno: :dunno:

It was a good post-Christmas automotive pilates workout :bustingup

Mike

Replaced all of the bulbs with ice white LED's and added logo puddle lights, won't be to everybody's taste but I like them.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...7cffa4efb6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e35bfeb7fd.jpg

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Have a link to the logo puddle lights?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2pcsLED-L....m46890.l49292

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Replaced my passenger interior door pull handle with a new one. The old one's "paint" had peeled off and looked like crap. Same thing happened to the driver's side, but after searching everywhere I could not find anyone that had a new one. So, I pulled the driver's handle, stripped the paint and painted it with SEM Color Coat. I couldn't find an exact match, but got kind of close. The handle underlying plastic is black so the peeled paint looked really bad. A small mismatch in the color is better than how it looked. :thumbup:

I totally agree! I’ve got a crack in my trim that I’ve been thinking of pulling off and trying to fix... my issue / delay is that I don’t want to paint or wrap it, I actually like the wood. I purchased matching wood to replace it off Facebook from a guy who had a decent rating and assured me it was in good shape... only to have cracked crap arrive - back to the drawing board.


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Fitted new battery clamps, cleaned interior air filter housing.

While checking door drains I found out that the rear carpet was soaking wet. I had a leaking sunroof drain a few weeks earlier which I fixed. I confirmed that all 4 drains are working. I think the rear vapor barrier seals failed this time... I just got my new speakers in so will be doing these jobs at the same time. I will probably have to take the carpet out to dry it... :(
It could also be the AC drain :dunno:

Today I pulled the non-working hazard/central locking switch and used a hot glue gun to re-attach the bottom of the switch. Previous owner had been in there before, but had just taped it.

a week ago my son severely dented the front passenger door on a low, snow-covered stone wall. So, yesterday I went on a targeted search looking for a passenger front door in titan silver without damage or rust. I live in MA. I searched car-part and row52 looking for silver X5's. I saw 8 X5's in junkyards. In 5 stops at junkyards and dismantlers in MA and RI, I saw 5 silver front passenger doors. The one I bought is nearly flawless and I got it loaded with mirror, glass, electrics, and all trim for $130 out the door. Freedman's Inc. in Middleborough, MA had the best selection of BMWs with 6+ X5's and more than a dozen other models

Yesterday a friend picked up a beautiful Black 4.8iS however the previous owner replaced the stock 168s with 87s. My friend prefers the 168s. If anyone in the NJ/PA areas has some nice 168s they'd want to swap for 87s. Please PM me.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a901dd3a_b.jpg6063B2E6-1C6B-4855-B528-C6E3C817CF4A_1_105_c by Al, on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b1cf9e4c_b.jpg7C213AB1-93AF-4786-B50E-515F91CF516F_1_105_c by Al, on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4cc88d93_b.jpg4A4E9840-5F24-493A-8F66-53476606A12E_1_105_c by Al, on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...85638c9a_b.jpg20B333D4-0B8A-4F6D-9B6E-CA73077333B2_1_105_c by Al, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c1716cc4_b.jpg00F4AA64-E5E4-4025-82B1-31A764EB81CE_1_105_c by Al, on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6f726304_b.jpg0E75F1E0-8AC7-4313-830E-1C28E85B1446_1_105_c by Al, on Flickr

I updated my Style 87 wheels by mounting winter tires on them (Yokohama BluEarths)...then installing them on my f15 X5. :D ;) :D

(It did require mounting hub-centric wheel spacers (15mm) to reduce the 74.1mm hub to 72.56mm & 40mm extended lug bolts...but it worked and they fit) :thumbup:

Looks great!

Updated body panel with the retro wheels. Very pleasing to the eyes!

The front air dam has the X5M look. Did you retrofit the M bumpers or does it come that like factory?

Thanks fellas...wasn’t fishing for compliments...just saw the post prior to mine about the style 87 wheels...and though I’d share that (similar to the style 37 MPars)...the style 87 wheel can have life after the e53. :)

It was serendipitous that they got put back into service. I was looking for 19” e70 or f15 wheels to use for a winter set and couldn’t find anything & with winter fast approaching and winter tire stock was getting low...I got fast & furious with the wheel/tire calculators to see if it was possible to mount them before all the winter tires got back ordered...and the 87s would have to spend winter lingering unused in the shed.

I was also a bit reticent about using a 20” snow tire...especially the 315/35/20 on the rear...but driving in some mild winter conditions cold/wet/dry...cold/light snow/ice/slush...the Yoko BluEarths have done well. Hopefully they will do as well if we get a deep snow (8”+). :popcorn:

@ Marruzo: ...its the bumper that comes with the M-sport pkg on the f15 X5. The X5M front bumper has similar air vents on each corner...but the middle air vent and bumper design is slightly different (more aggressive looking).

I was shocked that the 87s didn’t look that odd when I rolled the wheel up next to the f15:

Hopefully fixed the self level suspension inactive today. After reading a thousand threads on this I was dreading trying to diagnose it properly without throwing parts at it. My big takeaways from all the threads were to get it diagnosed with BMW ISTA or GT1 scanning equipment so I can get the proper code. I paid a BMW Indy shop to read the code which was “accumulator pressure constant”. They didn’t put the code # on my receipt so not sure of that. All the research told me it was most likely a bad compressor so I bought the bagpipingandy piston rebuild kit. Swapped out the piston, went back to the Indy to clear the code and wala, all is well again. Hopefully anyway. We’ll see if the error stays away. The up/down switch works as it should. Hoping that did the trick. $115 for the scan/clearing of code and $45 for the kit so very happy about saving $400 ish for a new aftermarket compressor. Plus the labor probably saved me another couple hundred. The compressor is very easy to remove and fix. Key is get it fixed as soon as you get the error message if you have a bad compressor or leaky bags.


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Link to this piston repair kit?

Replacing the panoramic sunroof over the this next week and I’ll be replacing the sunroof/body seal. Any advice, should do’s? It’s in my garage, so no rush to get it done.


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Mid way through bearing and CV replace. Took about four hours to push the axle out of the hub. I've done the task about eight or ten times. Never needed more than a few whacks with a 4# hammer to knock out.

The axle was completely fused to the hub. After an hour of pounding both with a 5# slide hammer (i mushroomed the end of the 5/8" rod had to cut off 1/2" to fix it). 2 hours more of pounding with 4# hammer, I got the axle to move about an inch.

The next day it dawned on me maybe the plate from my bearing press might fit just fit inside the lug bolts, so I bought (3) 50mm M14 bolts and washers and sure enough it worked. Took 20-30 minutes to get everything lined up and 1-2 minutes of impact wrench.

Based on the sound of the impact it was close to the bearing install of 25-30,000# of force.

I am about to install new rotors and plan to cut out the center of an old rotor for similar push/pull in the future.

Most hub press tools use a 5/8 push rod and that would have instantly stripped had I tried.

Now I have to figure out if I can restore the hub, other than the $80-100 I want to fix my car tomorrow and can't re-install hub into the bearing so bearing plus hub must be done together.

Barrina LED lights
 

Technically this is not what I did, but it will help me with what I'm currently doing(Panoramic sunroof install). Installed Barrina LED lights from Amazon. 6 pac, 4 foot lights, all cords/plugs included for $78 USD. Turned my garage into an X5 repair shop!! Wow! So much light for very little $$. Highly recommend!! Search Amazon for "Barrina LED Shop Light, 40W 5000LM 5000K, 4FT Integrated Fixture, V Shape,T8 Light Tube, Daylight White, Clear Cover, Hight Output, Strip Lights Bulb for Garage Warehouse Workshop Basement (Pack of 6)"

My left exterior power fold mirror was floppy & stripping gears as it opened. So I opened mirror housing to expose the teenie-timy electric motor and the 2 removable worm gears were stripping each other. So, using spare parts, I replaced both time gears and reassembled. Problem gone.

I've done a LOT of work on my power fold mirror assemblies over the year. I mean a lot. A LOT, so I'm very intimate with how they work but this is first time I've ever seen stripped gears so it took me a bit of time to diagnose.

Besides the white ring (with 2 indents for the limit switch)on top of motor assembly housing, all parts are interchangeable. But those rings can pop off and onto another motor housing assemble with a good motor/gear situation. You will need to adjust/unscrew/rotate some.more stuff to get a left motor housing with right side ring to work on the right side (and vice versa) but all the parts are there.



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

I did similar for client about a month ago. He had one 4'x2 florescent light that was putting out 1/5 the normal light as getting cold.

I wanted to install across the trusses that were 8' spacing so I bought a pair of 2x2 and installed them perpendicular and screwed the 36" long 3000L fixtures to that.

Home Depot had the fixtures for sale for $10@

I installed 5 total fixtures now the garage is OR bright with 15000L.

I did a similar upgrade to a friend's garage but after we just installed white accoustic tiles after double insulating (6" fiberglass and radiant barrier with air space both sides).

We hung the lights facing UP on chains so it's indirect lighting doesn't blind you when looking up.

I can flip the one over the engine facing down when I want more light.

PANORAMIC DRAINAGE PIPE WAS UNPLUGGED FOR A YEAR
 

And I have discovered it just recently.

Basically that discovery lead me to the DOMINO effect where the entire lower interior has been STRIPPED / CLEANED / WATER VACUUMED / DRIED / ASSEMBLED BACK (with black interior trim)

Thans to an individual whos hands are growing out of the only circular muscle that a HUMAN KIND HAS!!!! - previous owner installed an aftermarket android, and asked some pothead to run the wire for the reverse camera (and he ran it with his clumsy hands along the passenger pillar where he disconnected the drainage pipe)

Made a short video on what I did meanwhile changing the carpets an properly cleaning the interior also have changed the interior TRIM Pieces including the centre arm rest to BLACK COSMOS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjjb..._channel=TUNEX

Leather seats looks immaculate! Did you refurbish them?

I like that cosmos trim! I have Imola trim.Attachment 79499

Can I ask about this?

I assume the old one was broken? What are you replacing it with? A used one? Did you rebuild the used one with the Dealer-supplied repair kit?

I need to replace the seals in my X5's but I try not to use the sunroof..

That Cosmos trim looks incredible!

No. Didnt touch anything, front seat is ripped a little bit but thats about it. Just dont put a seat warmer in the winter as soon as you get in to a cold car and the leather will not crack at all. If you live in a wintery region I would suggest putting up some fur cover on the seats and it will be a pleasant seat to touch in the winter.

That red Looks nice and Deep comare to mine that was just wrapped in red canadian tire 3M Vinyl Horribleness!!!

Black though is the way for me, absolutely amazing looking. All left is to set up some ambient lighting

Or even better, condition the leather so it doesn't dry out. Run a conditioner on it twice a year and you can have a warm butt to your heart's content. :thumbup:

Nice work on yours. Cosmos is a nice a trim in the E53. Only downside is the possibility of scratches. Not a serious problem if not a family vehicle though.

That's because it's OE trim.

YE Ill do cnditioner later in the year.

In terms of the scratches I ll wrap the trim in Polyurethane wrap so its protected 100%