I'll be doing belts and tensioners as well :thumbup: Already did my hoses, waterpump, T-Stats, expansion tank, fan clutch, etc... about 40K miles ago - don't think I will have to touch those for another 40K miles or so.

Just had the same problem. Replaced the voltage regulator on the alternator. Good as new! There are brushes in the voltage regulator that wear down and cause loss of power from the alternator.

Great fix, but where did the now powdered brush material go? :dunno::dunno:

In the aviation world this is what can happen when folks just change brushes in their motors

http://www.csobeech.com/images/GearM...ushDebris.jpeg

Mike

Looked like most of it was stuck in the voltage regulator housing which got replaced. Since the housing is at the back of the alternator, I'd assume some also just gets blown off.

Didn't work on the X5 but wrenched on the gf's e46 doing the M56 valve cover conversion. Went pretty smoothly so looking forward to doing it on the truck.

Taking out the old CCV was a pita considering it has nowhere near the room the X5 does.

It's more than likely that the brushes are
Just worn out. I just replaced my slip rings and brushes for $20

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In response to the question of where all the carbon goes: the design is open frame and in my case most of the carbon apparently ended up in my fingerprints as I disassembled the thing.

Noticing that only one side of the slip ring wears I'm thinking of reversing the polarity on the regulator brushes to flip the wear to the other side and add 50-100,000 miles to the lifespan of my wife's alternator.

I believe I figured out a simple way to do the flip and of course will share if I can pull it off.

got into a little accident a couple weeks ago. i was rear ended on the freeway, hit and run. Damage was not too bad to begin with so i decided to try to fix it myself. i have never done body work before but ive always wanted to learn the process.

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/...psxkqxisyb.jpg

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/...pslqkufalt.jpg

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/...psv0spiiqr.jpg

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http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/...psfrkdvi61.jpg

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http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/...pslhx6uinh.jpg

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/...psmp3dm18h.jpg

it is not 100% perfect. bumper reinforcement was slightly damaged and it is hard to source a replacement that will work with the tow hitch. so i did the best i could to straighten it out. overall i am pretty happy with the results.

it feels good to be back in the E53..

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0vreebga.jpg

So sorry to hear about that, but your end result looks amazing. I see you got LEDs too, they look amazing.

About how long was the whole fix?

Nice dude! I'm glad you were able to get it back together. It looks great!

Well done sir. Well done.

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