It's a neat product.

I took a different route that solves that same issue:

https://a.co/d/25btkoD


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I have a similar jump pack, but I forget to charge it every month [emoji28]

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Mine will hold a charge six or more but I charge more often because i use it to chage and hold my iphone.

I installed a phone holder like you would use on a dashboard on the jump pack and use it on job sites to have phone hands free in a good viewing position.


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I finished the vanos rebuild on Friday. It is a lot better. But I still have that little hesitation up a hill sometimes. I unplugged the maf sensor and it runs perfect. So ordered a maf, Bremi. I found out that if you unplug the maf, the car doesn't let you use the accelerator if you're also touching the brake. Weird

Yesterday I removed the original shocks and springs front and rear. The AI bot kept telling me I needed to use spring compressors on the rear which I thought was nuts. I was able to remove the upper wishbone and get it out with my foot on the brake rotor and a big pry bar on the spring. The eibach springs are about 2 in shorter so should be a lot easier from here.

I'm going to put the front back together tonight. The rear I discovered that three of the lower control arm bushings are bad. So now I'm having a hard time figuring out the scope of what to do there. The rear diff and rear subframe on this car were in the bottom of the ocean. I bought a nice subframe a while ago maybe it's time to do everything.

Also what is up with the hardware costs. $10 for a lousy m12 nut. Every nut and bolt is $20 now.

Drove 90mi after cleaning the IAC, no more fuel trim codes! (for now).

But the cruise control disengaged with no warning lights. Pulled these codes:

75 Brake-light switch, line
78 Plausibility, accelerator and brake pedals

Brake light switch? Is that somewhere in the pedal box? (traveling and don't have the Bentley book handy).

Switch is hit by the arm of the brake pedal

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0b647b3198.jpg

Attachment 85119


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87F today. I might just show all them SUV with sunroofs how they are supposed to be used. Wide open! Hello weekend! :bmw:

Have fun, I'll stick to having my sunroof sealed with PPF, thank you!

Thx!

Lost the 2 rear tires from the spike trap at work...

The spikes folded down, but the edges of the spike trap were bent exposing the plate steel end and cutting the rears.... On the inner sidewall.

FML!!![emoji849]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6cf1d90ddd.jpg

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Dang! Is that road asphalt on the tires? Or are they melting?

Just a little crispy.

That's after 8 months....

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No rim damage?

I hope work will replace your tires


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1. No rim damage either wheel.

2.[emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]

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The only tires available are "Roadstone" brand from South Korea [emoji2357][emoji25]

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I feel embarrassed to show the new shoes, but I'll let everyone know how they handle....https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...192b199ddf.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b458fe0712.jpg

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Wet got some very similar sketchy tires for wife's 535 and they are very ok.

My tires on my e70 are much harder than I'd prefer but wire they last! Over 50k miles! 80.5 k km

It dawned on me the other day that k km is Mm (mega meter). 80.5 Mm.


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At the rate you go through tires, I think the only thing that matters is, Black, Round, Hold Air

your not doing track days, ok well you probably have some defensive driving to do dodging camels but.... And your sure not worried about the wet or snow performance

Solid


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Same boat with the 4.6! Last tires were Nitto and previous to that, Duellers.

Now? Nothing available but Wanli China.

I've driven them in anger and was not expecting much, but they are surprisingly taking it in stride.

Ride is a bit more flinty then I remember though.

I'm ok with it considering the set of 4 cost less than 1 Bridgestone/Continental/Michelin, which were all out of stock anyway.

I'm getting a lot of grief from my tire snob friends though. :rofl:

I'm on my second set of Goodride SA-57 - what appear to be a Bridgestone Potenza GIII copy. And same here, performance is surprisingly good for a set of 4 tyres that cost around the same as one Michelin.

^Good to hear about other budget options to consider.

For the 4.6, did the front differential and rear differential fluids with Amsoil Signature Series 75w110. Transfer case got Redline D4 ATF.

We did the fluid change in the wash area so we could degrease and power wash the front and bottom of the engine while the stiffener plate was down. Used up a lot of degreaser lol!

I got the rear subframe down and all apart. Took forever, the driver side axle was quite stuck. I wasted a good portion of Saturday hitting it with the air hammer. It needed to soak for a few hours then finally moved. To lower it I just used a floor jack under the diff and then another one under the front half of the diff from the side. It went down really nicely. I have to figure out how to press the wheel bearings out and the parking brake cables are totally shot.

Can you please keep us informed? I am about to tackle rear bearings using AWR-DIY and woudl be eager to hear what you encounter. MY rear subframe is very rusty.

For the rears, slide hammer to pull the hub off the old bearing then cut a notch in the race that stays behind to pull off the hub.

Bearing press kit the best way to push the hub onto the new bearing but you can use as large screw and find some metal rings or maybe PVC pipe connectors just the right size. I was thinking a large pipe flange like people use to make handrails and at least 3/4 greased up bolt but 7/8 or 1" is better.

Don't make the mistake lots of DIY do and hammer the hub on. If you impact the outer race you might as well start over.

My favorite part of my diy is the slot in the tip of the bolts to snug them with a long flat screwdriver bit.


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I see I'm not the only one that likes directional tires. :bmw:

It's the motorcyclist in me! :chopper:

Drive 503miles (810km) over this past weekend, 250miles in the dry, 250miles in very heavy, driving rain, and the last 3miles in inch-deep snow!!:yikes: :chilled:

It never put a foot wrong or felt like it was about too - even hitting shallow standing water on the road at 60mph or crawling up and down the snowy hills (at WELL less than 60mph!!).

Job done. :bmw:

Wait! 503 miles on an island? It's like driving halfway across my state!

This "island" is 923kms (573miles) long by road... ;)

A full lap is about 1,600kms or 1,000miles. Done that trip, with detours, in the X5 a couple of times now.

https://i.ibb.co/B5CndSrQ/20220101-144905.jpg

Texas is bigger than your country
 

I had often thought of travelling around the inside perimeter of Texas (also my state), when I was younger, and I liked travelling more than I do now (confirmed homebody). I mapped it out a long time ago, and I forget how many miles it came to, but it was enough to dissuade me of such a venture.

So, I just asked Google about "how long is the longest road route around the interior of Texas", and here is the response:

A definitive "longest route" around the interior of Texas cannot be determined because there is no single, agreed-upon route. The state's large size and complex road network mean a route's length would vary significantly based on the driver's specific path. However, a hypothetical route following Texas's borders would cover over 4,000 miles.

Several road trip concepts and long highways demonstrate the state's vastness:

The Texas Perimeter Drive: While a literal drive along the borders is not possible due to impassable areas along the Gulf Coast and Rio Grande, a road trip following a path near the state line is estimated to be over 3,000 miles. For context, this is longer than driving from Los Angeles to New York City.

Longest straight-line distance: The greatest distance across Texas from east to west is 773 miles, and the north-south distance is 801 miles. Driving a curved road route would add more mileage to those journeys.
Interstate 10: The drive along I-10, from the Louisiana border to the New Mexico border, covers 877 miles and takes over 12 hours of driving alone.

Longest U.S. Highway within Texas: U.S. Route 83 runs from the Oklahoma border to the Mexico border, covering 906.5 miles.

The Texas Historical Commission has markers indicating the state's geographical center, noting that from that point, it is 401 miles to the most southern point of the state and 412 miles to the most northern point. However, this measures straight-line distance, not driving routes.

Sure thing. So far it's not going so well. The parking brake cables were quite a fight to get out of the wheel carriers. They were seriously welded in place. I had to get them red hot and it took all that I had with the punch and BFH.

This was mostly a Chicago car, so there is some weird corrosion. Mostly in the rear end. The front and middle are actually pretty clean. It looks like the rear sat in a puddle or something. It doesn't have the trailer hitch on it, but if it did, it looks like it was being used on the boat ramp.

I was able to separate the wheel bearings from the carriers easily. No issue with the bolts off the car, and just a few taps it came apart. The three jaw puller has not been able to separate the bearing from the hub so far. I wanted to try to slide hammer but it was too late for hammering.

So I moved on to the ball joints. I bought the $60 bavauto press kit from ecs. It fits nicely. I put the wheel carrier in the vise. The impact broke my one 24mm chrome socket. I've never had a 24 mm impact socket. I need one. Using my other 24 mm Chrome socket with the breaker bar and cheater pipe, pulling downward, broke the swivel base of my vise. Haha. There was a weird cracking noise I thought I was just breaking the socket again.. The ball joint still hasn't moved. I try to avoid using the torch I can't take the smell anymore, but I think I just need to start going to that straight away.

I am probably just going to take the new bearings to the shop, there's a old NAPA Auto parts nearby that has a machine shop in the back, I don't think they charge too much just to do a press. I don't want to hammer them in.

Are you in Chicagoland? Or just car was from there?


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No I'm near Pittsburgh. I'm the fourth owner of this thing. The third owner really ruined it. The second owner who had it for most of the 20 years, was all over the country getting this thing serviced. It looked like he had some type of traveling job, mostly a lot of time in Chicago. With the road salt collecting in the rear end.

I've been doing quite a few road trips in my aging X5s over the last 5-6 years and it seems like frequently the biggest part of the trip is just getting out of Texas. Texas is a lot. :-)

Chris
Lockhart, Texas
2005 X5 3.0 Schwarz Black
2002 X5 3.0 Titansilber

Replaced the front seats with the ones from my old 4.6is since they are made from more premium leather (Walknappa vs Dakota) and also have lumbar support. Next up would be the rear seats, but my 3.0i has heated rear seats while the 4.6is doesn't. I wonder if moving the heating element from seat to another is fairly simple task? I remember it being separate from the seat itself when I changed the fuel pump but now when looking online it certainly isn't.

What I remember looking into this many years ago is it was bonded somehow, and not easy to transfer.

I think I came across a thread where someone used aftermarket elements instead.

Thanks, that's good to know. I will take a look into this when I get the front seats completely sorted out but I might just as well keep the original rear seat to avoid the hassle.

Installed mufflers from an 06 4.4i and factory tow hitch on my 06 3.0i

Nice! Any before and after sound videos?


Ordered two new rear upper lift supports. With spring helpers, the upper hatch can knock you out! :wow:

Dont have before clips. Will do afters and post a link once I put the bumper cover back on. At idle, didnt notice any difference. When I gave some throttle, there is a noticeable difference from the outside. Inside the cabin with windows rolled up, couldn't tell much. This was all inside the garage. I will go for a drive once the bumper is on and will let you know how I feel then.

How about swapping the left and right front seat cushions? Possible?

The driver's side has a bad hot spot.

Yes it is, but try the mind-numbingly straight part of I-5 north from the CA-99 split up to where it jogs left before Tracy. With cruise control and a bungie cord holding the steering you could probably nap safely... (do not try this).

A few jobs
 

I took a break from my M62 rebuild (need to update that post for the one or two guys that care), and some long deferred home chores, to take care of an alignment and troubleshoot a left front CV boot that has been throwing grease for a year.

First, thanks to Factory6speed for some great guidance and lessons learned on the do-it-yourself alignment process with string and a ruler. All told, it seems to have worked great (I only did the front toe-in as my steering was off about 15 degrees left, to drive straight).

The right side was at 3mm toe -in so I eased it off one turn/ 1mm to get it to 1.5 mm. The left side was toed-in fully 6 mm, which I suspect was the majority of my right drift or left 20 degree steering wheel to go straight. 2.5 turns put it to about 1mm by my measurements for roughly 2ish mm total toe-in. A short test drive makes me optimistic that I got it right finally. A longer test drive on the highway will tell the story though.

Then it was up up on the floor jack and the right front came off. A good amount of grease, which I have been seeing for many, many months and just ignoring. The axle is a GKN and maybe 3 years old and I had noticed that the small clamp on the outer boot was loose when I inspected it a year or so ago and was the source of at least some of the grease. I tried to clamp the silly Oettinger clamp down more at the time, with limited success.

Today I found some cracking in all the boot creases but I didn't see any areas fully torn. That said, I suspect there are some small tears since there was a lot of grease all the way back to the hub. I cleaned it all up, cut off the clamp, jammed my grease gun under the small end of the boot and shot as much red and tacky as it would take into the joint. After it started squeezing back out of the small end, I put a screw clamp on it and wrenched it down.

Hopefully this will get me through the winter and hunting season so I can change the boot in the spring. As usual I didn't do this job when I had the hubs off a few months ago, and now I'm wishing I hadn't been in such a hurry to get the job done back then.

Its been so long I dont remember, so I looked at realoem and I see (at least for the sport seats) that the front cushion and seat covers are the same part numbers left and right.

So yes, they can be swapped.

I'd be interested, do update when you can please

Done! Three part update on the Overland thread.

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...ml#post1247357

Cool. Glad you were able to figure it out and get good measurements. My biggest problem was figuring out which way to turn the damn thing. Once I figured that out and clearly wrote it down for myself it's pretty easy. The race teams will do alignment this way, it's good once you get it down. I'm going to try to tackle the rear towards the end of the month. The guy said it's like a 3D puzzle, moving one arm affects the other two and you have to pull all three into a gradual balance. Not looking forward to it but I did buy nice new eccentrics at least.

I'll have a post with some photos in a couple weeks, the new to me rear subframe is almost ready to go up. I have to address some small rust spots underneath. Nothing too bad, it will be good to get this done.

I made the front brake pipes last night, the one behind the engine was harder than I thought. I had to cut it up by the ac lines and back by the steering shaft and use two unions. It's sitting correctly and not rubbing on anything. BMW did sneak one on me, the fitting at the pump for two of the lines is larger, it's not just the small m10 fitting on all four. I put m10 fittings on the lines, fitted everything, and then that one was too small for the pump. I had to cut the bubble off and reuse the stock fitting, and do the flare right there on the car. It worked out, but they got me good. My only guess is it's so they don't get mixed up during assembly.

I was having fits getting the swing arm bushings out. I bought the meyle HD bushing kit that includes the press cups. Good idea on their part. Even if the bushings end up not being good I'll buy them just for the tools. I got two of them out using the old transfer case bolt as a suitable threaded rod, and then broke it on the third one. And wasted three trips and was not able to find a suitable high-grade threaded rod to get the other two out.

So I decided to buy the harbor freight 20 ton press. I do not really recommend this press. The other ear of the swing arm kept getting in the way of the apron. I had to get creative with some other cups I had and was able to get it done, barely. Then I got back to the wheel bearings, and I wasn't able to use this nice new machine that I bought to press them apart. Because the apron is too small to fit the wheel hub down. I couldn't really block it up either I tried a few things. So I ended up going back to the three jaw puller and got that to work, I got everything separated just with the puller. I did have to use a hammer in a chisel slightly just to get the inner race off to where I could see some light and get the puller started. I was able to use it to get the wheel bearings on, and also the drive shaft center bearing which was nice. I'll use this a bit for the E36 and will probably sell it locally.

Good news, thanks!


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No problem! Hope it turns out straightforward!

Between work travel and cold weather I wasn't able to replace the rt rear window regulator which failed last month with a loud KRONCH after putting the window up at 80mph followed by the window falling into the door. I had a strong suction cup holding the window up for a few weeks after I took the door apart.

On disassembly the old one had mostly come apart and the so-called "repair kit" parts did not fit — I assume BMW used multiple OEMs for regulators? — so I ordered the whole thing for $40 off eBay. Never finished the job until today as it's a freakishly-warm Saturday for this time of year. Works great!

I dread pulling/replacing door cards. So many broken clips and mounts... and hot glue seems to work really well for sticking those back on, better than the black JB Weld I used on the driver's door card, which has to come off again along with the left rear to replace the vapor barriers (I found two good ones in the junkyard! but not for the right sides), check the regulator carriers for tight bolts, and replace the rear left DLA with the junkyard part I've had for over a year. It tested good.

Anyone ever figure out where that tiny orange LED goes in the door release area? I could not find an opening for it. Same with the other doors. So the insides are being uselessly illuminated...

After cleaning the IOC valve last month, no more "FUEL TRIM RICH" codes. That was becoming annoying af. One less annoyance.

Next: replace the brake light switch, which after reading about that looks like far more of a pain in the ass than it should be. Hope that gets rid of that brake switch implausibility code. Then the thermostat, although it does not run hot, because it too is throwing a code.

I had the same query about the orange light. I thought should light up the door pocket but no lens to stuff it into.

I just checked on my e70 and the lens is the entire length of the pocket maybe we just keep missing it?


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It's part of the parts list whenever we need to open the door cards, something to stick the door card clips on with. JB Weld and similar 2-part epoxies also work well IME.

I seem to remember a small led in the inner door handle recess? There is a hole for that there IIRC?

https://imgur.com/a/h1I0wIn

Pretty sure that’s only on the front doors; even though the rears have the little LED wired into the harness there’s no hole for it in the handle recess, unless my eyesight has suddenly taken a turn for the worse.


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Different trim spec - some had 'em, some didn't. All fours doors on mine have the inner handle LED...

Today I didn't do anything to/with it because Weds night as I was leaving my friend's place, the driver's door DHC* decided to let go. As in there was a crunch then the outside handle just kind of let go and is now useless and floppy. Temps here have been hovering around freezing, but no rain or noticeable condensation.

I can still open it from the inside but obvs that's a pain in the ass.

So I'm trying to decide whether to order a new aftermarket one and apply @andrewwynn's zip tie reinforcement to it, or try to fix the old one**. The DLA was replaced two years ago with a new OE BMW part ($$$), so that should still be OK.

*I'm assuming that's what failed.
**according to the prior owner's records, he replaced it in 2019 with a $25 part so either it's Amazon junk or he got it from pull-a-part.

edit: found what claim to be "made in Germany" Continental-branded DHCs on ebay, anyone ever bought one of these?

Haven't tried them but the look OK and are a decent price for a pair!

Did you note the seller? Andrew Auto Shop! ;)

Continental is a very good OEM part manufacturer


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I didn't notice that's funny


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The X5 had a few days off from driving. Back to daily driving in colder weather. I'm still not convinced of road noise humming. I'm starting to make it out better. Rear bearings are still my best guess. With winter weather here and unless one gets really bad, I'll wait to early spring to replace both rear bearings.

Bearings are not a wear item there's no reason to preemptively replace (ie both bearings). Figure out which and fix that one.

If you have 255 tires put the spare 235 on one side then to the other side. It's been a 100% success to confirm a bag bearing. If you have 235s already borrow from a friend: an e70 wheel will work if you use a centering ring.


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I'm a little leery of the multiple ebay vendors selling what claim to be made-in-Germany Conti parts. If it was one guy, maybe, but there's quite a few and they all seem to be based in New Jersey for some reason. Looks sketchy.

Turns out I had a $330 gift card balance I'd forgotten about so went ahead and ordered the OE BMW part. I do have some steel zip ties bought some time ago per your advice, so I will apply that fix to the new part.

It's 10 times more important to make sure it's lubed well.

X5Chemist's bearings or my DHC? :dunno:

Sorry, your DHC! ;)

Noted! Thx.

I’m with you…sets my spidey-sense off. Doesn’t seem quite right.

Look for "genuine mont blanc pens". Hundreds of very realistic fakes but $90 for a crazy real fake of a $500 pen that uses real mont Blanc roller ball cartridges. I'm ok with it.

Avoid air pods like the plague!

I needed a Valvetronic motor for n55 and it was very difficult to discern fake from real and the quantity of similar "made in Germany" is a very big red flag.


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Seat bottoms installed.

Immobilizer replaced (only 2 of 5 keys reprogrammed)

Steering rack seals replaced (4 years use)

Remote jump terminal installed in amp/radio bay (not tidied up yet)https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d66a649bb6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ac0199c377.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c283d8d75e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b3e44e97d0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a67296af44.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b15c5ddb80.jpg

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I've just managed to bag a pair of sport seats in really good condition apart from a small tear in the leather on one. I have repair kit so I'll fix that then swap them out for my comfort seats - mainly as an experiment to see which I prefer.
Even if I like the firmness of the sports seat I can guarantee that my wife will prefer the comfort ones..

Might be worth looking into new foam bottoms for them. They were still in the BMW parts system when I swapped my pre for post LCI comfort seats. Huge difference.

Replaced both serpentine belts yesterday in preparation for a drive to Iowa in early January. The motor only has 22k on it but I’ve been hearing an occasional rhythmic friction-type noise for a few seconds on startup. I’m getting Blackstone oil analyses done every other change and the motor shows normal wear, so I’m thinking a pulley or accessory may be making the occasional noise when it starts.

After pulling the belts I spun everything and it all seemed smooth, except for possibly the AC clutch and/or compressor which felt perhaps a bit less smooth than it should be and had a faint metallic sound to it when spun. Not enough info to make a decision on, so the belts went on and I’ll keep thinking about it.

Any time the bottom splash guard and fan are off is a good time for me to look for leaks, which fortunately I didn’t find beyond a right vanos seal that has been bleeding a bit so I cleaned up the area and will replace both of them sometime soon.

A 2006 just hit my pull-a-part today so I’m hoping it has decent seats, and I might have them pull the wheels because it’s got matte black rims that look to be about 19”. I’ll go check it out this weekend. Attachment 85197


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Ooh a gray one. If you do go take a look at this, can you please see if the driver's door has any rust in the crease at the bottom? I may have to go get that door. The two I have found so far were in the same condition as mine, rust at the bottom. I haven't really been able to find one.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get there in time today and it’s gonna be –8C tomorrow and I am not leaving the house [emoji3063]

It’ll be there next week. And it’ll be warmer!


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Oil Service plus air filter plus fuel filter.

Had this thing for over 10 years now and I still marvel at the stupid engineering in relation the changing the air filter and the fuel filter. These items should be accessable with minimal dismanlting but getting to either involves the removal of so many fasteners and plastic panels, it borders on comical....

https://i.ibb.co/pB7mVcTr/20210313-193921.jpg

At least the result is worth it - she now purrs like a ktten (sorry, omodos! :rofl:)

Nice. I would take the mirrors or the folding microswitches! Those will be valuable to you later! I'm still looking for replacement microswitches.

The X5 has been parked for over two weeks. I had to leave on a family emergency. I put it on a 750mA charger over night. It's been tested to have an 11mA draw locked and alarm on. I didn't want to use the 4 amp charger overnight. It had juice to start up. However, I didn't want to strain the electrical system. I know the battery is low when door locks unlock really slow. It will crank up nice and strong this morning. :thumbup:

Unsure if those would even work on my pre-LCI. Or do you mean for resale?

The folding mirror microswitch is the same for all E53's. Unless I'm mistaken. Does it have a hitch?

It does, but it was installed by the prior owner. Westfalia according to his records.

The right-side mirror dips in reverse.


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Westfalia is the good factory hitch...It is worth grabbing if you have time.
I have pulled a few Westfalia hitches off E53's in junkyards. I then get them sandblasted and painted.

It takes about 45 mins to remove one...Keep all the hardware. Be sure to grab (disconnect) the wiring harness, rubber grommet and the separate trailer module near the battery. Also Grab the long, bumper insert that goes with the Westfalia hitch as well as the heavy inserts (2) that go where the stock bumper inserts go. See pic below...for everything.

http://www.xoutpost.com/images/articles/91/Parts.jpg

If the junkyard LCI has one, what do you think it's worth? I already have a Westie hitch. Planning to go later today now that it's not frigid-cold...

edit: no hitch on this one.

This thing appears to be rust-free. I pulled the driver's door card and felt around at the bottom and there's nothing there, nor on the outside. I took some pics of the inside and the outer bottom but they're kind of crappy. The vapor barrier is largely intact so I took these through a tear in it. I tihnk it can be reused if patched.

Too bad it didn't have sport seats... they are gray and I think with heaters but someone ripped that control panel off so I'm guessing. I want the wheels (18") but the two rears are stuck to the hubs; looks like someone tried getting them off as the lugs are all on the ground. The tires are from 2018 and are Lingling Chinese crap, but they will do for now, if I decide to go back for them and their guy can get the rears un-stuck. They're dirty but in good shape.

Come n git it!

VIN: 5UXFB53306LV2580Z

Had you sprayed some liquid wrench you could likely knock off those stuck wheels next visit. Recently i couldn't get some fronts off a Camry, put the lugs back on finger tight then one turn loose and drop the car on the wheels knocked them loose. A 2x4 and a big sledge might be the only way with these though.


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I've got the driver's door card off again for what feels like the 13th time... and more of the black mounting point brackets broke free. Again. I'm going to hot-glue them back on, but trying to decide if I want to use self-adhesive velcro strips to hang it back on. I'm so tired of those plastic clips breaking. Anyone done that? I think I remember someone mentioning that.

The crappy Chinesium door handle carrier broke, but not at the usual place that y'all been putting steel zip-ties around that shaft. Something let go where the outer handle connects. Gonna put the new* one in tomorrow.

*OE BMW part.

I have glued several of those brackets back on succesivley with "Ulta-black" gasket maker. I think an RTV-based product has the right combination of adhesion and flex for this purpose. Hot glue may be too rigid.

I used the black JB Weld gasket maker on this door panel the last time I had it off and those seem to be holding well; the ones that broke off this time were the original yellow glue that's now turned to rocks. I used hot glue on another door panel earlier this year and the tube of the JB Weld vanished during my move last summer, so I guess that's what I'll be using. I have to get this done tomorrow before the weather turns cold again.

edit: no store here had the JB Weld stuff so I found a Permatex equivalent and used that. Also found one of the door pockets partly separated so that got glued down. Curing overnight.

Got the driver's door DHC replaced, re-glued the mount points for the door card last night, installed the miraculously-intact vapor barrier I got from the junkyard this past summer (and a rear one!) with some butyl rope and a heat gun. The old DHC was replaced in 2019 by prior owner; based on the $25 price in his spreadsheet it was either a junkyard part or Chinesium from amazon... and it broke where you'd expect it; see pic.

The ÜRO external door handle and gaskets I got from FCP are shit. I might put the old ones back on because the gaskets in the kit are so soft it's impossible to get the handle aligned with them and now it's not sitting flush with the lock cylinder cover. But at least I can open the door without dropping the windows with the key or crawling in from the other side.

By the way I officially dub that M5 allen screw that holds the lock cylinder the "bitch screw". Every BMW has at least one and this one took about 30min to get threaded into the cylinder, which being pot metal I didn't want to get all HULK SMASH on it. At least the new (OE BMW part) DHC came with new fasteners.

And now we wait for the next thing to break... but tonight driving back from the grocery store I was so happy with the way this tank drives once everything is working. I've spent about $2,675 on parts and labor in 2.5 years which is not bad, considering the average new car payment per Experian is $748 @ 6.5% interest for 70mos, that would have cost me almost $21,000 by now with a lot more left to owe on a badly-depreciating asset, so I'm quite OK with old stuff breaking as long as it doesn't leave me stranded again like when the water pump blew up in the middle of nowhere on a holiday.

The weather is gonna turn really cold tonight so I'm glad I finished this one, between work travel and unusually-cold weather I kept putting it off. Today was freakishly-warm for the end of December, about 21C/70F.

I averaged about $40/mo on repairs with my E53. Had it for about 66 months. Insurance totaled the car the difference was 1900 from the price i paid.

29+40=69/mo net. Paid about the same for insurance.


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47F today. Yeah, seat warmer use today!

Thank you so much. Really good news. I will probably have to go down there and plan to get that door. I might actually grab the other three while I'm there. Thank you! Happy new year.

Probably the weekend after next I should be able to make a trip.

I almost have this thing back on the road. This has been an absolute ton of work. All I have to do is chip the old donut gasket off of the midpipe and it's done.

I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures, especially before pictures, but you all have seen an e53 rear end that's never been touched and spent about a decade in the salt belt. The rear subframe in particular looked like it had spent time in the ocean and I think was close to cracking.

I replaced the subframe with one from the south. I replaced most of the pieces associated with it or reconditioned as I could. The only thing I wanted to replace and couldn't was the CV axles, the manual ones are not available. Otherwise, all new suspension parts in the rear. Bilstein B6 lowering kit.

The brake pipes turned out really well. The pedal is finally solid. The master cylinder was an aftermarket unit from 2017. I replaced that and the booster which was not easy. Since I finally had to take the wiper arms off, I was able to find the passenger one new, but the driver one is NLA, so I had to try and paint that which turned out okay.

I also painted and resealed the diff. And painted the pinion flange, and axle flange covers. I painted a ton of small parts, that took a long time

New parking brake and rear brakes. The calipers are refurbished from carID on eBay for about $100. Great buy so far, we'll see how they work out

I found the eisenmann exhaust on eBay and lowballed the guy. We came to a nice deal. Assuming I can ever finish getting that gasket off and it works out I will post a sound clip of it on m54.

I also trim blacked the bumpers, the side skirts and the fender flares. That took forever. It turned out fairly okay, not perfect but a lot better than it was. It took six cans of that trim black stuff, not cheap.

There was some rust on the rear corners under those heat shields, and the spot in front of the battery tray. I used the wire wheel to knock everything off to bare metal, and then the KBS kit to neutralize and seal everything up. Then I bought the paint bucket of fluid film and went under with the foam brush and coated everything. This all took a few weeks and was not fun and quite dirty, but hopefully will be worth it. No more rust anywhere, except for the driver door.

https://i.imgur.com/wU3uemWl.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/EuyBJHRl.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/Lx5WQE3l.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/GC01m1nl.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/7U9IkkOl.jpeg

Hope it's still there! Make sure to check the website before you head down.

https://www.pullapart.com/inventory/...onID=0#results

Give a shout if you do, I'll be in-between work trips but if available I can assist, plus I want to try and un-stick the rear wheels if all four are still there; the fronts were off and the rears had the lugs removed but they are both stuck tight on the hubs.

Bring sun some liquid wrench and some freeze off. Spray a ton right on the hub to shrink it.

The best way I’ve found to break them loose is to put the lugs back on but a couple threads loose from snug then drop the car back to ground unfortunately you can't use that trick.

If you every get them loose share what you did.

I just thought of what i would try.

With both wheels off the ground the opposite side will turn the opposite direction but: wrap a ratchet strap around each tire one attempt to go forward one backwards. Tie the loose end to something strong in the front suspension then step on the strap right in the middle. Hop if yoi need to. This will apply over 1000# of force at the bottom of the tire and ∴ 1000 ft·lb torque.

Put a couple lugs in loosely each side so the wheel won't fall off just turn a couple mm.

Whichever side breaks loose, set up the other side with the strap on the bottom and repeat.

The setup would have one strap going off the bottom toward the rear and attached to something on the rear like rear subframe. The working strap comes off the bottom and longer the better so maybe the tension strut.

For a little force multiplication, a 4' 2x4 under the middle of the car over the strap then step on it.

Put the strap though itself when going around the tire so it snugs onto the tire. Jumping on the strap should put 1500-2000# impulse. Use a thick strap. It's enough to snap those thin cheap ones.

(I've done this trying to pull an x5 off a snow berm).


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For the wheels, just put a ratchet strap through the rim on one side to the other (1 loop not as a strap with loop on each end) then ratchet as much as possible, then release and do same 90° off previous position and repeat. This in effect is wobble walking the rim on the hub.

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Thx you guys!

Just barely made it home with 1200.00 worth of groceries....

Temp jumped to 108c, so I pulled off the highway to cool and used ALL the water I had on hand to refill and cool the radiator.

Leak is about a teaspoon+ per minute when hot and engine off. I haven't pinpointed it yet (waiting till completely cool) but it is looking like a water pump. I also broke the driver side rear DHC. [emoji849] FML!!

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That's a crunchy noise I'll never forget.

Largely because you'll likely hear it again.... :rolleyes:

So... damage is from something entering from underneath cracking the water pump and also punching a hole in the radiator...https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f45b6a02f1.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ab9a67d28c.jpghttp://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/69592758...103-WA0014.mp4http://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/6959276c...103-WA0015.mp4

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Dang .. not good. /

How does that happen, that area is pretty well protected is it not. The air conditioner unit is right in front of that.

I had the front intercooler radiator on the 340 get punctured near the bottom, there was no guard or anything.

I've been trying since Thursday night to get the exhaust and rear bumper installed correctly. I'm about to drive this f****** thing into the river. I think I got it though. They really make you work for it. All the trim and stuff has just taken forever to install correctly. I also had an 18 mm wrench fall off the guiding link bolt and smack me right in the mouth. I spent most of yesterday bleeding significantly. Today I look like s***. But we're getting there. Radiator intact... I can't complain. Sorry man.

OOF. Feel better man...

I also forgot to add the lower radiator hose and serpentine belt to that list...

This was a 6"×6" piece of OSB that I got kicked up by 120kph traffic because just before I hit it, it was flipping from flat to edge to flat and the hit sounded solid like metal. At that moment I was so happy my front clip sounded intact and thought that it hit the stiffening plate. NOPE it made the gap

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

two of my most prize possessions are 21 and 28 inch titanium crowbars. they were all made Russia, probably 20 years ago or more. you used to be able to buy them on eBay, but they are nonexistent for sale in the entire world now as far as I know.

they are better at most things in every way compared to steel but they are a lot more flexible so you can get yourself in trouble by storing energy as a spring.

One day, I was in the wrong place when one of these unsprung and poked the two ends of the claw right into the bridge off my nose.

so I definitely feel you with that 18 mm wrench smashing your mouth been there, brother


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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...21b6c4e4e7.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f1b7e4c17e.jpg
Yeah so that happened!


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Ouch! Safety glasses and gloves. Two things I've learned to wear due to similar incidents.

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

I always have glasses on that have PC lenses. May have saved me big-time in that incident.

Note the bruise under my left eye where the frame hit me.

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Heyyyy. Replaced the rear brake shield with all new e-brake hardware/shoes ( much needed with the 5 speed)
Next is to delete the CDV for the clutch line …

Haha.. I had very similar markings, just 2" further down.

First test drive was a success. The exhaust sounds great it's really quiet. It's pretty much stock just sounds a little different. The suspension is a little stiff so far. But the brakes are all working.

I didn't get very far though. Second test drive after topping off the diff and again bleeding the brakes, this happened:

https://i.imgur.com/GpXmJMkl.jpeg

I had taken the water pump pulley off many months ago just to look at some blue area to see if it was leaking. I took the belt off. I put the belt on correctly made sure it was on good. But I just ran the water pump pulley on with a quarter inch ratchet. Maybe that was enough deflection at 6,000 RPM.

The oil filter is full of strange little black shreds and black crumbs. Someone posted a picture of what they got in the pickup and it looks like what I have in the filter. There was also some copper flakes in the filter. I attempted to borecope through the oil pan and dipstick and couldn't really see anything conclusive. There's not really a crank pulley tool available. I'm fairly certain it's in there. A new belt is 90 g I have about 60 g accounted for. So this thing's probably coming out. Salty b if you're reading this I probably won't be seeing you at the junkyard this month. I don't know what I'm going to do yet. If anyone has a half decent m54b30 long block sitting around let me know. Maybe I can just clean it out and do the rod bearings.

Ugh. Did it get sucked into the crank seal?


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I'm not aware of m54 having an issue with swallow serpentine through FMS but I've experienced it happen with the N55.

If you can examine the rod bearings with the engine in place, and especially if you never heard knock, there's a good chance you didn't cause crank damage.

I just did the initial autopsy on wife's n55 that spun 2-3 rod bearings and it looks like the crank survived. Likely needs to be polished and 50% honed just a bit but that can use thicker bearing shells and be restored.

One bearing was worn down to polished copper, but the crazy one: the bearing shells turned enough to overlap and stuck to the crank and spun inside the big end until about 1.3mm wore off the outside of the bearing shells!

The rubber bits kill the engine when they get into the oil galleys and stop the flow. Odds seem good you can clean and change rod bearings.

Where are you located?


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Any benefit to replacing the plastic WP pulley with a metal one? FCP has one, but some of the reviews imply that the extra weight vs the plastic one causes premature WP wear.

FCP also has a beefier WP that I've considered. https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...wart-888010330

The prior owner installed a no-name Chinesium WP which failed catastrophically halfway through a 350-mile road trip, stranding me for several days in a small town over the July 4 holiday. The serp belt was destroyed too but fortunately did not get wedged into the crank seal.

That issue on N55 seems related to a leaky oil filter housing gasket at least based on the F30 forum I'm also on. I check mine every few months.

The weight isn't the problem.
I found the URO metal pulley is not totally concentric so I took it off and put on a new plastic one. Make sure the fan and clutch are in good shape.

Had to do a complete reset/reboot of my stereo. Had a Royal convoy pass me on the inside shoulder breakdown lane running his jammer and it shut all my shit down including my BT OBD2. Not sure what they're running now but it's meaner than the old Acorn, Duke, Red/Green systems. [emoji849]

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Did an oil change yesterday at about 5k since the last one. A bit longer than I normally let it go, but I didn’t have time before driving the X to Kansas recently. I’m sending a sample from every other change to Blackstone for an analysis. The motor seems to be aging well (about 25k on it now) so it’s mostly just curiosity. 8+ quarts of 5w 30 full synthetic. I also changed the rear diff oil and put a new gas cap on the car. The tether on the old one snapped and I was going to live with it, until I dropped the cap a few too many times when fueling in a hurry.

The Quaife has been in for roughly 15k, and this is its first oil change after I did a break in service at around 1k on it. Definitely some metal mud on the magnetic plug I use in the diff. All diffs make some metal, but I’m starting to suspect that I either screwed up the output bearing pre-load, or the pin/ring gear adjustment, or the pinion bearing is slowly going bad. That is the only one I didn’t change when I built the eBay diff because I didn’t have the right tools to do a good job, and the pre-load was spot on when I tested it.

Of course it could be the Quaife too, which is essentially a very dense collection of gears. But I suspect my handiwork long before I’d suspect the quaif. Regardless, I only get a very, very slight hum in cold weather, at low speed. Which could be any number of things I guess. Definitely coming from the back of the car tho and only from a dead stop to maybe 25 mph, in cold wx when the car is cold.

A “keep an eye on it” issue.

Scrapped 1/2" of ice this morning. I had to remove enough to free the wipers. Heat and gluteus maximus warmer at full power. Do seat warmers turn off automatically from full power? Mine turned off twice while waiting for heat. No problem driving to work. Even tried to spin all four wheels a few times. No such luck. :bmw: Xdrive works great. It's rare I get to drive in snow/ice. I'll enjoy the drive while the roads are empty. :bmw:

On the e70 the seat heat isn't on a timer. I do need to get some cardboard in front of my radiator.

It took bmw a few years to figure out to put in shutters. Wife's 2015 F10 has them and you can get engine heat ins reasonable time on auto.

On mine no heat for 20 min. unless i turn off the heater.

With the right tires the e53 is crazy in snow/ice! I've driven through 15"? Of fresh snow plowing off the top 1/3. I was careful to never stop moving. I've also driven down into a ditch in 6" if wet heavy snow to rescue a grand am that took a turn too fast.

Another time on polished to ice packed snow, pulled a car out sideways from the curb. They were just making polished ice attempting to un-parallel park


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My coolant system is set up for hot summers. Trying to warm up at idle does not work. The X5 needs to be moving. It was at half way between blue and mid gauge after 15 minutes. Once I was moving, within 1 mile, it was up to temp. I'll set the seat warmer to mid range this afternoon. I'll see if it turns off. The low range does not turn it off.

No the seat heater should not turn off, so that could be a sign of trouble, maybe a short in the pad starting to get rubbed in from the hog rings in the seat. A drop in voltage could cause them to use extra current and shut down so if your battery was low or charging system not up to the task it could cause that. If it keeps happening maybe turn off the lights and/or turn down the heater fan to see if that helps. Then start a thread ;)
What does "cooling system set up for summers" mean??

I think if you turn off the dsc you can have some fun in the snow

Hey, didn't think of turning off DSC! Thanks!

80stech,
"hot weather setup" basically a good mechanical clutch, good water pump, and good thermostat. The thermostat wide open, temps run at 194F (90C) while moving (hot summer temps).

Fog lights, headlights, defrost (full fan speed), door/rear hatch defrost on, and full seat heater turned on at idle is not good! It's probably why the seat heater turned off. Next time, I'll set the seat to the lowest setting. Turn off the lights while defrosting too. I did fully charge the battery two days before the current storm. I wanted a full charge since I knew I had to start up today.

The driver's seat heater in mine started turning itself off this winter. It's always had a hot spot but never shut itself off before. I can get it to stay on if I hike my ass up off the seat and turn it back on. Usually it will stay on after that. The seat back heater doesn't work, never did. I still want to swap the seat cushions with the right side, if possible.

I'm mad that my E53 currently disabled because I'd sure love to be outside playing in the snow with it. I can't drive my F30 in this, Michelin PS4s are garbage in snow and it's RWD only. Fortunately I don't need to go anywhere today.

For a "cold weather setup:"
You can take the mechanical fan right off for winter, as long as you aren't using the A/C you can get away without the mechanical fan. You can cover the engine with a folded towel or better yet, wool blanket (also naturally fire retardant) just poke a piece of wire through and attach the corners or ends and keep it away from the exhaust manifold.
Put a set of Blizzaks on for some incredible traction! ;)

Headlights polished, new battery.
 

Towards the end of last year got tired of the near zero light output of my original HID lights. The lenses had finally deteriorated to the point of making the lights completely useless. (Currently working on a (re-)modified set, implanting Morimoto Bi-xenons and LED High beam projectors, today cleaned the sealant channels, still need to repaint the reflectors with mat black when the weather improves.) Took 400 grit to them, then sanded four more steps, unfortunately only found my 600 grit after I finished, so there is a bit of a scratch but nearly invisible. After the final sanding (2000 or 3000 I believe) I used some polish and sealant from a Turtle wax kit I had lying around. Came out looking pretty good and they will do until I get the modded units ready in the next few weeks. (Will put the trim pieces back when the modded lights get installed.)

Last Friday got back from a trip to Germany (Among other things visited the BMW museum, pretty sweet collection. They had a 5-sereis line up with an F10 similar to mine and same vintage but no X models) and Austria (ski), to find my E53 has sat outside for a couple of days and on Saturday morning the battery was toast. It is an 80ah lead acid unit from 2018 and I have decided to implant an AGM 95ah from batteries +. Just need the weather to improve a bit.....

Need to pick up some stuff for an oil change as well before I take the E53 on its annual road trip to Toronto, ON late Feb.

E53 and blizzaks would be incredible. I use Dunlop winter sport which are also rated as studless tires but without the super soft outer layer yet they are close to blizzaks and incredible traction. Gunning full power on polished snow is incredible!


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I love my E53 and Nokian Hakkapeliitta
I really dont care what the weather is outside when driving in it:rofl:

I ran Blizzaks on Style 57? 17" extra set of OE wheels for 5 winters on our 2001 E53, back when we were full time at our Mtn home: they were nearly bulletproof and indeed incredible in any snow condition except serious azz ice.

And our Mtn house has mostly v narrow, extremely steep winding roads for 4 miles 'down' and back up, from nearly a mile high to town at 2500 ft.

Wheel and tire combo offered same rolling circumference as the style 132 19s I still run. That 2001 E53 still runs like a top, 24 yrs later/145,000 miles...

Those came out really nice.

I used the Cerakote headlight kit about two years ago on a set of xenons I bought off ebay after my attempt to remove/replace the nearly-brown lenses on my '01 ended in the destruction of one and an unfixable leak in the other. One of the ebay parts still looks good, the other could use another go.

On my e53 i only ever had Dunlop winter sport. Year 'round and driving on oily roads in Chicago summers they were the primary help in avoiding 3 accidents where somebody stopped short in front of me and i had plenty of grip with the studless winter tires.

I have a set back home on e53 rims. I wish I'd have mounted them before coming to Pennsylvania.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c0b2156705.jpg
So… yeah.

Last hour is a bug. Last 24 hr should read. Nonetheless, there's an inch of snow on the ground on the path where I start when I'm done blowing the walks. It's been an interesting day! 5x so far blowing all the walks. Each time about 4-5 more inches.


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Gotta go for winter tires folks!
 

As always, around Thanksgiving swapped the wheels on my E53 to the winter set, pretty much only use Michelin winter tires. I have always found winter tires to offer way more grip when it gets cold. In my experience the Michelin and Contis retain good traction even if part worn.

Just came back from a ski trip, we landed in Munich early January and were immediately met by a winter storm that was going to last for several days. After a bit of back and forth I wrangled a VW Touareg out of the rental folks, which rode on some kind of Goodyear winter tires. Going up and down the Austrian switch backs to the lifts every morning/afternoon the winter tires kept us safe, a few wiggles but generally loads of grip.

I feel winter tires are a must, especially if you depend on your car getting around daily regardless of weather. Summer tires in any kind of winter weather are an accident waiting to happen.

My brother has a set of Vredestein snow tires on his M3 Comp which he daily drives in the Northeast. I’d never heard of them but he can’t say enough good about the brand now that he’s got them on the car in a lot of crappy wx this winter.

The Gelolander AT 015s I’ve got on my X5 have been fantastic. Not really normal X5 tires, but if someone need a set of AT tires for their truck I can absolutely recommend them. Well behaved on the hwy with a decently low noise level for AT tires and great in the snow and rain, and on the unimproved farm roads I get into in the fall/winter. I’m sure they are contributing to my crappy MPG, but on the plus side they are wearing well. 25k and still have plenty of tread left.

I did just pick up another 4 Method wheels for the E53. The Bronze with the E53/BMW center bore and lug pattern was on close out for $100, which is crazy. I was likely the only person who ever bought them though. The insides of my rims are pretty beaten up from brake caliper and tie rod end rubbing, and off road use. As such a couple of them are getting hard to balance. I’ve now got the caliper backs and tie rod ends ground to where they clear, so hopefully this will be the last set. I couldn’t pass up $100 bucks a pop for $600 wheels. I’ll swap them on at some point, perhaps with a left front caliper rebuild.

Basically I’m stalling the big job of pulling the dash to replace the blower motor, which is angrily screaming at me any time the temp is below 45 degrees and I dare to take a left turn. I figure I need a week or two for this job, and a few others, as long as the car is down for a while.

Wow! Those look great! :wow: I hope my soon to be refinished lights look just as good.

I took off the stock 235s for 255s. The NEXEN ROADIAN HP SUV tires have 30k miles on them. They look great. Traction is great in rain and now snow. In the storm of '21, I had stock 235s. A Discount tech told me the 235s were the cheapest tire they sold. The previous owner put them on. Even with the 235, the X5 had no trouble with up 6" of snow drifts. The Bizzaks are semi directional. Extra sipping cuts. If the Roadian had more sipping cut, I think it would be a good winter tire too. The Roadian stock tire did great. I would definately venture out as long as "ID-T10" drivers stayed at home.

Was heading home and "Check coolant level" warning showed up for the first time in the current car. The engine temperature stayed at a constant level of around 95 C (200 F) and it was -20 C (-4 F) outside so I didn't bother to stop and see what's going on. Ended up adding maybe 0.3 liters of coolant to top up but it's been a while since the last I checked the coolant level so I'm not sure over what period of time it has been decreasing. At least I couldn't find any visible leak spots but I have to keep an eye for this.

Also the door handle carrier of the rear driver side door broke just recently. It had acted weirdly for some time now and now it was freezing and something just snapped when I tried to open the door. New DHC already on the way. Did the fix with metal cable ties as per @andrewwynn for the driver's door last year and will be doing the same for this one too so hopefully this will be the last time for this door. :D

"Farm" repair for window regulator
 

Last year around thanksgiving my passenger window stopped going up without some help. On Christmas eve my wife got home from a short two mile hop with the window refusing cooperate. I got some brackets for this repair off Ebay quite a long time ago and on Christmas morning I was up early and decided to have a quick go at it.

The bracket is probably not a long term fix but until I have time to take the door apart and install the new regulator that sits in my garage, it should hold. The driver's door has had this bracket in for two years now I believe. Still have to order the driver's side regulator. Probably living on borrowed time there....

The bracket hooks on to the regulator cable. It has a small tab that is meant to keep the cable in place but that makes it difficult to install and doesn't look very strong either. I just remove the tab and install a couple of zip ties. See pictures below.

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

Interesting feedback on level of seat heat. It only has on/off but changes the duty cycle to get to a set temp but it should stay on and maintain the temp set.

It likely monitors current as mentioned to detect a short or open and will disable itself if out of spec.

Test passenger seat as a control. Turn both on high and see if psg stays on.


235s have WAY more traction in snow because they push through do to higher psi. When wife had 235 W Winter Sport same time i had 255s, it was crazy to compare. I already had tremendous grip, her's put me to shame.

On wet slush i could full throttle launch at over 3/8 G and brake at over 3/4 G. Under normal brake/acceleration i couldn't tell there was slush on the ground that wasn't plowed yet.

Funny moniker ID-10T reminds me of a famous F14 pilot "gripe".

A gripe sheet was a report of any issues with the aircraft for maintenance to address.

Occasionally the only gripe the pilot might have is: "replace the R10 unit"

He was referring to the back seater aka the Radio Intercept Officer.


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More maintenance and a idling problem
 

Two weeks ago installed new battery; 90Ah AGM. The old one was an 80Ah lead acid and was about six years old. It went into decline a few months ago and was terminal when I got back from a three week trip overseas and temps went below freezing.

Last weekend put in a fresh oil filter and a batch of Mobil1. Drained the transmission to check condition after the clutch cage replacement about 7k miles ago. Did not see anything untoward in the drain tray! :-) Then refilled with Ravenol 5/4HP. Sucked the power steering fluid out and refilled with generic Valvoline ATF. Also removed the brake fluid which was slightly cloudy and refilled it with Pentosin DOT4 brake fluid, then flushed the brake lines. A new rear badge and a puddle light completed the fixes.

Figured I'd drive it to the ski area last Sunday to give it a shakedown before the annual trip to Canada at the end of the month. When I got to Pennsylvania after driving just shy of 200 miles I got an SES light. Checked yesterday on return, INPA showed a fault relating to injector dwell being too high. Adaptation value additive showed about 3 and 5, not terrible but still. [The engine had been a bit lumpy at idle when cold for a while already and getting worse.] I took my clues from here <https://www.meeknet.co.uk/E38/Diagnostics.htm> and this: <https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/x5-e53-forum/109484-solved-calling-all-m62-gurus-3.html>, thanks Overboost!

Time to pull out my home made smoke generator! (Something like this: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tixozqgSwN0&t=271s> but I used a black rubber cap to close the top) Of course when I built it I didn't worry about getting hoses for it..... Ugh! Why is it that one never seems to have the exact bit of hose needed? Anyway....after enough searching in my box with hose scraps I found something workable.

Pulled the air filter housing out of the engine bay and put a small plastic bag over the MAF end using a zip tie. (Promptly dropped one of the clips into Narnia!) First tried injecting smoke through the larger connection on the inlet elbow but wasn't sure if the smoke was getting past the throttle plate. Next decided to connect to the TLDM vent pipe connection just behind the throttle body. BINGO! The seal between the throttle body plate and the intake manifold leaks like a sieve! No wonder the idle is lumpy. I left things cooking a bit longer but found no other leaks.

New seal inbound coming Wednesday, going to be spending a bit more quality time under the hood. I should probably install the new hood shocks as well, car has been trying to do a Marie Antoinette on me.....




Below my version of Mr Fusion :-)

Prettiest DIY smoker I've seen! Nice job and so nice your found a major fault right away.


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It doesn't really look like that happened. I got the crank pulley off and don't really see any disturbance to the seal. I'm not sure what I'm seeing in the oil filter. But either way there was a lot of copper, it needs a rod bearing. I'm looking forward to pulling the oil pan to really see.


I'm near Pittsburgh. I fixed it in the profile thing

Yeah, I debated hard on just doing the rod bearings in situ, but decided not to. This engine has 140,000 miles on it and really is a bit of a mess from the prior owner. If I did that, knowing my luck, next year I'd have to do the head gasket or something. I haven't driven the car in almost 6 months so I figured let's just pull it out and do this now.

It came out pretty easy. Getting the connectors out of that DME cage was not fun. And the subframe again stuck on the two bushings on the front bolts, and ruined what otherwise would have been a nice graceful pull. I didn't think they would stick as I did the oil pan less than 2 years ago, but they did, I guess i forgot to grease them. The usual coolant everywhere.

Tonight I will tear this apart and try to get it on the stand and maybe down to the crankshaft. I would love to film it all like that guy does, but that's a ton of effort and I don't have a good microphone, sorry. If the bores are looking good and round I hope to avoid the machine shop possibly.

https://i.imgur.com/dgKrp4ol.jpeg

Thanks Andrew. Right away might be optimistic.... :) I procrastinated a couple of months on figuring out the lumpy idle. The SES light finally made me check the error codes and then I rummaged about on the internet for a few hours trying to understand the error messages as well as the role of the CCV and all the vacuum lines. Thought for some time about where to connect the smoke generator and finding the hoses for the smoker. The cold temps in my garage kept me from pressing on under the hood right away.

After finding the issue I was too excited and forgot to connect the TLDM vent hose back to the manifold.........resulting in an idle that really was pathetic. Fortunately, it only required taking the beauty cover off to stick the hose back on. Took me the better part of an afternoon to get this squared away.

I've almost driven to the moon....https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2e97b577b3.jpg

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Update intake seal
 

Didn't think I was going to say this but the seal was indeed all it was. It now starts from cold in the morning without any fuss and runs smoothly. Can't remember if it was ever replaced before, I know the one on the back for the CCV valve was replaced. By the state of it and the fact that the six bolts holding the flange were tighter than expected I'm inclined to say it was the original seal.

Ran out of time on this occasion but next time it is in my garage with the beauty cover off I am going to smoke test it again to make sure none of the vac line leak. Pretty sure they are tight but it is like a waterbed, fix one problem, find another... :-) For now all is well, next week 1000 miles R/T to Toronto.


.

Fantastic!


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Fantastic!


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Not sure when you're planning on making the trip but if you happen to be driving past the London, ON area give me a shout if you like. I would love to meet another member.

Also...I have a parts car on the driveway...just saying

Found new rims a set of 4 is 2,600 SAR from a wheel shop going out of business.

The choices are shown below.
What set do you guys think?[emoji2369]
I like all of them, even the blackout rims. [emoji848]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3b19499484.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...63d9aa99e7.jpg

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Black looks better on a white X5.

I think so too and $690 USD for a new set of rims is pretty good. (No clue about stateside prices)

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I paid $600 for mine. You have much bigger rims that's a very good deal.

You might be better off with steel though [emoji3]


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Probably just use bolted on manhole covers...[emoji1787]

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Changed front ball joints. It had been about 140,000 miles since they were last changed. They were still in decent shape. Interestingly the right was more worn than the left.

Changed front ball joints. It had been about 140,000 miles since they were last changed. They were still in decent shape. Interestingly the right was more worn than the left.

Prob more potholes near the curbside.


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Myth busters did that. And a few other ideas like stuffing a flat tire with hay.


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Pulled the drivers door card off to change what I thought was a DHC going bad. Turned out it wasn't. I pulled the latch too and lubricated it. Its back to normal operation. Since I was going to be in there I ordered new clips for the window and changed those while I had it open. Window operates quietly and smoothly again. When I pulled the card off the upper piece of plastic broke off the card. It has been in the process of coming off every time I've had to pull the door card. Been gluing and epoxying it back where loose for awhile. Completely came off this time. Cleaned off all old glue, cleaned and prepped the plastic and used bumper adhesive to glue it back together. We'll see how it holds up.

Went and got my new rims, the black ones were sold so I got these...

I also had to do a repair on the actual door handle because, why not have more things to do?[emoji2959]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6d0527ad79.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e08509b627.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0fd22424d4.jpg

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It's always like that. Go to fix one thing, find another.

Yup. You have a defective BMW if there isn't anything on it that needs fixing.

:thumbup:

Number one rule with BMW repair: leave one item unresolved. Car will fight back if you fix everything.


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What is this thing called "one" you speak of? [emoji848]

If I only had one thing to repair, I'd check and see if I hopped in someone else's e53!!![emoji1787][emoji1787]

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Nice. Yeah might bea theoretical concept.

Related: you can fix any big items and leave any number of smaller ones.


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Might just leave the panoroof head liner alone! :dunno:

Pull up to open. :confused:


:D

Too many spoke for my taste. Wheels look good though. Did you use a centric ring?

No rings needed, they remind me of the 740i wheels.

I always use my thumb pushing against the lock, I guess I'm stronger than I thought or it's my wife's fault for making me strong in one arm...[emoji1787]

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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...11ad19223d.jpg

Zoomed in wheel looks like it was 3D dot matrix printed.

Bwaahaahaa!

My initial reaction was "too many spokes" as well. But i quickly got over it they are kind of very fitting for the location. One might say "majestic".


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The Witch has developed a small oil leak from the timing chain cover. So I ordered a complete set of gaskets and seals including front and rear main and will be pulling the engine later this month. I'm also doing chain guides. [emoji51]
I am doing a full suspension (hopefully at the same time) as I will have 5 full days along with the possibility of 2 additional days to do everything. Shop space is available for rent then,so....[emoji28]

I'll try to keep progress posted by things are a little hectic at the moment.

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I've done this job a couple times. M62tu.

GAS has very good step by step guide im sure for n62 also.

I did the job with the engine in the car.

Having just swapped two n55 and about to do an s63tu4. I always would try to do a job like that with the block still in the car.


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Replaced a dead battery in an aftermarket FOB, CR2025. Locks and trunk options work again. :thumbup:

Did you have to pair again or just worked?


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I can imagine.

Keep safe over there!

Stay safe! I served during times like these. Always watch your surroundings.


The aftermarket FOB didn't need to be synchronized. As I was closing the cover, the rear hatch popped open. Locks worked immediately too. I was already planning to synch all three keys again. Glad I didn't have too! :thumbup:

I bet you get some seconds to swap like universal remote where you for sure lost the programming sheet before the batteries die!


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Ordered. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9c9a60946c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...7bd8f51f91.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c2f0bd8cb2.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...7b55590071.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9c303d7b37.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...055c8cdb1c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3ea8c1618b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a53e702ca2.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9797ff3dac.jpg

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The pairing has nothing to do with the fob being powered. You could leave the battery out for days and not lose the pairing..

Right Front caliper has been ordered :( wouldnt retract

I hope this was the source of the 57-62mph vibration but I doubt it.
Front bearings and CVs are only about 15K miles old, Driveshaft/mid bearing new not even 6K ago so I am guessing its rear wheel bearings?

Had to pull the Z4 out of winter storage a few weeks earlier than I wanted

Helpful info. I had to pair mine more than once when they were acting flaky but prob just switch closing not getting through


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I just replaced a rear wheel bearing...but didn't have any vibrations, or at least none more than usual. I would think if one of your WB's is bad enough to cause a vibration, you would likely hear it as well. As I did.

Stuck caliper can for sure cause shimmy if the rotor is not perfectly square. It can also cut a rotor in half. My son and nephew both had this happen last year.

Do you have a shimmy thread going? If not, start one so we can track it down.

There's a simple test to find loose suspension as culprit:

1) when going about 50 mph 80kmh, gently slow down like 5mph with constant brake pressure. If you get a shimmy from this over 90% chance it's from the sideways control arms behind the front axle.

2) drive about 60-65 mph on the center of a highway (on the center lines of two-lane or center of three lane highway). (the point is to be on the top of the crown). Now holding the steering with thumb and one finger, ever so gently steer back and forth past center. You're testing for if the wheels will wobble as they flip from being held left to right and vice versa.

The only time the sideways control arms not the cause from those two it was the steering rack.

Ball joint and tension strut do not usually cause a shimmy.

You can get a shimmy from alignment having too little toe in but that will cause tramlining or wandering before shimmy.


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Checked why the X5 was dinging "check license plate". A wire soldered into a circuit board broke. I may try to solder it back. Or order another LED replacement.

Completed fuel testing...

91 Gasoline = drivable (emergency use when poor)

91 Benzene = somewhat better (emergency use)

95 Gasoline = Good (average use)

95 Benzene = really good (normally used)

100 Benzene = really really noticeable (new normal use)

My altitude is 450m and at 21c-24c air temp is where the Witch really seems young again. Too bad that temp is soooooo infrequent. [emoji1787]

100 octane Benzene is $2.95 USD per gallon, but only carried at a few stations. Guess what I'm buying from now on.

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its not a shimmy, it really really feels/sounds like the growling a wheel bearing race makes when its worn out, and looks like someone took a grinder to it. none of the 4 are loose yet either.

Once I get the caliper on when it warms up(Detroit) I will dig into it. unless it was all just the stuck caliper and it goes away(I can hope but not expecting that)

Bought an emissions smoker to help a friend pass emissions on a '19 Altima. He paid for half of tool costs. I paid the other half. I get to keep the tool. We found the P0170 code cause in 5 minutes. A shop paid to smoke it, found only one issue.

Next, test the X5 emission hoses! Any bets on how many vacuum leaks are found? No codes on mine since doing a coolant refresh and replacing the intake gasket. I replaced anything I could find so I would not remove the intake again. CCV, starter, heat sensor, coolant pipes, filter housing gasket, intake elbow, and small hoses replaced. Suspected vacuum leak locations: upper intake CCV hoses, DISA, and oil cap.

You said "vibration" but if caliper sticks, very often the pad will wear though to get metal contact often just on the edge where rotor is thick.

That said, even if pad is good, if it is not lifting off the rotor, I would expect ba sound like you describe: similar to bearing. Let us know once you replace caliper.


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Another delay...

I realized I missed ordering a new coolant transfer pipe and for some strange "reason" DHL is running slow...[emoji2369][emoji1787]

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I envy you guys as you are well versed with the X5, out of curiosity how do you chaps clean the gunk off the front of the engine and behind the serpentine belts without taking the belts off? I have alot of crud both there and in the inards close the the alternator and the dipstick....years of dust/etc stuck to side of what looks like engine block....

-Hot engine
-Spray it down with a degreaser, let it sit a bit but not until engine cools
-shoot it with a pressure washer from underneath.
-avoid direct contact with sensors, elec connectors, etc.
-start engine afterwards

Got the trifecta this morning with nothing showing up on the high cluster and zero communication thru the obd2 on the Foxwell, yet my BT dongle will talk to my stereo just fine...

I'm not sure whether to hope it's something simple AND a dead Foxwell or hope that it's all related. [emoji2357]

Mail is definitely an issue at the moment so...[emoji28]

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The OBD no-comms is definitely strange. I’d like to think it’s a bad forxwell too, but not sure I believe in coincidence when it comes to the E53!

My trifecta a few years ago was the DSC/ABS module. Hopefully it’s not that as I ended up having to buy a new one. The EBay one I tried first was crap, and the second one didn’t work either despite having the correct part number. I finally gave up and bought a new one.

Which BT dongle are you using? I have experienced Foxwell NT510 Elite failure to communicate while my VGATE vLinker MS and OBDLink LX dongles functioned perfectly.

It seems that the Foxwell needs higher battery voltage/amps at the OBD port, than do the BT dongles. If battery voltage drops much below 12v, my Foxwell either reads nothing (won't get past the VIN, or at most it only reads only half the modules. Once I start the engine, or attach a charger (not a low amperage charger-maintainer, but one with 10 amps or more, will the Foxwell start working properly.

I've worked on e53 that wouldn't talk to my 510 unless i used manual mode. Once i put in the model and year it would work. I don't know why that car never worked in auto but try manual mode.


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What did I do for my E53 today?

I sold it. 2005 E53 X5 3.0 w/173k miles, spent its life in Northeast US... $4,000
I ownd it for 7 yrs and 50,000+ miles.

Needed to reduce the fleet of 4, M54-powered BMWs..The E53 was a quick sale. Sold in one day on facebook to the first person who came to look at it.

I'll miss how it looked, the ride height, the functional inside space, the roof bars and how it towed with the factory hitch and tow module.

I won't miss much else. I probably wouldn't buy another one unless it came from a rust-free state. I may buy a 2017/18 Mercedes GLE 350 4 matic w/ tow package later this year.

Will continue to participate here. Onward and upward!

My foxwell doesn't even turn on, so I can't even do manual startup.

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Ah. Blown fuse for cigarette port?


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No and that's what has me concerned...

Also my trifecta has made zero effect on the Witch. No limp, shift changes, etc. I plan on hooking up to the neighbors 740i and the other neighbors Maybach to test my foxwell this weekend.

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You can find the pinout for b+ to measure obd. I'm not sure which pin is for OBD2 you can't feel trifecta unless you are on slippery surface won't affect performance.

Another bonus of the 710: self powered


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Damn!

All of this work, just to fix the sliding cup holder cover. Oy vey.

Chris
Lockhart, Texas
2005 X5 3.0 Schwarz Black
2002 X5 3.0 Titansilber

I never closed mine so it was same as the day I bought it but yours looks like it was worth the effort.

Sometimes you just need to chug on through.

If you’re going through hell … keep on going! You def got to the other side!


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You'd have thought the car would have appreciated the attention and TLC, but right when I was finishing up the driver's side door handle carrier let go. First time for me on either of my two cars, but from what I'd read I knew the day would eventually come.

So now I get to refer to that excellent DIY writeup and zip tie fix of yours, @andrewwynn and spend a little more quality time in the garage. :-)

Chris
Lockhart, Texas
2005 X5 3.0 Schwarz Black
2002 X5 3.0 Titansilber

Steel zip tie and a shim will fix the dhc 90% of the time. I have dealt with the nub that holds the handle snapping off.

If you live where it’s cold, look at the DLA thread to learn what the failure mode is.


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I think I’m on borrowed time for a couple door handle carriers too. A fly to failure part though!

In the meantime, a few parts from getbmwparts.com came in. My headlights have begun to leak badly and are crazed and hazy inside and out. I read up on the process to get the lens off, clean and reseal them, and decided new was the way to go for me, especially since they had a pretty good discount on them. I’m way too ADD to do a a decent job at rehabbing my lights. I also picked up right side tray (that they sit in) and a right side top rubber seal. Man they look good!
https://i.postimg.cc/7Ldn5hws/PXL_20...6_Original.jpg

They come with bulbs, which was surprising, and (of course) the top seals, despite RealOEM not depicting this. Thst said, I’ve now got a spare right headlight top rubber seal if anyone wants it. I replaced my left side a year ago as it was very cracked and brittle.

I also picked up an AN10 180 fitting for my oil cooler setup, which I should have done long ago. This way if the cooler is ever damaged I can pop this on and bypass the cooler. My understanding of the cooler-plumbed (gulf) oil filter housing is that the oil makes a loop thru the cooler when the tstat opens so just plugging the hose ends at the cooler would cut off the flow altogether.
https://i.postimg.cc/VNpWJvmD/PXL_20...2_Original.jpg

The CSF cooler is a very heavy duty piece of gear and has been on for a couple years, but better safe than sorry.

:wow::wow:
I bought mine for the same price at 143k miles. :p:

Did your extra parts go with it? I remember you had a good intake available. Maybe other parts too?

I plan to install a hitch when new rear wheel bearings are installed. I can't wait to hook up a smaller trailer for towing.

I know what I'll be doing this Easter weekend. Two morning dings are annoying. Low washer fluid and license plate light. New LED lights arrive today. :thumbup: