First DIY on X5 - Almost a second...
 

Today, I decided to tackle the first "repair / DIY" the New to me X5. The headlights were in a sad, sad state. I decided to restore them through the process of sanding, polishing and waxing.

Here is what I had to work with at the start:



When I do this, I prefer to remove the headlights assemblies from the car so I can work on them more diligently.


I started by washing the headlights with soap and water to get as much grime off as possible.

I then proceeded to wet sanding. I started out with 400 grit Paper for a short spell and then went to work on the light covers with 500 grit. I sanded for about 20 minutes plus with the 500 grit to get them nicely hazy and get all the crap off the lights.

I then switched to 800 Grit paper. I then went back to 500 grit with an electric drill and rotary paper attachment to ensure I did not miss any spots. I then wet sanded again by hand with 500 and 800 to remove any swirls marks that might be caused by the drill attachments.

I then proceeded to 1200 Grit Fine Glaze paper to create a smooth surface and fine haze on the covers. This was then following by P3000 head from the 3M kit to start the polishing process. I spend approximately 10 - 15 minutes per grit.

After the sanding and polishing, I then apply the 3M finishing polish with the foam applicator. I do a damp polish and then come back a little later and do a dry polish with the wax.

1/2 Way through the project, I do quick comparison between restored Passenger Light Assembly and untouched driver's side.


Here are the final results:


Sorry for the crappy picture quality, I only had my ole iPhone with me at the time.


Here are the lights in before and after comparisons:

PASSENGER SIDE:

Before


After



DRIVER'S SIDE:

Before


After



After all this was done, I tried to replace the steering with an M5 ///M Wheel. Oh boy, oh Boy! :wow: I got stumped trying to find the car's battery. I finally and gave up on that project. Are you kidding ?!?!? :confused: LOL! I couldn't believe what it takes to get to the battery - even just to disconnect it.

Well.... more to come in the future :strut:

Good job on those headlights.
Just swap the steering wheel without disconnecting the battery and reset airbag light with INPA ;)

Thanks Man! How do I reset with INPA? I am nervous about doing that.

Holy crap Aquila, you should see an increase in light output at night after that restoration. Nice work!

Thanks man! I haven't had a chance to drive it at night after the restoration, but I agree it should be much better.

Great job! and the p3000 3m is awesome! you can get just the sheet of it from the auto stores if you dont want to get the entire 3m kit

To really increase light output on those old projector, pull them apart and have the projector bowl re-chrome again.

Thanks! I actually keep supplies handy just in case I need to do stuff like this. :D

The 3M kit is pretty too, so I usually keep one or two in the garage.

Not sure what you mean :dunno:

Beside from cleaning the plastic surface of the headlight, to really increase the Light output, you will need to dis-assembly the headlight itself, have the projector's bowl re-chrome again because over the time, small spots of rust developed.

Anyway, just a thought.

what's the benefit of the M5 steering wheel? You have a pic of your one by any chance?

F7 for E53. Select "Chasis", tab over and select "airbag", hit enter. F1 to read error memory, F2 to clear it. Done!

It's thicker and has thumb rest. Feel much better when driving. The //M on it is priceless :nanana:
Should be the same as the one on my E39 now.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...psef2d32c8.jpg

Wow, the lights look great. They look like new assemblies. Good job!

there is a red button in INPA - do not... i repeat, do NOT... DO NOT!!! NOOO!!! DON"T!!!! OH, NOOO!!! OH MY GOD!!!!

:explode:

oh well... :drunk:

my '02 4.6iS had the ///M on the steering wheel, and it was NOT heated...

the '06 4.8iS does not have an ///M on the wheel but the wheel is heated... :thumbup:

All the sport wheels arent heated unfortunately.

Great job on the headlights!

Nice work. Any chance you make house calls? ;)

Well done! Look new!

Just swap the //M trim onto the heated wheel. :thumbup:

phenomenal job on the headlights, are yours able to be baked open? maybe second DIY is adding angel eyes to newly restored lights ?

I click on that red button twice!!

So HA!?

Did you apply a replacement UV coating?

Nice thought. I did that when I restored a set of E39 headlight assemblies. With these guys, I'd have to bake them open. I might try that when I add Halos down the line.

Thanks! I will be adding Halos sometime in the future.

(Any reason I am unable to do multiple quote responses?) :dunno:

I have to reply to everyone as ONE response. Thanks for all the thumbs up. I agree on the ///M-Sport wheel and finally got around to it today - what a PITA in my case!

http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/w...arts1331-1.jpg

Also, here are better pics of the front of the car with the restored headlights.

http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/w...arts1333-1.jpg

http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/w...arts1332-1.jpg

Nice Aquila. I see the rain drops on the hood. I just got back from taking someone to CPMC California Campus. Quite a bit of precip over there. She's looking good. I'm still on the fence about the all black kidneys against the black paint. I may just have to try it and see.

Thanks! It's been wet pretty much all day between the City and the Peninsula. The Black grills are growing on me. If the grills were as big as the Face Lift ones, I would prefer them to be chrome probably. However, the car's theme is all Black or Black / Carbon Fibre, so I can play along :D

Very nice work. I need to do mine.

The steering wheel fits right in. :thumbup:

:iagree: Some colors don't look so good but black, silver and gray look the best, comments have been that it looks more aggressive but not radical.

Thanks ... My suggestion is to take your time with it. Well worth the effort.

Thanks Man! The wheel came from my wrecked M5... but what a PITA! It usually goes easily enough - just not this time.

First I had to disconnect the battery on the X5 - MOMMA! :wtf::tantrum:. Then I had to reassemble the wheel as I need to transfer some needed parts over.

Then... I over tightened the little screw for the ground wire and had to go fish around for a suitable replacement. After all that, I reconnected everything and the Horn would stop blaring. Turns out I had over tightened the three Torx head bolts that hold the horn plate down - so... I had to disconnect battery again and re-do the whole thing! BAH!

At least now it works! :driver: Thank Goodness!

Love Black grills on Silver - definitely more aggressive. :thumbup:

More fun today. I went by the Dealership to pick up a new key. The one I got with the car was not working (Remote). Tech comes out to synch the new key. He's done in 5 minutes, he hands me back both keys and says my "spare" key is all good to go.

I'm puzzled. I told him the original was not working. He got both keys to work! Go figure! So... $150 later, I now have a brand new master spare key! Oy! :dunno::rolleyes::rofl:

You just need to re-initialized the key, duh :D
I don't know why you have to mess up with the wiring in the steering wheel. In my 3.0i, it plugs right in, same as my E39. At least it's all working now.

Yep! Silly me - all I had to do was re-initialize. I did not think of it. Too late now as I can't return the key.

As far as the wheel, the original connectors for the airbags were damaged so I had to replace them.

Your X5 is in good hand now. :thumbup:

Seeing your M5 wheel makes me want to so badly get my wheel reupholstered, thickened, and thumbrests added.

I got mine with one key which makes me very nervous. I ordered two from eBay thinking it would be like every other car I have owned but when I called locksmiths was told dealer only all the dealers here (Phoenix) want 250 per key.

I spent all day yesterday calling Craigs List ads that said they do all cars and finally found one that said he could but warned many eBay keys are junk and that he could try only to fail. We agreed I'd pay 50.00 for his coming to my house & not be mad if he ruined a key (or both)

I now have three functional keys and he also did a flip key for our Mazda 6 we have had for 2 years but my Daughter never had cut/programmed. Total cost 280 for all three keys.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...psdb49ed4a.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps338253b4.jpg

Thank you sir! Btw, where in ATL are you? I used to work in Sandy Springs and lived in Lawrenceville years ago.

Well worth it. Either do that or just find an M5 wheel. The airbags are transferable.

I saw your post in the other thread. How was the guy able to program the keys to work with the car? I would be curious to know as this could be a great option for all of us.

Used M3/M5 wheel = too much dinero for a used wheel IMO, like you said you swapped it from your other car so its no big deal but a used M wheel still commands like 500 bucks!

This is what I'm doing when I can take a couple weeks without a steering wheel to drive my car:


BMW 3er E46 Lenkrad mit Leder beziehen Lederlenkrad 3 | eBay

Fully reupholstered, thickened, perfed and solid leather for about 250 bucks round trip from Germany and back (can't find an American business that even comes close to that price, a place in TX wants 450 for the same job)

I assume you will need to supply the core wheel for that price to apply. The real $ is in the airbag anyway, add another $150-250 for the bag alone. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I have an email chain from Meinlenkrad, Joanna is contact there (speaks very good English:

Refurbishment cost outside of ebay is 120 euros plus 34 euro for return shipment, I have to pay shipping cost to them up front.

Same price if they have E46 steering wheel in stock, but they charge an extra 40 euros core charge to be refunded, they told me most customers just send their wheel in to be recovered anyway but they can check to see if they have one in stock beforehand, just email [email protected]

Found the link to these guys on the E90 forums actually and the price is legit and the quality is legit, I'll have to link up the posts. Search "steering wheel upgrades" I posted the E90 stuff in that thread I think.

You may know this, but there was a thread about a place in Dallas that does similar work though as I recall there was something they couldn't do that overseas source could. I looked for thread but didn't find it. There were examples of the end product.

I didn't go that route. I did purchase a used SMG M3 paddleshift wheel on Ebay and bought a leather repair and dye kit with the result that it looks new. The price which included all parts except the airbag, if I real correctly was $295.

Here is the Dallas link.

Dallas Custom Steering Wheel

Here is the E90post thread about the place in Germany which will do our wheels for approx. $210 USD plus shipping to Germany:

Got my steering wheel wrapped! - BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum - E90Post.com

Dallas does similar and phenomenal work, however for me the $440 or so was a bit much, I was going to price out shipping to Germany and if I could save $150 and still get the wheel recovered how I wanted, I would definitely send it.

DCSW is highly recommended from the old thread "steering wheel upgrades"

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...-upgrades.html

If you look on page 4 there is some talk from me about the Meinlenkrad place as well