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Thread: She's finally on board, now to kill her X5...

  1. #1
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    She's finally on board, now to kill her X5...

    For the record, this is sn old thread, we've already swapped in a 4.6 to my e39 wagon.



    So after years of owning fords and listening to my snide comments, my wife finally let me help pick out her next rig. She had always liked the X5 and while looking online I found a 2003 e53 4.6is for $11.5k. I was able to get it for $8.5k and it passed an inspection, deal was done. Truck runs great and feels new.

    Now here's the rub; I wasn't looking for her next rig when I found it, I want the motor! I was cruising the internet for a 4.6is motor being sold, dreaming of one day putting it in my touring.
    Anyone in the Seattle area want to "accidentally" run into the back end of this SAV just enough to total the car?

    I'm kidding of course but it will be an added bonus should she get rear-ended (of course, without injury to either party involved)

    Maybe a tree could randomly fall on it just right at the cabin one weekend... ��


    Don't judge me.
    Last edited by Plattus1000; 07-11-2017 at 05:29 PM.

  2. #2
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
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    As said elsewhere: those engines are impossible to find. Easier/cheaper to go right to an S62 for a motor swap project. Better than a 4.6, and easier to find.

    I have heard too many horror stories about E53's to be able to consider one. I talked to Will Turner's mom once about hers and apparently it was a nightmare car that everybody hated, and hell her son owns a huge BMW parts/repair/race operation, so how bad could it be? I know people who love theirs, but kinda seems like one of those cars where "you either get a good one or a bad one". Maybe something to do with being one of the first vehicles made in Spartanburg, or maybe the BMW/Rover mind-meld shared technology, I dunno...
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
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  3. #3
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    I think we got lucky. This thing is in great shape. I fixed the heater controls and replaced a few parts. Less than $1.2k went into repairs. Rides, honestly like you're on its test drive @ the dealership.

    Sitting on the stock staggered 20" wheels I would have thought it would be rough and handle like crap. On the contrary. I'm impressed. The geometry seems to have been thought out quite nicely.
    Having my hands in its guts I can attest to the shall we say, less than cosmopolitan assembly. I took the dash off... UGLY!
    The battery is easier to replace than doing one's own root canal but just by a slim margin.

    I'll probably never do a swap, too lazy, too poor. It would be nice though. This truck pulls like a horse takes off from the line.
    Last edited by Plattus1000; 02-06-2015 at 10:07 PM.

  4. #4
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by Plattus1000 View Post
    Having my hands in its guts I can attest to the shall we say, less than cosmopolitan assembly. I took the dash off... UGLY!
    Interesting. Probably explains the mixed quality reports... I bet Spartanburg is better now - IIRC that was one of the first platforms to be done there along w/ the Z's, right?
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
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  5. #5
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    I think so. You can tell it was built arount the frame and motor. Working on this thing is not easy. I wanted to do the chain tentioner like on my 540i, easy right? Not if you have hunan hands. Removal of lots of stuff just to replace a bolt, that on my car took 12 minutes, on hers took 4.5 hrs and lots of cussing..

    It really is a great rig though. I'd prefer xdrive to the all-wheel drive setup but other than a whiney noise proportional to the revs, I'd have one. So flat in the corners! It feels like a small sports car and mash your foot in it and on the freeway it can keep your head pinned for a bit. I've had it at 120 just to "test" it out for her. (she wasn't happy about it)

    I'm impressed. I'd always thought these were trophy-wife taxis. Perhaps they are usually but in the right hands, impressive toy.
    Last edited by Plattus1000; 02-06-2015 at 05:24 PM.

  6. #6
    geargrinder's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Plattus1000 View Post
    I'm impressed. I'd always thought these were trophy-wife taxis. Perhaps they are usually but in the right hands, impressive toy.
    No absolutely I remember they were darlings and well loved by the testers when they first came out. I almost bought a new X3 BITD but wasn't hugely impressed w/ that, and at the time the X5 was out of the budge, that's the closest I ever came to owning one of those X's... I have friends who both love and hate their X3's so I don't know what to think about those, but yeah people really love their 5's at least when they are running well...

    Ironically I did run into a guy in the parking lot of Bavauto just a few weeks ago whose 4.6 E53 was making valve rattle noises and he was buying the chain tensioner hoping that would fix it... he'd changed the oil recently and "it started right after the oil change and it's never been the same..." uh-oh...
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
    2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
    2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
    2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)

    Former:

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  7. #7
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    Another member here that I know has the X5 4.6, he also love it.
    For $11.5 you got a good deal.
    The quad exhaust on your iT look nice.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by JimLev View Post
    Another member here that I know has the X5 4.6, he also love it.
    For $11.5 you got a good deal.
    The quad exhaust on your iT look nice.
    $8.5k!
    Thanks.i bought it that way, you should hear them.

    https://youtu.be/plWvxBfNk9I
    Cold start with low revs

    https://youtu.be/mkKHCSKamnQ
    Already warmed up.

    In all fairness, we ended up putting $14.5k into the e53. I still have it but we're selling it now, she bought a volvo.
    Last edited by Plattus1000; 07-10-2017 at 10:57 PM.

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    Stop putting a 6" lift kit in you LolVo! It ain't a work truck, you silly! Now go play in yer lil' beast.



  11. #11
    geargrinder's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Plattus1000 View Post
    picture
    What happened to the M badge delete and new badge setup? Wasn't that on the verge?
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
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  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Plattus1000 View Post
    I'm kidding of course but it will be an added bonus should she get rear-ended (of course, without injury to either party involved)
    heh heh heh

    Going into my TENTH YEAR of providing high quality reproduction BMW fabrics!

    PRICE CUT on ALL FABRICS
    Offering the best prices on the best quality reproduction fabrics!

  13. #13
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    Maybe a tree could randomly fall on it just right at the cabin one weekend...

    I hear those things catch on fire often. And if it's off while it burns, it shouldn't hurt your spare engine.
    Remember; "NO SMOKIN"
    And why all the re edits?Attachment 604695

  14. #14
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    Photobucket =/= BF.c

    - - - Updated - - -

    That's why.



  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by wagons ho View Post
    Maybe a tree could randomly fall on it just right at the cabin one weekend...

    I hear those things catch on fire often. And if it's off while it burns, it shouldn't hurt your spare engine.
    Remember; "NO SMOKIN"
    And why all the re edits?Attachment 604695
    Re-edits:
    Photobucket used to offer free 3rd party pic hosting. So if 14 years ago you were into doing build threads and now have hundreds if not thousands of forum posts with how-to's and stories showing how you did something and you used photobucket the whole time.

    Ok now flash forward to today. Photobucket went from free to $40 a month overnight. So you either pay the "ransom" or you have to re-upload all your old posts you care about using another service like imgur, flicker, directupload, photohut, etc. Im about 1/3 the way through my 4.6 build thread. Sucks.

    Tree you say... I've had this exact same thought.

    No smoking!

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by geargrinder View Post
    What happened to the M badge delete and new badge setup? Wasn't that on the verge?
    Scott up my way had my car for a few days. The new numbers were in the cargo area. I suggested to Tim w/white m5 wagon, that when he went to visit, he should swap out the m5 badge while he was there. Not my fault.

    I'm fixing suspension/alignment issues at the moment and then to an exhaust shop to finish what Jed and I started. Then, Dima gets his shot to break the old wagon or pull out some impressive numbers, one or the other.

    I'll be rebadged, I promise.

  16. #16
    geargrinder's Avatar
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    The photophucket thing is just unbleebable. Talk about shooting yourself directly in your own richard johnson with a shotgun of rocksalt at close range. W.T.F.

    If it made any sense whatsoever I'd say "they did it on purpose to cut their customer base / usage way back" but that makes no sense and there's a zillion other non-epic-bad-press-brand-value-destroying ways they coulda done that.

    IF a client came to me and said "we need to generate more cashflow and we think we actually are fine with fewer customers to do that" I'd easily work with them to devise a quality strategy by which you ratchet up pricing vs features over time so you get:
    - as many as possible core of long term retained high-price happy paying customers - the ones who actually want your 'full features' (whatever that is) and can really value whatever it is you think that is.
    - make some interim additional cashflow from customers you're 'intentionally exiting' (aka the ones who would pay something less than max price for a transition time so at least we get something out of them and perhaps they go away less than furious)
    - try to ensure the actual leaving customers aren't so aggrieved that they create enormous negative buzz and word of mouth

    All you needed was some product / price ladder that was less than insane, and then a schedule that phased that in slowly but not too slowly but also not 'surprise! ransomware!'. All kinds of ways that could be done. Ways like...
    Interim grandfather plan - $5-10/mo - only for customers who have been with PB > 2yrs and with < XYZGB... for the next 6mos, then price goes up to... then goes up to...
    Limited 3rd party plan - $10/mo for customers but they can only put X_GB of photos in a '3rd party' folder... so if you're a photojourno 3rd partying 50TB of stuff, no, but if your a home hobbyist w/ 1GB of old photos... no big deal..
    Etc. I could brainstorm better strategies for hours.

    Anything like that would have had more people staying on board, more people paying more 'for a little while' (some of whom might eventually upgrade and stay forever), and far far less bad press.

    As it is now seems their entire customer base is enraged and they'll lose just about everybody.
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
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    2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)

    Former:

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  17. #17
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    What I hear about E53s is kind of like Range Rovers. People love driving them when they run. I'm sure they're better than the big dogs, and hope the OP has better luck than most I've known.
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