Picked up a 2002 Imola 4.6.. The restoration is on

[Trasportador]

I may or may not have bitten off more than I can chew, but time alone will tell.

Picked this up yesterday for $2500. The truck is a bank repo that's been sitting in the back lot of a local car dealer who was hoping to fix it and sell it over.

Since the car was a repo, there originally was no key. Dealer seems to have done nefarious things in attempting to get into the car, even though they ended up getting a key cut.. I have no idea as to their mindset.

That said:

150k on the clock

Driver front glass and door panel are in the rear hatch, no idea yet why it was removed.

PO apparently put some form of spray onto the rear tails, it is peeling off by hand. Will be one of the first things to go.

Passenger rear panel, door handle and complete door lock mechanism is on the rear floor. No idea why, yet...

Rear bags are most likely empty, but again, car's been parked for a while.

I can deal with all the interior trim stuff without much pain, as there are several yards here with x53's, so I'm not too worried.

Tried to crank the car and got P0342 and P0347 codes yesterday. I'm hoping that things can be as simple as changing the Cam sensors, but we'll see.

My impression of the car is that someone loved it, but could not pay for it. I did not see any signs of interior abuse(other than the abuse admittedly caused by dealer). I hate the rims, but will use them as the tires seem fairly new.










I'll update some more when I get the truck to the back of the house and can start digging into it. All in all, I'm happy with the purchase, and hope to save this once stunning example.

[ak5]

Ive always liked these

[tmvE39E53Z32TT]

Not bad at all. The stuff on the taillights is plasti-dip. Should be very easy to peal off. Look like it has sport cloth seats (pretty rare)
Where about in ATL? Shoot me a PM if you have question. I'd like to see it saved.

[Trasportador]

Not bad at all. The stuff on the taillights is plasti-dip. Should be very easy to peal off. Look like it has sport cloth seats (pretty rare)
Where about in ATL? Shoot me a PM if you have question. I'd like to see it saved.

I'm in Decatur, just of I-20 and Columbia Dr. I see you have the big brother version! lol. I'm DEFINITELY going to be asking you some questions as I move along, so many thanks for the offer. The timing chain is broken, so she'll need either another engine or a re-build. I'm looking for a motor now.

Real OEM shows different part numbers for the Cylinder heads between M62B44TU and M62B46TU, but I'm going to dig further to figure out what the differences are. If none, then I'll rebuild the motor with B44 heads, of different, I'll source me a good motor for the lowski.

You have a sharp eye, the seats have an Alcantara inlay, rather rare indeed. Also, the interior trim bits are painted in Imola as well.

[sigtwenty]

Are you following me from e38 to e53 haha. Nice find...the e53 looks great in Imola red, better than the e38 actually in same color.
Stance is nice. Very nice find.

[Trasportador]

Are you following me from e38 to e53 haha. Nice find...the e53 looks great in Imola red, better than the e38 actually in same color.
Stance is nice. Very nice find.

Man, you had me inspired when I saw what you paid for yours. I was already looking for one, just never saw one that rustled my jimmies. When I saw this one I knew I had to find find a way to get it home.. such a rare colour, and even rarer interior. Seats and panels are a mix of leather and red accented Alcantara.

[sigtwenty]

How's this for inspiration...I paid $8200 combined for all 4 of my bmws haha.

[Trasportador]

How's this for inspiration...I paid $8200 combined for all 4 of my bmws haha.

Yeah yeah. I paid top dollar for my e38 when I got it as it was worth the money. The 30k in dealer receipts sealed the deal in that one for me. That said, the e34 was $1k and this truck was $2500. All in all, I'm really happy with this truck. It's in disarray now, but I'll get it sorted, and it's so bloody rare

[oldskewel]

Not bad at all. The stuff on the taillights is plasti-dip. Should be very easy to peal off...

I noticed that. Looks pretty cool as long as you don't need tail lights. Seriously, what is the concept there? There's no way that would be street legal, right?

BTW, the truck looks great. Good luck getting things fixed.

[Trasportador]

I noticed that. Looks pretty cool as long as you don't need tail lights. Seriously, what is the concept there? There's no way that would be street legal, right?

BTW, the truck looks great. Good luck getting things fixed.

I have no clue how the PO drove around with those tail lights. The cops down here would be pulling them over every day.


Some interior shots

[roys740]

congrats and very nice score.

[NordmanMg]

Wow, red trim inside look good, post some pic off the dash

[AquilaBMW]

Pfft.... I'd have that running in one weekend, or at least re-assembled on the inside... j/k

You never bite off more than you can chew, you just need to cut the food into smaller pieces. Break the car down into sections or phases. Do the engine or interior first, then suspension, then lights, etc.

I would say most important is to see if the car will run - so start there. I would suggest rebuilding the engine, that will be easier than finding one of those engines I would think.

[Trasportador]

Pfft.... I'd have that running in one weekend, or at least re-assembled on the inside... j/k

You never bite off more than you can chew, you just need to cut the food into smaller pieces. Break the car down into sections or phases. Do the engine or interior first, then suspension, then lights, etc.

I would say most important is to see if the car will run - so start there. I would suggest rebuilding the engine, that will be easier than finding one of those engines I would think.

You think like I do. I've decided to work on the interior first as it's the easiest thing to do while I hunt a motor(there are options out there... ).

I picked up a front driver door and a rear passenger door this weekend, as this car was missing the front window regulator and the rear regulator and door lock mechanism. Ended up having to paint the rear door handle from the donor door as the original one is soon to fail due to worn plastic.

I'll have the interior done and the rear tails cleaned up by this weekend.

During the coming weekend I hope to drop the lower oil pan and have a look around.

[AquilaBMW]

There you go... divide and conquer. Umm.... you are missing pics though. Asking for an early ban are we? LOL!

[Trasportador]

Not the best pics I've taken, but man I love this cluster..



Had to re-paint the rear passenger door handle and trim. Purchased 2 doors to get their Window regulators and other misc. missing hardware. The dealer that had this car was using it as their snitch to pull parts from..

[NordmanMg]

Is that a clear coat peeling?

[Trasportador]

Is that a clear coat peeling?

Yes, but it is the trunk of my E34. Not the x5. Too much red, lol

[gixxerboy63]

Looking forward to the progress!

[Trasportador]

Looking forward to the progress!

Thanks Tim. I've received a quote to rebuild the motor, so I'm taking this option. I'll still be in for the truck for under 6k, if all other things check out. Trans fluid and transfer case fluid look ok, so I'll see what the final drop is when next she fires up. I expect 1 more month of downtime... maybe 2 max

[AquilaBMW]

Great News Man! I look forward to it being on the road - nice, nice save. Now sell me one of the collection!

[Trasportador]

Great News Man! I look forward to it being on the road - nice, nice save. Now sell me one of the collection!

You're kidding right? I know you're kidding. What did you do, rent out an empty Sam's warehouse to store your cars???

[Trasportador]

Nothing too new to report as of yet. Put all interior bits back together, but discovered that I'll need a new rear driver side window regulator, and door hardware for the passenger side front door (won't open from the outside) Ordered the parts and some other what nots to continue to work.

Door mechanism



Replacement rear floor as mine as dog pawed



Set o'mats



I'll be a pro at E53 window regulators by the time this is all done



Limb by limb, I'll cut this truck into shape...

- - - Updated - - -

This is what the headlights looked like on day 1.



Today





Tails when I got it



Today

[GaryE30]

Nice! Glad to see it being brought back!

[AquilaBMW]

WOW! That thing is cleaning up very nicely indeed. Hope you get it on the road soon.