My X5 - Project Thread

[n1k85]

[quote=""x555""]Great stuff fella and thanks for sharing the pics. Always good to see other projects/jobs etc
You must be from the cold part of wolverhampton then judging by them temp stats in the pics
Great job and keep the pics coming never mind how long the threads are that's what this forums all about [/quote]

Thanks mate! Glad you're enjoying it

[quote=""rusty nail""][quote=""x555""]
You must be from the cold part of wolverhampton then judging by them temp stats in the pics [/quote]
Christ, 29.5, isn't that the temp you expect on holiday, not in an X?
[/quote]

What can I say?! I Like it hot! especially when its -2.5 outside! Reminds me of Barbados

[Rusty]

Fair play. Never been there though.


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[n1k85]

Update:

One of my CV Gaitors is split and I noticed the last MOT mentioned it was split even then, the other side is on the way out too. Both look like the original 7/8 year old items so i was looking at replacing the gaitors. (especially since my MOT is up end of the month!)

But my mechanic (my brother) said that since the CV boot was leaking last year and its now dry as a bone, the joint itself probably isn't in great shape. He said he would hate to do all that work, then find out the CV joint is Fubar'd.

With that in mind I bought a set of those "OEM Quality" 2 year guarantee Driveshafts (complete with gaitors etc and ready to go!) for £79.99 delivered! I ordered them at 2PM yesterday and they arrived at 12:30 today!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-BMW-X5-E53 ... 3521wt_983

I had read that BMW charge £600 to replace just the CV boots!! But the driveshafts I bought on eBay have had great reviews and seem spot on! My bro also said it's probably easier to swap the driveshafts anyway than mess about with replacing just the boots since you have to strip it all down for both!

Have to say i'm impressed with the price/packaging/quality and delivery of the driveshafts! Hopefully will get them fitted tomorrow!

At least I have peace of mind that I know my CV joints aren't going to go pop anytime soon!

[jaynana]

Nik there seems to be no shortage of projects at ur end. keep up the good work mate, and keep us educated!

wish I had a bro who knew this stuff like u have actually - I'd have learnt a lot!

[n1k85]

Cheers mate

I guess it will all help when I come to sell the car (which won't be any time soon) knowing that it's been done properly! And for my own peace of mind!

I got the car at a bargain price from the start, so i'm happy to get all these jobs done and out of the way and get her how I want, but i'd be pretty peed off if i'd bought an X5 the same age/mileage at full whack and still had get all these jobs done!

It's also a great feeling to bring the X back to it's former glory (and hopefully even better)

[n1k85]

Thought I'd update the thread with my recent car progress, and as always; some random pics for good measure

I had my MOT done at a local garage recently, and while it was there I had them replace my driveshafts that I bought above. (They charged £80 labour to do so, which I was pretty happy with)

Here are the old shafts with 120k on. As you can see, both outer CV Boots were totally split, but even after 120k the inner boots are still in great shape and still feel quite flexible and strong. (But for £79 for 2 complete brand new ones + £80 fitting you can't complain)

New:


Old:






After having these done I also had the Alignment checked:


You may also remember I mentioned earlier that I bought the car with very little history. Well recently I called BMW and they confirmed the car has a well documented history at various BMW dealerships. They then sent me over a replacement service book and stamped it up as appropriate. I then sent the new service book (with a Stamped Addressed Envelope) to the other dealerships and they also stamped the book accordingly:



They also printed me off loads of invoices from 2004 - 2010 showing various work that had been done on the car at their dealerships, so now I have got a stamped up service book and tons of history :


I also got them to print off the original spec of the car when it was first built:





That's about it for now, so i'll finish with a few recent pics: