BMW X5 3.0D | Project Info | Build List
Ladies and Gents, I have a build for you today! I will be running through the build list and showing you guys pictures of what needs restoring and what our plan of attack is for this BMW.
Some info on the car itself, it’s a BMW X5 (E53) 3.0D which was born in 2006 and now has 162 000km on the clock. The car itself is extremely well spec’d and drives like it is on air. Smooth, quiet and an immense amount of torque!
The car arrived, literally as it had been purchased with the exception of its freshly tinted windows from Tint Express Montague Gardens:
The finish of the tint is exceptionally good, no bubbles, no gaps and almost impossible to notice with the exception of the glass being darker obviously.
Taking a quick walk around the X5 I realised we were in for quite a task, and so I produced the Project Build List:
- Replacing 4 mag wheels and tyres (Including Refurbishing in Anthracite)
- Respray front bumper (clear coat failure)
- Respray fenders and door panels due to clear coat failure and poor repairwork (pitting and fish eyes in paintwork)
- Repair & respray rear bumper and bootlid due to scratches through paintwork and onto metal as well as clearcoat failure.
- Respray both mirror caps.
- Repair/replace rear lower valence and PDC sensor mounting point.
- Replace all wiper blades on vehicle.
- Replace rear wiper screw cover (missing).
- Replace front windscreen.
- Polish/Compound Headlights and Foglights (Heavily oxidized).
- Replace silver trim on front bumper (Cracked and damaged) / Depends on budget.
- Redye interior leather and rebuild front seat bolsters.
- New Carpets.
- Regas Air conditioner & Run Klima Fresh through system.
- Replace 2x Xenon Bulbs
- Replace Rear Fog Lights
- Replace Steering Wheel
- Brake Line Error, overactive ABS system and pulling to left under braking.
- 4x4 TCS Warning Light remains on.
- Missing Cool temp Button
- Max Aircon Button not working
- Wrap, respray or try polishing wood trim on interior.
- Missing 2x Cigarette Lighters.
- Front and Rear Ashtrays missing parts.
- Purchase new Service books / Manual and have stamped up to date.
- Read and clear all DTC faults.
- Paintless Dent removal on almost every panel.
- Replace missing driver’s vanity mirror.
- Wheel Alignment and balancing
- Final Two Day Detail to finish off the project.
With an extensive list compiled, the owner and I discussed the way forward and as of yesterday the project is officially underway. :thumbs:
So let’s take a closer look at the items on the list above to get a better understanding of what is involved in this build.
The badly repaired fenders, notice the pitting and dull finish:
Both mirror caps are scuffed and are being resprayed:
Both the rear bumper and front bumper are in the same state, clear coat beginning to fail and excessive damage:
The lower rear bumper damaged no doubt by its own attachable tow bar, missing the cover and a broken PDC mount. Anyone know of a place I can get a cheap replacement? Otherwise I am on the hunt!
Over time the headlights have oxidized and become hazey, these will be wet sanded and polished to a high gloss. The blown bulbs will be replaced as currently none of Low Beams work.
The scratched and damaged windscreen:
Moving on to the biggest part of this project for me, the interior. I do not know what was let loose in here or why it wasn’t contained but whatever it was has absolutely ruined a beautiful interior.
The plan is to have the leather redyed in the same colour, bolsters bought back to life and to remove all the seats so I can disinfect and try remove as much dirt and staining as possible. The actual leather has lifted so it isn’t just a matter of cleaning. The burn marks I have a plan for but don’t want to mention it just yet. :blab:
An extensive restoration on a mammoth car!
And so its starts | Bringing the beast back to life | Project kicks off
Besides the interior, a huge aspect of this build is restoring some sort of life to the exterior paintwork. In the photos you notice how glossy and rich it seems. However up close the paint tells you a different story.
The clearcoat failure on the bumper, scuffed mirrors and loads of dents, heavy marring and swirling ruin the finish beyond belief. There are circular scratches all over the car like someone was drawing smiley faces with a knife. Not to mention the bootlid which appears to have been cleaned with a scouring brush and thinners.
So my port of call was of course to visit my Repair Team at Dent Magic Express.
They inspected the paintwork, counted over 10 dents with all panels affected and also inspected the car for previous spray work.
From there we decided to get going with the mag wheels which were supplied by the owner as the wheels on the car were buggered and the tyres were beyond being legal.
I dropped the mag wheels off at Wheelworx in Woodstock, with the instruction to repair and respray in what they term "Ferrari" anthracite.
Making use of the bakkie to transport the mags:
This is the anthracite finish we are having the mag wheels sprayed in for collection on Saturday morning:
To finish off, this morning I decided to check the cars electronic state, read faults and download the map.
Busy re-flashing the ECU Reader for this particular model:
ECU Flasher plugged in and reading fault codes and clearing them:
We decided we would also be mapping the X5, so next up I read the ECU File on the car which was mailed to our Tuning Team for the map to be tweaked for better performance and efficiency.
The reading process took about 20 minutes; I cannot wait for the updated map to arrive!
With the day drawing to a close we stopped at this point and will continue yet again tomorrow.
We hope you will enjoy our build and should you have any questions please feel free to ask!
Mike
