Your fleet running reports

[Mito Man]

Ask your brother, he's an expert I hear?

That was excellent

[Sundayjumper]

That was excellent

And Mito misses the very, very obvious pun that ste set up for him

[JLv3.0]

Eggs-plain?

[ste]

It’s fucking ace though, it all fits together like Lego.

I went down a Google / ETK wormhole yesterday wondering about putting an S62, manual box and RWD drivetrain into an e53. Obviously found videos of someone in Russia who’d already done it drifting circles in a carpark.

Obviosuly not cricket to mention that and not share.




BMW tried the S62 in the E53 chassis as a prototype for a first-gen X5 M. The S62 sump won't fit with the transfer box / other 4wd nonsense so it would have to run RWD only. Plus they didn't have an auto box in the line up rated for the S62 outputs either. They made one and tested it though.

What it prompted was when they faclifted the e53, they made a 4.8is. This had the N62B48 which was a stroked B44 based on the parts Alpina used to make the B10. It made the same torque as an S62 and only 10% less power. It carried over loads of unique parts that were alledgedly considered for the never produced X5 M (in e53 form). They have a unique bodykit, wheels (20" as standard when Sport E53s had 19s), clocks carried over from the E39 M5 with the warm-up lights on the tacho and a temp gauge (normally reserved for M cars where the mpg swingometer otherwise sits) and all-round height adjustable air suspension. I've noticed recently that these are pretty rare, because they were so f*cking expensive when new even compared to a normal fully loaded 4.4i. They seem to be getting a bit of notice and prices seem to be firming up. I'm thinking of grabbing one as a keeper. I think one would combine the best bits of the 2 X5s I had (E53 30d Sport and E70 4.8i). They're quicker than my 4.8i as they made slightly more power for some reason (maybe advancing emissions regs?) and they're 100s of kgs lighter.

The fact the factory 4-wheel air suspension can be tricked into going lower may also be appealing too.

Standard wheels and factory suspension, just with the levelling links swapped to cheat the lowest setting lower than standard:



Try to see past the shitness of this video of the same car. Shows how good they sound (similar to my E70) and how the factory suspension can adjust.

[V8Granite]

This was the X5 I tested, in a lovely light blue.

It was the silly rear tyres and completely dead feeling which made me walk away. It felt like someone put Twennyfos on something never designed for it. If it had 19s with a much narrower tyre it would have been lovely as the interior especially was much nicer than the ML I ended up buying.

Dave!

[ste]

Surprised at that. Were they runflats? My e53 drove really well, but that was on 19s (still steamroller sized ones) compared to my e70 which was on 315/35/20 runflats. That felt like it had concrete for tyres until I took the runflats off.

[Sundayjumper]

Eggs-plain?

Tour-Egg.

[ste]

UPDATE

E46 330d Sport Touring

Finally got this on a ramp to check why the front end felt vague. Ah, all the bushes are balljoints and fucked, ace. 2 new wishbones, and wishbone and ARB bushes replaced with poly ones and an alignment later and it now only feels 'quite shit' rather than 'really shit'. The rear arm bushes and the diff bush need doing too really. 'Cheap' old cars FTW.

[V8Granite]

Surprised at that. Were they runflats? My e53 drove really well, but that was on 19s (still steamroller sized ones) compared to my e70 which was on 315/35/20 runflats. That felt like it had concrete for tyres until I took the runflats off.

I didn't think they ever came with runflats?

As odd as it sounds, it felt very like the over-tyred 997 I tried, I just think I don't like cars without a little sidewall flex.

Dave!

[ste]

I didn't think they ever came with runflats?

As odd as it sounds, it felt very like the over-tyred 997 I tried, I just think I don't like cars without a little sidewall flex.

I don't know what they fitted, was just wondering out-loud.

I think I quite like a stiff sidewall. Potatoes tomatoes.

[V8Granite]

I didn't think they ever came with runflats?

As odd as it sounds, it felt very like the over-tyred 997 I tried, I just think I don't like cars without a little sidewall flex.

I don't know what they fitted, was just wondering out-loud.

I think I quite like a stiff sidewall. Potatoes tomatoes.

Sidewexit!

Dave!

[Matty]

First purchase for the Evora - a new Bosch Wiper. I've used Mik's recommendation for the part, I'll find out if I regret that later on. I've also being trying to find out how to improve the radio reception, which is awful down to it being plastic, but there aren't many viable options, so I'm looking at swapping the HU for something with DAB and Android built in.

Finally, the doors. You can't park in regular car park spaces - massive doors, big sills - plus you also worry that if you do park up and someone parks next to you, that you just won't be able to get in. Maybe I should fit Lambo doors...they're classy, right?

[Sundayjumper]

New engine & gearbox mounts today. Generic EXTREME polyurethane jobbies from eBay. We’ll see how we get on with them. Plus a thermostat as the old one had developed a crack. Once again, I love BMW for putting things like thermostats in sensible places.

Old engine mounts were a bit wobbly:

BFE69C1D-9EBB-4B2F-8734-15927D670C74.jpeg (179.52 KiB) Viewed 2977 times

[Jobbo]

What it prompted was when they faclifted the e53, they made a 4.8is. This had the N62B48 which was a stroked B44 based on the parts Alpina used to make the B10. It made the same torque as an S62 and only 10% less power. It carried over loads of unique parts that were alledgedly considered for the never produced X5 M (in e53 form). They have a unique bodykit, wheels (20" as standard when Sport E53s had 19s), clocks carried over from the E39 M5 with the warm-up lights on the tacho and a temp gauge (normally reserved for M cars where the mpg swingometer otherwise sits) and all-round height adjustable air suspension. I've noticed recently that these are pretty rare, because they were so f*cking expensive when new even compared to a normal fully loaded 4.4i. They seem to be getting a bit of notice and prices seem to be firming up. I'm thinking of grabbing one as a keeper. I think one would combine the best bits of the 2 X5s I had (E53 30d Sport and E70 4.8i). They're quicker than my 4.8i as they made slightly more power for some reason (maybe advancing emissions regs?) and they're 100s of kgs lighter.

Was the pre-facelift 4.6iS not as similar as it looked? I thought they just changed the engine for the then-current Alpina version of the M62 (the 4.6 used Alpina bits too, didn't it?) and updated the alloys but otherwise just facelifted it. Always had a bit of a thing for the 4.8iS despite the late diesel X53s looking pretty much the same other than the exhaust pipes. The brief period I looked at them was a while ago, though, and they all looked like they'd been owned by sweaty misogynists who had abused the interiors or added subtly nasty mods.

[ste]

It did have the M5-esque clocks AFAIK. Don't think it had the 4 - corner air suspension though, just the usual rear-axle self levelling stuff. Don't think it got the larger brakes either.

[Mito Man]

4.6 was pre-facelift, then replaced with the 4.8. IIRC the diesel got the 4.8 body kit for the final 18 months of production.

[Jobbo]

4.6 was pre-facelift, then replaced with the 4.8. IIRC the diesel got the 4.8 body kit for the final 18 months of production.

If only someone had said that above... oh, I did

[ste]

O'Rly? I'm not sure I've ever seen a diesel one with the kit.

[ste]

Quick Google shows you're right though, I just hadn't noticed them.

[ste]

...Although now I look closer, I can't actually find one with the full kit. It looks like some of the last diesels have the 20" wheels and therefore get the additional arch pieces to cover them fully, but they just have the normal Sport front and rear bumpers, not the lower front or rear valences the 4.8is has.