E53 4.6is Estoril Blue

[boyish 40]

Hey guys, just recently purchased an E53 4.6is in Estoril blue over black nappa leather with Titan shadow trim! Have been looking for something bigger to roam around in especially for trips in summer & the mountains in winter. 2nd car I’ve purchased so hopefully i’ve made the right choice but I’m loving it so far. Wanted something unique and somewhat special, after doing a bit of research it seems the 4.6is’ in Estoril blue & Imola Red are the ones to get.
 

It’s NZ new, comes with most of the service history from previous owner as he owned it for the last 10 years. Has all the original booklets, owners manual, handbooks etc & 2 keys! Has done around 180,000km’s with 2 previous owners (so the previous owner says) Have yet to go in to get it checked up but will be doing so sometime next week along with a new WOF. From what I’ve seen in the service history most of the big jobs have been done including a full replacement of the cooling system, timing chains, gaskets etc. Nothing has been noted in regards to transmission besides the usual service but it changes gears smoothly (up & down) without any jerking. 

Overall body condition is decent for an almost 20 year old car. Minor spots of rust due to paint chips, few scuffs on both sides of the front bumper, headlights are a little foggy & the tailgate won’t close! It seems the spring inside the mechanism has come loose & won’t latch on so I’m constantly hit with the “bootlid open” code & the interior lights on in the boot. (Turns off after 10mins or so) will be getting it sorted ASAP cause I don’t want it to drain my battery.

Will keep you all updated as I get this beast up to looking factory fresh again! Looking forward to hearing any advice from people who are in more knowledge than me (so basically everyone lol). 
 

Gonna put a to do list when I’ve figured out where the cars at mechanically! 
 

Thanks for reading, stay safe & well! 
    - B
 

 

 

[BozzaFC 300]

Beautiful colour and great engine!

Good buying too - sounds like the big ticket stuff has been tended to 😁

[zero 1162]

Great car.

These are only going to go up in value in the future.

I had a silver one, and I love that alpina engine

[Cammsport 391]

That's a nice car! Congrats 🤙

[treone 649]

Great score! You definitely have a special wagon there. 

[boyish 40]

10 hours ago, BozzaFC said:

Beautiful colour and great engine!

Good buying too - sounds like the big ticket stuff has been tended to 😁

Thanks! Hopefully this has a more BMW appropriate cylinder count 🤪

Edited September 21, 2021 by boyish

[boyish 40]

184,162km

So trying to figure out as to why the boot lid wasn’t catching. I detached the boot trim, disconnected the lights, took out the rear wiper & disconnected the wiper motor in order to get to the boot lid lock mechanism. Opened it up & as i suspected the spring had come loose due to the end of it snapping. (Research shows due to constant slamming of the boot it either snaps or somehow manages to unhook itself). Watched a step by step tutorial online and everything seems to be kind of okay apart from when it’s engaged it doesn’t fully engage through to the micro switch (which tells the car that the boot lid is actually closed) Will take everything apart again & follow up with more updates. 

 

Also when re-attaching the trim I’ve seemed to have bent one of the clips so will be ordering some online when I figure out where to source them. 

Edited October 13, 2021 by boyish

[boyish 40]

Hey guys, enjoying the process of documenting things down on here as I’m sure many of you do also. Went and got a WOF for the car today and it seemed to have passed with flying colours. I then had it checked with a friend who works for a mutual friend who happens to own a Range Rover specialist. Fitting I thought seeing as this era of BMW was when they owned Land Rover & they seem to despise that fact 😂 

Anyway, a few things were picked up while they chucked it up on the hoist. 

Driveshaft centre support bearing requires replacing as the rubber has worn causing a type of engine moan at mid-throttle (noticed this started happening yesterday)

CV Boots Left Front & Right Rear (both outer) requires replacing due to leaks

Right Front Tie Rod requires replacing as there’s a bit of play

They said to me those aren’t urgent jobs if I’m just doing motorway miles which I mostly am however I would like to address these issues ASAP. Just curious if anyone else has had similar issues & if I should be tending to these sooner than later? 

 

P.S saw a pretty badass spec defender pickup while I was there (wish I took better photos)

 

Edited September 24, 2021 by boyish

[Breaker 980]

Yip, done all this and full suspension refresh on my 1999 E38, once done you can forget about the and focus on the next replacement part needed though 😁.

Great work, looks lovely 

Edited September 24, 2021 by Breaker

[boyish 40]

46 minutes ago, Breaker said:

Yip, done all this and full suspension refresh on my 1999 E38, once done you can forget about the and focus on the next replacement part needed though 😁.

Great work, looks lovely 

Awesome, will defs be looking into getting that done in the near future although the rear bags have recently been done it seems however no service history from previous owner to confirm other than physically looking at it. 

[boyish 40]

Went in to Bellars to replace CV boots & Tie rods & thought I’d get a service done at the same time. They did a wheel alignment too along with standard oil & filter, air filter etc. 

They took it out for a test drive to see if they could notice the hanger bearing playing up but apparently nothing was wrong with it & no distinctive noises either. Their words were “maybe you’ve just been listening a little too closely” 😂 

Atleast that saved me a few extra $$. Always a pleasure visiting Bellars, extremely honest & genuinely good people with proper industry knowledge. 

 

Current to do list: 

• Fix steering wheel tilt function (which I understand is connected to the memory seat module) 
• Some panel beating required to fix some dents & scrapes 
• Fix this bloody bootlid mechanism once & for all, if it still doesn’t work will try & source a secondhand one somewhere somehow.
• Replace bulbs in the instrument cluster (pixels are dim)
• Paint correction & coating
• Remove old tints
• Wheel refurb & new tyres
• E39 M5 / E46 M3 steering wheel 
• Rubber Mats
• Aluminium foot plates (car was originally optioned with them)
• Repair some scuffs on the seats (potentially new bolsters?)
• Upgrade infotainment unit 

I know most of the things are cosmetic so will just slowly chip away at them when extra cash is lying around 😅 

[Sol53 10]

Hey mate. I went to look at this one. Almost bought it. 
But when I was test driving it with my partner the old guy starting talking about the woman selling its husband that passed away, the owner of the car.   

Said he was a convicted pedophile who had just recently died in Sydney after spending a bunch of time in jail, did they tell you that too?

The mrs wasn’t having it, said she didn’t want to be in that car because off bad juju  

Car seemed pretty good apart from needing a paint job and the steering issue

how much did you pay for it in the end?

 

 

[boyish 40]

Holy f**k actually? Nah she didn’t tell me that about her deceased ex-husband. She did however tell me it was his & that he had left the car in her name after he passed. Yeah mechanically sound, but in definite need of a paint job. Just came back from a hike out west & lightly scratched the whole left side of the body haha. Should come out with a buff easy though. 
 

What was wrong with the steering when you test drove it other than the adjuster not working? 
 

I ended up paying $7,500 without a WOF.

[Sol53 10]

She didn’t tell me. Her current husband told me, he came with me for the test drive. 
The women had children with the ex, and the car was passed on to them after he died but she was selling it. 

Not sure why he told us, it’s not exactly a selling point haha. 
 

When I drove it the steering was pulling to left. Didn’t look into it much as I new there would be a few things to fix on it. 
 

Got a quote for 5k to repaint it. And the interior would probably be around $400 per seat to tidy up at an upholsters. 
 

The guy spent a ton of money on it, it really just needs a cosmetic tidy up. Pretty much fixed all the big common issues. 
Definitely worth sinking some money into it cosmetically. 

I offered 8k if they put a new wof on it. 
But it all fell apart after the mrs heard about the previous owner. 

[boyish 40]

Yeah that’s bloody outrageous. Kind of wish you hadn’t told me about it now haha but am a firm believer of good energy trumping bad ones. The first thing she told me was that it was her deceased ex-husbands car but yeah what her current husband said to you is definitely not a selling point eh 😵‍💫
 

Have recently ordered the Chemical Guys Leather clean & care kit (Leather Cleaner, Conditioner & brush) so will be giving it a hardcore scrub 😅
 

Ah yes it seems replacing the tie rods has solved the issue along with the wheel alignment. 
 

I’ve just been hit with the “Trans. fail safe prog” code assuming it’s the battery due to the “bootlid open” code from the lock mechanism not fully engaging the switch to tell the car it’s shut after I repaired the spring. 
 

May I ask where the quote you got for it was from? I’ve been recommended by my detailer at Final Touch to go see Bays Collision Repairs on the shore so will have to go in sometime next week to sus it out. 

[Sol53 10]

28 minutes ago, boyish said:

Yeah that’s bloody outrageous. Kind of wish you hadn’t told me about it now haha but am a firm believer of good energy trumping bad ones. The first thing she told me was that it was her deceased ex-husbands car but yeah what her current husband said to you is definitely not a selling point eh 😵‍💫
 

Have recently ordered the Chemical Guys Leather clean & care kit (Leather Cleaner, Conditioner & brush) so will be giving it a hardcore scrub 😅
 

Ah yes it seems replacing the tie rods has solved the issue along with the wheel alignment. 
 

I’ve just been hit with the “Trans. fail safe prog” code assuming it’s the battery due to the “bootlid open” code from the lock mechanism not fully engaging the switch to tell the car it’s shut after I repaired the spring. 
 

May I ask where the quote you got for it was from? I’ve been recommended by my detailer at Final Touch to go see Bays Collision Repairs on the shore so will have to go in sometime next week to sus it out. 

Sorry man, I thought he would have told you the same story, it seemed like it was info he was sharing with everyone as its one of the first things he said to us in the car.

Convo started like this:

Me : sorry to hear about the passing away of your friend.

The old guy: Dont be, he was a pedophile........

 

Burn some sage in there or something.

 

The price was from west auto panel beaters and painters,  Ijust sent them a some pics. http://westauto.co.nz/.

 

Also if you are interested in upgrading the media unit. I have got a brand new Xtrons Android 10'25" unit made for the E53, has everything like carplay, maps, spotify etc etc. Fits real nice in the dash.

I have the same unit in my E53, I use it with i-bus app and dongle to get full on board computer functions back after taking out the factory unit, can control auto central locking, customise lights etc. I also hooked a reverse camera up to it, and installed an iDrive launcher on it so it functions like the mordern BMW interface.

Pics attached.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/383287588279?hash=item593db875b7:g:4JAAAOSwuVFhBXYk

I have a spare becasue they made an order mix up and sent 2 units,  but they didnt want to pay for the return shipping to China, so offered it to me at discount.

I was just going to put it on trademe, but feel free to PM me if you're interested.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[boyish 40]

Hahaha nah it’s allgood dude. 
 

Right? Might have to hotbox the car with sage & perform some sort of ritualistic chant. 
 

Paint job/paint correction/coating might have to be one of the last things I do on the car considering how much it’ll cost up front to get done. Unless it gets to the point that it bugs me enough haha. 
 

I think initial main focus will be interior as it’s where we spend most of our time.
 

Oh yes? Have been looking at the Dynavin N7 as it’s very similar to the OEM unit. Will definitely be getting a reverse camera set up along with it too. I like how you installed the iDrive launcher, makes it a very modern experience. 

Edited October 7, 2021 by E30 325i Rag-Top
Massive quote not needed

[zero 1162]

Have a look at the avin units. Better than the xtrons, and also better than the dynavin imo

[JonRP 59]

Great looking example, well done!  NZ new with this spec & engine is rear.

I followed listing but figured it would need $4-5 k spent on preventative maintenance & panel/paint which in reality is well with the investment as it's a glws machine.  Given the moderate 6 private owners outstanding maintenance is a fact of life sadly as many owners do not spend on future proofing the investment.

I ended up purchasing a car with the same engine though last month instead. 

Carjam check below typical ownership for a vehicle of this caliber & $ value when new.

Ownership History

10 owners in New Zealand (6 owners excluding dealers)

 

Plates History 

Plate	Effective Date
GHL99	26-May-2012
DIDIT	02-Sep-2010
SHUEYS	05-Jan-2010
CPF964	24-Mar-2005
CGJ151	07-Dec-2004
BGQ594	09-May-2003

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by JonRP

[Sol53 10]

8 hours ago, zero said:

Have a look at the avin units. Better than the xtrons, and also better than the dynavin imo

From my research they are all essentially the same hardware units, same software,  just rebranded, probably all come out of the same factory in China. 
Brand choice would just be based price point and maybe customer service history. 

[Breaker 980]

Craig Shuester’s old X5, he would have looked after it, can put you in contact if you interested in having a chat. 

 

Also, I run an Avin Avant 3 unit in my E38 and for the last couple of years it has been great, would definitely recommend 

[boyish 40]

21 hours ago, zero said:

Have a look at the avin units. Better than the xtrons, and also better than the dynavin imo

Have looked into them briefly in the past but would have to do a little more research! They seem great 👍🏽 

3 hours ago, Breaker said:

Craig Shuester’s old X5, he would have looked after it, can put you in contact if you interested in having a chat. 

 

Also, I run an Avin Avant 3 unit in my E38 and for the last couple of years it has been great, would definitely recommend 

Oh yeah? Would be keen on some owners perspective & history. 
 

Would you recommend just buying from their site directly? I’m just a little nervous on the self-installation process that’s all as I’m very new to the whole DIY thing. I’m sure a simple video tutorial will help me get through it 🙏🏽

[zero 1162]

14 hours ago, Sol53 said:

From my research they are all essentially the same hardware units, same software,  just rebranded, probably all come out of the same factory in China. 
Brand choice would just be based price point and maybe customer service history. 

Nah, they are very different.

There are many tests online comparing the units and the avin and the dynavin are the only two without any lag

[Sol53 10]

10 hours ago, zero said:

Nah, they are very different.

There are many tests online comparing the units and the avin and the dynavin are the only two without any lag

Lag will have nothing to do with the hardware, that will be software, maybe they have differnt launchers but they all run on Android software. Look at all the models they all look the same, there's no way each of these companies will be getting a custom design headunit done. There are like 5 companies doing the same units. I guess lag is subjective, my xtrons unit is as snappy as my iPhone and works great, a friend has an avin and it feels exacly the same. I would be happy with either brand. Like I said, I think it will come to price point, return policy, customer service and brand loyalty. And of course people tend to be defensive of their purchase. You'll be able to find many people saying one is better than the other for all the brands. One guy might have bought an Avin and it was faulty, so suddenly Avin is crap and vise versa. Xtrons is the one I just happend to buy, but would be happy with a Avin too.

[zero 1162]

Check out the reviews if you dont believe me