Maximus86

Hi All!

I'm Maxim, from Belgium.

I recently imported a 2009 E61 523i from Germany to become the family's daily driver as of December.
The car has the N53B25 engine, 6HP21 and 172.000km
Nice thing buying from Germany is that the car came with full service history + invoices. It did have a bit of a rocky past, the second owner must have hated this car according to the service history. Every single common issue with this model occurred during his ownership between 2012-2016, with mutiple tows and expensive invoices. All nicely documented

I am no stranger to working on things with an engine or computers, and plan to do all maintenance and work myself. It is the first "modern" vehicle I'm working on though. All of my other stuff still has carburetors
I already have spent some time familiarizing myself with the car and the software.

This is what the car looks like at the moment: (this was right after raising, meanwhile blocks have been placed under the wheels as a safety precaution)



Drove the car to Belgium from Germany, it drove quite well but fuel consumption was high.
NOX sensor was broken, CCV membrane was stuck open, valves were caked in oil/carbon.


What I did so far:

• Added a "Hook" detachable towbar with Hella trailer control module. Modded the right bumper support and added it on top of the towbar mounting so I retain the towing hook functionality.
• Dabbled a bit in coding (map update, changed some basic settings to familiarize myself with NCSEXPERT and other tools)
• Replaced CIC hard drive with an 128GB SSD and increased media partition
• Added a combox telematics instead of the factory TCU to get bluetooth streaming
• Walnut blasted the valves and cleaned the intake manifold
• Fixed botched repair job on the CCV valve, using "vanos-bmw" membrane and lid
• Added an oil catch can (aliexpress "burger clone" with DIY mount)
• Changed oil
• Changed servo fluid
• Changed rear diff fluid

To be done soon:

• Coolant replacement (potentially water pump replacement too, as it still works but I get 0x2E84 code)
• NOXEM installation
• Check servo pump for leaks, it's covered in a light coating of oil and it looks like it's coming from the shaft seal. I do not know if these are rebuildable.
• xHP trans flash. This is my first auto transmission car and I dislike the way it shifts. We'll see if the xHP flash puts some peppiness in the shifts
• Adding "sport" button
• Replace front ashtray with dual charging USB ports and button for gate opener
• Create fixed RAM mount on the dashboard for cellphone

Things I am trying to figure out at the moment:

• SOS malfunction warning in dash after combox installation. It seems the option to disable this in the "KOMBI" module is not present on my car
• Water pump communication malfunction after battery disconnect. Pump worked flawlessly before, hope electronics are not fried
• Changing language to Dutch in the CIC. Coded the right options and can select Dutch or French but language does not change

JayArras

Sounds like you and this car were made for each other. Glad you are able to give it the love it deserves. Good luck with it and to the forum!