Greydog

Try looking on www.Realoem.com put in the last 7 digits of your vin number and it will bring up the build for your car and what accessories you can get Once you have the part numbers you can look at many sources from BMW £££££ to Ebay you could talk to Jason at Chiptune in Uxbridge about engine upgrades he is experienced with Beemers and well recommended on other sites

The cam shaft sensors are at the front of each head have a look at www.realoem.com put the last 7 digits of your Vin in and it will bring up your cars build. it has drawings and pictures that will help identify the part for you Good luck

I use a BMW Specialist (less than half BMW labour rates) there doesn't seem to be much difference between OEM and decent quality after market brake parts from my experience both Cotswold BMW and Euro Car Parts have deals if your DIY ing. Have the brakes always squealed or has it started recently? I would make sure that they have been reassembled correctly with anti squeal shims in place if the pads were changed and the shims stuck to the old pads they may be missing?

If the pads were changed has everything been reassembled correctly? BMW supply anti squeal paste (copper slip) as part of the brake replacement kit. Another thought were the pads upgraded?

If it fixes the problem RESULT shame they are so secretive about an obviously known issue and fix

Have you tried Eurocar Parts, or Aerosus. A friend got his front struts complete from Aerosus from memory they came from Germany in about 3 days.

Morning Have you tried talking to Independent BMW Specialists they will probably be more practical and as the kit is OEM I can't see how it will have an effect on Service History. I use an Independent BMW Porsche Specialist (he is an Ex BMW Master Tech) his work shop is fully equipped and he is by far and away more practical than the Dealer. Carrying out repair where the dealer just wants to replace parts, he and his staff are knowledgeable flexible and half the cost on labour so no brainer for me.

Hells teeth 8 speed gearbox!! 34 mpg!! how spoiled are you, while us poor old folk have to make do with only 5 speeds. To be serious that is really good MPG and shows what progress has been made in a few short years, my friend with the E70 4.0d (same engine gearbox as you just some turbo/EM changes to give added HP) and he is lucky to get over 30 mpg. May have something to do with his lead boots though, plus his commute is in heavy traffic. Me, retired for nearly 20 years so no commute and can choose route and travel times to suit me. The most queuing these days is in and out of Country Fairs and Horse Shows with the box on the back. Enjoy your E70 thats why we have them

We are looking at an E53 on California plates where running/operating costs are different? My reply was based on personal/family experience here in the UK which tells me there is not as much as you may think or have calculated. First due to my age and record insurance is £358 a year, road tax due to cars age (anything before 55 plate) same cost £280 a year. Servicing based on one a year around £600. The 3.0i was a little dearer last service at the same BMW specialist. My Daughter in Law ran a 3.0i one of the reasons we looked at X5's when looking for a cheap tow car for a horse trailer. In everyday driving the 3.0 averaged low 20's mpg (cant give exact figures as the car is sold) I wont count the 4.4 as that ran on LPG but my 4.6 over the last 2k has returned 19.1 mpg, Having run many V8's I budget for 15 so this for me is a good result, as this includes pulling a horse trailer and paddling around in mud during the shooting season plus although I am old I am not a member of the driving Miss daisy club. So even if it were £75 pm that is one trip to the pumps, for me in real everyday use that isn't enough difference to sway me towards the 3.0i. Looking at the OP's add link the car is on standard 17" rims (supplied as a spare in the UK) not staggered, the Nav was a non OEM system and then there was the mileage 167k plus the fact he is in California where car choice is huge? Hence my advice to keep looking for a better specced car and don't dismiss the V8's I see you run an E70 how close are your actual consumption figures to BMW's in everyday use, a mile away I guess, So for me even if it's a Diesel my guess would be mid to high 20's (I have a friend with a 4.0d) that still doesn't sway me from the V8, just personal taste. Wouldn't it be boring if we all were tha same. However I have an old work colleague who has just brought one of the new Mitsubishi Hybrid 4x4s, very impressive vehicle if I go green (not that diesel is green by a long chalk) that will be the direction.

Well presented car however mileage is high 167k for $6500 in the UK that would be around £4500. Downside the Nav package is non OEM wheels are 17". Personally I would keep looking there is very little difference in running cost between the 3.0i and a 4.4V8 (here in the UK) I purchased my 4.6is with 73k and full history from a BMW specialist for £4400 2 years ago (in the UK no one wants a V8 so they tend to be cheaper)

Fingers crossed it shows up and its a simple fix, wouldn't that be good?

I am on my second upgrade from Rusty, first when I brought the 4.4 in 2010 moved it to the 4.6 and just upgraded to 2015 hasn't missed a beat. So i am a convert

As the sub frame bushes last 80k plus I don't think many folks keep a tool unless they are in the trade I had mine replaced with Poly Bushes. I do have a home made tool for the lower rear bushes though. These are big heavy cars so the suspension bushes take a beating

Cotswold BMW do some excellent deals helps keep cost reasonable on older models like ours

Key fob not being recharged when inserted? I have heard of this with E53's inductor ring on the ignition failed so the battery in the fob doesn't recharge resulting in no keyless functions you can still get in and start it with the key however

It sounds as though you have a donor car which will at least provide all the bits is the gearbox manual or auto? If its auto I would try and keep the BMW engine and box together with their control units as I said with some of the later cars you may need the alarm control unit as well as they were linked for immobilizer purposes. That would leave the mechanical stuff, engine/box mounts propshaft then some plumbing for the cooling and aircon. If you look on www.realoem.com put the last 7 digits of the 530's chassis number in and you should be able to pull up drawings that may give clues/help. Good luck with your project

I built a few competition hybrids in the 60's and 70's much easier then as things were electronically simpler (well non existent) If you have a donor BMW then the things that come to mind are: Engine mounts, Radiator, Fuel pumps (ensure delivery pressure is right) Engine management (you may need engine,gearbox and security control boxes as some BM's are linked) Gearbox (or can you fabricate an adapter) is the final drive the same on the Omega? That could drastically effect performance. Final question WHY?

Find a good Independent or Transmission specialist (someone with Autlogic or BMW software) and get the gearbox codes read. That will tell more. It could be as simple as a transmission oil and filter change, or a complete rebuild. Don't want to scare you but a rebuild will be around £2k (unless you can DIY) BMW will just want to fit a new box and not even investigate sadly, do you have a Warranty?

For your car it may be easier to find the nav set up and fit an after market bluetooth. My 2003 X5 has the full set up with bluetooth but it wont stream music. Plus the bluetooth is not 100% with some phones bit of a PITA if you want to remain OEM. You could replace the CD changer with a grom unit or similar to allow music streaming that loses the CD changer though.

Have a look at satnavupgrades.co.uk the speed camera alerts are great and post code search makes destinations easier to find. There are others but there are also reports of system problems due to dodgy software. I have found Rusty to be reliable so if you want the upgrades Post Code search and Camera alerts through experience I would stick with him

They sound a bit off !! Are they going to work through letting you pay until the light goes out? As their abs sensor didnt do any good are they giving your money back? My BMW experience is with X5's but the specialist I use is really on the ball. He says not impossible for the ABS pump to have gone but as it started with low battery voltage he would check the battery again (I know its new) should be 12v+ ignition off engine running around 14v he says he would also check alternator output. He thinks they should be able to test the ABS function to be positive it is the problem.

If its like the X5 E53 models they don't require coding to the car so a straight swap. I take it you have checked what module is fitted in your car so units need an external antenna connection as well as the internal BT antenna (X5 again) Just a thought I changed my phone and it wouldn't pair using the in car procedure, eventually I used my 1.4.0 scanner to initiate pairing and that worked.

Remember the saying "All power corrupts, Absolute power corrupts absolutely" So no going back now ENJOY

Providing its not a runflat and its not near the edge you should be OK. Fingers crossed for you

Thats why we have BMW's to confuse and confound others (and ourselves) With the X5's after a battery change the control module can't see the steering angle sensor so lock to lock lets it find it. Hope it's not the ABS pump that sounds expensive.