XRatedM's Alpine White E70 X5M

[argento]

Originally Posted by XRatedM

Oh man, lucky you!! and I love the attention to detail, that's OG spec stuff!

I on the other hand keep running into problem after problem, it was meant to be our family truck but now looking into buying a 4runner for baby duties and X5 becomes my project truck! Lol

I'll hopefully button up the suspension and get to putting everything back together after getting the manifold and downpipes ceramic coated.

Can't wait to see those ceramic parts!

My wife used to have a 4Runner, definitely reliable.

[XRatedM]

Alright a quick update - I buttoned up the front suspension and back on the ground.

Replaced the following;

Upper control arms
Lower control arms
Sway bar links
Tie rod ends
Upper and lower coil spring shims
Springs upgraded to DINAN
Bump stops upgraded to DINAN Stage 1 Rev.A
Rear sway bar links
Height sensor rods - center-to-center set to 69.4mm per DINAN recommendation







I had to replace all 4 bump stops and fronts were somewhat straightforward, while doing the rears I had to take off the struts and the strut bolt that goes into the swing arm wouldn't break lose, after numerous attempts and with a long breaker bar I broke it lose but turns out the threads are gone, not sure if it was overtightened by whoever took them off last or galvanic corrosion played a part here - replacement swing arm runs about $600 a piece and they're both shot - used off of ebay or part-outs cost around $150 each. I plan on using heli-coil to fix it rather







I wasn't expecting this setback but I'll continue to make progress with other things, I haven't even had the chance to get to removing exhaust manifold and downpipes for ceramic coating.

Will update later on.

[XRatedM]

Also replaced broken rear radius arms.

I see a lot of surface rust all over the undercarriage - any recommendations for fixing that? I was thinking to get some sort of treatment done.

[argento]

That should feel a WHOLE lot better! Great work, I know that is a lot of effort.

So you're planning on going to the next size bolt with helicoils? By the time you bore out the old thread and tap for the helicoil it'll likely be the next size up.

Rust, I can only think of the hard/tedious way....You can slow down the rust by removing with some solvents and then need to coat with something hydrophobic to prevent moisture from accelerating the oxidation. And then you'd have to be vigilant at reapplying. AND replace rusted components as you go. Boeshield Rustfree can help remove and Boeshield T9 is a great hydrophobic coating...I'm sure there are many other examples out there. I used T9 on some of my threads, but mostly anti-seize with copper. FWIW.

[XRatedM]

Originally Posted by argento

That should feel a WHOLE lot better! Great work, I know that is a lot of effort.

So you're planning on going to the next size bolt with helicoils? By the time you bore out the old thread and tap for the helicoil it'll likely be the next size up.

Rust, I can only think of the hard/tedious way....You can slow down the rust by removing with some solvents and then need to coat with something hydrophobic to prevent moisture from accelerating the oxidation. And then you'd have to be vigilant at reapplying. AND replace rusted components as you go. Boeshield Rustfree can help remove and Boeshield T9 is a great hydrophobic coating...I'm sure there are many other examples out there. I used T9 on some of my threads, but mostly anti-seize with copper. FWIW.

With heli-coil the original bolt size will be retained - the process is to bore a slightly bigger hole, rethread and drop in a coil that fits the original bolt size - not sure how it works in terms of future (if I need to remove and reinstall the bolt).

I almost shelled a $1,000 on replacement swing arms plus the whole rear refresh because I got really frustrated (I take 2 steps forward and 1 backwards) and then someone knocked some sense into me LOL

I'll look into boeshield and hit you up if I have any questions - thank you for the help!

[argento]

Hey, when you did the power steering flush, how did you bleed? Does this ISTA instruction pretty much cover it? Any air afterwards?

[XRatedM]

Originally Posted by argento

Hey, when you did the power steering flush, how did you bleed? Does this ISTA instruction pretty much cover it? Any air afterwards?

Attachment 2694351

Hey, I actually didn't follow ISTA - extracted with an extractor and kept adding fresh fluid. Turned the wheel side to side couple of times and most of the air came out, however my pump still whines a little - not sure if it's air or the pump on its way out. I plan on adding some liqui moly additive to quiet it down.

will look at ISTA and let you know what it says.

[XRatedM]

So after several weeks of no time, I finally got to the heli-coil fix on the swing arm/control arm - there are a lot more wrongs than rights, so just throwing it out there for anyone who might run into a similar situation.

Thread stripping on the aluminum swing/control arm is fairly common - so I wanted to give Heli-coil a go - the process is to drill out a larger diameter, rethread the hole to a larger size then install thread coil (basically to retain the original bolt size m14x1.5 in this case).

Drilled a larger diameter hole - it is critical to be dead center otherwise it just won't work.

First mistake: I was probably slightly off and wasn't dead center.







Second mistake: Installed the helicoil thread coil, I installed it too deep, it has to be 1/4 in and rest will be threaded in with the bolt and will lock into position with bolt all the way in.





Removed the strut and replaced the bump stop with DINAN stage 1





As I went on to put everything back together the bolt won't tighten and kept spinning.
Third mistake: I did not do a great job thoroughly cleaning the cutting oil and added orange thread locker on slightly wet threads and the bolt came out like below - cutting oil did not let the coil sit in place and lock.



Heli-coil thread coil was damaged and threads stripped again.





I now have two options, either I can save this swing arm by taking it to a machine shop and having them professionally do a BIGSERT, somewhat similar process to drill out a bigger diameter hole and insert a correct size insert, it is considered to be safe and long lasting.

Or go ahead and buy used swing/control arms and call it a day, maybe replace bushings as I will be going through the pain of removing the entire arm.

[XRatedM]

I ended up buying used rear swing arms/control arms because buying new just did not make sense at $600 a piece.

New swing arm bushings and thread chaser are on the way and bushings will be pressed in by a machine shop, just to make sure they're done right and back on the truck then.

It's been up on jack stands for over 6 weeks now.



Replacements came off of a 2013 X5M with close to 100k miles - bushings don't look too good.



Passenger's side



Driver's side



Threads look good, chaser will help clean and sharpen them up.

[XRatedM]

Surprisingly I couldn't find a reputable machine shop close by, so I ended up buying press and pull tool for bushes, I removed the old sway bar link that came with the control and got it ready to press new bushings.

While I wait for the tool to arrive, I have a whole lot of work related to the turbos that I haven't had the chance to finish up.

I plan on removing the manifolds to get them ceramic coated and the following;

Coolant Y connection
Oil return lines and return cover
Clean up the entire area
Spark plugs



Alternator removed







Coolant Y connection was brittle and broke as soon as I tried to move out of the way a little.



Bought a replacement hose that came with a plastic Y connection and I replaced it with a stainless steel one. Thank Dawgz for helping out.





All done.

[XRatedM]

Removed bunch of heatshields, manifold and the headshield that covers the oil return cover and oh boy! quite gunky mess down there. I'll take a day to clean up the mess and drop off the manifold to get ceramic coated.



It felt as if the manifold was not torqued - some of the bolts came off by hand :-/



The dark valley! Lol



What a mess!

[XRatedM]

While I dropped off the manifold for ceramic coating, I wanted to clean up the area as best as I can.

Sprayed everything with degreasing gel and agitated with a hard brush a little.





I was hoping they'd be cleaner than this but nonetheless far better than before, I'll be applying two coats of VHT Flat Silver on everything.



This mess is a different story altogether, I thought there was a passage for the fluid/oil to escape but I don't think there is any, it's more of a puddle in there or is mine blocked? Does anyone know?



With the first pass, it cleaned up pretty decent (I used degreaser, hard brush, wire brush and steamer).







I'll be replacing the oil return cover, so will be cleaning a little more later on.



Took me 2 weeks to find a tool that I thought would work to replace bushings but the darn thing didn't have the correct size - off by 1.3mm . Any Machine Shop in Northern VA that can help with this?

[argento]

Hey, lots of hard work!! Looking great!

[XRatedM]

Originally Posted by argento

Hey, lots of hard work!! Looking great!

Thanks man!!

[XRatedM]

Actually I was wrong - the tool did work for one side of the bushing.

One of the bushing is a bit curved around the edges so the tool worked and I was able to replace it on both control arms. Plan on heating up and removing one of the old bushings to use as a sleeve to push new ones in.



Old one's certainly seen better days



Rubber on the old one was deformed (new on right)



New one almost in



Sorry about the orientation of the photo but used VHT flat silver to paint all the heat shields, just to refresh the look.



Scuffed them with 3M red pad and prepped to paint









First light coat





Voila! turned out great







I'll let them sit in a corner and cure for the next few days.

[argento]

Indeed, those look great! Glad you're tackling those bushings, it will be a huge difference with new bushings and suspension. Looking forward to your test drive...

[XRatedM]

Originally Posted by argento

Indeed, those look great! Glad you're tackling those bushings, it will be a huge difference with new bushings and suspension. Looking forward to your test drive...

Thank you, sir! I didn't think they were bad until they came out - hoping all this will make a tad bit difference in handling.

Did you replace differential fluids on yours? That's the next thing I gotta do.

I also picked up VTT crankcase breather to avoid any further oil leaks.

[argento]

No I haven't yet. Here's a good DIY: https://www.xbimmers.com/forums/show....php?t=1533599

[XRatedM]

I didn't have the correct sleeve to press in one of the bushing without damaging them, so I ended up remove all the rubber bushing from one of the old bushings and use the metal as a sleeve to push the new ones in.



Manifold's been ceramic coated with Cerakote.

Coating process;

Outgassed


Sandblasted


Coated

[argento]

Gorgeous! Cerakote is quality. That's going to look nice and clean once back in.

[XRatedM]

Originally Posted by argento

Gorgeous! Cerakote is quality. That's going to look nice and clean once back in.

It is - really hoping that it helps keep the temps down and I was thinking I should've painted the valve covers when I had them out, don't know why I didn't think of that

[XRatedM]

Removed the oil return cover and cleaned up the mess around it.





This is about the best I could get it to









Also picked up this VTT crankcase breather - Oil catch can setup on the way as well.