I immediately went to work cleaning my new car. I was shocked how dirty the wheels really were once I started to allow the wheel cleaner to activate. I applied Adam's wheel cleaner to the wheels and many of the lower surfaces to start pulling out iron and brake dust particles. You can see how much was actually on the car.
Missed a small spot at the top, but that was addressed during the full wash.
At this point I decided to debadge the car. The X5 badge on the rear hatch, and both sets of badges on the front doors were completely removed. I used a heat gun, fishing line, and my 3M eraser wheel to remove all remains. The entire car was then given a strip bath in Dawn. This was followed by a round with the clay bar on every panel and surface. Then I washed the car completely with Dawn again. At this point, the car exterior is completely stripped and clean. I now have a base point to work with. I ran out of light while washing, so I only have pictures indoors at this point.
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That completed Thursday, which was my first day of ownership. Friday morning started bright and early. I ran my wheels and tires up to the shop to have TPMS's installed, and for them to be mounted and balanced. I also rented a spring compressor while I was out. Friday's agenda was to get the car looking more aggressive. Backed it out of the garage all nice and clean. Last time it will look stock again. Lol!!
Front plate holder delete to clean up the front end.
I decided to try out these newer style double fin grills in gloss black.
Time to drop this thing down a couple inches!
Figured this was also a great time to swap out the fender flares to the brand new OEM wide body flares I bought. Obviously I took my time with each step, and spent some time cleaning each surface as I went.
Much better!!
Springs out. Decided to trim the bump stops a bit to allow more suspension travel without bottoming out. I went with the H&R 2" kit, so I was worried it would have issues crashing under full compression. I have to say, my car rides and performs excellent. I am very surprised others have stated this kit rode so bad. My car barely feels ant different than stock, but is more planted and tighter feeling in the turns.
Things cleaned up underneath, and new springs are installed.
I then installed my 83mm bullet nose wheel stud kit from Motorsport Hardware. For some reason I didn't take any photos of it going on, but I will get some when my spacers arrive and get installed. This concluded what I was able to accomplish on day 2 of ownership. I didn't get the rear lowering links installed, but those will be on the list for Saturday. Here are a couple pictures at the end of Friday.
