M3 Guy's 2012 Monte Carlo Blue X5M Journal

[m5 guy]

Originally Posted by upstateX5M

What is recon?

Originally Posted by JX5M

Too funny my thoughts exactly

It's a ridiculous concept that dates back to the late seventies and early eighties here. It was meant to re-certify piece meal cars. Now it has turned into a way for the state to get money for you choosing to modify your personal property. They actually prefer that you don't get it as it costs $15, but tickets for it are $95 at the moment. Best part is it's only for counties with a population greater than 500,000 people meaning only Oahu has this. The rest of the islands don't have it.

Originally Posted by mitch808

I think Hawaii is great with their yearly safety checks. Where they verify a car is in proper order. Nothing out of the ordinary. horn, lights, tires; basica driveability stuff. I think all states should have this yearly check. Peoples headlights out, or brake/turn signals not working; is just lame. Or worse, people with lifted trucks that NEVER adjust their headlights down.


But Recon is a different beast. Recon or Reconstruction permit, is for modified cars. lowered, lifted, larger wheels, exhaust mods. They all have to be checked out. In the past your alignment had to be within the last 30 or so days upon inspection, your wheels could only be +/- 2" from factory, headlights had to be a certain minimum from the ground, etc. It was a PITA. Sometimes arbitrary in their decision, and often totally inefficient. I'm glad to hear it's a smooth process. Still wont ever move back there though.

Still need alignment paperwork. I just hate the safety check stickers. If it was windshield capable that would be fine, but since it has to go on the back passenger side bumper area it's ridiculous.

[mitch808]

What happened to the aftermarket $20 bent sheet metal brackets? Man what a ripoff LOL.

Not legal too?

[m5 guy]

Originally Posted by mitch808

What happened to the aftermarket $20 bent sheet metal brackets? Man what a ripoff LOL.

Not legal too?

The new stickers look weird on them and the plate would ruin the smoothness of the bottom of the bumper. I rather just look as legal as possible from the rear these days. Even have legal tint and a front plate as well. I guess I'm just over being a cool guy and doing stupid little stuff like that to annoy the cops.

[deepred_natz]

Originally Posted by m3 guy

Seriously looking at an F80 M3 myself. Would be a great addition in four years when everyone is out of seats.







In other news the car started to develop the black soot of death on the exhaust tips the past couple weeks. It would also barely start after sitting for 10 minutes between starts. Figured it was the injectors so I made the appointment. Took it in and was able to get all 8 injectors and plugs replaced. Only injector 2 and 8 were bad, but they went ahead and replaced them all under warranty. It turns out the dealer here stocks all the parts as they know this is going to happen to the N63 and S63 motors at some point. Got the car back the other day and it's running great. Feels like a new car. The performance and smoothness drop off is so gradual with this issue that you don't realize how much it's affected until you get the fix performed. All they need is for you to tell them there is a longer crank and they will investigate.

I know cool story bro, but since this is a journal I figured I would post up.

How did you get them to change all injectors and plugs? My M is also developing black soot but minor for now. Last december my #6 cylindr misfired and engine malfunction msg appeared. My M was running rough at that time but its fine now. so i made the appointment on the 11th of April to get the code fixed. I just hope that the will replace all injectors. Btw, wheels still for sale? Pm me.

very nice build. I learn alot about x5m and its flaws.

[m5 guy]

Originally Posted by deepred_natz

How did you get them to change all injectors and plugs? My M is also developing black soot but minor for now. Last december my #6 cylindr misfired and engine malfunction msg appeared. My M was running rough at that time but its fine now. so i made the appointment on the 11th of April to get the code fixed. I just hope that the will replace all injectors. Btw, wheels still for sale? Pm me.

very nice build. I learn alot about x5m and its flaws.

I used the whole time and money routine. Having a good relationship with a competent dealer that has common sense helps as well. You can try to reference the service bulletins though they just say they could go bad. It's a common problem so hopefully they will take care of you. Good luck!

Sending that pm now.

[deepred_natz]

Originally Posted by m3 guy

Honestly because K&N is complete crap imo compared to BMC. They let dirtier air in and don't provide any increase in flow according to the numerous tests run against them and paper filters. Plus they over oil the heck out of their filters causing a build up on the maf. I actually don't like oiled filters, but I didn't find out about a dry one until after. Supposedly ITG makes a filter for our cars so I'll probably try that next time.

Ironically, the only reason I changed the filter in the first place was because I wanted to remove the charcoal filters. So I figured if I'm going to open it up might as well throw in a better flowing replacement filter as well. So I order the filter. open her up, and find out I don't have the charcoal filters installed lol...

I went to ITG site, not sure how to order. any place/site that you can recommend where can i but this air filters?

Thanks.

[m5 guy]

Originally Posted by deepred_natz

I went to ITG site, not sure how to order. any place/site that you can recommend where can i but this air filters?

Thanks.

I'm not sure. I haven't bothered to look into it yet. I'm still running the BMC filters that I ordered off of their site. Made it from Italy to Hawaii in only a week. If you find someone that sells the ITG filters let me know.

[denaliman]

You can order them out of Montreal at Jon Nichols Motorsports. Special Order.

[m5 guy]

Mod update:

Nothing major right now just a couple parts to change up the front end a bit. Last month one of my tow hook covers went missing and one of my lux v3 angel eyes began to flicker. Got to the point where I had to turn them on and off several times each day for it to turn on. So I decided to go a different direction and have some fun.

Piaa 2500k Plasma Yellow H8 bulbs



Installation couldn't be easier as these fit just like oem. I tried the Nokya's at first being cheap and was severely disappointed. Horrible fitment, the welds broke apart on one, and the color intensity was different between each bulb. Don't even bother with them. If you are going to do this get the PIAAs.

With that said I absolutely love the look of them so far. Super bright and different. Just about every BMW out now has the white angel eye look so I went the other way. On my e46 M3 I had amber so for the X5M it gets yellow. The look is much more intimating imo while not being over the top. They also look fantastic with the lights on too. They also don't disappear under bright sunlight, which is a definite plus.


US Mill Works Front License Plate Bracket

What a lovely piece of engineering this kit is. I've tried other companies before but this easily the best kit I have ever used. Every aspect of the kit was made with great care and thought. From the ridges that are around the holder for the stamp part of the license plate to the quick release that lets you remove it without scratching your paint, it really is a great kit.

Some pics of the license plate kit:

Installed in the tow hook with the license plate bracket disconnected:



Connected. Notice where I have the mount installed in relation to the bracket. Setting it up like this makes it so the pdc functions perfectly. Always had that problem with other kits but not with this one. The range of mounting options makes it easy to avoid. You can mount the bracket anywhere you want as all of those small holes are mounting options. The big holes below are for weight reduction.



Since I went with the quick release option you can install the whole assembly super close to the bumper, which is nice. Installing a frame around the whole thing works just fine too. I'm using the oem black one.







Final installed pics of both:

The darkness:









Outside:

[UnicornM]

License plate holder looks very clean, entire front end has that mean wide squat look to it, no doubt people will pull aside with you coming up in there rear view mirror

Originally Posted by m3 guy

Mod Update:

The oem camber control arms came in yesterday. The e70 does not have adjustable front camber and the aftermarket does not provide a solution that I'm aware of so I went with these. They are good for -30, which is -.5 of a degree. While that's not much, it should help out with both cornering and outside tire wear, which the e70's are known for.

The arms:



Here you can see where the difference is between the types of arms. Notice how the ball joint is not at the top of the arm's curve anymore:



Vs the regular oem one:



One more of the cambered arm:



Now that I have all of the suspension components for the build the install can proceed. Looking at maybe two weeks from now. Just waiting for my friend to have some free time as he is the professional mechanic not me lol...

OK, so the camber arms have me tuned it. I'm seeing the outer tyre wear issue so with parts stacking up in the corner (KWs, BBKs, 22s) I'd most certainly entertain the idea of some negative camber.

What are these arms off of? Will they work OK on standard X5 or just for the X5m?

[m5 guy]

Originally Posted by X5_MSPORT

License plate holder looks very clean, entire front end has that mean wide squat look to it, no doubt people will pull aside with you coming up in there rear view mirror

OK, so the camber arms have me tuned it. I'm seeing the outer tyre wear issue so with parts stacking up in the corner (KWs, BBKs, 22s) I'd most certainly entertain the idea of some negative camber.

What are these arms off of? Will they work OK on standard X5 or just for the X5m?

Thanks! I really like these tow hook holders. Only thing is the revious owner didn't so now I have to get the holes filled. Might just buy some bumper plugs as a temporary fix for now.

These camber arms are oem and should work just fine for your X5. BMW made three types to correct for camber after accidents. Positive, negative, and neutral. With these and my drop I'm at -2 camber up front and running the closest to 0 toe that I can within spec. Believe that's .03 toe in if I'm not mistaken. Would normally run 0 toe, but since this is awd the toe in this narrow will become 0 toe under acceleration. No weird tire wear anymore and the car is quite responsive to transitions now.

You should be able to find the part number for your car on realoem.com.

[UnicornM]

Originally Posted by m3 guy

Thanks! I really like these tow hook holders. Only thing is the revious owner didn't so now I have to get the holes filled. Might just buy some bumper plugs as a temporary fix for now.

These camber arms are oem and should work just fine for your X5. BMW made three types to correct for camber after accidents. Positive, negative, and neutral. With these and my drop I'm at -2 camber up front and running the closest to 0 toe that I can within spec. Believe that's .03 toe in if I'm not mistaken. Would normally run 0 toe, but since this is awd the toe in this narrow will become 0 toe under acceleration. No weird tire wear anymore and the car is quite responsive to transitions now.

You should be able to find the part number for your car on realoem.com.

Yeah those pesky screw holes never mind how small are as annoying, i'm sure plugs will make it look much cleaner

Indeed Just found the following part numbers,

31126772997 L
31126772998 R

I'd assume my camber will be out of the +positive state once KWs are on along with considerable drop, so perhaps I shouldn't need to go down the route of -30min upper control arms for additional -0.5deg?

[m5 guy]

You most likely will be okay as long as you drop it a decent amount. I would be at -1.5 without the arms so that is why I went with them. I used to drive around in the -3 range up front on my old M3. The only thing to note is that there is not enough camber adjustment in the rear to bring it back in spec. My rear is at -2.5. So with the arms I'm only at a .5 difference. I was hoping to have less camber in the rear to put the power down better but until a camber kit becomes available I don't think that is going to happen.

[UnicornM]

Originally Posted by m3 guy

You most likely will be okay as long as you drop it a decent amount. I would be at -1.5 without the arms so that is why I went with them. I used to drive around in the -3 range up front on my old M3. The only thing to note is that there is not enough camber adjustment in the rear to bring it back in spec. My rear is at -2.5. So with the arms I'm only at a .5 difference. I was hoping to have less camber in the rear to put the power down better but until a camber kit becomes available I don't think that is going to happen.

Oh I'mma drop it lol

Your M3 looked



My E91 was dumped pretty hard

[m5 guy]

[Singh97]

License plate look great bud. I might also go with same one. I am really annoyed with my current one as it interferes with my PDC. I got mine from Bimmian.

[m5 guy]

Originally Posted by Singh97

License plate look great bud. I might also go with same one. I am really annoyed with my current one as it interferes with my PDC. I got mine from Bimmian.

Thanks! You can order this one directly from their site, www.usmillworks.com.










It begins. Shout out to Omar @ Velos for the next day air of this bad boy. The whole transaction took less than 10 minutes from inquiry to order and it was shipped the following day. Doesn't get better than that!

[skforzagroup]

Originally Posted by m3 guy

Thanks! You can order this one directly from their site, www.usmillworks.com.










It begins. Shout out to Omar @ Velos for the next day air of this bad boy. The whole transaction took less than 10 minutes from inquiry to order and it was shipped the following day. Doesn't get better than that!

I figured the wrap wouldnt do justice, makes a HUGE difference

[Da808dad]

Nice Kimo, you finally got it. See you at the foodbank cruise today along with the rest of TBMWH?

[Gerryballz]

Originally Posted by m3 guy

There are always plans.













Lowered it another quarter inch or so.

Can you share your ground to fender measurements at this ride height. It looks sooo good!

[m5 guy]

Originally Posted by Gerryballz

Can you share your ground to fender measurements at this ride height. It looks sooo good!

I actually raised it back up a hair after a week of driving at that height. I was bottoming out over big dips and actually rubbed the inner fender arch on the rear lol...

My current settings are as follows:

Front - 15.75 from hub center to fender. 29.25 from ground. This is 9 inches from center bolt to the perch if you are measuring with the wheel off. 3 turns up from the picture.

Rear - 16 from hub center to fender. 29.5 from ground. This is only one turn off of the height in the picture where I rubbed.

My new height is more comfortable and much better for daily driving. It's amazing what that extra quarter inch did for comfort. Plus it still handles great. However I'm always on the quest for more lows aesthetically speaking so I might have to explore a different solution. I already know how I would do it, it's just a matter if I really want to. Most likely explore it once I finish off the build. Just have engine cover, exhaust, a gauge, brakes, and a 2013 X6M hood to go now.

[Gerryballz]

Originally Posted by m3 guy

I actually raised it back up a hair after a week of driving at that height. I was bottoming out over big dips and actually rubbed the inner fender arch on the rear lol...

My current settings are as follows:

Front - 15.75 from hub center to fender. 29.25 from ground. This is 9 inches from center bolt to the perch if you are measuring with the wheel off. 3 turns up from the picture.

Rear - 16 from hub center to fender. 29.5 from ground. This is only one turn off of the height in the picture where I rubbed.

My new height is more comfortable and much better for daily driving. It's amazing what that extra quarter inch did for comfort. Plus it still handles great. However I'm always on the quest for more lows aesthetically speaking so I might have to explore a different solution. I already know how I would do it, it's just a matter if I really want to. Most likely explore it once I finish off the build. Just have engine cover, exhaust, a gauge, brakes, and a 2013 X6M hood to go now.

Perfect, thank you!