Build Log: M57 X5

[evilchargerfan]

Originally Posted by ucsbwsr

✅ Koni Active sturts

Some of the suspension goodies.


H&R vs Eibach are almost identical in length, H&R looks to be slightly thicker and also has an additional 1/2 coil


You can see how long the stanchions are on the Konis, Konis have 6" of travel and the old KYBs only had 3".


With my non-rear air strut mounts and custom spacers it was easy to accommodate the Konis (which are not listed as fitting a X5 w/ 3rd row), simply remove the spacer. The Konis are compressed just over 3" at static ride height which means there is just under 3" of travel to play with.

Evan, your build is simply incredible.

Mind if I trouble you for PN's to those koni's?

[ucsbwsr]

Originally Posted by FloridaE90

This is the type of thread I love. Looking forward to see the next updates. Answered a lot questions for me and provided some inspiration for my latest pick up. Haha.

Nice

Originally Posted by longislandbimmers

Awesome build and thread. Very informative and you really are detailed on your descriptions and photos. Thanks for taking the time. Being that I've done several of your tasks including the valve body gasket, I know you are skilled because that was one nightmare of a job!!!! But that's obvious you know what you're doing from the thread. These vehicles are definitely not easy to work on. One question when you did the rear shocks did you notice that the lower shock bolts were hard to get out?

Not really, make sure the suspension is unloaded so the struts aren't pushing against the bolt. I like to unbolt the struts from the top when the car is on the ground and then slowly raise the rear until the studs of the upper strut mount start to lower but don't wall through the unbody, now you can remove the lower bolt knowing it isn't under tension.

Originally Posted by Boostedtaco

I love your build and i'm copying you! Was the fender flare/tire damage because of rear height? or soft spring rate? Or was it being loaded up on the road trip?

It was from ride height, tire size, and aggressive driving.

Originally Posted by evilchargerfan

Evan, your build is simply incredible.

Mind if I trouble you for PN's to those koni's?

8745-1342
8245-1343R
8245-1343L

[ucsbwsr]

Geeze, I need to get caught up on this thread! I guess first things first; I got married Oct 2nd out in Flagstaff, AZ. Everything was amazing. Here is a photodump of "X5 Doing Things."

Bikes check, dogs check, wedding dress in cargo box check, double check the latch on the cargo box check check!


Always filling with renewable diesel when I can.



In-laws used to drive a Toyota Highlander and Porsche Cayenne before I joined the family.


The "Castle" aka Air BNB for us and our friends to party in


Hike in the Aspen trees


Fall colors at Pine Canyon


MTB in Sedona, epic.


Riding Hi-Line solo for the first time in the rain was a bit hairy but memorable.

[ucsbwsr]

Now back to our regularly scheduled nerdy tech, maintenance, and mods content.

I had plans to fit OEM 343M wheels on the X5 but after some issues with wheels not as described and a bunch of time wasted I lost interest and ended up fitting the wheels on my E61, oh well.



No surprise the F10 M5 wheels pair well with the F10 M5 brakes!


Looking right at home on the wagon.


Some small parts for the X5M diff: new grounding strap, heat shield, and exhaust hangers.


Before


After


Snagged a 335D engine cover. I liked the (kinda?) clean look without the cover and I certainly like the accessibility for wrenching but I wanted to keep the diesel clatter to a minimum and the 335D cover fits well with my custom intake.




New cabin air filters, thanks FCP



New Bike Day. XXL Nicolai G1



New boost pipes


I built up another set of 20x11 square ZL1 wheels. I do prefer the black over the graphite finish on the last set. This time I went with Toyo Proxes STIII. They come in the 295/45/20 size, are M+S rated All Season, and the price is about as low as it gets for a reputable brand tire.




Loving the cleaner look with the black wheels.


Cute little brakes on the Raptor


Ever since I installed the aftermarket fender flares I wanted to ceramic coat them to protect from future UV damage. I finally got around to it and cleaned/coated all plastic trim. I used Avalon King.
Before





After




It was inevitable.... KW V3


The Koni Reds clashed with the yellow calipers... lol





Much better!


The Toyos had a slightly different profile than the Hankooks so I swapped the 5mm spacers for 8mm. This was with the 5mm installed. Not for the faint of heart.


I was worried the fronts would look a bit poke-y with the larger spacers but honestly it looks perfect! More pics after I get the ride height dialed and finish another little project!

[evilchargerfan]

Thanks for the response with the PN's.

Your name has been thrown around alot lately in the NABDOG group. (about running Koni's for 3rd row seat owners)


Grats on getting married! Looking forward to more cool stuff from ya

[ryansbmw]

Looks fantastic and congrats on getting married! The castle looks amazing!

If you are looking to let the Koni actives go, let me know. I may be interested in taking them off your hands.

[T-Dubbs]

What's the effective offset currently?

[ucsbwsr]

Originally Posted by evilchargerfan

Thanks for the response with the PN's.

Your name has been thrown around alot lately in the NABDOG group. (about running Koni's for 3rd row seat owners)


Grats on getting married! Looking forward to more cool stuff from ya

Thanks!

Originally Posted by ryansbmw

Looks fantastic and congrats on getting married! The castle looks amazing!

If you are looking to let the Koni actives go, let me know. I may be interested in taking them off your hands.

They are already sold.

Originally Posted by T-Dubbs

What's the effective offset currently?

I assume you are asking about the front offset and it is now ET35 after the +8mm spacers

[ucsbwsr]

As my age gets higher so does my ride height Front KWs were raised to match the rear and ditch the rake for a level ride height, very happy with the the results. I am still developing thoughts on the KWs so for those interested in feedback please sit tight.

I am happy to report the exhaust system is complete. Installing the larger (wider) F85 rear differential meant the stock piping wouldn't fit and for the a while I ran some clamps, a resonator, and a turn down off my mid pipe which terminated just before the diff. I was toying with reinstalling my QTP exhaust valve as I appreciated having the option to open the valve when I wanted to puff my M57 chest but the reality is space was now a premium and although my QTP valve has been reliable, in general they are not known for being particularly so. I again, took the mature/classy/boring? route and decided to keep the exhaust quiet by skipping the valve, keeping the OEM muffler, and also adding a Vibrant Ultra Quiet Resonator.

I was surprised to learn the resonator killed a lot of the turbo spool. I run the same resonator on my E61 with twin turbos and the spool is loud and piercing, not on the M57 I guess those frequencies were gobbled up. The resonator also kept the hissing and fluttery noises to a minimum which I do appreciate as the growl of the M57 comes through better. Overall the sound of the system is subtle, a bit classier/cleaner, but still has character.

I had a local shop assist with the fabrication. They welded the Vibrant resonator into my Rawtek mid pipe, fabricated piping around the rear differential to connect mid pipe to OEM muffler, and fabricated piping from the muffler to accommodate the rear tips. A couple v bands were added to make the system modular and easier to install/remove.
Everything is mandrel bent and tig welded.

Here is the layout of the system:
Rawtek down-pipe
Rawtek catted mid-pipe w/ Vibrant ultra quiet resonator
OEM E70 X5D muffler w/ OEM F15 M Sport tips

Sorry for the shit pics but you get the idea...






Fitting F15 tips isn't for the faint of heart, it requires precise trimming and some creative fabrication skills to bring it all together. After mocking up the tips, eyeing, and measuring multiple times I was convinced it could work and proceeded to prep and trim the bumper. I traced the tip onto cardboard and then used a torx bit to extend the size, my goal was to have ~1/4" clearance around the tip, erroring on the side of "tight" and clearancing more as needed. Nothing is worse than having a hacked up bumper with excessively large holes. yuk




I applied tape to the bumper and used both the actual F15 tip and template to scribble my cut mark, double, triple, and quadruple checking as I went.


The driver side came out in about 20 pieces and I was a lot more proficient on the passenger side, here is the rough cut of the first pass, I came back in to clean up everything


Unibody was also slightly trimmed



Little OEM tip swimming in a sea of clearance.


Initial pics after installation.




Scratches on the bumper courtesy of the fabrication shop. Aside from this collateral damage I was very happy with their work. As you can see the bumper needed some additional clearance.


Added tape and revised my trimming.


Muffler/bumper fitment is so tight the bumper needs to be removed to remove muffler, not ideal but sometimes I sacrifice function for aesthetics, this is one of those times. V-band just before muffler makes this process much easier.


I thought about painting the muffler black to match the tips but it would have been a bit of work and I wasn't convinced it wouldn't chip over time from road debris so I decided just to refurbish the muffler and piping with some wet sanding, I love how you can bring new life to metal with some elbow grease.



Cleaned, scuffed, and primed.


....and painted



Final pics







Chrome vs Black tips


Day 0 vs Day Now
Funny because it looks way different but most of the work done to the X5 you can't see. More to come!!!

[ryansbmw]

The new exhaust looks awesome. Have any sound clips?

I'll be doing my exhaust soon. I will be cutting out the OEM muffler and I have 2 Vibrant Ultra Quiets sitting here waiting to be installed. Im glad to hear that a bit of the turbo spool was reduced on your setup. I love the spool sound with the catless DP but at times, it can be a bit much and drowns out the exhaust.

I'm just trying out my tip situation. The M-Sport bumper is different in the exhaust area and I'm deciding if I want to trim it or not. How wide are the F15 tips? Did you use a dremel to cut the bumper?

[ucsbwsr]

Originally Posted by ryansbmw

The new exhaust looks awesome. Have any sound clips?

I'm just trying out my tip situation. The M-Sport bumper is different in the exhaust area and I'm deciding if I want to trim it or not. How wide are the F15 tips? Did you use a dremel to cut the bumper?

No sound clips yet.
The tips are ~8" wide. Personally I don't think they are a good fit for an M sport bumper since the design is different. E70 50i tips (and F115 M sport) taper up where E70 M sport bumper/tips taper down. Flipping the tips upside down might be an option but in general the bumper designs are different.

[ryansbmw]

Originally Posted by ucsbwsr

No sound clips yet.
The tips are ~8" wide. Personally I don't think they are a good fit for an M sport bumper since the design is different. E70 50i tips (and F115 M sport) taper up where E70 M sport bumper/tips taper down. Flipping the tips upside down might be an option but in general the bumper designs are different.

Yea I was just curious on size. I’m pretty sure I want quad tips but the 3.5” tips are generally too wide for the space and not super thrilled about taking a dremel to the bumper. 3” will work but not sure if they will look too small

[wcs531]

Originally Posted by ucsbwsr

New boost pipes

Did you find leaks in the boost pipes, and if so were the replacements warrantied?

I have the ASV Elbow from ATM and noticed the metal rings are digging into the silicone, but it doesnt look like its gone all the way through. I definitely need to test the whole system for a leak - im sure ill find its leaking at least a little bit on the stock intercooler fittings.

[ucsbwsr]

Originally Posted by wcs531

Did you find leaks in the boost pipes, and if so were the replacements warrantied?

I have the ASV Elbow from ATM and noticed the metal rings are digging into the silicone, but it doesnt look like its gone all the way through. I definitely need to test the whole system for a leak - im sure ill find its leaking at least a little bit on the stock intercooler fittings.

No, it did not fix my *squealing* exhaust/boost leak. ATM sent me new pipes since the fitment of the ASV delete hose was hitting the aluminum brace and they said the newer pipes may have better fitment. Unfortunately fitment is the same. Regarding boost leak as least I have now confirmed silicone pipes aren't the culprit ...so I got that going for me. lol

PS- Thanks for not quoting my entire post!

[wcs531]

Originally Posted by ucsbwsr

No, it did not fix my *squealing* exhaust/boost leak. ATM sent me new pipes since the fitment of the ASV delete hose was hitting the aluminum brace and they said the newer pipes may have better fitment. Unfortunately fitment is the same. Regarding boost leak as least I have now confirmed silicone pipes aren't the culprit ...so I got that going for me. lol

PS- Thanks for not quoting my entire post!

I appreciate the high quality photos, but no reason to repost them all in a reply.

As for the boost pipe rubbing on the brace - I haven't had an issue myself with the unit I got in April of last year, but it can be a lot of fun trying to get it on the ASV (I started using an interior trim pry tool).

Feel like it has to be either EGR delete piece is too long or the ATM intercooler outlet is higher up than factory IC pushing the cold air pipe up a little bit. I attached a pic with measurement of the EGR delete I got from TuneMyEuro in case that could be helpful.

[ucsbwsr]

Originally Posted by wcs531

I appreciate the high quality photos, but no reason to repost them all in a reply.

Wish others understood that!

Agreed on the AGR delete pipe, I have already gone down the path of exploring shorter options. I contacted Bimmertune who makes mine about ordering a custom short(er) one with the goal of knocking ~1" off the length. After some back and forth the project fizzled out since they weren't confident they could build one and still get the hardware in. In my eyes this can be done by clearancing the flanges or recessing the hardware which will allow a wider angle for the bolts to slide in. It looks like a project I will tackle myself when I have time.

My goal is to build custom piping from the IC outlet to the ASV valve, mostly made of hard piping and ideally with some fancy vanjen clamps (or similar). Deleting the ASV would be an easy way to gain space but I am not keen on that, I don't have fears of a runaway diesel but I prefer to keep the civilized engine shut down the ASV offers.

Getting a shorter EGR pipe is key not only for clearance but allowing piping with a more gradual bend. I guess some tig welded pie cuts is also an option that would make for some nice engine bay jewelry. So many ideas, so little time!

[ucsbwsr]

Mini update.

The big news is this San Diego, CA vehicle is now a Boulder, CO vehicle as I have recently moved. The 1,000+ mile drive through CA, AZ, NV, UT, and CO was awesome and the X5 was a champ. Loaded to the gills with tools, belongings, bikes etc. it returned 22-23mpg on the drive which may not seem that great but with speeds between 80-90mph and elevation eclipsing 11,000ft through the rockies, they are satisfactory numbers. For reference the wife's Q7 4M with a few suitcases and 2 dogs, no cargo box or aero drag, only mustered 19mpg.

Also, now that I live in a fairly flat area the X5 is poised for MPG greatness. I am 1/2 way through my first tank of fuel in Boulder with mostly urban driving checking out homes for sale and I am sitting at 28+mpg which includes some spirited canyon driving and overtaking. By my calculations ~30mpg for a tank of fuel should be the new norm. Impressive considering the altitude and the fact I would get 21-24mpg per tank in CA.

Here are a couple better pics of my exhaust system as well as the "cool" X5M trans pan and differential heat sinks.



Apparently the X5 with the KWs installed couldn't get aligned on the Hunter machines? Techs say that the machine needs to have weight added to the back of the vehicle to read specs and they weren't able to do this. Kind of a bummer since I paid for a lifetime alignment via Firestone and essentially it's now useless.


Fresh oil change for the drive out to CO and knowing I won't have my tools available for the first few months out here.


Some pics on the drive East

[FloridaE90]

Originally Posted by ucsbwsr

After
[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0[/IMG]

I see the plug there, but where did you get it/what is it? I've currently got everything off of mine as well, and would love to clean it up.

[ucsbwsr]

Been a minute. The move to Colorado has been a long 5-month process from start to finish but here we are at the end. The new garage is getting a make over and once complete I should have a nice space to work in and continue my automotive projects.

Let's start with a few Colorado lifestyle pics






Exterior door which will be installed as a side door in the garage.


Scored a deal on some Swisstrax (again)




Before

After


Collecting kayaks from relatives


My plan was to have both my white E61 and black E39 Touring shipped from CA-CO but transit companies were a bunch of smoke and mirrors so I drove the E61 (knocked out the 15 hour drive in 1 day) and since the E39 doesn't run I drove the X5 out to CA, picked up a UHaul trailer, and towed it back to CO. My father accompanied me on the drive which was awesome.

With the white wagon out in CO we were just missing one....


E39 loaded up in CA. Trailer + wagon should be about 6,500lbs. I had my pellet grill and some other household items inside the X5. Of course I forgot my keys for the E39 and had to call AAA to gain access and then drilled out my steering column to delete the steering lock. (Thanks YouTube)

CA-CO is roughly 1,100 miles so 2,200 round trip. Long but driving the drive on the 15 and i70 is absolutely beautiful. Postcard shit.



We broke the drive up with a stop in St George, UT for sleep.


"Trucks"


More scenery (and pee break)


Surprisingly the tongue weight was <500lbs.


Made it!



Fuel Economy. Blue is outbound CO-CA going 80+mph. Red is CA-CO return while towing, 60mph average I would say. This trucks a beast. 20+mpg towing 6,000+lbs up and over the Rockies is impressive.


#AlwaysDirty in Colorado

[boneca]

Originally Posted by ucsbwsr

Been a minute. The move to Colorado has been a long 5-month process from start to finish but here we are at the end. The new garage is getting a make over and once complete I should have a nice space to work in and continue my automotive projects.

good read, congrats on new place and successful move

[ucsbwsr]

Not too much to report as most of my time has been spent remodeling the garage in which progress has been slow since other house projects keep getting in the way. Plan is to have the garage done before winter.

Colorado is a tricky place to live if you like to keep your vehicles clean (but worth it).

The X5 did receive an oil change (5k interval) but aside from that is has just been getting used. Odometer recently rolled over 120,000 miles. 40,000+ of which are under my ownership during the past 3.5 years.


Finally big the bullet and bought an EV. This is the only EV will own for a long time.


Oil Change




2nd wash in 3 months :/ Deeper clean with fender liners and brakes getting some love.


Deep clean followed by driving through peanut butter mud. Can't win! lol



Colorado Fall colors

[wcs531]

Are you going for dedicated snow tires? They are a different beast than all seasons, especially when you're dealing with wider than average tires.