Difference between X5 and X5M?

[rodnex]

Hi guys.

I would like to find out from drivers, who experienced both the X5M and a standard X5... How significant are the upgrades on the X5M?

I see many parts are unique to the M, such as the EDC suspension, steering rack, etc.

Why am I asking?

I am considering of doing a drivetrain swap. X5M into a regular X5.
However I want to use only the engine, transmission, rear axle and brakes.
I would not stick to the EDC etc.

Any comments? thoughts?

Please don't suggest selling what I have and getting an M.
It is not possible, unfortunately.

Best regards,
Rod

[m5james]

https://www.***********.com/content....and-S63-motors

I'm sure you can Google the rest. The money you'd spend doing a full swap like that would be cost prohibitive. I won't suggest you selling it, instead I'll tell you to not waste your time and sell it. Anything is possible.

[rodnex]

I know there are a lot of keyboard warriors out there.
Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the "swap"

I want to clarify my situation:

I live in a small island country.
We have about 20!!! X5 in the whole country.
All of them are 3.0si or 3.0d, base models.
I do not have the possibility to try out or to buy an X5M here.

I love fast cars and I can buy an Impreza STI here or some other ricer.
But sorry... a Subaru, with its cheap interior, is not a daily driver,.
The X5 is a perfect base for a powerful engine swap.

Why swap? Because we have very tight import regulations.
We can import only brand new cars.
The import tax is ridiculously high. The bigger the engine, the more you're screwed.
A new X5M would cost me... hold tight: starting from 320k USD.

Just for example: I just bought a wreck of a '07 3.0d for 30k USD.
I was after it for more than 6 months (remember, only a couple of cars available in the country).
30k vs 300k.... I have enough "budget" left for mods

This is why I don't mind spending 20k on parts for an S63 swap.
I have a fully equipped car workshop at my disposal.
I will also have the budget to take it to stage 2 or 3.
700hp in an X5... that's what I'm looking for.

I just wanted to find out, how essential the suspension of the X5M is.
I'm not gonna take it on a track.
I'm fine with my standard suspensions on the X5s.

I would of course use the torque vectoring diff, the brakes.
But I do not want to get myself into the position of having to deal with leaking EDC dampers etc.
Again, I live on an island, and part sourcing is always fun...
So I prefer less sensitive parts on a daily driver.

So any more comments... will be highly appreciated!

Cheers,
Rod

[m5james]

If the 3.0's are the N55 or the 3.5's are the diesel, those are both powerplants that can give out plenty of power for far less money and could likely even be just as quick with more reliability. A flash tune does wonders for the turbo engines. N54 powered 3 & 5 cars with a tune, downpipes and exhaust can keep up or even walk my modded X5M...granted there's a huge weight difference that comes into play, but the point is those engines are powerhouses with FAR more support. There are times I wish I'd gotten an N55 powered X5 knowing how much power potential they have on the cheap.

I'm not hardcore on keeping the stock suspension, so I'd do coilovers on a standard X5, but my X5M has EDC and I didn't wanna lose adjustable stiffness so I went with simpler H&R springs.

Brakes I'm guessing are a direct swap to a point...search the forums and/or compare on www.realoem.com which MIGHT help show visual differences to see what's possible.

[rodnex]

Yeah, the Diesel is great. I am not gonna swap out the Diesel. I am right now modding it and I expect to achieve around 350-380bhp and around 750Nm. Just waiting for the new hybrid turbocharger and the intercooler to arrive. It's still at customs. Then I am gonna be a happier man lol.
By the way... I have actually ordered already the X5M brakes for my diesel. It is a bolt on as you said.

But my petrol one is the n/a N54. Unfortunately not enough torque for that heavy car. Especially considering our curvy mountain roads. It is a pain to drive, as it needs to be revved all the time. It just doesn't feel decent. Unfortunately xhp doesn't offer custom maps for it. The mountain shifting behaviour is just awkward

Hence I was thinking to do a S63 swap. Coz... doing a swap is a lot of hassle.
So why should I do it for just a 6 banger? If I can get the creme de la creme...
With a few mods we're talking of more then 1000Nm of torque

[m5james]

X5M brakes will make a nice upgrade.

It sounds like you've got an N52 then, not an N54. I don't know if there are turbo kits for the N52, but even then that still might be cheaper and easier than a full S63 swap. Edit - Google 'n52 turbo kit', seems it's fairly common and IMHO will be cheaper than doing a full swap, skill level and labor prices is something you'd need to figure out for your area though.

Another thing to look into is swapping gear ratios...you'd just have to do two diffs. Not X5 specifically, but I've read of guys swapping diffs from 2.5l powered vehicles into their 3.2l/3.0l vehicles because the 2.5l would have higher ratios. E32 750 diffs are a popular swap for E34 540 guys. I've got an M3 3.23 diff from an automatic transmission car in my 328 with a manual transmission. You get the idea though.