e36bmer's... e70bmer - X5M

[e36bmer]

So, I have been on the lookout for a Blue X5m for a while now. I used to have a Cayenne Turbo that I liked and sold it to drive my E39 M5 around, but have been missing the comfort of a sporty SUV. So, I finally found one online that was for sale at a normal price, not hiked up $5k just because it's blue. Long story short, I'll try to post some of the stuff I do to it here. I don't trust anyone to work on any of my cars, so I typically try to fix things myself and do little upgrades here and there. Keep in mind that I'm cheap... I'll get the cheapest thing I can and make due, but I also like nice things. It's an internal struggle.

So, here's my old Cayenne. It had custom dual 3" turbo back exhaust, intakes, meth injection, tune, lowered, wheels, etc etc.


My e36 that I recently got rid of to make room for the X5 and something else down the road. Turbo, etc. 500+whp


E39 M5 that I rebuilt from salvage w/ my 2 hands. Tune, exhaust, wheels. The wheels were the first super deep concave CF5V that they made, or so I was told. Maybe they just told me that since they made me wait 8 months.


The wife's car, FBO 135i, though she has been driving the M5 lately and I'm about to just hide the keys from her so she gets back to driving the 135i



Now, on to the next one.







The handle is a bit messed up, maybe I need to paint it or something.


The rear driver reflector isn't sitting flush, so I'll have to inspect that


I don't know why this guy isn't sitting flush either. Anyone know how to fix that?


And I can't stand this DVD player thingy. It's just always in the way. So, that'll have to go.





So, that's it for now. Wish me luck in moving forward with this beast. I've really enjoyed the miles I've put on it so far. This is easily the most expensive car I've ever owned and I feel like a million bucks when driving.

[ZIV3R]

Congrats on a beautiful truck! I just got my Monte Carlo Blue (MCB) truck a couple of months back and am absolutely loving it.

I've already put the Akropovic downpipes and exhaust on it and had it tuned by Dynocomp. It's a true beast. It sounds like a diesel and the turbo spool is phenomenal.

You'll have a lot of fun in this truck I'm sure.

[ksa]

Welcome to the MCB club! Enjoy it in good health.

[Revnato]

Man that things is sexy! Love the color and those LED headlights look great as well

[jiggz]

Great choice going with a 2013 with the LED headlights - the only way to go if buying an E70 X5M IMO.

The rear reflector looks okay to me, though you could do an iND painted one that would look better. The headlight washer definitely looks sunken...have you tried to engage those a time or two - maybe it will return to it's normal (flush) position?

As for the rear DVD entertainment system, I think a few guys have removed those? Search the forum....but hang onto it in case you sell, that's a nice feature to include since it's OEM.

[boneca]

congrats and welcome to x5m mcb club there are few of us here, checkout the X5M Registry post to see what others have done to their rides just to have better idea what's out there!

Keep us posted!

[e36bmer]

So, I had some Black 1080 vinyl... and went a little crazy with it. Wrapped the grill, side markers, rear diffuser and driver handle where the paint was coming off. I was afraid that the door handle touch sensitivity might be affected, but it still works fine.

[boneca]

^
great job, u just saved uself $1k or maybe more

[Cattivo]

Congrats on the MCB beast...let the modding begin!

[ksa]

Wow the way you showed part of the wrapping it looks easy enough for me to want to try. I wouldn't mind doing the side markers but then would want to do the rear emblem and stuff but not sure if those can be wrapped.

I had already gotten the diffuser part professionally wrapped a while ago and it was like $150.

PS: How exactly do the side markers come off? Thanks

[e36bmer]

Originally Posted by ksa

Wow the way you showed part of the wrapping it looks easy enough for me to want to try. I wouldn't mind doing the side markers but then would want to do the rear emblem and stuff but not sure if those can be wrapped.

I had already gotten the diffuser part professionally wrapped a while ago and it was like $150.

PS: How exactly do the side markers come off? Thanks

Yeah, I thought about doing my rear emblem... but I don't think it'll turn out. I think plasti-dip would be the only thing aside from a properly painted emblem that'll work.

It really isn't that bad to do. The sidemarkers really just pull straight out. They were kinda tough to get. I put a plastic interior pry tool under and tried to get it slowly, little by little and they popped out. Then, one screw holds the light in. I wrapped it with a lot of stretching. A little heat from a hair dryer also goes a long way. It isn't 100%, has a couple small bubbles, but unless you really look up close you can't notice. Plus, it was my first time messing with something so curvy... well, related to cars anyway.

[e36bmer]

I bought some 1.2" H&R springs from a forum member and went to work. Overall, They are great when i'm on smooth roads, but a little harsh on really bumpy roads. I set the rear end links to about 67.8mm.


Here's my DIY for the H&R lowering springs.


Take this off:


This comes out


Then, take that whole piece out


Jack her up


Hold her in place


Use this thing


Put the tire here for protection


Unplug these


Unscrew these. (I think I put the jack under the control arm before unscrewing these so I could lower it slowly)



Had to remove the upper control arm to get the strut out. Just take a bolt out and use a little pry bar and it pops right out.



Notice that these bolts do not make an equilateral triangle, they are all different distances and only go back in one way.


Take the old spring off and put the new one on. Keep in mind the rotation of the upper bolts to the body of the strut. The rubber stop that the spring sits on the strut does rotate if you need it to.


Put it all back the way you got it.


Drive into a chemical plant to test the new springs.

[m5 guy]

Congrats on the purchase! Looks like you are off to a great start. Keep it up!

[Dchl21]

that cayenne looks nice. congratz on the new x5m

[e36bmer]

Originally Posted by m5 guy

Congrats on the purchase! Looks like you are off to a great start. Keep it up!

Thanks! I have an eye on your Morr wheels, but I think they are a little too much for me to just destroy over Houston pot holes.

Originally Posted by Dchl21

that cayenne looks nice. congratz on the new x5m

Thanks! I always thought the cayennes were ugly, but did my best to make it bearable.

[ksa]

In terms of the springs installation, did you have to go to your BMW dealer to disable the self-levelling suspension for the rear or something? So it didn't keep lifting the truck?

I am not sure how the rear adjustable links/installation works. Would you mind elaborating on that a bit? Thanks.

[e36bmer]

Originally Posted by ksa

In terms of the springs installation, did you have to go to your BMW dealer to disable the self-levelling suspension for the rear or something? So it didn't keep lifting the truck?

I am not sure how the rear adjustable links/installation works. Would you mind elaborating on that a bit? Thanks.

So, the airbags hold up the rear, that's clear. It'll adjust pressure depending on where the rear control arm is positioned relative to the body of the truck. So, it has a little sensor to measure the distance from the body of the truck to the arm. What the rear adjustable arms do is trick that sensor. Basically, that sensor has a "centered" position. You are keeping the sensor in the centered position, while bringing the arm closer to the body (lower). You do this by making the connection between the sensor and control arm shorter. If you see in the picture below. So, I think H&R says to make the adjustable arm 65mm. Stock was about 72mm, IIRC. I put it just over 67mm. So, you are making the sensor think it is sitting at the stock height. You could feasibly raise the rear by doing the opposite and make that little adjustment arm longer.

Edt: So, you don't need to go to the dealer to change anything. There could be other ways of lowering without changing the distance there, such as changing things in the software, but as a Mechanical Engineer, I'm more of a hands-on kinda guy.

[X Driver]

Good Job, only the handle i woud have repainted insted of the black wrap..

[e36bmer]

Originally Posted by X Driver

Good Job, only the handle i woud have repainted insted of the black wrap..

I agree. I didn't have the paint at the time. It was a temporary fix and since has pulled a little bit on one side. I'll update this later when I get a better fix.

[e36bmer]

So, I dropped my car off at what I thought was a good tint shop to put on some tint. The manager suggested I tint the windshield to help protect the beautiful leather dash... I came back to this damage. The dash seems to have dried up, shriveled up, become mishapen around all the seems. I actually had to dry a pool of water that was sitting on the heads-up display. Actually, even on the door panels, around the seams it is starting to get a little misshapen and dry. They told me that no way what they did caused this, though it is very clear that they did. So much for protecting my beautiful dash.

If anyone lives in Houston, stay away from Executive Tint.

[boneca]

^ oh wow, that's sucks

[frankenm]

Beautiful truck you have ... terrible this happened.

If you haven't already I would talk to an attorney right away since that is quite a bit of water damage no reason they shouldn't cover the cost to replace the entire dash and iDrive interface since it is completely ruined and waterlogged, especially if you have before/after photos.

Things like this is why I get don't like anyone touching my cars.