[ucsbwsr]

Operation "kill all amber" continues with some LED turn signal bulbs


Removed the bumper and the lower splash shields to poke around see what's what. Everything is very clean and no major oil leaks. Very un-BMW



Garage TVs/Monitors FTW


Flashed XHP XDelete. I like run this on one of my E61 wagons and really like the refined steering feel. With no servotronic and 285 tires up front the steering is a bit heavy so I am hoping this will help that a bit, it might also improve fuel efficiency.


With the bumper off I decided to continue blacking out some items.



The small silver romboid around the front cameras was particularly annoying and after exmaining it's texture I wasn't confident paint would adhere well to it so I removed the reflectors and wrapped the complete assembly in gloss black (had it lying around). It looks SO much better IMO.



My goal was to run the beefiest setup possible. The tires already have enough width so increasing the aspect ratio is next, I am a big fan of running taller tires as it adds more cushion for ride comfort and also help fill the wheel wells. The X5 is in particular need of this but unfortunately the wheel carrier/upper ball joint is in a rather inconvenient location.

Stock Michelin PSSs are 285/35 325/30. I found some 285/45 325/40 Continental 5Ps which are OEM equipment on AMG Mercedes SUVs. I found a front tire on eBay and purchased it to test fit....

Here is the stock 285/45 Michelin


285/45 Continental


Bummer



In addition to the spindle-tire contact the inner edge of the tires would have rubbed at full lock so this tire size NOT working was for the best but in terms of added tire meat and the juggernaut like aesthetics it would have been exactly what I was shooting for.

When the dust settled and the tire was returned I was only out $35 for 2 tire mountings, 1 balancing, and return shipping on the tire so it was a worth while experiment, now I know.

Moving forward I need to decide if I should go with taller but slightly narrower 275/40 315/35 Hankook S1 Nobles (OE Porsche tires) or just stick with the wider but shorter Michelins. For now I might just run the Michelins until they are toast and then revisit options.





To make sure steering feel and lightness was optimized I also flushed the PS fluid with some new CHF11s


A couple updated pics, killed many bugs driving out to Lake Havasu, AZ for Easter