XRatedM's Alpine White E70 X5M

[XRatedM]

I had been waiting on a few final pieces for the rear suspension - they finally arrived today. Rear integral links and ball joint - I'll be replacing the integral link and pressing in the new ball joint - will also be replacing spark plugs.







Started putting everything back together



Thanks Dawgz for the torque specs





Installing the exhaust manifold was frustrating, bolts will not align unless you follow ISTA instructions.





You MUST follow ISTA instructions to install the manifold otherwise the bolts do not align and you might strip the threads.

[XRatedM]

Prepped everything to reassemble and replaced spark plugs - Not sure whether or not original plugs were ever replaced but if they were maybe they used OEM and were gapped to 0.026" - Replacement NGK are gapped to 0.022"







Cleaned up turbo coolant lines



Cleaned up the filtered airduct and replaced the hoses.



Old hoses





Turbos lines/hoses reassembled

[XRatedM]

About ready to drop in the turbos

[argento]

Looking clean! Nice work

[XRatedM]

Originally Posted by argento

Looking clean! Nice work

Thanks man!

[XRatedM]

Removed the rear swing arm and man, I'll have to get another tool to remove the ball joint - while I'm waiting for it to be delivered, I went ahead with turbo install and boom, hit a snag - not sure how did the turbo shop miss it but they installed flapper arms backwards, and I was getting frustrated as to why it wouldn't sit properly, compared old photos with new and figured out what was wrong.





So turbo housings have been sent back to get fixed.

[XRatedM]

Replaced rear bump stops with DINAN while I was waiting to receive turbo housings.



Received turbo housings with fixed flapper arms



Didn't take long to put the turbo back together, and went ahead and installed it, installed like a breeze.



Although it had oil added by the shop, I added some more as a precaution - used liqui moly turbo additive.



Clamped down and everything



Here comes the trouble, for some reason turbo exhaust housing would not align to the downpipes - not sure if it was because of the clamps being old or slightly de-shaped but I fought this for good 1 hour. Tried to clamp down exhaust side first and then manifold but still the same results. So I concluded that V Clamp was de-shaped and eventually got bent.



It may not be clear from the photo but it just wouldn't tighten straight until I bent it up pretty bad - Ordered a replacement, hoping that's what the issue is.



I plan on cleaning the engine bay once everything's been put back together



Next, I'll be installing catch cans and finishing up the rear suspension.

[XRatedM]

Rear integral link ball joints replaced and received the hose for catch cans.

This is the only tool that worked for the ball joints- tried 3 others and they just wouldn't fit right.





Old ball joint



Old vs new integral link and ball joint







Hose I used for catch cans

[XRatedM]

Done putting together driver's side, just have to torque it down - one of the nuts on the passenger side was stripped, so waiting to receive the replacement.

Made a lot of progress this weekend



Replaced a clamp for the turbo and it aligned perfectly





Putting it back together was fairly easy this time



Exhaust always looked misaligned to me, so a quick attempt to fix that



Replaced the exhaust hanger with a generic one to give me some wiggle room, OEM is a b***h to remove!!



Also replaced exhaust clamps - old ones were rotted and broke off.





Not perfect but much better than before





Also replaced transmission ground connection - Thanks for suggesting this argento





Washed and re-oiled the filters



Wanted to put everything back together, so it's easier to run catch can hoses





Catch can was a lot easier than I had thought

[Built2Fast]

This is such an awesome thread. I'm in the process of getting a 2013 X5 M. Doing the replacements and getting it back to operating properly is a huge task in itself. I've been working on a 08 N54 for the past 3 years. GT Peace has helped me along the way with tuning and sourcing parts and replacement items. Just wanted to drop a note and say that your build journal is pretty awesome and I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome. (I live in Herndon, VA so probably see you on the streets at some point!)

[XRatedM]

Originally Posted by Built2Fast

This is such an awesome thread. I'm in the process of getting a 2013 X5 M. Doing the replacements and getting it back to operating properly is a huge task in itself. I've been working on a 08 N54 for the past 3 years. GT Peace has helped me along the way with tuning and sourcing parts and replacement items. Just wanted to drop a note and say that your build journal is pretty awesome and I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome. (I live in Herndon, VA so probably see you on the streets at some point!)

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed. It is a fun project, can be frustrating at times but always puts a smile when I drive it.

It's a continuous project with parts lined up for other stuff and more are on the way, so it'll be on and off jack stands for a bit but eventually it'll be top notch mechanically.

That's good to know, I live in Gainesville, VA so not too far from Herndon - do share photos of yours when you get it. Good luck

[argento]

Great job on the catch cans, clean install, and you can reuse your engine covers. Which DIY did you use, if any? So, no test drive yet? Looking forward to your review.

[XRatedM]

Originally Posted by argento

Great job on the catch cans, clean install, and you can reuse your engine covers. Which DIY did you use, if any? So, no test drive yet? Looking forward to your review.

Thanks - they actually did turn out cleaner than I expected, I wasn't ready to cut the covers to run hoses but surprisingly they fit perfectly without issues.

I didn't use any DIY - just wanted to make sure the hoses are routed in a way that they don't mess with anything else (which is probably similar to how everyone else ran them) - I shared a video with you of Tasos which I found useful.

Bank 1



Inlet hose to the catch can (out from the oil separator) runs over the turbo coolant lines but it's not hurting them in any way.



Bank 2 - Hoses are really crammed on the catch can but it was test fit, I'll mess with it later.



And yes, no test drive yet, one of the nuts and a bolt for the rear swing arm were stripped during the removal fight so I'm waiting for replacements. Hoping it to be on the road this week, after a proper alignment of course.

[0-60Motorsports]

Excellent update

[XRatedM]

It's been a minute since I posted an update. Truck's been back on the road, everything is great except the smoking issue, it still smokes after a long idle - I'll get into it more later.

Right after putting it back together, I cleaned up exhaust tips because they looked terrible - turned out better than before but still not what I had hoped for.

Before





After - Used steel wool (0000), Chemical Guys heavy metal polish and a bunch of rags. Any suggestions of what might work better?







Also replaced start stop button with a red one.

[XRatedM]

Moved on to the cleaning aspect of things a little bit - gave engine bay a little clean up and cleaned radiators/coolers.

This is how it sits with Dinan springs, I feel it's a little hunched down from the front and there is a slight difference in terms of height front to rear.

[XRatedM]

Do you guys deal with a lot of soot as well? Mine is just ridiculous.







There was a shimmy over 50mph. I just replaced upper, lower control arms, etc., so the only two things left were either the tires or wheels. Nittos are fairly cheap, so I had picked up replacement front tires, it made it better but it's now more noticeable around 60mph now and the whole cabin shakes. So replacement wheel is on the way.



Apologies for the photo orientation - I ran BG products to maybe resolve the smoke issue but turned out to be a fail.



This, going in with the next oil change.



Cross bars - Yay or nay?

[argento]

Looking great! Really like what you've done, well cared for M.

Your stance on Dinans looks nice. What are the dimensions center hub to fender?

[0-60Motorsports]

Looks great with the cross bars.

[XRatedM]

Originally Posted by argento

Looking great! Really like what you've done, well cared for M.

Your stance on Dinans looks nice. What are the dimensions center hub to fender?

Happy new year and thank you!! I haven't had the time to measure it at a level surface.

I guess I'll have to get back in there to replace front strut mounts, diagnosed it to be the reason for the clunk.

And get it re-aligned per Dinan specs - drives pretty awful right now! Lol

[XRatedM]

Originally Posted by 0-60Motorsports

Looks great with the cross bars.

Thank you - I'm thinking to remove roof rails, that will be quite a task, lets see how it goes.

[0-60Motorsports]

Originally Posted by XRatedM

Thank you - I'm thinking to remove roof rails, that will be quite a task, lets see how it goes.

I'm going to remove mine too soon. Parts are all painted and waiting for me to take the car in.