04-17-2019, 10:12 AM | #1 |
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Build Log: M57 X5
Hi, my name is Evan and I like to modify BMWs.
Here are some of my old and current projects: Imola Red E39 M5: https://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/ca...ded-clean.html E39 540iT: https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sh....php?t=1245562 535xi E61 Touring: https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sh....php?t=1314813 The "N54 Powered E61 M5 Wagon" https://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36899 The new addition to the fleet is a 2012 X5 diesel. I am very excited about this as a project since at the heart of this vehicle is the M57 motor which is wildly underappreciated in the US. Offering torque, reliability, and efficiency it's has great attributes for a fun daily driver. The plans for this is vehicle are fairly conservative relative to my other projects and the plan is to enhance the performance, dynamics, and reliability while not sacrificing anything in exchange. Plans include: - F85 X5M or F10 M5 brakes - F10 M5 steering wheel - JR 2.8 tune and supporting mods - XHP X Delete and Transmission tune - Upgraded headlights, fog lights, and reverse light - Style 612M wheels (done) - Revised Fitment (taller tires, KW V3 or springs) - 3rd row delete, rear seat entertainment delete - Stealth tow hitch. - Fender flared, M Sport front bumper - Clear Bra + Tint - etc. etc. etc. Here are the stock specs: 08/2012 78,XXX Platinum Grey Metallic over Black 1 owner Southern California vehicle Premium Package Sport Package Comfort Access Comfort Seats: Heated/Ventilated/Active Driver Heated Rear Seats + Steering Wheel Technology Pakcage Lighting Package 3rd Row + Rear Air Suspension Rear Seat Entertainment Soft Close Doors LET'S GO!!!! A rare picture of one of my vehicles in stock form... Pulling in the garage after driving it home Had some 612M wheels waiting Style 335 (19") vs Style 612 (21") Ooooffffph Saving 10-12lbs a corner of unsprung mass and rotational weight, nice! Hubs were a little rusty so I hit it with a wire brush and applied some anti-seize. Much better, Day 1 was a success Interior received an emergency cleaning to remove all the oily/greasy/nasty interior shine the dealership covered everything with. Next up was debadging the tailgate and front doors. Heat gun, plstic razor, some "finger grease" and goo gone. Followed up with the DA polisher and some Chemical Guys V36 Much better This stupid thing.... Hope the BMW engineer who thought this was a good way to store the DVD screen was fired.... Phone cradle delete, will follow up with the OEM delete plate later More chrome delete. Exhaust tips were removed, cleaned, scuffed, cleaned, primed, and painted with satin black high temp paint Rear reflectors were also dipped black, don't worry I have some color matched paint on the way and will DIY color match the F/R reflectors Monochromatic roundals Disassembled the kidney grills and dipped the chrome, I like how it came out, the black offers a nice contrast to the titanium slats. Clean as you go I had some gloss black vinyl left over from a project so I wrapped the front reflectors, I can't stand amber Here is a before/after with all the above changes. After X5 didn't come with a cargo cover but thankfully I found one locally in great condition for a great price Put the mountain bike racks on Backing up X5s info for XHP license As a temp solution until I really upgrade the headlights I replaced the stock bulbs with some Osram CBB, not cheap but as you can see they offer much better intensity than the old stock bulbs
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N54 Powered M5 Wagon:
- M5 Shaft, M5 LSD, M5 Axles, M5 Brakes, M5 Front End, M5 skirts, M5 Mirrors - Manual Swap, MFactory SMFW, Spec Stg 3+, KW V3, RD Sport Sways, F14 SDC - EOS Port Injection Manifold, Fuel-It: Stg 2 LPFP +Lines +Ethanol Sensor - JB4, Hexon RR550s, Custom Inlet, AR DPs, 3" Exhaust, VRSF 7" IC, ER CP +Tial Last edited by ucsbwsr; 04-25-2019 at 08:11 AM.. |
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04-17-2019, 10:39 AM | #2 |
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congrats and welcome to the dark side (E70 it is)
looks like u came well prepared and instead of asking for advice you can give some anyway enjoy it and keep us updated, I'm sure it will be something very interesting at the end!
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04-17-2019, 10:47 AM | #3 |
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Love all your cars man! At first I was all confused as I thought aren't those the same cars from that one guy on Instagram and Youtube? Then I realized it is, Can't wait for what you will do with the e70!
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04-17-2019, 10:56 AM | #4 |
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I've been following your M5 wagon build on instagram...very impressive!! Totally agree that the M57 is underrated. Maybe people only car about HP. Torque is what I'm looking for and always wanted the 335d.
FYI if you decide to go with springs to lower the e70, you might be able to get H&R F85 height adjustable springs to work. |
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04-17-2019, 11:26 AM | #5 | |||
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Interesting about the F85 springs, got a link with more info? This peaks my interest since fitment wise my plan is to reduce tire-fender gap down to "acceptable" margins. I have a tire in the mail and it will be arriving tomorrow so I can test fit it. Fingers crossed it will work but it's going to be a REALLY tight fit the with upper spindle/ball joint area. My plan is to fit the Merc AMG SUV tires which are the same width as stock X5M tires but twice as tall. X5M 285/35 325/30 AMG 285/45 325/40 If it doesn't clean then I will settle for 285/40 325/35 but fingers crossed they clear, I really want more tire for a beefier setup and improved ride quality. Filling the wheel wells with the biggest tires possible is the first step and then lowering the chassis to eliminate excessive gap is next. The less I can lower the better. Regarding the suspension I have ran KWs on all my vehicles except the grey wagon which is on H&R springs up front. The H&R 1.2s seem to get a fairly positive reception from E70 X5 owners but I am not convinced they will offer the ride quality I want although the drop of the 1.2s up front is exactly what I need for aesthetics. Rear will be lowered via air. Adjustable springs sound interesting assuming the ride quality is decent EDIT: Just compared the F15 and E70 suspension and although most of the items are different the upper and lower spring pads are identical, veerrrryy innttterrresting....
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N54 Powered M5 Wagon:
- M5 Shaft, M5 LSD, M5 Axles, M5 Brakes, M5 Front End, M5 skirts, M5 Mirrors - Manual Swap, MFactory SMFW, Spec Stg 3+, KW V3, RD Sport Sways, F14 SDC - EOS Port Injection Manifold, Fuel-It: Stg 2 LPFP +Lines +Ethanol Sensor - JB4, Hexon RR550s, Custom Inlet, AR DPs, 3" Exhaust, VRSF 7" IC, ER CP +Tial Last edited by ucsbwsr; 04-17-2019 at 11:37 AM.. |
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04-17-2019, 12:50 PM | #8 |
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coming here again after reading through last 10 pages of E61 "M5" Wagon build, just speechless!
happy to have such a dedicated guy here maybe manual swap on e70? jk
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04-17-2019, 01:49 PM | #10 |
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F85 rotors are
F10 bushings are
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04-17-2019, 01:54 PM | #11 |
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04-17-2019, 02:29 PM | #12 | |
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F85 and E70 X5M brakes are. F10s require custom adapters which can be bough on eBay. There are some detailed threads covering this topic, just search around for more info.
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N54 Powered M5 Wagon:
- M5 Shaft, M5 LSD, M5 Axles, M5 Brakes, M5 Front End, M5 skirts, M5 Mirrors - Manual Swap, MFactory SMFW, Spec Stg 3+, KW V3, RD Sport Sways, F14 SDC - EOS Port Injection Manifold, Fuel-It: Stg 2 LPFP +Lines +Ethanol Sensor - JB4, Hexon RR550s, Custom Inlet, AR DPs, 3" Exhaust, VRSF 7" IC, ER CP +Tial |
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04-17-2019, 02:31 PM | #13 | |
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F85 rotors are straight fit to e70 (at least to M model), I'm not sure about calipers (I didn't have to replace mine), as far as F10 M5 goes, only bushings can be used while replacing suspension, everything else will not fit without some modifications!
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04-17-2019, 02:32 PM | #14 |
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which bushings exactly?
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N54 Powered M5 Wagon:
- M5 Shaft, M5 LSD, M5 Axles, M5 Brakes, M5 Front End, M5 skirts, M5 Mirrors - Manual Swap, MFactory SMFW, Spec Stg 3+, KW V3, RD Sport Sways, F14 SDC - EOS Port Injection Manifold, Fuel-It: Stg 2 LPFP +Lines +Ethanol Sensor - JB4, Hexon RR550s, Custom Inlet, AR DPs, 3" Exhaust, VRSF 7" IC, ER CP +Tial |
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04-17-2019, 02:35 PM | #15 |
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some ppl here used F10 M5 bushings while replacing the springs
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04-17-2019, 02:41 PM | #16 |
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Finally decoded your message. Bushing = Bump Stop
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N54 Powered M5 Wagon:
- M5 Shaft, M5 LSD, M5 Axles, M5 Brakes, M5 Front End, M5 skirts, M5 Mirrors - Manual Swap, MFactory SMFW, Spec Stg 3+, KW V3, RD Sport Sways, F14 SDC - EOS Port Injection Manifold, Fuel-It: Stg 2 LPFP +Lines +Ethanol Sensor - JB4, Hexon RR550s, Custom Inlet, AR DPs, 3" Exhaust, VRSF 7" IC, ER CP +Tial |
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04-17-2019, 02:43 PM | #17 |
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hahaha here u go, its one of those things when u think of one but type another
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04-17-2019, 05:16 PM | #18 |
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welcome to the club. please post a DIY on the brake swap. I want to do the same thing
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2012 X5d | Deleted & BRR Tuned | DWR TCU Tune | 10.25" Android 8.1 Screen
Build Thread https://www.xbimmers.com/forums/show....php?t=1529213 |
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04-17-2019, 06:35 PM | #19 |
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Welcome, Evan!
You should reach out to Dmitry from DUDMD tuning (popular in the M62/E38/E38 world) as he's personally been testing his own E70 and F10 diesels...pushing really good numbers, too. |
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04-17-2019, 07:37 PM | #20 | |
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If the diameter of your X5's strut is less than 61mm , the spring perch will slip right on with no modifications. |
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04-22-2019, 09:22 AM | #21 | |||
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N54 Powered M5 Wagon:
- M5 Shaft, M5 LSD, M5 Axles, M5 Brakes, M5 Front End, M5 skirts, M5 Mirrors - Manual Swap, MFactory SMFW, Spec Stg 3+, KW V3, RD Sport Sways, F14 SDC - EOS Port Injection Manifold, Fuel-It: Stg 2 LPFP +Lines +Ethanol Sensor - JB4, Hexon RR550s, Custom Inlet, AR DPs, 3" Exhaust, VRSF 7" IC, ER CP +Tial |
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04-22-2019, 09:58 AM | #22 |
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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
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N54 Powered M5 Wagon:
- M5 Shaft, M5 LSD, M5 Axles, M5 Brakes, M5 Front End, M5 skirts, M5 Mirrors - Manual Swap, MFactory SMFW, Spec Stg 3+, KW V3, RD Sport Sways, F14 SDC - EOS Port Injection Manifold, Fuel-It: Stg 2 LPFP +Lines +Ethanol Sensor - JB4, Hexon RR550s, Custom Inlet, AR DPs, 3" Exhaust, VRSF 7" IC, ER CP +Tial Last edited by ucsbwsr; 04-29-2019 at 04:42 PM.. |
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