Werdn's E70 X5M

[werdn]

I just wanted to write a post on my ownership of the car in the past 9 months and ~15,000 miles. I did a SoCal canyon run with a friend two weekends ago, and the car quite impressed me.

Preface
The car is a stock 2011 X5M with a build date of 04/2010. BSM exterior, black full merino interior. Definition of a completely loaded car with ALL the options, including rear seat entertainment. The car was a family member’s car and was in the Manhattan area of New York City for the majority of its life. It was mainly used for road trips, so the car was not used much, and had 76,000 miles when I obtained it late December 2024. The family member bought a place in the Bay area in 2022 and brought the X5M with them.

I have quite the extensive experience with the E70 chassis, as I have owned a 2007 X5 4.8i since new. It has just crossed 180,000 miles, with daily redlines after the car is warmed up. I have been doing all the work on it myself since 80,000 miles. I honestly expect the car to easily reach 250,000 miles with no large issues.

The car was very well maintained, over maintained I would say. As it was a family member’s car, I had all the receipts and documentation that was kept for the car. It had annual oil changes regardless of miles, annual coolant flushes, annual brake fluid flushes, and more annually. Completely pampered and over-maintained. The car was serviced its whole life at BMW of Manhattan. Based on my research, it is a BMW dealership that is owned by BMW corporate (not that it matters).

The only item I was uncertain was done and was prepared to pay for were the fuel injectors. I did not see any records of them being replaced, and my family member does not really understand cars, so they were not able to give an answer.

The tires were BMW Star Bridgestone Dueler run flat tires with manufacture date of 2015, so they needed to be replaced ASAP, even though the tread is ok.


Maintenance and Mods
The first maintenance was tires. I did some extensive research and replaced the prehistoric Bridgestone Duelers with Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02 (ECS02). According to TireRack and other reviewers, these should be as good in performance as PS4S from Michelin, with even more comfort. The tires are a lot better and offer much more grip than the Bridgestone. They do cost $1600.00 for a set of 4 before taxes. The downside however is that, after driving hard, they kick up a lot of rocks. My rear fender and bumper have some rock chips from these tires. However, with a performance SUV like the X5M, I think you better put some fitting tires for a 555HP car. When compared to DWS06+ on the 4.8i, I would say the ECS02 warms up much faster and obviously has much higher grip being a 300TW tire.

I was originally going to keep the car stock for as long as possible, but I saw Dinan had a CARB legal stage 1 tune for sale in December, so I said why not. The tune claims to bump the power to a bit over 600HP (crank) and improve fuel consumption. The tune bumps boost from 16PSI to 19PSI. I have seen up to 1.5bar (21.7 PSI) on the Bimmerlink app. The straight line power honestly feels a little bit better than stock, but coming out of turns, I could noticeably feel more power at the front wheels. On my 33 mile commute to work, I was able to get a record 21.0 freeway MPG. In comparison with the 4.8i, I was able to easily get 22.0 freeway MPG on the same route.

In the same week I installed the Dinan tune, my PCV hose that runs over the turbos cracked. This caused misfires at idle when cold. I replaced that hose, along with the other two that run the side of the engine. I did not want to change to a catch can because I wanted a stock engine bay look, especially since the engine needs to be inspected at SMOG. While changing the PCV hoses, I was able to see the index number of my injectors and… they were index 12!

Alongside the PCV hoses, I also replaced the coolant expansion tank and the turbo coolant expansion tank (caps included). I do not know if they have been previously replaced previously, but these are known to crack every 80k miles. I have almost been stranded on the 4.8i with a cracked expansion tank before.
The left trunk strut was failing, so I replaced that myself with a TRW strut (FCP says TRW part is OE).

I got a xHP transmission tune. I went straight to stage 3. People were saying how in manual mode it was too aggressive. I thought that it was going to be like the E60 M5’s SMG on the highest setting with DSC off. I would say first gear is similar, but the second gear and up feels more like a DCT kick. The xHP tune also removes all torque limiters on the transmission, so your launch control applies the full torque. I think this is too much, as when I tried launch control, the brakes couldn’t hold the car back as it was building boost. When letting go of the brakes, numerous times, there was so much wheel hop, I thought I was going to snap and axle or drive shaft. I won’t be using launch control anymore.

Alongside the xHP, I also tried xDelete (separate purchase). Maybe it is because of the tires, even in 2WD mode, the car does not lose grip in corners. Unless the tires are cold, the tires just grip and go. You can obviously do burnouts and doughnuts. But every time I think about doing that, I remind myself how expensive the ECS02 tires are, and I end up not doing it lol. The steering wheel does feel a bit lighter on 2WD mode though.

The next mod I did was increasing the sound of the exhaust. The exhaust, even with the valves open are pretty quiet. Being from the E9x M3 community, I am familiar with something called the “muffler mod”, which involves dropping the muffler, cutting open the top of the muffler (so it is not visible below), cutting the pipes in the muffler, and replacing with straight pipes. I did the work at Cypress Mufflers with a similar idea. However, I decided to keep the quiet section stock, and the ///M mode valved section a straight pipe. The car sounds 30% louder inside, but it is noticeably louder outside. Not obnoxious, even with the straight pipe. I would say it sounds like a Sport variant of Eisenmann’s exhausts vs a Race variant. I think with downpipes, it will sound like an Eisenmann Race.

After driving hard one time, the car started misfiring. The spark plugs were freshly replaced less than 7,000 miles from a BMW dealer in the Bay area, so it was highly unlikely that. Swapping the coils, it turned out to be a bad coil. I replaced all 8 coils with Eldor coils (as I heard they highly recommended for tuned N54s). I was going to get Dinan coils, but if the tuned N54 guys recommend Eldor, then I think it’s a safer bet. Also, the Dinan coils look suspiciously like Delphi coils, and they are a hit or miss.
The automatic trunk slams close, so recently, I changed the speed settings, so it slows down right before closing.

For upcoming mods, I plan on getting the Dinan springs, which lower the car ~3/4-1”. I do not plan on getting the H&Rs because I wanted to keep the car somewhat high off the ground, as it is an SUV. Lowering the car too much ruins the point of the SUV. I have thought of getting KW V3s, but, as Gixxer said, having the ability to switch between comfort and sport with EDC is nice. With KW V3, you will need to spend at least 20 min removing covers to change the damping, and it is not possible on the fly.

Next year, after SMOG, I plan to go catless downpipes with the car. Sometimes I feel the car is just not loud enough. I heard bad fitment on VRSF downpipes, and other downpipes are expensive. I might buy a used set from a wrecked car and gut them out.

I want to get some new wheels for the car with a 21” rim size, but our stock wheel size has a lot of options for tires. Going 21” or 22” results in less tires choices. As a result, if I do end up getting tires, I will probably stick to the stock size.


Regular Driving
Sitting in the car, it is exactly the same as any other E70 X5.
My initial impression of the car is that the steering is direct, but much lighter than that of my 4.8i. My E70 4.8i does not have active steering, so it is quite heavy. From what I know, the X5M also does not have active steering. Even with EDC on, the X5M has lighter steering than the 4.8i. Similar to how a E9x M3 has slightly lighter steering than a E9x 335i.

The 4.8i has a much more “reactive” engine than the X5M. This is understandable, as the B62B48 is a naturally aspirated engine, whilst the S63 is turbocharged. However, from what I read prior online, I did not expect the difference to be this large, as I came in thinking the car has “no turbo lag”. I recall on the first freeway drive from the Bay area to LA, I would manually downshift to prepare to pass at a high speed, step on the gas, and there would be a ~2 second lack of power before you feel the boost pressure maximize at 16PSI. When the turbos are at boost pressure, you will know it. You get pushed back in your seat.

The suspension on the car is quite firmer than the 4.8i (I have previously replaced all suspension components on the car, so the comparison is accurate). By “firm”, it is not a negative term. I mean it as more composed when going over bumps. When going over bumps on the 4.8i, the car feels floatier and more unsettled after the bump. After the bump, the X5M is immediately settled. This is also with the EDC off.

With EDC on or off, the car is never too stiff for me. I actually prefer it stiff because it is less nauseating than a car with floaty suspension, like a Lexus. However, getting in and out of driveways with a steep incline angle, EDC on is a bit jarring. I sometimes feel mechanical sympathy for the car when going over steep driveways too fast. The car is on stock suspension, no lowering springs.


Spirited Driving
There are some nice roads close to where I live in SoCal. I am quite practiced on various cars, including the 4.8i, on those roads.

On this road on the 4.8i with Continental Sport Contact 5 SUV runflats, stock 18” wheels, could do 80mph at the top, on a good day, and can corner at ~72mph. With Continental DWS06+, stock style 214 20” wheels, the cornering speed is ~78mph. Both of these are cornering with tires squealing and subtle oversteer.

To put it in perspective, a stock E92 M3 can do around 90mph at the top, and corner around 84mph, a 991.1 GT3 can do ~95mph at the top, corner around 88mph, Jaguar F Type R (AWD) can do ~100mph at the top, corner around 75mph, and 765LT can do ~120mph at the top, ~105mph cornering.
On the 10 year old Bridgestone Duelers, I managed 85mph at the top and kept it at 75mph cornering. There was more room, but as the tires were over 10 years old, I wanted to be safer. At 70-75mph cornering, the car did suddenly lose grip a couple times. I am thinking it’s because the tires were so old, and sidewalls were dry rotted.

On new Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02s, the car was able to do ~96mph at the top (stock), 88mph cornering. There is more room for higher speed cornering, but I need to be more familiar with the characteristics of the car on a track. With the Dinan S1 tune and xHP Stage 3 transmission tune, I can get 105mph at the top, cornering being the same.

This past week, I went up with a friend to the SoCal canyons to test the car out. Whilst there is a variance of the type of road, some being longer sweepers that allow higher speeds, I tried the X5M on some tighter roads with sharper turns. The car is freshly aligned from a BMW dealer with BMW specs, so it is comparable to what the car would be like from the factory.

Going in, I expected to car to be fine, but I worried about the oil temps, brake fade, the weight (5300+lbs), and understeer.

The car performed exceptional, exceeding my expectations. On a 77 degrees day, the oil temperature did not pass 210 (middle of the temp gauge). In fact, it was just a bit higher than regular cruising temp. This is with the car being pushed on an 8 mile generally-uphill road. The brakes did not fade on the same road, uphill or downhill. The car was very neutral; I did not feel the need to worry about understeer. There were some oversteer, but that was when the car was unsettled form bumps. The AWD on the car was able to rip the car out of corners so well.

The only thing I did not like was the leg support on the seats. The bolsters can be tightened to keep me in, but my legs were being flopping left and right in the corners. This is especially hard as I left foot brake on some corners to keep the turbos spooled. Maybe the F85 X5M bucket looking seats are better?
Overall, the canyon run was great. I enjoyed the look of horror on bikers as they watched a 5000+lb SUV rip past them.

[argento]

Looks amazing! Looking forward to more pix and the journey.

I agree with you and others on the coilover route and the E70 chassis. Using coilovers in my other bmw's you feel everything on the road, which is nice on smooth roads. But around my area, roads are not all great. EDC is sufficient and comfortable for daily driving. I have a Dinan Spring Install DIY in my thread (and I'll be the first to say, likely a TMI DIY). First, expect to only lower the front 0.5"-0.625". I'm actually thinking about installing the H&R springs. Using the Dinan's minimal drop likely extends the life of the struts a bit longer than using the lower H&R, but the Dinan drop just doesn't look the part IMO. Next, avoid the Dinan bump stops, mine crumbled after a couple years and less than 15k miles. Use the OEM F10 Competition bump stops.

Thanks for sharing this beauty!

[werdn]

Yeah, coilovers are definitely nice on smooth roads. I use the car on a lot of trips from LA to SF, and parts of i5 are super bumpy. While it is ok for me, I typically have other family in the car, and they always tell me to turn EDC off. However, I do like to turn it back on when driving through the mountains just north of Los Angeles.

I did see your Dinan install instruction in your thread, it is very helpful, thanks. I am looking for a ~1 inch (2.54cm) drop in the front. I did see XRatedM make a post saying his drop on Dinan springs was 0.9 inch, so I am hoping for the best.

Do you mind helping me grab the bottom of the rim lip to fender measurement of your front? I measured my stock front height, and it is around 72.5cm.

I did read, during my research, that the 1.2" H&R springs drop close to 2", while the 2" drops much more than 2".

Truthfully, part of the reason I am going the Dinan spring and bump stop route is to get the points, and getting my car Dinan serialized
That saying, I will probably never use their exhaust as I already have the OEM muffler mod.

I am very jealous of your full Akrapovic exhaust system through. I was considering your back section that you are selling earlier in the year after I picked up the car, but it is out of budget for me at the moment ;(
Maybe if it's still up for sale at the end of 2026, then I will look into buying it. I am also hoping for a full Akrapovic system someday.

[werdn]

Nevermind, I just found your post with the lower rim lip to fender measurement in your post: https://www.xbimmers.com/forums/show...&postcount=292

Strange that my front stock height right now is around the same as your lowered height with Dinan springs... (72.5cm-Werdn vs 72.7cm-Argento)
But alignment specifications and how much camber the front wheel has probably affects the height too. Did you align your car to Dinan specs afterwards? My front camber (last aligned in May 2025), is -0degree32' on the measured wheel

[Akopley]

Do you have a link to the muffler mod?

[werdn]

Originally Posted by Akopley

Do you have a link to the muffler mod?

Here is the thread: https://www.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=973042

I attached photos of my muffler mod, you can see Steve at Cypress Muffler Shop did a really clean job compared to the other modded mufflers in the link above. From below, looks stock.

Also, instead of cutting the pipes at the entrance of the muffler, I told him to do it similar to RealOEM, and cut it from the middle. This middle part is how the exhaust is assembled from factory on the 4.8i model and is clamped together.
(See RealOEM diagram below with part #2 for clamps)

I think this is a clean factory look and does not require welds. As a result, I can take the muffler section off at any time myself.

[argento]

I was hoping for more of a drop from the Dinan springs as well. But, thinking about it, I may not have captured my stock ride height accurately, which kinda dilutes my 0.5" claim. I learned a lot more about measuring after doing this install. I measure from the centercap to the fender, unless you're using ISTA+ to adjust your rear ride height, I think it requires the measurement from the lower lip, like you are asking. I'll add, the rear links allow the rear to be lowered w/o coding, thus making the whole spring package reversible. However, another posts states that they are unneeded, I haven't confirmed that claim. I installed them and then coded to height...only b/c I didn't know what I know now.

I haven't installed the akra yet, but cleaned/polished it top to bottom. I have everything I need on the bench to install, but I've been tracking down a weak start that occurs 40% of startups (no codes, bmw can't find any issues). I'm also wondering how loud I'll be leaving the neighborhood OR if I'll wake up the family starting it in my single garage in the mornings. I totally understand budget, I need to sell some of these parts I keep collecting...

Nice post on OEM exhaust mod, clean work. How'd they weld underneath the piping?

Oh, your other questions..

After all was settled, I'm running 17.5" Front and 17.38" Rear from centercap to fender on 21" wheels...so in Front about 71.1cm.

I took the vehicle to bmw and gave them the dinan specs and asked for alignment.

[werdn]

On the OEM exhaust mod, Steve cut a pipe in half. He first welded part of the pipe to the lower part, then welded the top of the of pipe to the lower part. This allows for the pipe to be welded without needing to cut the bottom.

71.1cm sounds about right for the Dinan spring drop. If I recall, the tire diameter should be the same regardless of if the rim is 21" or 20". The offset adjusts accordingly to the rim size.

I am planning to purchase and mount the Dinan springs at the end of this month. There is a clunk on my left wheel sometimes going over bumps at low speeds. The control arms seem fine, so I am thinking it is the strut mounts failing. Will replace that too.

I will measure before and after the height (ISTA method) and report back the drop after a month or so.

[werdn]

Some fun photoshopping I did to try to help me decide between Dinan 0.75" drop, H&R 1.2" drop, and, for fun, H&R 2.0" drop

From the factory, the car looks jacked up. The distance between the top of the wheel (12 o'clock) to the top of the fender is greater than that of the distance between the side of the wheel (3 or 9 o'clock) to the side of the fender. This is true for stock F85 and F96 X5Ms.

Mercedes GLEs does not do this, Cayennes do not do this, I am not sure why BMW does this from the factory.

I am honestly stuck between Dinan and H&R. I like the look of the H&R a lot more. The Dinan looks like how it should be from the factory, equidistance from the wheel to any part of the fender. However, H&R lowers it a tiny bit more to give it that sportier look.

The easy answer would be H&R from looks, however, H&R springs are progressive dual-rate, while Dinan is linear. In theory, the Dinan should perform a lot better.

So, do I go for performance or looks? I don't track the car but do drive the car really hard when I get the chance.

Image 1: Stock
Image 2: Dinan 0.75"
Image 3: H&R 1.2"
Image 4: H&R 2.0"

*Images are approximate, but is a fairly accurate representation based on some quick math I did*

[TTV8M]

i remember tirerack.com used to do this for you on their old website. it would lower up to 3 sizes. hahaha memories!

[TTV8M]

thanks for your write up and the images. i want to get this muffler mod done as well, but im thinking ill put the sport muffler where the stock one is, and then put the straight pip where the sport one was.

[werdn]

Originally Posted by TTV8M

thanks for your write up and the images. i want to get this muffler mod done as well, but im thinking ill put the sport muffler where the stock one is, and then put the straight pip where the sport one was.

I think most people go your route for the exhaust mod. I just wanted to have my car sound "stock" on normal driving. But to be honest, the straight pipe only sounds 30% louder than stock (valve closed) inside the cabin.

The car is too well insulated, I now understand why they need to pump sound in the cabin.

I actually have the exhaust valve zip-tied open right now, so the car is always in exhaust-valve open mode.

[werdn]

I installed the 1.2" H&R springs over the weekend. It looks pretty close to the photoshopped images above, but with the rear being lower (65mm center to center on link per H&R).

Pretty easy process, luckily the bolts on my car weren't rusted much. The strut knuckle with pinch was the only rusted part that required penetration oil and a hammer to bang off. The removal and installation of the springs from the strut assembly took the longest.

I will be swapping to Dinan this weekend, not a fan of these. I will give more detailed in a write-up later.

*Excuse the dirty car*

[argento]

Pic came through, the front is hella dropped and that’s 20’s and not settled. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but am wondering about ride. Suoer clean X5M overall, nice.

I’m interested to hear your HR review since I was considering going from Dinan to HR 1.2. However, I have to be careful to avoid falling into the trap of improving a mod that is already good for something that is POTENTIALLY better and all the effort involved if it’s not.

When you install the dinan’s take full pics of your spring pad orientations on both sides w springs installed before install back in the X. I want to compare to mine if you drop more than 5/8”. Thx.