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.

[werdn]

Original Springs

It’s been a while since I posted in this thread, gonna give the promised update. This will be a 3 post “series” with the first post being about the original springs with tips on installing and removing them, the second post being about the H&R, and third post being about the Dinan.

I guess this post is a bit exciting for those who owns these cars because I believe I am the only person who has tried both Dinan springs and H&R 1.2” springs. Under the extensive research I done, most people just go either Dinan or 1.2”/2.0” H&R, and eventually going to KW V3 coilovers.

I purchased two springs, 1.2” H&R and 0.75” Dinan. I tried the 1.2” H&R springs for a week, around 400 miles. After that, I swapped to the Dinan 0.75” drop springs, and have used them for just over a month.

Prior to installing the aftermarket springs, I measured my ride height as requested from some users here. According to ISTA, the stock ride height should be 723mm front and 722mm rear. Up to 10mm tolerance is allowed side-to-side. However, talking to my shop (Laser Focus Alignment & ADAS in Torrance, CA), it is advised to keep it at a max difference of 5mm side-to-side, with the higher-side being the driver. Equal height driver and passenger side should be the target.

I do note that there was a problem with my rear air-suspension ride height. The car would raise from the rest state when the car turns on, and lowers to a “rest state” when the car turns off. Airbags are new, and it was not sagging like a car with leaking airbags. I later discovered transport mode was on. It may be useful to ignore the rear height on the original springs.

Measured Stock Suspension:
Front Driver: 725mm
Front Passenger: 720mm

Rear Driver: 74.5mm
Rear Passenger: 74.5mm

The springs are linear springs, with a single fixed rate. This allows the car to be more predictable upon compression, especially when cornering. The spring rate is unknown.


The Removal (in general):
The removal was quick. argento's post and information helped a lot, especially the torque specs. So thank you to argento for that! The speed is relative to how rusted your bolts and nuts are. Luckily, mines was not stuck on both times I performed the removal. Here is how I removed everything in 36 minutes the second time I did it.

- Before jacking the car up, remove the coverings in the engine bay as specified in Argento’s post
- Remove all 6 strut nuts (3 for each strut), and rethread them so that they are hand tight
- Break loose the strut nut
- Break loose wheel bolts, jack car up, remove wheel
- Break loose the y-fork to lower control arm 21mm bolt, 18mm strut pinch bolt, 18mm sway bar link nut (stop when sway bar link is turning), 16mm upper control arm nut all with a breaker-bar and no counter hold
- Undo brake hose retaining clip, undo electrical connections for strut, remove wheel speed sensor (and brake pad sensor on driver side) from the box (no need to unplug connection)
- Remove 18mm strut pinch bolt
- Remove 18mm sway bar link nut
- Remove 21mm bolt. Because the strut has the three mounting nuts loosened, there should be no more tension here, there is no you do not need to play around with a jack to get it loose
- Jack suspension up, bungee cord tie the wheel carrier, remove 16mm bolt and nut, use the 16mm bolt to hammer upper control arm out of wheel carrier
- Have a friend help you remove the 3 strut nuts, while you support the strut and prevent it from falling straight to the ground
- Use a spreader tool to spread the strut mount y-fork, and remove the strut from the car

The Installation:
- PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE USE ALL NEW HARDWARE!!! Only costs ~$120 on FCP Euro. Not included in the hardware price, I also replaced the upper and lower rubber spring pads
- Follow argento’s guide with the torque specs, basically the reversal of the above
- Don't tighten the 6 strut mount nuts until you at least get the 21mm nut and bolt hand tightened
- Make sure to torque certain bolts at ride height

[werdn]

H&R Springs

This post will be focused on the H&R springs, some positives and negatives, and some images.

This is my opinion, and my opinion may be strong and critical for these springs. I hope it does not ruffle some feathers here.


Intro:
I installed the H&R springs first simply because they arrived first, and because they looked better on the mock photos in my previous posts. I did have a concern that they are progressive springs. Both the H&R 1.2” drop and 2.0” drop springs are progressive springs. Based on the physical look, I believe they are dual rate progressive springs, meaning there are two sections of different spring rates with no transition in between. I have tried contacting H&R for information on the spring rates and any charts, but they were unable to give me any information outside of calling the springs “progressive springs”.

There is a “concern” regarding progressive springs. If the spring is not optimally designed for the strut, there may be unpredictablity in how the weight of the car is loaded on the spring.

In the end, I convinced myself to give these a try, as the GT350R also has progressive springs from factory, so it should be ok.

The build quality of the springs look really good and professionally made. It is coated with a blue rubber exterior, probably to prevent rust.

The rear air suspension links feature an all metal design, with no dust shield for the swivel part. I do know that previous versions of this consisted of a plastic body. The links were not sized to spec (65mm center to center) from the factory.

Measured H&R Suspension:
Front Driver: 695mm
Front Passenger: 693mm

Rear Driver: 700mm
Rear Passenger: 700mm

*Purposely made it slightly higher on rear so more weight on front wheels*

Weight: 149.7g
Approx Length (with top and bottom spring pads): 325mm


Review:
The car overall looks very low, almost slammed. In photos it looks photogenic because most photos are taken with the camera at car height. However, being 180cm tall, you are looking at a downward angle on the car. This results in the car looking like it has the 2.0” H&R spring kit installed. I cannot imaging how slammed the actual 2.0” lowering kit looks. To put into perspective the height of the car, I sit at the same height as someone in a E84 X1. The car sometimes looks good, sometimes looks slammed, got me confused.

Obviously the opinion on looks differs from person to person, but the car was a tad too low for me. Maybe 21 inch or 22 inch rims will help, however, a smaller sidewall tire also has effects on a car’s performance, as well as fewer choices for tires. It looks “top heavy” on the stock Style 299 wheels.

The springs really helps remove all the body roll from the car when cornering hard at high speed. If you want your car to “ride on rails” at high speed corners, then this is the springs for you, however, whether “riding on rails” is a good thing due to the reduction of mechanical grip is another topic. The car is really planted on sharp turns.

Now, let’s talk about some of the negatives of the driving. These are the issues that were not present on the original BMW springs from the factory. One of the first things that I noticed about the car on the initial test drive was how uncomposed the body motion of the car was on regular driving. When the denser sections springs are not loaded up, the less dense section is too soft. It was floating all over the road’s slopes (wheel pressure is correct). It feels like I am in a 4Runner truck. This uncomposure occurs when cornering on slower speed sections with and without braking. Some parts of the car feels stiff, but the other sections of the car feels too soft. It feels like the car wants to rotate, but you know it’s because of the soft section on the dual rate springs. It makes the car unpredictable, and uncomposed.

H&R does not provide an alignment spec for the car after it is lowered. Yes, you can align it to the factory specs, but after you lower your car, the suspension geometry, kinematics, and loads changes. I don't have time to drive my car around, and getting the car realigned 10+ times to figure out a spec I like. This makes me worry the springs are developed with a focus on looks vs performance.

The biggest problem I had was the car would bottom out on the smallest bumps. This is not even potholes, but small raises on the road, maybe 1-1.5”. I had the Dinan bump stops installed too. This is a deal breaker for me because what is the point of owning a SUV if you are bottoming out on small bumps? I own a M car for the drive, not so it can look good parked at cars and coffee and instagram. This is simply a dealbreaker for me.


Conclusion:
My conclusion testing this for ~400 miles is that this is a set of springs for those who wants their car to look good, but not necessarily drive well. When pushed, the car behaves in a poor unpredictable manner. It depends if you rather have the looks or the drive. If you care about the drive, I’d stick with the stock suspension. Night and day better than the H&R springs.


Pros:
- Photogenic
- Eliminates body roll on high speed cornering
- Good if you want slammed look (in-person)
- Good build quality

Cons:
- Uncomposed ride
- Unpredictable in corners
- Bottoming out (really bad)
- No support (alignment spec, spring rates etc.)

Neutral:
- Got many comments saying the car looks like a wagon

[werdn]

Dinan Springs

This post will be focused on the Dinan springs, some positives and negatives, and some images.

These springs are the first revision of the original Dinan lowering spring kit for the E70 X5M. The original version included Dinan strut mount and bearings.


Intro:
After two days with the H&R springs, I already knew that I was going to have to swap them out for the Dinan springs. The issues I mentioned on the last post was too glaring. However, I did still drive them for week and ~400 miles on the H&R springs. I repurchased all new hardware again for the install.

The Dinan springs are linear springs, just like the original BMW springs. This should help provide predictability when cornering, unlike the H&R springs. Dinan does give out the spring rates when you ask them for it, but I haven’t had the chance to.

The springs are painted in a dark glossy blue. To be honest, when compared to the H&R, the finish on the H&R looks superior built than the Dinan.

The rear air suspension links were almost the same design as the H&R, however, there is a collar that you can twist in the middle to adjust the links. Also, the links have a rubber bushing that helps prevent dust and dirt from entering. This is a nice attention to detail design. The links were not sized to spec (69mm center to center) from the factory.

However, in the end, I did end up using the stock BMW links and “tricking” the computer to lower the ride height based on the fake height readings I gave it. I will get more into this later.


Measured Dinan Suspension:
Front Driver: 708mm
Front Passenger: 708mm

Rear Driver: 710mm
Rear Passenger: 710mm

*Purposely made higher on rear*

Weight: 128.5g
Approx Length (with top and bottom spring pads): 338mm


Review:
The height looks perfect to me in person. If you look at the attached images, the gaps around the wheel wells are equidistant. However, when you photograph it at vehicle height, I would say the H&R 1.2” does look a bit better. I guess coilovers is the only real solution for a photogenic car that drives well. But the Dinan springs’ difference in drop is more significant when compared to stock vs Dinan and H&R 1.2” drop difference (which ultimately does make sense, as 0.75” is larger than 0.45”).

I think the Dinan look is how the car should have looked from the factory. This is a OEM+ look.

The thing that I was paying attention to the most on the first test drive was revisiting the roads where I had issues with the H&R springs. The car is much more composed on roads where the H&R springs had issues with body control. It is a bit more firm than the original BMW springs, but not in a jarring way. However, some might think of it as being a more “busy” ride, as the car mimics the road’s slopes more closely. Next, on the road where I surprisingly bottomed out with the H&R, the Dinan springs did not bottom out. This should be how it is, I cannot imagine an SUV bottoming out on a small elevated bump on the road.

The ride is 30% stiffer than the original BMW springs. When cornering hard at a high speed corner, the Dinan springs did not have the tight body control abilities of the H&R 1.2” springs. However, on slow corners, especially under hard baking, the Dinan springs did not exhibit the unpredictable characteristics of the H&R springs. Overall, both when driven hard and driving under normal conditions, the car’s characteristics is much better than the H&R springs.


Air Suspension Issue (and Fix):
I did have some issues initially with the Dinan springs, as the passenger side was always 10mm lower than the driver. Maybe it was because I replaced the ride height sensors during the Dinan install. I spent a day taking the struts out of the car, recompressing the springs and making sure the springs sat properly in the rubber pads (upper and lower spring pads are brand new). After being under the car and messing with the rear links over 30 times, I decided to just have Justin at Laser Focus Alignment & ADAS in Torrance, CA have a go at it. Previously, he did tell me how to get the ride height even.

The procedure to get it even was to reinstall the stock links, then open up software like ISTA and do the ride-height calibration. You have to use fictitious numbers in the rear to trick the air suspension computer to make the front axle the same height. After that, you tell the car the front height is perfect (723mm), while using fictitious numbers in the rear to get it at the desired ride height.

Obviously I was not able to do this myself after spending a whole weekend on it, but Justin got it done for me. This guy is a magician. In the end, I kept the stock links on the car, which was probably a good idea too, as it was a pain getting a perfect 69mm length on the Dinan links. argento in another post somewhere also mentioned he used the stock links too. After playing with the ride height, I told Justin to calibrate and make sure the headlights were at a correct level.


Conclusion:
My conclusion for the Dinan springs is that this modification package is the choice for a driver’s car. If you want a car that is more photogenic, H&R 1.2” is the better choice. I think H&R 2.0” will be too much of a drop, and will drive horrible in terms of dynamics. Combined with the suggested alignment specs, it is clear that there was some R&D and testing before pushing this product out the market. In fact, there was an original version of this spring kit with Dinan strut mounts. I have complete faith in this product.


Future Plans:
Will I install KW V3 coilovers in the future? I do not know yet. The car is currently at 94,000 miles, and I do plan on doing a full suspension refresh at 100,000-105,000 miles. I have already replaced torn front sway bar links during the installation of the H&R springs. I have also replaced the rear sway bar links even though they were fine. The lower control arm (not tension arm) has play in the bushing when I was torquing the 21mm bolt to 165Nm. I like the Dinan ride height, and EDC is nice. We shall see if I will get KW V3 coilovers, or I will get stock struts and shocks. (Definitely will not get budget coilovers like BC Racing).


Pros:
- Good looks in person
- Great body control
- Predictable characteristics
- Dinan Support (alignment spec, spring rates etc.)
- No bottoming out

Cons:
- Not so photogenic, looks high in photos
- Build quality/finish can be a bit better

Neutral:
- OEM+

[werdn]

I want to also include this document by Dinan regarding alignments, how different settings affects if your car is set up to be understeer (factory specs), neutral, or oversteer. Also details how wheel and tire sizes affect the balance of the car.

Talking with my alignment shop, I wanted my car to be neutral with slight oversteer characteristics. I felt the factory alignment did not allow the car to rotate enough, and was too conservative. We sampled Dinan's X5M alignment specs and make adjustments based on my preferences to try out.

The PDF is taken off page 15-20 of Dinan's information page for their F10 M5 lowering spring product.

[argento]

Great info and A LOT of effort done, THANKS for putting that together! And thanks for confirming the strut assembly in the DIY w your video.

I was considering swapping to HR from Dinan, but I’m not ready to try and then have to switch back. I am at a VERY happy point w these Dinan springs, performance-wise. Although their bump stops have disentigrated after a couple years. I plan to put M5 competition bump stops later this month. And I do agree about ride height optics on these. The paint quality is meh and snow/salt coukd probably wear it down quicker, but the blue is nice to kinda match the mcb calipers (although not sure our calipers are mcb exactly, I bought some mcb touchup and didn’t seem match 100%…have to look again and confirm…but really close).

I use Bimmergeeks ProTool and it does have a menu for height adjustment, BUT this capability in the App remains in work. I emailed them last weekend as I was going to raise my rear 10mm (per your comments) and they confirmed as much. I know ISTA+ can do it as you noted.

[werdn]

Originally Posted by argento

Great info and A LOT of effort done, THANKS for putting that together! And thanks for confirming the strut assembly in the DIY w your video.

I was considering swapping to HR from Dinan, but I’m not ready to try and then have to switch back. I am at a VERY happy point w these Dinan springs, performance-wise. Although their bump stops have disentigrated after a couple years. I plan to put M5 competition bump stops later this month. And I do agree about ride height optics on these. The paint quality is meh and snow/salt coukd probably wear it down quicker, but the blue is nice to kinda match the mcb calipers (although not sure our calipers are mcb exactly, I bought some mcb touchup and didn’t seem match 100%…have to look again and confirm…but really close).

I use Bimmergeeks ProTool and it does have a menu for height adjustment, BUT this capability in the App remains in work. I emailed them last weekend as I was going to raise my rear 10mm (per your comments) and they confirmed as much. I know ISTA+ can do it as you noted.

Regarding the Dinan bump stops, the reason why I elected to use them instead of the BMW F10 M5 ones is because Steve Dinan's philosophy for lowering springs actually uses the bump stops as a "stiffer springs" akin to the denser coiled sections on a progressive springs. They have a function that is not only for preventing metal on metal clashing protection when bottoming out.

Now, maybe it's just marketing. However, I am not knowledgeable enough on suspension setups to counter argue with his information on his bump stops, as well as I do not have the test equipment to see if they are factually different and form different functions from the F10 M5 bump stops. They may look similar, but may have different characteristics, such as visually similar looking coil springs but with different specifications. So, I just decide to stick with what his former company offers.

Also, I do note that the products for the E70 X5M is still one of the last few products that Steve Dinan had contribution in developing testing. The Stage 1 tunes are CARB legal (also in California). So that gives me more faith compared to the products post F10 M5, after Holley bought off Dinan and when Steve left.

There have been multiple videos online explaining his philosophy on this over the years on Youtube (old Dinan Youtube account). One more recently from his Carbahn company is linked below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiW76579Kb8

[StradaRedlands]

Great log of your work you posted here werdn! I'm pretty sure H&R aren't the springs for me! Thanks for taking the time to document all this... labor of love there!

[werdn]

Haven't posted in a while, but guess what arrived...

*excuse vertical full exhaust pic*