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Jake's M-Sport X5 35i Build Thread


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Longtime N54 fanboy checking in. With shame and excitement, I've recently bought my first N55-powered vehicle. I'm ready for this slight uptick in reliability.

For the past month, I've been searching nationwide for what I consider the "perfect" E70 X5. That criteria included the following:

  • Had to be the 35i (N55) instead of the 50i (N63, very unreliable)
  • Had to have M-Sport Package (///M body kit, interior trim, etc.)
  • Had to have Cold Weather Package (heated front and rear seats, etc.)
  • Had to have Convenience Package (keyless entry/start, rear view camera, etc.)
  • Had to have Technology Package (heads-up display, side view cameras, etc.)
  • Had to have a heated steering wheel
  • Had to have paddle shifters
  • Had to be a 2013 (because LCI and this was the only year you could get M-Sport, heated steering wheel & paddle shifters together)
  • Couldn't be silver, bronze or brown
  • Couldn't have white or gray interior
  • Couldn't have any reported accidents
  • Mileage and location didn't matter
  • Budget was $25k after travel, taxes, registration, etc.

Eventually someone on XBimmers shared a link to a carbon black X5 at a random Ford dealership in the middle of nowhere, Missouri. They had a single-owner 2013 X5 35i that met all of my criteria. I inquired and found out that it was on consignment through the dealership. The owner of the dealership was trying to help sell his best friend's wife's car. After running the VIN, I found it also had premium sound, soft-close doors and front/rear PDC.

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I arranged a quick 3rd party inspection through LemonSquad for $200. The inspection report came back good, so I got a quote for transportation through a friend of a friend on Facebook (Tri-Logistics). $1,000 delivered to my door in an enclosed trailer? Sure. I arranged for pickup on Monday and he delivered it to my house at 11:30pm the same day! I didn't expect such a huge truck and trailer to show up at my house, I should've told him I was the guy waiting for the white Lambo :lol:

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He unloaded it and went on his way. I drove it for the first time yesterday and it's everything I was hoping it'd be. I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out.

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Now, let the modding begin!

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51 minutes ago, Rekpoint said:

So FUCKING COOL! I love these X5s. Im glad everything worked out in the end! I think you got a great deal! Im excited to see whats next for this thing. Hopefully some YouTube content along with it? Congrats on the new purchase! 

Thanks man! I will eventually pick back up on the YouTube stuff. It's a lot more work to put together videos than it seems, and I've been so busy. It's nice to relax and not have to worry about filming/editing sometimes.

42 minutes ago, SteelBlue said:

Is there a trailer hitch package? Something that mounts below the rear bumper?

The truck and trailer setup is unreal. Dude's truck must have been at the end of your block with the trailer at your driveway.

They sell tow hitches for them. I don't believe it was a factory package, maybe a dealer add-on. I'm not too sure, to be honest.

I plan to install a hitch on it, but they don't come cheap. Looking at this one: http://execuhitch.com/tow-hitches/bmw-x5-with-m-sport-pkg-2007-current-invisible-hitch-and-oem-wiring-harness-2007-current-clone.html

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Neat car! The pictures look nice! 
It's always amusing seeing the pictures after seeing it in person. 
 

27 minutes ago, suspenceful said:

They sell tow hitches for them. I don't believe it was a factory package, maybe a dealer add-on. I'm not too sure, to be honest.

I plan to install a hitch on it, but they don't come cheap. Looking at this one: http://execuhitch.com/tow-hitches/bmw-x5-with-m-sport-pkg-2007-current-invisible-hitch-and-oem-wiring-harness-2007-current-clone.html

Sweet jesus, $1,000 for a hitch and ball with shipping? 
The wiring they provide with it sounds nifty though. 

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Nice find!!!

looks like the one you really wanted, and this one doesn't need a blue tip wrench to work on.

You are so much better off then the other wreck.  "Balkan Motors" would have been my 1st red flag.   The Balkans are the Wild West of Southern Europe. 

Subscribed to the Mod Thread.

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2 hours ago, GunMetalGrey said:

Neat car! The pictures look nice! 
It's always amusing seeing the pictures after seeing it in person. 
 

Sweet jesus, $1,000 for a hitch and ball with shipping? 
The wiring they provide with it sounds nifty though. 

Better or worse in person/pictures? Lol

The hitch setup is pricey to do right, but you can save a couple hundred bucks on a hitch that requires you to cut the bumper facia with an aftermarket harness. I'd rather buy once and cry once.

2 hours ago, RobZR said:

Nice find!!!

looks like the one you really wanted, and this one doesn't need a blue tip wrench to work on.

You are so much better off then the other wreck.  "Balkan Motors" would have been my 1st red flag.   The Balkans are the Wild West of Southern Europe. 

Subscribed to the Mod Thread.

I'm glad I held out for this one instead of that one in New York. I do prefer the Alpine White exterior, but this Carbon Black is a unique color in person. It's a very metallic blue during the day and almost black at night. I wanted to stay away from black cars because they're a pain to keep clean, but I couldn't pass up this deal. I could always wrap it if I really wanted to.

1 hour ago, SteelBlue said:

What are the plans for mods?

I already ordered paint-matched front reflectors, gloss black grilles, LED fog lights, LED interior lights and an OEM ///M gear selector.

More ideas include:

  • Golf tee muffler mod
  • Matching tint for the front windows
  • Smoked LED side markers
  • Very lightly smoked tail light tint
  • Paint matched rear reflectors
  • BMW Performance pedals
  • H&R drop springs
  • 22" wheels
  • X5M gauge cluster
  • BMS Stage 1+ tuner (+50whp/wtq)
  • BMS air intake
  • Tow hitch
  • Remote start
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that's a handsome truck. sad that the white on brown combo didn't pan out.

breezing through this, three things caught my attention:

1. "girlfriend" - marry her already

2. "might wrap it" - don't you dare

3. "golf tee mod" - hell yass, glad this is a thing again. anyone who has rigged a cart to do donuts knows what I'm talking about.

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2 hours ago, straight6pwr said:

1. "girlfriend" - marry her already

Now that's what I call a keeper.  Since, she puts up with this crazy hobby of yours and is willing to drive the 1er a buck-fourty down a runway.

You better lock her in before she changes her mind, and finds out how nuts you are.😀

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17 hours ago, straight6pwr said:

that's a handsome truck. sad that the white on brown combo didn't pan out.

breezing through this, three things caught my attention:

1. "girlfriend" - marry her already

2. "might wrap it" - don't you dare

3. "golf tee mod" - hell yass, glad this is a thing again. anyone who has rigged a cart to do donuts knows what I'm talking about.

Thanks man!

1. It'll happen, the engagement ring fund is a little smaller after purchasing this X5 though :lol:

2. But white looks so gooooooooooooooooooooood. It's not something I'd do anytime soon though, only if I kept the car for a while and got bored of the color.

3. I'm not familiar with doing cart donuts, but I was referring to permanently opening the second exhaust tip flap. Most exhaust noise ftw!

15 hours ago, RobZR said:

Now that's what I call a keeper.  Since, she puts up with this crazy hobby of yours and is willing to drive the 1er a buck-fourty down a runway.

You better lock her in before she changes her mind, and finds out how nuts you are.😀

Haha, I never thought I'd be fielding marriage advice on a local BMW forum. But yeah, she's pretty cool and puts up with a lot of my crap. I think I out-kicked my coverage...

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Nice!

As far as the hitch, I've installed a few on these and X3's and they're easy.  If it's truly the OE wiring then it's not that bad.  IIRC I had to pin the back of the fuse panel in the passenger rear compartment of the hatch.  In all cases I did the install and the customers took them to BMW for the coding.  As far as trimming goes, it's a 2 1/4" deep cut that you'd never see.  I certainly understand why someone wouldn't want to trim a bumper but it's really not a big deal if you do it right.

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On 10/18/2018 at 3:29 PM, Rekpoint said:

Has anyone ever done the PE exhaust mod on an x5 like that?

I'm not sure about a "PE" mod, but people do wire up the second tip to be always open. Right now it's closed with a flap unless you're flooring it.

On 10/19/2018 at 10:09 PM, patsbimmer1 said:

Nice!

As far as the hitch, I've installed a few on these and X3's and they're easy.  If it's truly the OE wiring then it's not that bad.  IIRC I had to pin the back of the fuse panel in the passenger rear compartment of the hatch.  In all cases I did the install and the customers took them to BMW for the coding.  As far as trimming goes, it's a 2 1/4" deep cut that you'd never see.  I certainly understand why someone wouldn't want to trim a bumper but it's really not a big deal if you do it right.

 

On 10/19/2018 at 10:51 PM, YoungCR said:

This is awesome, glad you found your dream SAV! The dealer installed hitches required a small cut too fwiw

Good to know! Thanks for the tips guys. I will probably look into a hitch sometime next spring.

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First round of mods have been installed!

Paint-matched reflectors were at the top of my to-do list. I ordered a pair from ModBargains for $20 less than IND, but they just come from IND anyways. For some reason, I never took a picture of them as they arrived, but the finish was excellent. They use OEM reflectors and color match them in-house.

However, cars with the side cameras have a section above the reflector that remains unpainted. Not sure why, but BMW outlined this area with silver trim. I hate this silver trim, especially on a dark-colored car. It just draws your eye to a random silver square on the bumper. Nothing a little Plasti-Dip can't fix. Here's a photo before I sprayed the top section.

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Next up was the LED fog lights. I ordered this set from Amazon and the quality was perfect. Installation was super easy. The fog light grilles just pop right off giving you access to both the light and the bumper reflectors. The bumper reflectors required a heat gun to pop off.

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Before:

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After:

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The LED fog lights do trigger an error code upon startup, but I will code that out with the Carly app. More information on that to follow.

Before:

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After:

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Another gripe of mine is that a car made in 2013 still has regular halogen interior bulbs. It looks so dated. So I bought this LED interior kit from Amazon and loved the result.

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And lastly, I did the "golf-tee" muffler mod... except it's not a golf-tee at all. These N55 X5's require you to zip-tie the actuator arm open. I didn't trust a plastic zip-tie, so I used a metal one.

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I was actually very surprised when I started the car up after doing this mod. It's a lot louder, but it sounds great. Exhaust comes out of both tips and cold starts are noisy now! Best part is, it's completely reversible if you don't like it. Just remove the zip-tie.

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