I decided to do away with my front bumper plate mount, fix the holes and have the front bumper professionally resprayed.

Once the bumper came off, I started looking at the side skirts and the rear bumper and the rest of the truck. I noticed that the side skirts have the typical "road pitting" next to and extending into the rear fender extensions. The rear bumper also had one or two small imperfections... these pieces were the only distraction to the overall finish of the truck, so I decided to take them off and finish them properly (bumpers and side skirt).







While the bumpers were off and since I have all of my LED retrofit headlight stuff and a little time on my hands, I decided to to attempt the LED headlight mod myself. The retrofit manual says 3.75 hours...hahaha! I was once an Aircraft Maintenance Tech, so am a little anal about doing it right the first time.

Front bumper done.


Refreshing front end with Brand New LED Headlights!!!

New LCI LED: Brighter and squinty eyed with flat bottom halo rings + lenses are crystal clear with no pitting...





Active Autowerkes Downpipes arrived
(these things are massive!)




6/25/15 I started on the left (drivers) side this morning, removed the front wheel, inner fender and Left headlight assembly. Next, I removed the access covers in the engine department, opened up the access to the main fuse panel and to the Footwell module. I began routing the retrofit wiring from the FRM module through the firewall to the left headlight and across to the passenger footwell. The FRM module was removed at this point. After lunch, the left headlight plug was configured and the left headlight was installed according to the instructions. The left fender is now buttoned back up and the wheel is back on, but the day is over and we need to reposition cars.

My X5M is not happy with me at the moment.
I left the FRM module unplugged and my lights obviously do not work, but neither do my windows or my mirror adjustments. There are a slew of error messages because PDC is also disconnected. The truck nearly refuses to be moved... put it in drive and the brakes immediately lock and the transmission goes back into park mode with more error messages. I am finally able to "limp" maneuver the truck into it s new designated spot and there it sets.... One LED headlamp in, no FRM, wires everywhere, no bumpers or side skirts...

I finished pinning out the wiring in the connectors, installed fuses, pulled the final leg of the harness from the fusebox into the PS wheel well, installed the FRM3 module and buttoned up the panels inside the vehicle.
All I have left to do is finish installing the right side headlight assembly, button up the fender well and code the new headlights.

The smartphone images really do not capture how impressive the new LED headlights look.
It looks/feels like I have just traded up to a much newer model.

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