Not rude at all- or at least I don't receive it that way! My motivations changed as the consideration of this purchase evolved into a delivery and installation.

First, if the E53 follows my experience from the E39, some of those little chassis-specific items will find themselves constrained, then EOL, then GONE. I have found myself wishing for a few things on my E39 that are gone forever- even though I have done most of them over the past 10 years. I didn't want to find myself in 7 years having had the opportunity to purchase this, wanting it, and being unable to find it. I kept my last E53 for 7 years and it started with almost 3x the 11K miles this one had. I expect a long life of maintenance, repair, and upkeep with this one. (watch it get totaled tomorrow! )

Secondly, I kinda like the pics I have seen of it. I haven't ever seen even ONE around here with the under ride protection. I see a BUNCH of LeMans Blue X5's online- especially 4.8is'- but only a few have the under ride- I wanted something OE that would make my ride a bit more unique. This fills that bill nicely.

Then, I found one. I could divert some funds from our 'don't ask don't tell' fund- the fund which is in ZERO danger of being repealed around here- and make the purchase for delivery when I was to be in my home office. You should have heard how PO'ed she was when the huge and heavy box with running boards showed up with me 1500 miles away. Yikes.

By the time it shipped, it was too late. I *had* to put it on.

Now, the install was *supposed* to be easy. From what I read, it was 'find a friend bc it's heavy.' 'A few hours to install.' 'Easy.' I should have been cautioned by the lack of an online DIY. I found some pdf instructions from BMW on parts that appeared similar to mine. None matched the part #'s. None had the same parts my kit did.

With the car on ramps, I was sorta toying with not doing the DIY. By the time the bumper was off, I was fully committed. We were gonna do this and get it done. We still thought the rear/underside mounting was going to be easy. . It was probably the hardest to figure out!

With the front bumper cover back on and the stock bits removed or cut for clearance, we lie on our backs under the car for 45 minutes. When we figured out the mounts and brackets, we were renewed and could see daylight.

By the time the final and most goofy step actually WORKED- fishing the 4 threaded brackets through the hollow frame to mate with bolts from the unit- We were so surprised and enthused that we couldn't stand not seeing it through. The kit even includes this coat hanger like thing to fish the brackets. It has to be one of the weirdest things I have used on a car that I didn't make for myself.

I was 45 minutes late to a good friends' birthday dinner, but as a car guy, he totally understood. He had wanted to come over to help!

Now, having driven it, I can say that I have noticed and really like the added rigidity of the front chassis. While not as drastic, it feels similar to a strut bar or to the larger sway bars I did on the E39. It's not AS complete a transformation, but that improved tactile response is the closest similar experience I can think of. Well. Maybe the front bushing R/R on my 1975 2002. I remember that difference and it was 20 years ago. But even fewer people could relate to that experience than new sways.

So, sorry for the long post. The next install probably would only take 1/2 the time, so maybe the replies about the ease of it were filtered by experienced installers. And that's fine. Now that I am one, I can agree that it's not too bad once you know how it goes. But to say that any ole Joe can figure this out with no instructions and no experience in less than 1/2 a day is just not my experience.

Was it worth it? The $ cost? No. The trouble? Well, wrenching is good for the soul. We had fun and experienced victory. Hard to put a price on that. I can say that I'd be happy to help a friend who has never done it. That would be more fun- and easier. But then, so few have X5's and even fewer still will have the chance to buy this thing. So it will have to be worth it for what it was: A hard fought battle of man over machine.

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