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  #91  
Old 12-12-2020, 08:29 PM
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The roof rack looks great. Flush-mounted bars make it look so much better.
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  #92  
Old 12-21-2020, 04:42 PM
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After 100 miles of driving I'm pretty happy with this setup. There's definitely some added road noise, and handling took a hit, but I knew what I was signing up for. Zero rubbing. Love the increased ride height.

Might add some spacers in the rear to keep a flush stance.

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  #93  
Old 01-01-2021, 01:00 PM
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** Fender Flares **

With a break over the holiday, I finally had time to get the fender flares installed!

I ended up installing a combination of the factory 4.4is fender trim along with an aftermarket 4.4is fender trim extension kit.

Front
The BMW front fender trim is the same for the 3.0 and the 4.4 and neither has any flare or extension to it. So I used the 4.4 fender trim (because it was in better condition) along with the aftermarket flare extension. This gave the front a similar look to that of the rear.

Rear
The BMW rear fender trim is different between the 3.0 and the 4.4 where the 4.4 has a very nice flare. The rear wheel trim comes in two components, the first portion is in front and above the wheel well and the second portion is behind the wheel well. The challenge is that the 4.4 portion behind the wheel well doesn't match up with the 3.0 under bumper trim because the 4.4 has a different under bumper trim piece (that is often painted body color). I wanted to keep the 3.0 under bumper piece so I installed the 4.4 flare in front and above the wheel well and used the aftermarket flare extension on the 3.0 fender trim behind the wheel well.

I will make a separate post detailing the installation process but in summary the factory pieces were installed using the factory single use trim rivets and the aftermarket pieces were installed using pop-rivets to hold them while they were epoxied to the existing 3.0 fender trim.

The wheels were removed to make it easier to get to all of the fender trim rivets and the side runners had to be removed to replace the 3.0 fender trim with the 4.4 pieces. This means that you end up needing a lot of factory trim rivets so I bought an inexpensive riveter and about 45 aftermarket rivets.

This was my first time attempting a DIY like this so it took me about 2-3 hours per corner or 12 hrs total. As I got experience, the process sped up and the quality of my work improved quite a bit. I could probably do a second X5 in less than half the time now that I know what works best.

The end result achieved exactly what I was hoping. Overall the fender flares make the body and tires look more proportional and give the X5 a nice aggressive overall look.

The quality of the work isn't perfect but it wasn't expected to be. The goal was to see what an average person without a lot of skill could do on their own at a reasonable cost. I am sure that many others could do this job quicker and at a much higher level of quality but I had to learn somewhere and it might as well be here.

And yes, you can see my E36 M3 and Porsche 911SC in the backgrounds!

Next step... get out and do some off-roading! But I am already planning for the installation of a rear cargo platform, cargo drawers, and maybe routing some DC power to the rear for lights/charging phone/etc.
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  #94  
Old 01-01-2021, 02:22 PM
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Diggin the SC in the garage.
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  #95  
Old 01-01-2021, 04:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Overboost View Post
Diggin the SC in the garage.
1979 911SC 3.0L Targa 209,000 miles. Engine never touched. Transmission recent full rebuild. All original (including cassette player) except for fully upgraded air conditioning system to keep me cool in the summer. My daily driver. 1000+ mile trips 2-3 times a year.
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  #96  
Old 01-02-2021, 03:07 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thstone View Post
** Fender Flares **



With a break over the holiday, I finally had time to get the fender flares installed!



I ended up installing a combination of the factory 4.4is fender trim along with an aftermarket 4.4is fender trim extension kit.



Front

The BMW front fender trim is the same for the 3.0 and the 4.4 and neither has any flare or extension to it. So I used the 4.4 fender trim (because it was in better condition) along with the aftermarket flare extension. This gave the front a similar look to that of the rear.



Rear

The BMW rear fender trim is different between the 3.0 and the 4.4 where the 4.4 has a very nice flare. The rear wheel trim comes in two components, the first portion is in front and above the wheel well and the second portion is behind the wheel well. The challenge is that the 4.4 portion behind the wheel well doesn't match up with the 3.0 under bumper trim because the 4.4 has a different under bumper trim piece (that is often painted body color). I wanted to keep the 3.0 under bumper piece so I installed the 4.4 flare in front and above the wheel well and used the aftermarket flare extension on the 3.0 fender trim behind the wheel well.



I will make a separate post detailing the installation process but in summary the factory pieces were installed using the factory single use trim rivets and the aftermarket pieces were installed using pop-rivets to hold them while they were epoxied to the existing 3.0 fender trim.



The wheels were removed to make it easier to get to all of the fender trim rivets and the side runners had to be removed to replace the 3.0 fender trim with the 4.4 pieces. This means that you end up needing a lot of factory trim rivets so I bought an inexpensive riveter and about 45 aftermarket rivets.



This was my first time attempting a DIY like this so it took me about 2-3 hours per corner or 12 hrs total. As I got experience, the process sped up and the quality of my work improved quite a bit. I could probably do a second X5 in less than half the time now that I know what works best.



The end result achieved exactly what I was hoping. Overall the fender flares make the body and tires look more proportional and give the X5 a nice aggressive overall look.



The quality of the work isn't perfect but it wasn't expected to be. The goal was to see what an average person without a lot of skill could do on their own at a reasonable cost. I am sure that many others could do this job quicker and at a much higher level of quality but I had to learn somewhere and it might as well be here.



And yes, you can see my E36 M3 and Porsche 911SC in the backgrounds!



Next step... get out and do some off-roading! But I am already planning for the installation of a rear cargo platform, cargo drawers, and maybe routing some DC power to the rear for lights/charging phone/etc.
You did a great job!

Looks fantastic.

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  #97  
Old 01-03-2021, 10:37 PM
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What's the maximum off-road tire size for a 19x9 factory e53 wheel?
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  #98  
Old 01-03-2021, 11:19 PM
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Nice work with the fenders, makes a big difference.

I put 2k miles on my X5 over the last week. 8 mountain passes and a few hundred miles off-road as well as snow and ice let me properly test out the tire setup.

Quite happy with the Wildpeaks. They performed well in the snow and made a HUGE improvement on trails compared to 19s and stock Bridgestones.

I did find the limit of the X5 while off roading though.

A few miles of rough stuff and my car developed a surging idle and I smelled something odd... maybe brakes or torque converter? No idea what else it could be. I had DSC off. After I let her rest for a few hours, the surging idle was gone and it drove perfectly again. But the BMW made it clear to me it prefers to be on pavement or gravel.

It won't go everywhere a Tacoma can, but it's a great trail ride.


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  #99  
Old 01-03-2021, 11:25 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by richardb View Post
What's the maximum off-road tire size for a 19x9 factory e53 wheel?
Should be <31" in diameter on stock suspension. 265/55 19 might work.
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  #100  
Old 01-04-2021, 01:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kspark View Post
Nice work with the fenders, makes a big difference.

I put 2k miles on my X5 over the last week. 8 mountain passes and a few hundred miles off-road as well as snow and ice let me properly test out the tire setup.

Quite happy with the Wildpeaks. They performed well in the snow and made a HUGE improvement on trails compared to 19s and stock Bridgestones.

I did find the limit of the X5 while off roading though.

A few miles of rough stuff and my car developed a surging idle and I smelled something odd... maybe brakes or torque converter? No idea what else it could be. I had DSC off. After I let her rest for a few hours, the surging idle was gone and it drove perfectly again. But the BMW made it clear to me it prefers to be on pavement or gravel.

It won't go everywhere a Tacoma can, but it's a great trail ride.

Glad that you liked the WildPeak's. I think that there are a lot of very good AT tires on the market so its hard to make a bad choice.

Tell us more about your experience of finding the limit of the X5 while off roading. That's got to be a good story!
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