Quick question

[Lucas.ua]

If I made a full bolt on kitt for the e53. Either suspension lift like mine. Or a full diff and controller setup with all nuts bolts and a manual included. Would the x5 make a come back as a “popular” car again? They’re affordable and most of the bad stuff gets deleted anyway when you mod them like this.

What do you guys think?

[Henn28]

I’d love to see what you come out with, but mass appeal is Not likely I feel. Too expensive to own and upgrade. Stuff is actually made for the Cayenne and I can count the number of those I’ve see lifted and/or overland-ed on one hand. 2 fingers even.

[Lucas.ua]

Yeah but the options out there are all half measures. I’m actually done with the suspension just waiting for a lines to start the engine again.

[Henn28]

I’m not saying it wouldn’t be a great option to have for those that might want to make their E53s more durable and capable off road, but I suspect the market is very small, and shrinking daily.

Frankly I’d look seriously at any reliable, bolt in LSD solutions you came up with for the diffs and xfer case. There just don’t seem to be many of us that want to upgrade their x5’s off road capabilities. Most guys go the other direction and enhance their x5s on road performance with coil overs, lowering, etc.

That said, I’m wrong as much as I’m right about these things!

[Lucas.ua]

Ok fair enough. But my previous experiences have shown me that when you open the doors for others. They’ll gladly take it.

And now with other companies giving kinda crappy options it might spark the interest for others to come.

The lsd solution is only for the front diff currently. The rest just locks up and is meant for low speed climbing. I’m curious how far I can take this car coming winter. Might even increase tire size by then. But I also have a DAF YA328 to play with coming winter!!! So that’s still on the fence.

[x5Alpine]

Lifting an E53 and turning into an offroad vehicle is dumb. If you want a nice off road vehicle get a land rover. An E53 was designed to be a well handling on road SUV, no point in turning it into a deliverance special.

[Lucas.ua]

Such an intelligent comment. Thank you so much for your enlightening suggestion


Just for reference I am glad that there’s only one of you.

[Henn28]

Originally Posted by x5Alpine

Lifting an E53 and turning into an offroad vehicle is dumb. If you want a nice off road vehicle get a land rover. An E53 was designed to be a well handling on road SUV, no point in turning it into a deliverance special.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder my friend. I've owned several new BMW's over the years, and my slightly lifted, motor swapped, overland X5 is the most fun of any of them to date, including two M3s and a Z3. Although I do wish I still had the E36 M3 sedan. Great car.

[zhent]

Personally, I'm not interested in lifting my X5, but some are/may be. I can certainly appreciate what it takes to make it happen on our cars though.

[rwilson]

I would be interested for my 2006 6spd. We moved to the woods of New Hampshire and can see having fun on the Class 6 roads (trails at best).