Holy Gawd- Under ride protection install

[PropellerHead]

First, and most importantly, I was shipped ZERO instructions with this kit. I got a bunch of parts and basically had to figure out how it all went together on my (and with a friend, so OUR) own. We DL'ed some instructions for 'Under Ride' protection from a couple of sources, but they were far from complete. And they were on different part numbers-even from the E53. I don't know WHAT has changed in chassis/frame attachment points from 1999 production through 2006, but I will say that this appeared to be an engineering retrofit nightmare.

This was NOT a walk in the park. Maybe if the parts showed up with the brackets installed, this would have made some sense, but the under ride protection DIY is something that will have you venturing back to your toolbox for everything from a good sized hex nut driver to a pneumatic cutting wheel or Dremel.



It should NOT be taken lightly as a DIY- not without instructions at least. "You might want to have a friend help"? Yeah right. I have known six people who are not professionals that could pull this install off alone.

We were left to figure out which brackets were for the front and which were for the rear mounts. We had zero idea what bolts went where- leaving our own sense of style within German engineering as our guide. Six of these, eight of those.... Clearly, since we got it installed, this was far from impossible. But with no instructions and no solid DIY, we were adrift in a myriad of engineering possibilities.

Guess what else no one tells you? Order 'front bumper support brackets'
51 11 7 116 667 and 51 11 7 116 668. These don't HAVE to be replaced, but if you can remove the front bumper without snapping at least one of the connections, then you've done this more than once. Even the instructions we downloaded said to replace them. Order them with the kit. My local dealer had exactly ZERO of each side.



Anyway, here's the finished install. It was a PITA. I saw many threads on here looking fro advice with some folks suggesting that the poster should 'ask the dealer.' Ask me. I can help.





Finally, I will say that I was surprised. This install tightened up the front frame flex in a way I have felt only with a strut bar install.Granted, it makes sense that added rigidity from the sudden connection *below the strut towers* and *directly on the frame* *would* make a difference, I did not exoect the change. It was a nice surprise. Made my 4.8is fell a little closer to my trusty old 3.0.

Some observations: R/R of anything normally accessed from under the car (not oil changes), like alternator, belts, etc will require removal of this unit. If you do not DIY, you might expect an extra hour on your bill for otherwise routine maintenance or fixes from your mechanic. I fully expect to find an extra hour tacked on to my bill for R/R of this beast.

It is STURDY. It's heavy. I am sure it will do the job- if correctly mounted- for any off road X5. I ran off the interstate (at SPEED) in my 3.0 and didn't need this kind of protection to get out. I have to imagine though that this thing might've sent me skating over my share of obstacles if I needed it to survive.

Finally, oddly, I will add that this unit *decreases* the clearance of the X5. It adds a good 1.5-2.0" to the depth of the undercarriage. This was most evident less than two hours after the install when I scraped the under ride protection on a high parking spot curb. I would never have noticed it before the install and yet there it is.