Im baaaack!

[mcoupefan]

Hi all, Just thought I'd introduce myself. Im a long time BMW owner (E39, E60, E36/8) who strayed off the reservation a couple of years. I moved to the frozen tundra called Minnesota and traded my 545i for an A8. Just traded the Audi on a loaded, non-sport, '10 Space Grey/Black X5 3.0i. So far Im loving it, although I do miss the A8's git up and go. It's nice to be back in the tribe.

Of course, as with all my cars, the modding commences to wit: OEM Style 214s off C'List locally ($1k with TPMS and decent rubber...SCORE). Just finished the V1 remote install above the rearview (ten minutes...thank you for all of the posts on the topic). Tinting this wednesday. Extended fender trim, lowering springs, and 12/20mm spacers, rear fog retrofit up next.

A couple of questions:

Nav update: The car build is 10/09 (has the new IDrive, but the car is NOT LCI). Is this a straight DVD upgrade or do I use USB/key? I've searched the forums but find conflicting answers...Regardless, can anyone point to a good source for either?

As an aside (and this one is driving me nuts!) Iv found how to manually change NAVi display between day and night modes. I've RTFM a couple of times and cant figure out how to do so automatically. Could it really be that they DIDNT include such a feature (my E60 had it in the LAST generation IDrive), or am I missing something somewhere?

Sway bars: On my other BMW's replacing the sway bars with the M version tightened up the suspension nicely. Is there a difference in sway bar diameter between the 6 cyl SAVs, 8 cyl SAVs and M versions? IF so, has anyone done the swap and can comment?

Exhaust Tips: Would like to replace with quad tips while keeping the same can. All I can seem to find are the 3.0/3.5 single round to 4.8/5.0 oval. Can anyone point me to dual quad rounds they've used? IVe found some on ebay.de, but before sending cash to the Fatherland, I want to see if I can source here in the US.

Corona Upgrades: Ive searched the site significantly, and again have seen alot of conflicting posts. From a price/perf standpoint, Ive decided I will probably go with the CREE LEDs off the 'bay, vs LUX, but what wattage and temperature gets me closest to LCI brightness and colour?

Thank you all in advance for your help.

--->Axe