Happy to help:thumbup:

When I read your post it reminded me when I was considering making the change to a similar finish. If you want to match the current finish of your door handles then make sure you know which of the two you have, titanium or graphite metallic. Some of the finishes are really spectacular, some are not. If I can find my photos of the different finishes I'll post them here.

11 different factory finishes:

Woods:
Light poplar
Dark poplar
Natural poplar
Smoke Grey poplar (aka Anthracite Maple)
Maritime mahogany

Non-Woods:
Titanium
Metallic graphite
Cosmos black
LeMans blue
Imola red
Samana beige

Excellent! Thank you for posting the photographs.

I absolutely have the graphite metallic. Although it's nice and clean looking I prefer look of the wood grain with smoke-grey Poplar.

Anyone have an idea of cost?

David

Yes smoke-grey poplar is quite nice. I once saw it on a 4.8is with the champagne leather two-tone interior and it was amazing. Unfortunately that finish isn't cheap, however you can always offset the cost a little by selling your current finish. You can either buy the pieces separately or contact someone like Roveractive for a full kit. Just make sure you get the parts you need and not more or less (i.e. proper shirt know, nav versus CD radio cover, etc.) See here:

BMW Genuine E53 X5 Smoke Grey Poplar Wood Trim Kit NEW : eBay Motors (item 7950290688 end time Apr-29-10 12:56:05 PDT)

That's lot of dough. I have seen used trim prices between $200 to $300 range.
You can always wrap your trim with carbon fiber. ;)

I'm looking to buy the graphite metallic. If you're interested in swapping or just selling your graphite trim. Mine has the dark poplar trim...

My 4.8is LOVVEELY!!!!
 

I love this truck. I have had 2 Porsche GT3's and now my 09 Carerra S
with PDK. The best car I have ever driven PERIOD. But I have to say
when I get in my truck and start it up, I get a big smile! Its so much fun
and for a truck its almost not fair. I can drive my 911 every day if I want.
But I get in this truck and I get in a mood where I drive it for a week or longer
before I get back to the 911.

Hey does anybody have a list of Mods we should do? Like what are the upgrades we can do like Dinan?

2 GT3's? Nice!

Hi all, I am a big fan of this truck and I intend to buy one but in our forum of the BMW Owners Club Bulgaria (that's in Europe right next to Greece :thumbup:) we are kind of short on E53 4.8is owners. So there is not enough info... and I am kindly asking if could bother to tell me about your experience with the vehicle, because you have been driving these machines for some time now. Any info on mechanical problems , maintenance and little things that annoy you ... would help

really big THANKS in advance :thumbup:

No problems in my 2006 4.8is. Its got 32000 miles on it. I have the new Continental Extreme Contact tire on it (DWS version OK on snow)
Its pretty reliable and keeps me from buying a Cayenne. I am a huge Porsche Fan
but this truck is too good to sell.