Rudy's E70
 

Hello everyone! I purchased a 2011 Diesel E70 X5 right before Covid in march. It is the first time I buy myself a car that I've been wanting so I am excited to put some work on her. The plan is to keep it until death do us part.

I have been reading insane X5 journals on here and I need to say I am pretty impressed with the dedication of some X5 owners. I hope I can be up to the task. I am making this thread in hope's of keeping a record of the car for the future and maybe add my own experience of knowledge down the road. I am no mechanic so I think the learning curve will be huge.

2011 Dark grey Diesel X5, 137,000km
OEM 20", Pretty standard options... No HUD, adaptive cruise or nav to name a few. I live in Canada so this car did and will see winters unfortunately.

Tinting the front windows tomorrow and Should receive a box of goodies I have been waiting for ever since covid-19 hit us...

Pic on day 1
https://i.ibb.co/jfCPrXX/20200313-163539.jpg

More pictures and details to come.

Congrats! Looks nice. Welcome to the board. Montreal, you will definitely have use for 4wd. :)

Thank you tri.x5 ! Yes it will be useful indeed, hopefully I can get a custom bullguard to plow the snow when trying to find parking in February.

In the meantime as expected the small upgrades has arrived.

Black grill
Yellow fogs
Led angel eyes
Hitch hook
Led interior kit
M license plate
Front and rear spacer set

I'll try and get some work done tomorrow!

https://i.ibb.co/pn9dj8Z/20200809-134311.jpg

Congrats,

I’m a new owner as well, purchased beginning of June, almost identical to yours except in 2011 X5 35d (LCI) Alpine White, standard 19” rims with 138,000 KM. But I can’t complain as I brought it from my brother who had it since new. So I know it was well taken care of. I’m also in Canada not far from you, Ottawa.

I’m curious how the interiors LEDs work, do you mind sharing where you bought them?

Thanks

Congrats and welcome to the forum!

You got some cool stuff. Post some pics once you're done installing them.

Where'd you get the black grill form? Is it painted black or black ABS?

Oh, I feel like Ottawa has really nicer roads ;)

Bought it from Ebay. They are black plastic, fit is not as good as the OEM of course but only I can see it. I might try to keep the chrome circumference from the OEM one and swap in the black bars, they seem to be interchangeable.

I installed the:
- Black Grill. Now I have to powder coat the 2 lower grill so they can match nicely
- 12mm front and 20mm rear spacers (They fit the car perfectly, it is not too aggressive, I love it) And the finish was pretty nice on them too!
- M liscense plate frame, Looks pretty slick! Gave it 3 coat of mate clear coat, these things tend to degrade with the seasons, hopefully it will last a little longer ( I know it is not an M but it fits the car really nicely. Will look even more in place without the X5 badge)

Tried some LED bulbs But I think I might need to code them Vi@ Bimmer code. They flicker. bought them on ebay I'll keep an update when I get them to swap them out.

Here are a few pics
https://i.ibb.co/QDmkyQk/20200814-152233.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/RzGwH99/20200814-152341.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/vcbtgpk/20200814-182514.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/ft7zks9/20200814-141525.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/chFvxR9/20200814-142414.jpg

Little Update.

Got a square set of style 69 E53 wheels for this upcoming winter. Tires are done and I will most likely replace them with 255/60 winter tires.

https://i.ibb.co/VH4cTBf/20200830-151106.jpg

Got this hitch hook, acts as a shield If I ever backup into a wall or if someone bumps into my rear end while trying to city park. Clear coat and grease before putting it on. Looks great I think, I then need to repaint my Hitch.

https://i.ibb.co/vqQjyZp/20200819-190826.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/XX4QkGG/20200819-191141.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/jH3DX60/20200830-150000.jpg

Grabbed a new rear hatch button for the interior, came from amazon but does the job well. Slightly more pale then the other ones but barely noticeable. Basically unnoticeable when it is illuminate.

https://i.ibb.co/2jsm5yL/20200830-151406.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/bJWjXf0/20200830-151429.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/FXjJWdW/20200831-003206.jpg

Changed my tire valves with "M sports"... Gained 10 Whp lol. They look nicer then the ones I had. Clear coated them before install

https://i.ibb.co/z7Hb0Ry/20200831-153535.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/9WdwpvP/20200831-153609.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/10Nc2KQ/20200831-160932.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/5sWssNw/20200831-161526.jpg

Front and passenger puddle light replaced with BMW logo light

https://i.ibb.co/4ptzfRc/20200831-161136.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/9VQxRKm/20200831-202340.jpg

And Finally this is the cheesiest add on but It works great for not dropping your phone or wallet in the tight space between the center console and driver seat.

https://i.ibb.co/4d3Q4QC/20200831-160711.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/Ykv2hNx/20200831-160717.jpg

Will eventually do more serious work on the X5 but this is all for now.

Updated the fromt DRL with Ebay LED's. Seems the secondary halo (the larger one) is significantly less lit up. I would tend to blame that on the Ebay bulbs but even with halogens they were less bright.

Got the style 69 bored from 72.5 to 74.1 to fit the E70 and 255/60 18's Wintercraft to wrap them up

https://i.ibb.co/ZhJmfW5/222222.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/dPSCwMm/20201010-153509.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/wBtBKT3/20201010-155034.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/SKRNcJ6/20201029-074123.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/7RRDX17/20201029-092829.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/9pvnTKY/20201105-173446.jpg

Hello, It's been a while. Even though we are in summer here are a few pictures with the winter wheels on. They look great and the tires fills the wheels well nicely. They do slightly rub in the front on a full lock so I bought 25 mm spacers so I can swap the current 20mm in the rear up in front.

Also changed my side turn signal to LED sequentials. I did a small video to demonstrate them. You can check it out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNGx...E70Rudy%27sE70

https://i.ibb.co/SVh7MK5/20210510-193325.jpg

More good things to come.

https://i.ibb.co/svnGtTb/20210208-155234.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/dQgVMw3/20210215-065105.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/dMTqbFh/20210216-065712.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/k9jtFmM/20210312-094228.jpg

Check out this nice WRX wide body

https://i.ibb.co/cvcTWCf/Inked20210518-072732-LI.jpg

Looking good. I picked up a ‘12 E70 35i last fall and it has been a great addition to our family. 182k miles, now 188k. I’ve done A LOT of repairs and preventative maintenance to get it back up to good health and now moving on to mods. First completed mod- eibach lowering springs. I noticed the truck leaning one day, found a broken rear spring and decided it was a good excuse to lower it slightly. Ill post pics once the springs have settled and the truck is clean. So far, handles great, has a slight rake, and has a noticeable reduction in wheel gap (I have factory 19”) compared to another E70 side by side. Next up, wheels and potentially spacers.

I need to get a new lift gate button! I didn’t know they could be replaced one by one. Thanks for posting that.

Good to hear it's been nice! What kind of preventive maintenance have you done toward the engine block? If I can suggest you should take a look at your ground strap. Mine left me scratching my head this winter. Obviously it was when I was in the country side too. Figured a way to bypass the original ground cable but it then failed on the highway. Next step was the dealer ship, I was running out of time to deal with the issue. Save you some grief and replace the original one with a solid copper that wont rust rom auto zone or wherever(I'll attach some pictures)

Curious on the drop with the 19". Post a picture. I personally love the height and have had my low days so it's staying as it is :D

Also check out your rear tail light. if you have condensation you could end up with a rusted bulb socket so keep an eye on that and change the seal if needed.

https://i.ibb.co/y48JjLF/20201118-144547.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/3TK8R15/20201118-144552.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/3WHSCt4/20210521-121811.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/yfpy3vH/20210525-191250.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/1Jw6Gdp/20210525-191351.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/Vg7sZDW/20210525-191403.jpg

It’s a very long list of work! A big chunk was redoing the whole cooling system minus the 3 hoses that go to the heater core(s). Radiator (leaking), electric water pump (failed), thermostat, and every hose I could get. Then oil leaks- OFHG, valve cover, VANOS solenoids. Plugs, coils, valvetronic motor and shaft. Fuel injectors.. the list goes on.

AND! That pesky ground strap. Mine didn’t break but it looked really bad and I was having some charging system issues so that was a good place to start. Good call replacing it with copper. I bet that was far less than oem ($56).

I’ll post some pictures soon. It’s a very mild drop (~40mm) which is why I decided to go that route. I’ve lowered every car I’ve owned but always only slight drops. Had a set of coil overs on one car and never maxed them out- it’s not really my style.

I don’t know if it’s your spacers or just wheel size but your wheel gap looks very close to mine. Here’s one I took next to an F15. If you study it for a moment you can see the difference

That is quite a list of maintenance that need attention. I've been lucky with mine, nothing leaks so far and been running smooth. (touching wood)

The wheels are massive, 295/20 in front and 315/20 in the rear. Still the most fuel efficient car I have ever owned :dunno: when tires will be done I think I will bump up the front profile from 40 to 45 and the rear to 35/40 to get even a smoother ride and gap fitment

The spacers do help quite a bite to fill in the gap. The wheels being flush with the fenders does that illusion I believe.

On an other note I did receive this today in the mail. 4x4 shop's android head unit. Big upgrade, I will be able to play music threw Bluetooth, USB and have a backup camera. Having the GPS app on there will be perfect.

Also this Panavise phone mount. Shipping was expensive... It fixes next to the climate control and I do think it is one of the cleanest options. Ill send photos when installed

Now I just need to find the best way to pass the backup camera cable. I'll have to dig up some info on that otherwise I hope to get it done this weekend.

https://i.ibb.co/NTRWrx9/20210609-194717.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/XY60s5P/20210609-194817.jpg

Well, a decent amount of leaks but not surprising considering it’s a BMW, 8-9 yrs old and about 188,600 miles or about 303000 km!

I was parked next to a 35d with the same wheels as yours and I should have snapped a pic last night with them side by side but sadly they left by the time I returned to my car. My drop was very obvious next to that one.

I was looking into a system like that which upgrades the current I-drive to a bigger screen and android auto/car play. Be sure to post when you have yours installed!

As far as your backup cam goes, if it’s a license plate mounted camera, that will be a challenge. But with the rear hatch trim removed, you should be able to pass the wire through the rubber tube with the other wiring. Then most of the vehicle electrical travels on the passenger side of the truck, over the wheel arch and then down along the door sill to the front.

Your E70 looks great, new wheels will really make it stand out even more and the color is pretty rare too.

I've disassembled the rear trunk door to check out the wiring and it does go up the rubber tube. Just wondering if I have to remove the top liner to pass the cable? I am reluctant to the idea. I've seen a video on a E53 where they simply tuck the cable in the back of the rubber seal. I guess the best bet will be to remove and go on the fly.

For sure will let you know how I works and runs once it is done!:thumbup:

The unit has been installed for about two weeks. Took about 3-4 hours over a few days to get the job done when I could. I now finally finished my little tutorial video for anyone who would like to try it by themselves.

YT video https://youtu.be/8Md0Ojg1bW0

So far I like how it operates. The screen is nice and bright and everything works as it should. The mic is better then the built in OEM of the X5. I might ultimately buy a better microphone eventually just to make it even better. It has the lower Qualcomm Snapdragon Android 10- 2G RAM + 32G ROM (4 Core) with 10.25 inch display and works just fine for using music app and GPS.

The rear camera is clean and works great at night as well. I still look back when backing up but it comes in handy when parallel parking in the city.

It takes about 20 seconds to boot the unit up on startup.

Definitely a huge upgrade form the 6 inch screen. Bluetooth and USB port makes it so much more handy. The user interface is alright and blends in well with the rest of the dash board!

https://i.ibb.co/3p4CcTX/20210614-120900.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/VxczMKZ/20210624-102724.jpg

Sitting pretty and dirty!
https://i.ibb.co/c3JkFLf/20210701-190631.jpg