**Latest Pix of the X5**
 

The wife's X is almost complete. It's going in this weekend to be lowered (H&R Sport Springs 1.2 Front & Adjustable Links for Self-Leveling Rear).

Here's what's been done thus far:

• High Gloss Black Kidney Grills
• Powdercoated High Gloss Black Wheels
• High Gloss Black X5 & 4.8 Badging ("i" and "XDrive" emblems were completely removed)
• High Gloss Black Exhaust Tips, including the heat shields behind
• High Gloss Black Roundel Circumference on Hood and Trunk Roundels (No more chrome)
• Tinted Side Turn Signals
• Tinted Front Bumper Reflectors next to front wheel well, next to fogs (no more ugly yellow)
• Tinted Tails (Clear Section only)
• Tinted Rear Bumper Red Reflectors
• Black Carbon Fiber BMW Roundels
• Black Carbon Fiber BMW Wheel Caps
• H&R Wheel Spacers (15mm Front & 20mm Rear)
• 6000K Xenons
• 6000K HID Fogs
• 8500K White Angel Eyes
• Super White LED License Plate Bulbs
• Super White LED Interior Bulbs
• K&N Air Filters
• Llumar Tint
• Hardwired V1

Here's what's left to do:

• Aero Kit
• Calipers

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...Resolution.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...Resolution.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...Resolution.jpg
http://i456.photobucket.com/albums/q...ion/X5/046.jpg
http://i456.photobucket.com/albums/q...ion/X5/047.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...Resolution.jpg

cooooooool

NICE! :thumbup:

Definitely like the gloss black wheels over the grey. Looks great.

Hey I want in on your next photo opp! Oh wait I'm not black(out) enough for you two :rofl:

Nice work C. Looks like lowering for me too after my exhaust.

Once you go black, you never go back. Hahahahaha!

Very aggressive looking ride...I like it :D

Thanks! I like it too. My wife gets the "thumbs up" all the time, when she's at a light and a bunch of young kids pull up next to her. I think they're more shocked to see her driving it. Hahahaha!

She's looking mean and bad ass :yikes: opps sorry not your wife, its the X5 that I'm talking about. :rofl::rofl: ;)

Bozz

Very Nice!!

i would be shocked too..


nice x bro / dont forget spacer

keep up the good work! The aero kit will definitely add to it.

she is amazing

Yup, def. going to paint my kidney grills in a high gloss black after seeing yours... ride looks great!

I have spacers on the truck. They're perfectly aligned with the outer edge of the wheel arches and the offsets on the 214's (20mm rear, 15mm Front).

Spacers was actually my first mod. It's a MUST! :thumbup:

Thanks man. It will definitely add to the car, but not as much as other colors. There's just not as much contrast on the car. The main reason I want the Aero Kit is that it will hide the Rock Panel on the front, underbelly from being visible and the rear diffuser will hide the exhaust/muffler which you can see from certain angles too.

Painting the calipers should look great though. I think I'm just going to do black. Red is too played out and doesn't go with my theme. Yellow is too much.

Can't wait to see how the car looks after I lower it. I'll definitely post up some pix of before and after.

And when are you getting spacers?!?!?!?! Hahahahaha! You keep thinking, but not doing. Your truck will look SOOO much better. Something so little makes such a big difference. You'll realize it so much more after you do it. Yep, you'll thank make after and wonder why you waited so long. It happens all the time. :rofl::rofl:;)

Thanks!!!:thumbup:

Thanks Steve! :thumbup:

Two things have held me back... up until today I was dealing with a vibration due to a warped rear rim. I finally got a new rim on today. My other side has an out of round tire so while the vibration at 70mph is better it's still not completely gone... so I didn't want to mess with anything else until this was resolved completely. Worse, they don't make the Proxes S/T anymore so if I want a new tire I have to upgrade all 4 with the S/T II.

Second, everytime I go through a drive-thru I have to be extremely careful about curb rash. This brand new rim replaces the old rim which was also curbed at a Wendy's drive-thru notorious for being narrow - lots of tire marks. It didn't cause the warp though, that was there from the minute I put it on the road. Anyway, I really don't want to make it more difficult by making the rears even wider. Believe me, I do want that look (10mm/20mm as you suggested) but curbed rims hurt... a lot. How do you deal with this? Drive the M5 to drivethrus instead? :D

I have the answer. Dont go thru drive thrus. Youre truck will look better and you'll be healthier without that crap

how did you get your taillights tinted? Is it film or paint?

Looks amazing! Ive got the older brother to your truck :)

I was actually at the McDonalds on Old Country Road the other night with the X5. :bustingup

I have spacers on the M5 and the X5. I've had them on all my BMW's. If you are worried about curbing your wheels at a drive thru, then you need to work on your driving skills and you need to learn your car better (I'm kind of serious...no offense :thumbup:) I'm a fat bastard that does Fast Food when I'm too lazy to cook or wait for a decent meal. I do the drive-thru's all the time. If you want one of the tightest in our area, do the Drive-thru at Wendy's on Jericho TPKE next to Syosset Bowling! I've done it many times with both cars and all my spacers. Never a rash!

Get the spacers. Stop making up excuses.

PS - I see those driving students on the weekends around town, packed 5 deep in a little Corola, trying to get their license. Let me know if you're interested and I can see if I can squeeze you in to make the learning experience an even 6 in that car. :nanana:;)

The tails were sprayed and it was a very tedious process, since the lights are actually 2 pieces on each side (4 total). All parts were removed from the vehicle, sanded down and taped off perfectly, so only the clear parts were visible. They were then sprayed with a few light coats (I didn't want too dark) and then the tape was removed and the lights were sprayed with clear coat, polished, waxed and reinstalled in the car (All of that was over an extended period of time to allow for drying and so forth). My body shop guy does amazing work. He did all the work on my M5 too and does most of the M5Board owners in my area. Go to someone reputable. Pay a few extra bucks for quality. :thumbup:

Lastly, it sounds like you need to meet my wheel guy. There are actually two. One is mobile and the other is not. Let me know if you're interested and I can PM you their info. :thumbup:

The first time I did it I wasn't even thinking... wasn't used to driving with wider wheels... I went from 245s to 315s... now I'm just paranoid even though I haven't had another incident. :( And that McD's drivethru has no outside curbs to worry about. ;)

So am I getting TMS or H&R 10mm/20mm spacers? It says hubcentric on turnermotorsport.com - does it matter if I have replica rims - they were X5 specific and didn't need hubcentric rings? I will get the longer bolts but what about the BMW wheel locks I already have - they still going to fit? Can I bring it to your guy in Plainview for the install or someone else?

That's one mean machine you got C' :thumbup: I still have the standard 19" on mine, does it make sense to get spacers on that and is it a self installable mod or will have to take it to an indy shop?

Looks great! Love the wheels!

Gold chains and a large bag of cocaine come to mind ;)

Thats funny but sadly, very telling. You're obviously in the minority.

All the best 330cdsport :thumbup:

H&R from Turner. Since your wheels are replica's, my only concern would the be the offsets. If they were OEM, I would tell you that 15 in the front and 20 in the rear is perfect. However, replica's tend to have a different offset than OEM. Can you tell me where you got them? Do you have a link? I can run the calculations on the Wheel Offset Calculator and tell you the ideal width for front and rear. You're fine regarding hubcentric.

You will need longer bolts. I'll tell you exactly which ones, based on which widths you go with. As for wheel locks, you'll need new ones. A few companies sell the extended wheel bolt locks. Just Google it. However, hold off until we know exact lengths, based on offsets of your replica's.

Based on the 19" offsets, you are going to need very wide spacers to bring those wheels out. When I say very wide, I'm talking 35mm+. I'd probably say don't bother. Plus, since you're not running wider rears, it won't look as good.

Fronts: 2008*BMW*X5 *Alloy Wheel, Chrome Rim and Silver Finish # ALY71177U*@ WheelsAndCaps.com

Rears: 2008*BMW*X5 *Alloy Wheel, Chrome Rim and Silver Finish # ALY71179U*@ WheelsAndCaps.com

Though the first link states:
Offset: Front 40mm & Rear 37mm

You are in luck, my friend. Take a look:

RealOEM.com BMW E70 X5 4.8i BMW LA wheel Y-spoke 214

WAC made their replica's the exact same specs (width, offset and hubcentric) as OEM. Very easy.

You want the same set-up as me. 15mm for the Front and 20mm for the Rear. Let me find out what length bolts I have for each. I'll follow up with a PM.

SWEET SAV I HAVE THE SAME ONE.

Got any pix of your X? We have great taste. ;)

Looks great, C!

LOVE the last pic! :luv:

Thanks Michelle! How are you doing? Thanks again for organizing a great Meet last month. I'm sorry we had to bail, but my wife ended up having our baby girl a few weeks after the meet. We love being parents and our daughter LOVES the X5. However, I'm pretty sure she'd love just about any car that puts her to sleep. Hahaha! LOL! :rofl:

Tomorrow is the real test though...she goes in the M for the first time. Driving 45MPH on the highway, in the right lane in that car is going to be very interesting. I'm plastering BABY ON BOARD stickers all over it. Hahahahahaha! :bustingup

Hope you're doing great!!!! :thumbup:

Since you like the blacked out theme, I have a set of OEM side skirts to replace your aluminum RB's to complete your blacked-out look.;) I thought it would look sweet, PM me if you are interested.

i think it would like good with those black boards..

As if she is not one bad ass X already......that is going to look Haaawt once those H&R's give her a drop!!

I hope all is well wit you and the MRS...

Rich:thumbup:

Awesome X! If I saw that in my rear view mirror, I'd move to the side!

Thanks Rich! :thumbup:

I actually need the running boards. Actually, let me rephrase that... My wife needs them. I was thinking about doing the M Side Skirts, but the wife axed the idea when I mentioned removing them. Hahahahaha!

I am now thinking about having the running boards custom painted. However, the process of removing, painted and reattaching them is tedious. Cost is not cheap.

I wonder if the aluminum side steps could be anodized rather than painted? wouldn't the paint chip off when you tread on it all the time. The cost of anodizing would probably be prohibitive though.

Bozz.

I'm doing well! Congrats on the baby girl! :baby:

Hopefully you'll be able to stay longer next year!

M :)

Congratulations on the baby girl! :beerchug:

Your wife's ride is SICK! :thumbup:

Powdercoating would work too because it's tougher than paint and you can get it done in any color!

Where did you buy the led's for your wife's X?

Great taste in mod dude

Thanks for the nice compliments everyone.

I am considering having these painted now. Another member on this forum who also happens to be a very good friend of mine has his X in the body shop now. If he goes for it, I'll let him be the guinea pig and see the results. My main concern would be the scratches, scrapes and chips that the running boards get on a daily basis. I would want these pieces to look all beat up after 6-9 months. That would look terrible.

Powdercoating would be a better choice then because of it's resistance to wear. It's thicker than paint and is cured onto the part. Anodizing is also a good suggestion, because it goes into the aluminum. The bad part is that the anodized pieces that I've seen don't look like they're painted, but comes out looking more like a tint, which might look cool, but also might not be the look that you're after. Maybe I just haven't seen enough anodized pieces either. :dunno:

Yeah, powdercoating is definitely the better choice. However, even PC'ing will show scratches and marks. That's inevitable. I'm starting to think that leaving them as is, even though they are the only silver piece on the car currently, is the best way to go. I'd hate to have 2 running boards down the side of the truck showing all these marks and scratches, while the rest of the car is perfect. Thoughts?

And I agree with the anodized look. It wouldn't be the same.