DaRipper's E70 35D Mod Weekend
 

Hey Everyone,

So this weekend myself and my good buddy Scott, worked on my brand new 2010 X5 35D. We thought we could finish everything on Saturday but ran into some obstacles that prevented it. We finished up on Sunday at my in-laws automotive shop. Here is a little write up from each mod task:

Saturday @ 800am at my buddy garage

Here are pictures before the operation.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01001.JPG
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http://lh3.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01006.JPG

Continue.....

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01010.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...0/DSC01011.JPG

Continue....

Task 1 - Change out exhaust tip to 4.8

Difficulty 2 ( 1[easiest] - 5[hard])

Pretty easy install if you have the right tools. Reciprocal saw is a must for this. Here are some pictures:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01015.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01016.JPGhttp://lh3.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01017.JPG

Task 2 - Change out front orange reflectors to color matched

Difficulty 4

I thought this was going to be easy. I was so wrong. For the 35D you can not go through the front of the plastic air dam or go from underneath like the 3.0 and 4.8. For us to change out the reflectors, we had to remove the original wheel flare, the tire and then the plastic wheel well covering. That took some time for both sides. Here are some pics:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01027.JPGhttp://lh3.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...0/DSC01029.JPG

Put on the new extended retrofit wheel flare..

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01030.JPG



Continue.....

Task 3 - Replace old wheel flares with the extended flares

Difficulty 2

Just make sure you have a plastic rivet tool. It made things much easier.

Here are some pictures:

On both front extended wheel flares, the top most hole did not line up and was offset by an inch. Was only able to use 8 out of the 9 rivets. See the following picture.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01034.JPG

Here are some pictures of the install of the wheel flares:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...0/DSC01041.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...0/DSC01043.JPG

All done for the day....

Pictures after the first day.....

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01045.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01046.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01048.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01049.JPG
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http://lh6.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...0/DSC01055.JPG

We will install whats in the the trunk Sunday :D

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01051.JPG

Sunday @ 1000am at my inlaws auto shop. I'm glad that I have access to a car lift.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01058.JPG

Scott and I working on the most important mod, the Aerokit.

First thing we did was mask off the exhaust area so we can use high temp spray paint and paint the heat shield that can be see through the exhaust tips.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01060.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01062.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01065.JPGhttp://lh3.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01083.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01085.JPG

While the paint dries, we start work on the front aerokit. Over all the install was pretty easy, if you have a car lift. Had to scratch our heads a few times but we are engineers and could figure it out. Here are some pics of the front end:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01066.JPG
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01067.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01069.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01074.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01077.JPG

On to the back .....

The back aerokit was easy...we got the hang of it. ;)

Here are some pics:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01086.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01087.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01090.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01091.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01092.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01096.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01098.JPG

All done with the AeroKit....

All done for now. Aerokit looks amazing with all the mods that were done on Saturday.

The aerokit paint is pretty close to matching my factory paint but I'm not satisfied. Going to be calling the shop that painted and see if they can do a better job. In the sunlight its a shade off.

Here are the pics off the lift:

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01101.JPG
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01102.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01104.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01105.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_VoaUoyv6edg/S4...4/DSC01107.JPG

All done for now until my other parts/mods show up at the end of the week and next.

Next Mods:
-Clear bra
-New Wheels (TBD)
-LUX H8 Angel Eyes
-Cargo strut bar assembly

Thanks for looking and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. The new wheels will complete the car. Anyone have any to sell? 20 x 10 and 20 x 11?

Thanks,

DaRip