**PIX OF MY NEW MODS**
 

I finally got the Aero Kit painted and installed for my E70. I also had a custom LED bar installed under the center rear diffuser of the Aero Kit. A custom mount was built by my bodyshop and the wires were tapped inside the car, for when I put the car in reverse. Pretty awesome, I must say. This is an industrial/military grade LED bar and is brighter than many HID's. At night, it looks like daylight when I'm backing up. Being that the x is my wife's car, I now feel much better when she's backing up and relies heavily on the camera (I'm going to shoot a video of this light in action, so you can see how powerful it is).

I must say that the Aero Kit on this car is subtle and clean with Jet Black. I like it a lot.

Last mod will be to have the running boards painted matte black. That will be it.

Here is everything that's been done to the truck. Everything was either custom painted, powdercoated or sprayed.

(*Note: I dropped the car last year with the custom rear links and front H&R Springs. The wife absolutely hated how it felt and it went back to stock height 3 days later. LOL! Oh well -- you can't win them all. Hahahaha!)

2009 JET BLACK E70 X5 4.8i Sport - Fully Loaded

• Aero Kit
• Custom LED Reverse Light Bar built and mounted under the rear diffuser
• Painted High Gloss Black Kidney Grills
• Powdercoated High Gloss Black OEM 20" 214 Wheels
• Painted High Gloss Black X5 & 4.8 Badging ("i" and "XDrive" emblems were completely removed)
• Painted High Gloss Black Exhaust Tips, including the heat shields behind -- these were painted a matte black.
• Painted High Gloss Black Roundel Circumference on Hood and Trunk Roundels (No more chrome on the Roundels)
• Sprayed Tinted Side Turn Signals
• Sprayed Tinted Front Bumper Reflectors next to front wheel well, next to fogs (no more ugly yellow)
• Sprayed Tinted Tails (Clear Section only)
• Sprayed Tinted Rear Bumper Red Reflectors
• Carbon Fiber BMW Roundels
• 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
• Sprintbooster

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Nice Job :thumbup:.

:2thumbs:

I like. I think you need the black mesh grille in the front as well as black running boards to complete the look.

I've been thinking about that. The top mesh grill is easy to remove, but the bottom one with the PDC sensors is a pain.

You dont have to remove it if you dont like. cover all around and spray it carefully, it does look pretty good as well.

I don't know why but the first thing I thought of when I saw this pic was SRT-8

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...Resolution.jpg

to tell you the truth, i like the silver mesh grill, the little bit of contrast looks great

Loooks great, nice and clean. Paint silver mesh in the bumper and get M-sport roof rails.

Yes, except for the fact that the SRT8 is a beast and will destroy my X. :p:

Looks good, but there is a TON of wheel gap. I read you went back to stock springs, but are the tires lower profile than recommended or something? Looks like more gap that stock for some reason.

Thinking that as well. I'll do the Running Boards first and see how those look before I decide on the mesh grills. I agree that some contrast is good, which is why I didn't tint the red portion of the rear tails and didn't tint the headlights.

The funny part is, this is my wife's car and she pretty much always gets stares when she walks out of the truck, as I think most guys (especially those that are car buffs) can't believe a woman is driving it. It's even better when she pull's our daughter out from the back and they realize it's the "family car". Hahahaha! :thumbup:

Nope, that's stock with the Sport button on. Might be the angle from the pictures. These are the exact tires that came with the wheels too.

Trust me, I love the lowered look and have lowered ALL my BMW's over the years, but I did it with the X and the ride quality was TERRIBLE. I felt every little bump on the road and anything decent caused the worst sounding "thud". My wife wanted to kill me, especially when I tried to deny that I did anything to it. LOL! If I was single, I would have sacrificed the look for the feel, but being that this is the family car, I lost that battle immediately. The M5 on the other hand, she has no say with that car. I think the first mod I did on the M was to lower it.

Got ya. It looks good regardless. I like the part about denying any mods. :rofl:

Maybe it is the black wheels that are fooling my eyes as well.

I actually like the stock roof rails over the M rails. I want this thing to look like a truck. Not really a fan of the M rails.

I think so too. That's one of the reasons I lowered it immediately. Oh well.

However, we do take this truck upstate and the road to our house is awful. I need the clearance, so lowering it isn't probably the best thing.

"Painted High Gloss Black Roundel Circumference on Hood and Trunk Roundels (No more chrome on the Roundels)"

how?

"Powdercoated High Gloss Black OEM 20" 214 Wheels"

did you ever consider matte or satin (semi gloss) for the powdercoat?

Awesome modding C! I would be very interested in a video of the back up rear LEDs in operating mode. You have a very sweet ride :thumbup:

- DaRip

Not sure how he does it (my bodyshop guy, that is), but it's awesome. The front Roundel is easy to remove. I assume he just tapes the center portion and paints the outside, chrome portion. As for the rear roundel, that looks like it's much more of a pain to remove compared to most of the sedan roundels, since it's so big. However, I do know that he removed that one as well. It's pretty sweet looking.

I did consider Matte and Semi, but I liked the looked of High Gloss. When the wheels/car is clean, it comes together really nice. If I went with Semi or Matte, I would have had to do other pieces in a similar finish to complete the look.

I had Section 3 (Cans and Tips) on my M5 powdercoated a matte black. Looks great for the exhaust, but too dull for the wheels.

Thanks! Yeah, need to shoot a clip of it. Will do that soon.

can't wait to see... don't forget to show us the idrive view. Damn crap camera...

loooks sick my friend !!

What body shop /paint shop do you use? I am in NYC and looking for a great shop to repair some bumper damage.

Thanks.

I use Perfect Ten in West Babylon. It's where many of the M5 owners, car enthusiasts in Long Island go. Matt is the owner. He does amazing work. He's meticulous and a total perfectionist. His shop is fantastic and his prices are great.

If you call him, reference my name (Calton) and he'll take extra great care of you. Good luck and hope this helps.

:iagree:

:thumbup:

Looks great:D
Where did you get the k&n air filters?
pics?
thanks:thumbup:

Thanks. I got the filters from AutoAnything. They're a snap to install. I have the BMC filters on my M5, which are also fantastic. Not sure if BMC makes a set for the X5 though...

Auto Parts & Auto Accessories - Over 6 Million Auto Parts, Aftermarket Parts, Truck Accessories & Car Accessories

As for Pix, are you referring to pix of the filters? They're drop-in's, so no pix. You don't want a Cold Air Intake (CAI) for our naturally aspirated engines, if that's what you're referring to. AFE intakes can cause what's known as heat soak, which actually causes you to lose power.

Amazon is having a sale on the K&N's

Amazon.com: K&N 33-2407 Replacement Air Filter: Automotive

nice work... any pics of the custom reverse LED cluster in action?

I need to take a video and post it. Makes a huge difference. More importantly, my wife feels much more comfortable backing up at night.

Last week I was at the car wash and a customer a few cars back noticed the light when I popped it in reverse. He came up to me with a ton of questions. Needless to say, he loved it and is going to do the same for his MB SUV. LOL!

C's Bimmer, Were you at Habberstad BMW in Huntington this morning? If so I was next to you for a bit right after you pulled onto Jericho. If you noticed a Space Gray 2010 30 that was me. Your car looks even better in person.

Ha! I sure was. Thanks man. :thumbup:

Whoops. Duplicate.

Well, now we know where you were this morning....we also know you weren't in CT on Sat...:dunno:

We missed you, and the Knight Rider of X's....

So sorry. I was in my Chicago office last week and completely forgot to respond to the thread about not being able to attend (I know I said I could when I saw you at the Rallye event). We had a family event (Aunt/Uncle 50th Anniversary) on Saturday out east near the vineyards on the North Fork and I didn't realize it was the same day as the Meet, when I originally committed. Sorry man. I wish I could have been there.

If it makes you feel any better, I organized a huge 5 series/M5 Meet for next week (Saturday, June 12th) and I can't even go to that. Yep. It's been in the works for over 2 months now. I have 70 members attending and I do it every year. I didn't realize until two weeks ago that I have to be in Miami for an industry event, which my company is a presenting sponsor for. LOL! Needless to say, I can't be at my own Meet that I've organized for years. I'm getting torn a new one from those members, for missing that. Hahaha! Work has just been so nuts, I can't keep track of my personal schedule anymore.

Hope you guys had fun this weekend. :thumbup:

Any one have any more info on C's rear LED installation? He hasn't been here lately and I would love to do this for my wife's new X5.

Anyone know what type of LED fixture he used? If I knew that, my local shop could probably wire it up pretty easy.

Thanks,
X