Steering is great with the monoballs in the thrust arms, it's a subtle improvement and there isn't much negative NVH. All the other arms are with the OEM bushings.
My wheels were machined locally here in San Diego, CA.
Build Log: M57 X5
- Thread starter TwinTurboWagon
- Start date
My wheels were machined locally here in San Diego, CA.
Good to know there is a slight improvement...I have two sets I need to install on the X5s. Those thrust bushings wear out all the time on the X5s. The monoball should hopefully be a 1 time replacement.
X5 is looking great as always.
Did you ever figure out the intake noise issues: " There are some weird noises at partial throttle, one that sounds like a weed wacker and another that sounds like air being blown through a flexible plastic straw. I have a hunch that the straw noise is from the low pressure EGR cooler but I am in the middle of removing that and can confirm shortly. "
I've been holding off doing the air intake mod for this reason alone...
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I am pretty sure the noise is from the low pressure turbo and the EGR port, even with the EGR cooler removed and the hole plugged I believe there is internal ducting that causes the noise. I can't imagine what else it would be since all everything else is removed and this is the only difference between the X5 which makes this noise and the 335D which does not.
Thanks for the reply man. BTW I just installed some LED fog light bulbs in the stock housing and holy shit they are bright. Made my last set look like stock other than the color output. I'd still like to do projectors but it is hard to justify
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WD6G42D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1Given the 'odd noises' would you do the air intake again?
I assume the turbo whistle is even louder in the low RPMs, and the induction noise is louder under full load?
As I am often under part throttle I worry about the 'weed wacker' sound. The flexible straw noise I assume is not that annoying...
100% would do it again, I like to hear what's going on with engines and especially turbo chargers. I wouldn't say the intake increases the whistle/spool of the turbo, that's mostly through the exhaust but it's more the sound of air suction, hissing, wooshing, etc. Aside from these sounds there isn't much change in induction sound.
I don't know the "weed wacker" sound you mention but the bendy straw sound is the most noticeable but for me I only hear it with my exhaust valve closed and the gases going through the OEM muffler. When I am driving by myself I usually have the valve open and with this exhaust setup the bendy straw noise is overpowered by the exhaust note.
XBimmers.com | BMW X6 Forum X5 Forum - View Single Post - Custom Turbo Inlet System for my X5D
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You said it not me
Hmmmm, my vague memory strikes again.XBimmers.com | BMW X6 Forum X5 Forum - View Single Post - Custom Turbo Inlet System for my X5D
Forum for BMW 1-Series 3-Series 5-Series 7-Series M3 M5 M6 Z4 X1 X3 X5 X6 Z2 Z4 325i 330i 335i 535i 550i 755i BMW Forumswww.xbimmers.com
You said it not me
Just wanted to pop in and say your builds are amazing, like always. I want an X5 diesel after seeing this build but I don't have the chops to get it done.
I am still trying to set up my 'back-up LED' setup like you have on the M5 Wagon... parts in garage, wiring, etc... I suck
I am still trying to set up my 'back-up LED' setup like you have on the M5 Wagon... parts in garage, wiring, etc... I suck
I just picked up a mint 2012 X5 d ... most everything but 3rd seat, bags. This thread is inspirational for sure.
Filippo
Filippo
Before my winter road trip I was able to get some maintenance items addressed but not all. Torque converter and suspension still on to do list. Here is what has been accomplished.
- Front 3.15 installed, 4WD flashed
- Leaking vacuum pump cover resolved, hopefully for good this time
- Leaking coolant line deleted
- New brake pads
- Oil change
- 2020 iDrive maps update
- Driver door handle replaced
"Wrench Mode"
3.15 front diff serviced with fresh fluid, axle seal, and o-ring
The front diff swap was fairly straight forward, however some bonehead wrenching added a lot of unnecessary frustration. When lowering the subframe I assume my mistake was not dropping it little by little evenly which made the the subframe get hung up on the locating pins on the frame and it wouldn't hang freely. It took me WAY TOO LONG to figure this out but once I did a gentle tap on the subframe from a sledge hammer and iron rod from above freed up the subframe. By this point I had already removed the driver engine mount and mount bracket which was easy enough BUT getting the 3 bolts that hold the bracket to the engine block turned out to be a blind, awkward, and frustrating endeavor. patience and presistence prevailed but hours or time were lost. Live and learn .....or make mistakes, forget, and repeat. lol
The front diff does NOT come out this way
...it comes out this way
Driveway divas
My multi-use BMW special tool, great for propping up the passenger side front axle during front diff removal and great for supporting the subframe.
While under the vehicle I noticed some dried coolant on the top of the engine splash panel. Turns out it was caused by my own carelessness when deleting my EGR cooler and looping my coolant system, tension pushed the hose up towards the belt which was able to rub (I assume under high engine load), it looks like I caught it just in time since this could ruin a road trip very quickly.
The damaged coolant line is one that Ts into another coolant pipe between the radiator and the engine and then runs down and up behind the low pressure turbo and goes into the engine block. Doing further research it looks like the 335D doesn't have this coolant line at all, the engine block may not even have the cooling port. Instead of replacing the damaged coolant line I deleted it all together by buying a coolant blind plug for the front connection and a Vibrant reinforced coolant cap for the rear connection. If/when I remove the low pressure turbo at that time I will remove the engine block coolant connection and convert it to a plug by welding it shut.
Front connection BEFORE
Front connection AFTER w/ blind plug
Coolant line out
HPS caps
Rear connection BEFORE
Rear connection AFTER
My ATM ASV elbow had a fine oil residue on it. It was a bit odd since the silicone was covered in it but there was no obvious leak points at connections.
I removed, cleaned, and inspected the elbow and found this on the on the underside where the silicone bends. I haven't noticed any drop in boost or weird boost-leak noises (but I haven't data logged) but I assume there is a tiny hole allowing the oil vapor to escape. I haven't had the best luck with the ATM charge pipe connections so this is more motivation to build a custom charge pipe setup.
Vacuum pump cap was continuing to leak after a new set of o-rings so I cleaned everything and applied thin layer of silicone for added security.
Driver door handle had an annoying paint chip ever since we got the vehicle and I finally found a comfort access door handle in PGM for a reasonable price on eBay. It's not flawless but it's in much better condition than the old handle.
Clearance between ASV elbow and radiator shroud was too close for comfort so clearanced it a bit
BEFORE
AFTER
With the front diff installed I flashed back to 4WD
While updating the maps it was a 1+ hour upload so I hooked up the beast, this things can hold a perfect 14.3v for a full vehicle (all modules) overnight flash so it's not breaking a sweat here
My Hawk ceramic pads were squealing like mofos and the after hearing my complains the company sent me a set of 5.0 pads to try out. Their rep recommended I bed them aggressively and get them hot enough to smell. No problem, after a good thrashing they were smoking and I used an infrared thermometer to check rotor temps (400f) Potato pic
If these 5.0 pads don't work well (and don't squeal) then I have some EBC reds to try.
Cleaned and fitted with the cargo box and bike rack!
The cargo box is a life saver. It fit 2 snowboards, boots, bindings, snow gear, snow shoes, hiking shoes. MTB gear, helmets, bike rack, misc clothing, bike tools, misc tools, and more.
- Front 3.15 installed, 4WD flashed
- Leaking vacuum pump cover resolved, hopefully for good this time
- Leaking coolant line deleted
- New brake pads
- Oil change
- 2020 iDrive maps update
- Driver door handle replaced
"Wrench Mode"
3.15 front diff serviced with fresh fluid, axle seal, and o-ring
The front diff swap was fairly straight forward, however some bonehead wrenching added a lot of unnecessary frustration. When lowering the subframe I assume my mistake was not dropping it little by little evenly which made the the subframe get hung up on the locating pins on the frame and it wouldn't hang freely. It took me WAY TOO LONG to figure this out but once I did a gentle tap on the subframe from a sledge hammer and iron rod from above freed up the subframe. By this point I had already removed the driver engine mount and mount bracket which was easy enough BUT getting the 3 bolts that hold the bracket to the engine block turned out to be a blind, awkward, and frustrating endeavor. patience and presistence prevailed but hours or time were lost. Live and learn .....or make mistakes, forget, and repeat. lol
The front diff does NOT come out this way
...it comes out this way
Driveway divas
My multi-use BMW special tool, great for propping up the passenger side front axle during front diff removal and great for supporting the subframe.
While under the vehicle I noticed some dried coolant on the top of the engine splash panel. Turns out it was caused by my own carelessness when deleting my EGR cooler and looping my coolant system, tension pushed the hose up towards the belt which was able to rub (I assume under high engine load), it looks like I caught it just in time since this could ruin a road trip very quickly.
The damaged coolant line is one that Ts into another coolant pipe between the radiator and the engine and then runs down and up behind the low pressure turbo and goes into the engine block. Doing further research it looks like the 335D doesn't have this coolant line at all, the engine block may not even have the cooling port. Instead of replacing the damaged coolant line I deleted it all together by buying a coolant blind plug for the front connection and a Vibrant reinforced coolant cap for the rear connection. If/when I remove the low pressure turbo at that time I will remove the engine block coolant connection and convert it to a plug by welding it shut.
Front connection BEFORE
Front connection AFTER w/ blind plug
Coolant line out
HPS caps
Rear connection BEFORE
Rear connection AFTER
My ATM ASV elbow had a fine oil residue on it. It was a bit odd since the silicone was covered in it but there was no obvious leak points at connections.
I removed, cleaned, and inspected the elbow and found this on the on the underside where the silicone bends. I haven't noticed any drop in boost or weird boost-leak noises (but I haven't data logged) but I assume there is a tiny hole allowing the oil vapor to escape. I haven't had the best luck with the ATM charge pipe connections so this is more motivation to build a custom charge pipe setup.
Vacuum pump cap was continuing to leak after a new set of o-rings so I cleaned everything and applied thin layer of silicone for added security.
Driver door handle had an annoying paint chip ever since we got the vehicle and I finally found a comfort access door handle in PGM for a reasonable price on eBay. It's not flawless but it's in much better condition than the old handle.
Clearance between ASV elbow and radiator shroud was too close for comfort so clearanced it a bit
BEFORE
AFTER
With the front diff installed I flashed back to 4WD
While updating the maps it was a 1+ hour upload so I hooked up the beast, this things can hold a perfect 14.3v for a full vehicle (all modules) overnight flash so it's not breaking a sweat here
My Hawk ceramic pads were squealing like mofos and the after hearing my complains the company sent me a set of 5.0 pads to try out. Their rep recommended I bed them aggressively and get them hot enough to smell. No problem, after a good thrashing they were smoking and I used an infrared thermometer to check rotor temps (400f) Potato pic
If these 5.0 pads don't work well (and don't squeal) then I have some EBC reds to try.
Cleaned and fitted with the cargo box and bike rack!
The cargo box is a life saver. It fit 2 snowboards, boots, bindings, snow gear, snow shoes, hiking shoes. MTB gear, helmets, bike rack, misc clothing, bike tools, misc tools, and more.
Jesus dude... I get absolutely nothing done compared to you!
I laughed at the "the diff goes this way" and your photo making it look like it was trivially easy to just yeet it out of the subframe area.
I laughed at the "the diff goes this way" and your photo making it look like it was trivially easy to just yeet it out of the subframe area.
The X5 was put to work in the month of December; road tripping through California, driving up (and down) to Tahoe in snow, many mountain biking trips and lot's of aggressive driving on tight mountain roads!
After the trip the X5 received various upgrades with the focus being on the interior.
Here are some pics from the winter trip....
Dawn patrol in Napa Valley
Aggressive mountain driving was aggressive. This was from driving the Oakvilla Grade which connects Napa Valley to Santa Rosa. A rough and tight road. Had to dial it back a bit.
Not the best pic but my first roller in the X5!
Visiting my good friend up in Truckee. He hates that I call the X5 a "truck" since he owns a Duramax buuuut I tell him, "it's got a tailgate, it's a truck!" lol
Always fun to see the people who have no idea what they are doing and try to navigate snow in FWD economy cars on crap tires.
Bikes and Beer in Berkeley
Fun fact about the 1Up bike rack is it has 3 positions: down to carry bikes, up for storage, and a 45 degree option which allows just enough clearance for the tailgate to come down. Nice
More dawn patrol
Onto the upgrades! My X5 came with heated wheel but I ditched the feature since I found a nice deal on a Napa M sport wheel with paddles. I finally came across a deal on a heated X5M wheel in nice condition. The X5M uses the same paddles as the E9X M3 so there are more aftermarket options for paddles and I went with a generic set of aluminum paddles. The look is a bit aggressive but I wanted a longer paddle and these are aesthetically more pleasing than some of the other options.
Annoyingly the OEM paddles were not communicating through the steering wheel controls so they needed to be spliced into the wiring up stream. I pulled some OEM connectors from the junkyard so the paddles are PNP.
Before/After
Installing P3 vent gauge which has a bunch of useful metrics
The access panel on the side of the dash is a great place to tuck the controller.
I FINALLY got around to upgrading the interior lights to LED.
As most of you E70 owners are aware, the console trim wears poorly and I couldn't justify the $120 price for a new OEM piece and stumbled upon this cover on Amazon. Fit/finish looked good and for $23 it was worth testing out.
Time to update the Nav screen and interior trim. Screen is a WAKAA and I sourced some OEM Shadow Brushed Aluminum trim from Latvia.
Little hack when working on the back of the door panels: do this!
End result. I love it. Next and maybe the last big interior mod will be Merino leather dash doors and hopefully I can find a pair of Merino comfort seats. I have the massaging/cooled seats and the leather sucks (so does the cooling).
After the trip the X5 received various upgrades with the focus being on the interior.
Here are some pics from the winter trip....
Dawn patrol in Napa Valley
Aggressive mountain driving was aggressive. This was from driving the Oakvilla Grade which connects Napa Valley to Santa Rosa. A rough and tight road. Had to dial it back a bit.
Not the best pic but my first roller in the X5!
Visiting my good friend up in Truckee. He hates that I call the X5 a "truck" since he owns a Duramax buuuut I tell him, "it's got a tailgate, it's a truck!" lol
Always fun to see the people who have no idea what they are doing and try to navigate snow in FWD economy cars on crap tires.
Bikes and Beer in Berkeley
Fun fact about the 1Up bike rack is it has 3 positions: down to carry bikes, up for storage, and a 45 degree option which allows just enough clearance for the tailgate to come down. Nice
More dawn patrol
Onto the upgrades! My X5 came with heated wheel but I ditched the feature since I found a nice deal on a Napa M sport wheel with paddles. I finally came across a deal on a heated X5M wheel in nice condition. The X5M uses the same paddles as the E9X M3 so there are more aftermarket options for paddles and I went with a generic set of aluminum paddles. The look is a bit aggressive but I wanted a longer paddle and these are aesthetically more pleasing than some of the other options.
Annoyingly the OEM paddles were not communicating through the steering wheel controls so they needed to be spliced into the wiring up stream. I pulled some OEM connectors from the junkyard so the paddles are PNP.
Before/After
Installing P3 vent gauge which has a bunch of useful metrics
The access panel on the side of the dash is a great place to tuck the controller.
I FINALLY got around to upgrading the interior lights to LED.
As most of you E70 owners are aware, the console trim wears poorly and I couldn't justify the $120 price for a new OEM piece and stumbled upon this cover on Amazon. Fit/finish looked good and for $23 it was worth testing out.
Time to update the Nav screen and interior trim. Screen is a WAKAA and I sourced some OEM Shadow Brushed Aluminum trim from Latvia.
Little hack when working on the back of the door panels: do this!
End result. I love it. Next and maybe the last big interior mod will be Merino leather dash doors and hopefully I can find a pair of Merino comfort seats. I have the massaging/cooled seats and the leather sucks (so does the cooling).
Thank you for all the posts here. So well done. Inspirational, honestly. I've been cherry picking an idea here or there. I did the iQ charger, which works relatively well. I was looking at the center console trim - agree on the cost to replace.
BTW if your front cup trim is suffering the same, here's the forward piece of aluminum trim: https://www.amazon.com/Interior-Center-Console-Sticker-Accessories/dp/B086QQCR27/
I love what you did with the wheels. I really want to stick with 19's (ride, etc), so I went this route: these are the nicer factory design whee (Type 334), but often in the much larger size. This is the 19" version, powder coated in a dark metallic grey. They'll get new TPMS sensors and Michelins this week.
I don't mean to sully your build thread ;-) ... mostly to say thanks for the inspirations, ideas, etc. I intend to incorporate a few of your other ideas!
BTW Rod Sutphin's transmission tuning for the 6HP on the X5d is superb.
Filippo
BTW if your front cup trim is suffering the same, here's the forward piece of aluminum trim: https://www.amazon.com/Interior-Center-Console-Sticker-Accessories/dp/B086QQCR27/
I love what you did with the wheels. I really want to stick with 19's (ride, etc), so I went this route: these are the nicer factory design whee (Type 334), but often in the much larger size. This is the 19" version, powder coated in a dark metallic grey. They'll get new TPMS sensors and Michelins this week.
I don't mean to sully your build thread ;-) ... mostly to say thanks for the inspirations, ideas, etc. I intend to incorporate a few of your other ideas!
BTW Rod Sutphin's transmission tuning for the 6HP on the X5d is superb.
Filippo
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Thanks for the kind words. I saw that trim piece for the cup holders but I plan on installing the OEM X5M knee pads which require a different bezel piece.
I agree Sutphin's tuning is excellent, glad you are enjoying it. Wheels look great!
Time will well. I need to diagnose and audio issue (audio isn't working at all) and I have noticed it isn't recognizing a previously synced phone with CarPlay, it only connects with a fresh device so I will need to explore this as well. So far the screen is nice but if these issues don't get resolved then it's out.
Our V8 Cayenne GTS died a horrible death recently, looking into picking up a X5d as a replacement and starting the mod journey.
Loving this thread.
Loving this thread.
I bought a mint one, love it. Best daily driver part is that it doesn't egg you on to push the throttle (good for keeping a clean record), but if you want it to haul, it will get up and go. If not enough juice for you, delete it and tune.
yes this thread is fantastic. I'll start one for mine, when I get enough going on it. Won't be anything like this thread, though, lol!
Filippo
