F15 X5 35i
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New but same. In late 2023 I sold my F15 35d - mainly because I desperately wanted M Sport, but also because the 35d notoriously had timing chain issues at higher mileage. Mine was up there at 150k, so I decided to trade up.
I sought out an Alpine on Mocha M Sport with the N55. After a few weeks of searching I found this one relatively local to me in Minneapolis at a dealer with 89k miles. It doesn't have a ton of options aside from M Sport, unique interior, and comfort access (idk if this is standard?). I did lose my cold weather package that I had on the 35d, so no more rear heated seats or steering wheel, oh well.
Here’s some photos from the first day after immediately removing a rear M badge and shitty amazon chrome side vent covers...
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I bought a ColourLock steering wheel refresh kit because the wheel was pretty rough looking. The kit comes with sandpaper, dye, and protective sealant. I'd say I got it looking 90% perfect, looks brand new! Amazon link to the kit I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PPHH51P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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I also found some flawless Style 451 wheels locally with 8/32" tread on them for a fair deal. These are a 20" staggered set with 20x10 in the front and 20x11 in the rear. Tires are 275/35/20 and 315/40/20 respectively. These pics are with no spacers, but I might experiment with 10-15mm to get them a bit more flush with the fender flares.
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what MMI box did you go with? steering wheel turned out great.
I bought the Andream unit here: https://www.android-car-dvd.com/collections/apple-carplay/products/ew-bmcp-nbt01a. I see they offer a few variants if you have a CIC, NBT or EVO headunit.
These things tap into the car's AUX and some folks say its a tiny degradation in audio quality (phone pairs to box via BT, then the box to the car via AUX). I'm not an audiophile so this is an excellent option for me, works great! These do also retain the steering wheel controls too of course.
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Steering wheel looks awesome, I clicked your link to order the same kit and its no longer available
https://www.instagram.com/_jdesigner_/ http://nevertoolow.tumblr.com/
🥳SOLD BMW E24 633CSI - BMW M30B32 🧪SOLD HCH ES9 - 1.3 LDA
👽BMW E30 325IC - Toyota 1JZ-GTE ⏰ HONDA EF9 CIVIC SI - JDM B18C5
☠️BMW E36 318i - Ford 5.0 FE302 🚴♂️ GT-Labomba - 26x2.75 Freeride
🤹♀️SOLD BMW E36/7 Z3 - BMW M54B25 🧓SOLD BMW E10 2002 - BMW M10M05 -
Steering wheel looks awesome, I clicked your link to order the same kit and its no longer available
That is a huge bummer! I think I paid $65 with free shipping since it was on Amazon, but you can also buy it directly from ColourLock and pay the international shipping of $15 (and wait a bit): https://www.colourlock.com/Leather-Repair-Kit-for-Steering-Wheel-Black/850729-us/. Totally worth it IMO, I think it's enough material to do 2-3 wheels.
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For months I've been chasing a clunking noise in the suspension. So far I've replaced shocks, spring bushings/rubber, sway bar links, lower control arms, adjusted steering rack pre-tension, and just yesterday replaced the thrust arms. After all this work and well over $1000 in parts I realized it was just one of the upper shock bolts wasn't tight lol. Fresh front end though, eh?
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Picked up a ceramic iDrive controller, which was an uncommon factory option on the 50i variant. You can also get a matching shift lever and HVAC control knobs if you’re willing to shell out.
Kinda silly the knobs are integrated, so you need to replace the entire iDrive control unit.
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99,105 miles
After replacing most of the front suspension I took the X5 into EuroTech in Minneapolis for an alignment. They charged $223 which felt pretty high considering these don't have camber adjustment. Anyways, while there they diagnosed an oil leak from the oil filter housing. I knew this thing seeped, but honestly just didn't care much until I read how these N55s like to suck serp belts through the crank seal if they get oily. Out of curiosity I asked them the rough estimate to have that gasket replaced - $1800! I was feeling lazy, but not for that price.
I was able to knock it out in roughly an afternoon and it wasn't too bad at all. The only tricky part is BMW designed it so that you cannot reach the 3rd bolt holding the housing to the block without removing the intake manifold. Other than that the trickiest part was just managing the fluids and trying not to spill - once again those giant 500ml Amazon syringes came in clutch to suck most the coolant out of the reservoir before starting. Also de-greased the hell out of the front of the engine while I was in there, but didn't take any great photos.
While in there I replaced:
- Oil filter housing gasket
- Oil cooler gasket
- Oil pressure sensor
- Accessory drive belt
- Belt idler pulley
- Belt tensioner
- All mounting hardware
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