[Sleeper]

When it comes to a nice car, I love a good old fashioned forum journal.

While my plans for my '23 X5MC are very basic (no more than OEM++), I like photo documenting changes so having a journal thread scratches the itch. Along with a love of photography and detailing, nerding out there with fun cars to tinker with makes for a nice combination of hobbies. Hard to go wrong.

I'll give the narrative and nod to nostalgia in my next post, but here is where things currently sit with my F95 -

2023 X5 M Competition
Black Sapphire Metallic
Ultimate Package
809M wheels

Changes/modifications to date -

EXTERIOR:
- IND paint-matched front reflectors
- IND gloss black wiper arm
- IND paint-matched license plate frame
- Acexxcon 3D honeycomb rear reflector delete
- 35% tint all around
- 50% windshield
- Full gloss PPF
- G-Techniq full exterior ceramic coating

INTERIOR:
- CarPro Leather 2.0 ceramic coating
- CarPro Fabric 2.0 textile ceramic coating

WHEELS:
Summer -
- OEM 818M wheels, currently being refinished in dark metallic grey
- 15mm spacers, front & rear

Winter -
- OEM 809M wheels

SUSPENSION:
- Dinan lowering springs + bumpstop kit (install in a week or so)

FUTURE PLANS:
- Maybe exhaust (retaining primary cats)
- Maybe RC GTS
- Maybe intake
...boring, unlike my previous builds.

Here she is as she sits today -












How it looks with 15mm front/rear spacers installed on OEM suspension + wheels:








One of the best looking SUV's on the market at the moment.

Anyway, these are point-of-reference photos for the car wearing OEM springs in 4x4 status (the entire width of my hand + thumb fits between tire and fender ). Once the Dinan springs go on in a week or so, I'll get some new pics of the setup along with some of the refinished 818M's on.

Thanks for checking out my thread.

[Sleeper]

And my nostalgia post -

With a number of ///M cars in my past, the F95 was a natural progression to have a vehicle that could haul ass and haul kids around with room to spare. I have an old school '07 STI track toy in the garage, so that little 500WHP sub-3000lb beast satisfies my need for rowing gears, hearing a super loud EWG exhaust roar, and turning on rails thanks to 3-way coilovers with 900lb springs on each corner (and people complain that the X5M is stiff!).

Among some of the standouts in the ///M past -

2013 X5M (the OG; also had a 2013 red X5M later on)



2016 F80 M3 (absolutely loved this rocket)





1999 E36 M3 (the only one I truly regret selling)




And new friends hanging out -

[sarugby4life]

Great post and beautiful F95!! Very tasteful upgrades so far as well

[S68 X5MC]

How hard was it to swap the rear acexxcon 3d honeycomb rear reflector deletes? I would imagine you could reach under the bumper and pop them in and out.

[Sleeper]

Originally Posted by sarugby4life

Great post and beautiful F95!! Very tasteful upgrades so far as well

Thanks! Not deviating far from the usual pattern of upgrades/changes as BMW delivers a pretty solid package right from the factory. But a few little tweaks here and there are definitely needed.

Originally Posted by S68 X5MC

How hard was it to swap the rear acexxcon 3d honeycomb rear reflector deletes? I would imagine you could reach under the bumper and pop them in and out.

It’s actually from the front. There isn’t a way to get to the clips from the back unless you remove the rear bumper. Instead, IND supplies fishing line (or they should… they skipped that step in my order) to thread around the back of the OEM reflector and then you just pull straight back. There’s a spring clip at the top of the reflector, and just a friction clip at the bottom (or vice versa - can’t remember 100%).

Replacement is as easy as popping new in. Should take 2 minutes per side. I had trouble with the driver side reflector - it didn’t want to let go, and then the Acexxcon replacement was really loose when fitted. It required modifying the bumper female end of the clip to get it to fit snug. As always, aftermarket never quite fits right, but a little extra effort and it looks much better.

[Sleeper]

Few goods.

1. Dinan springs


I should have time to get these on early next week - will post up once installed with ride height shots and ride reviews.

2. Refinished 818M wheels in "Cadillac Grey" by Prismatic Powders. They turned out great. Quite dark out of direct sunlight, and tons of metallic pop for when the sun hits them.






3. Massive ass winter tires. Pirelli Winter Scorpions in OEM 21/22 sizing.
Worth noting that I have the updated "Winter 2" rears in 315/30R22 while the fronts are the OG Winters. They didn't have availability in the Winter 2 in 21" yet, and I'm running out of time, so I pulled the trigger on these.

IMG_0051 by sleepermg, on Flickr

Winter 2 -




Winter 1 -

[Sleeper]

Progress.

I bought my X5M off the lot, and didn't win the wheel lottery (but did win the tire lottery). It came with the 808M wheels but I had my heart set on a set of 818M's since they look so much more aggressive, and they're a forged wheel vs the cast 808M's. My dealer quoted $8500CAD for a new set of black 818M's, so figured waiting for a take-off set would be the way to go.

I ended up purchasing a set of the regular 818M's from forum member M Fore - super easy transaction, and the wheels showed up quickly. The boxes literally went straight from my door unopened to my wheel refinisher, and a few weeks later, here we are.

I had my factory Michelin tires mounted to the 818M's, ad had them refinished in Cadillac Grey. Very happy how they turned out - they have a ton of metallic pop in the sun, but are very, very dark in the shade and at night. But being a few shades lighter than black, you can actually see detail in the wheel. I'm a bit over the full 'blacked out' look since everyone and every manufacturer is doing it, so this is a slight deviation from the norm.

iPhone 15 Pro Max shots in the rain in Raw format -










ps. Underwhelmed with the iPhone raw photos. Still can't come close to a DSLR.

pps. Flickr really cranked down the resolution. Barf.

Suspension is getting sorted Monday/Tuesday, so will have her in final exterior configuration by next week.

[Alan l.]

Do you have any photos showing the two different Pirelli winter tires sidewall design? I'm thinking about ordering the same but need to know if the tires will look drastically different which would bother me.

I can't seem to find ANY info about the Winter 2 tires online.

[Sleeper]

Originally Posted by Alan l.

Do you have any photos showing the two different Pirelli winter tires sidewall design? I'm thinking about ordering the same but need to know if the tires will look drastically different which would bother me.

I can't seem to find ANY info about the Winter 2 tires online.

I’ve attached some iPhone photos of old and new. Only the most discerning eye would spot the two different generations but there are definitely little differences in profile. But they’re both clearly Pirelli Winter Scorpions.

[Alan l.]

Thank you! Couldn't ask for better comparison pics

Base on that I will order the same for my stock wheels. Doesn't seem like the Winter 2 will be offered in more sizes anytime soon.

[Sleeper]

Originally Posted by Alan l.

Thank you! Couldn't ask for better comparison pics

Base on that I will order the same for my stock wheels. Doesn't seem like the Winter 2 will be offered in more sizes anytime soon.

No problem! It was good timing - had them all lined up together in the garage to let the ceramic coating and Darkside cure. All ready to get destroyed by salt, sand and winter haha.

[Jeff J]

Sleeper Have you noticed any odd handling behavior or anything else worth noting from having the old Scorpion Winter 1 in front and the new Scorpion Winter 2 in back? I was really hoping to get Winter 2's all around (conventional wisdom is "don't mix/match tread patterns front/rear"), but we're running out of time and it doesn't seem like there's going to be more sizes in Winter 2 anytime soon...

[Sleeper]

Originally Posted by Jeff J

Sleeper Have you noticed any odd handling behavior or anything else worth noting from having the old Scorpion Winter 1 in front and the new Scorpion Winter 2 in back? I was really hoping to get Winter 2's all around (conventional wisdom is "don't mix/match tread patterns front/rear"), but we're running out of time and it doesn't seem like there's going to be more sizes in Winter 2 anytime soon...

Zero. I wouldn’t hesitate to mismatch front/rear axles with these Scorpion Winters. I’ve experienced nothing odd, unusual, or to be honest, anything to even remind me that I have different tires front/back. The sidewalls are close enough that you’d really have to know your tires to spot the difference.

Fingers crossed the 2’s are available in our front tire size in the future (Ver. 2 has to be better than 1, right?), but I think we’re stuck with what’s out there for the time being.

[Jeff J]

Originally Posted by Sleeper

Zero. I wouldn’t hesitate to mismatch front/rear axles with these Scorpion Winters. I’ve experienced nothing odd, unusual, or to be honest, anything to even remind me that I have different tires front/back. The sidewalls are close enough that you’d really have to know your tires to spot the difference.

Fingers crossed the 2’s are available in our front tire size in the future (Ver. 2 has to be better than 1, right?), but I think we’re stuck with what’s out there for the time being.

Excellent! And hopefully your tire shop didn't give you any grief about the mismatch? My local guys complain whenever I try to do anything that isn't 100% factory original.

[Sleeper]

Originally Posted by Jeff J

Excellent! And hopefully your tire shop didn't give you any grief about the mismatch? My local guys complain whenever I try to do anything that isn't 100% factory original.

Haha, no, didn’t even come up. They tried to source the tires for me but couldn’t find them locally from any of their suppliers. I ended up ordering them online, shipped them to their shop, and had them installed.

The only reason your shop should give you grief is if you wanted to put different tires side to side vs front/back. Otherwise, time to find a new shop!

[Dking078]

A lovely evolution! But I must ask, what camera did you use for the initial post pics?

The quality is EPIC! If you say Iphone I'm throwing my Nikon in the trash.

[Sleeper]

Originally Posted by Dking078

A lovely evolution! But I must ask, what camera did you use for the initial post pics?

The quality is EPIC! If you say Iphone I'm throwing my Nikon in the trash.

Haha, thank you. Definitely not an iPhone. I tried shooting some photos with my iPhone 15 Pro Max in Apple Pro Res, and I just couldn't get anywhere near the joy that it seems others are. Probably skill/user error.

I used to be a full Nikon/Nikkor shooter, but have gone to the mirrorless side with Fujifilm. The photos in the initial post were using a Fuji X-H2 and the XF 200MM F2 big boy lens. It is a spectacular piece of glass, and the H2 isn't too shabby either. At my level of photography, other than some weight, I don't feel like I gave up anything going full-frame to mirrorless APS-C.

[Sleeper]

To bring the journal up to speed -

1. Dinan lowering springs + bumpstop kit installed. Highly recommended mod.

Full review and photos HERE.

BEFORE


AFTER




2. xHP Flashtool

I was never happy with the shift times for our 8-speed transmission with OEM tuning. For being an M-car, I felt it should have been way more aggressive (or the potential to be way more aggressive) right out of the box. Sport Plus shifting is still lacking the motivation and crispness that this beast deserves.

xHP has solved that issue with their transmission flash. They have 3 stages, but they should have just offered one as who is actually going to exhibit restraint and not go full Stage 3 right out of the gate?

X5M SAV Stage 3
- Torque Limiters removed
- Max. Brake-Boost RPM raised
- Heavily improved shift-times. On-par with DCT transmissions
- Revised shift-logic and spread between Drivelogic modes
- Drivelogic 1: Low to medium-speed, but always smooth shifting
- Drivelogic 2: Medium to medium-fast shifts, depending on throttle
- Drivelogic 3: Super-Fast shifting and maximum performance at all-times
- Much stronger and faster blip-downshifts
- More spontaneous reactions to throttle inputs
- Engine Start/Stop disabled (still active in P)
- Optimized Warmup behaviour. (Clutch De-Coupling off & lower Warm-Up shifts)

They have OTS maps (which I'm currently running), but there is also the ability to customize multiple, multiple parameters. It's one of those things where you really need to focus on a specific adjustable parameter (ie. clutch line pressure between shifts), see how the OTS setup responds, and then decide if you want to tweak the settings to either reduce the aggressiveness or up it. It's definitely a work in progress.

But long story short, the snappyness of the Stage 3 shifts in S+ is worlds different from stock. The upshifts shifts are borderline violent at WOT, and the downshifts are so much quicker. I had the GTS DCT trans flash on my F80 and it reminds me of that.

Purchase justification again of course, but another mod I would highly recommend.

[coldpotatosalad]

What a great looking car! Loving the progress. Is there any maintenance risk with the transmission flash? I would assume it's being much harder on the transmission to achieve the result