Mods on an 05 530i
 

I've owned this car for about three months now and love it. I was recently asked by a friend if I plan on doing any modifications of my own and i honestly had no clue. I tried doing my own research but couldn't find what I wanted or get a straight forward answer so I decided to join and ask.

So basically I am not looking for crazy modifications as far as power. Trying to stay away from turboing or supercharging, since I already own a turbocharged car. So I guess that would leave an intake and/or exhaust (or anything else really, as I have no clue). And for those who may suggest it, buying an m3/m5 is in the works. And for those who are going, well why the hell do you want to mod your 530? This is just something fun for me while my husband gets to play with the big lean machines.

For cosmetic mods, lowering kit suggestions? I am not a big fan of being slammed or camber for that matter, but any suggestions for headlights/tails and what not.

It would also be greatly appreciated to show me example pictures as well as how much each performance mod would give a far as power. Thanks much!

At the end of the day it's your car to do as you please obviously but in my opinion anything more than intake and exhaust is a waste of money/time on a 530. I would just lower it on some nice 19's, and upgrade the front end lighting.
I have bc racing coils and it was money well spent. Not only can I adjust the ride height but I can make them as stiff or as soft as I please.

Good luck and try to steal your husband's toys often! :twoup:

Seems like intake and exhaust have been a popular answer so far after chatting around. Any specific brands?

I think muffler delete sounds good. If you think it'll be too loud I recommend magnaflow.
Burger motorsports sells an intake that is one of the few functionally efficient ones from what I've read.

530i with N52 engine or M54? if from M54 I think you can use some performance parts from e46 (except intake and exhaust, 50:50 for headers), though there are specific intake and exhaust (except headers) dedicated for M54b30. same condition for N52b30

a lot of vendors to check such as turner motorsport, active autowerke, vac motorsports and ecu remap you can refer to rktunes

if its only a street specific, then a sport shock with eibach/h&r lowering springs should do the job. maybe anti roll kit from eibach/h&r. if it will be used for fun track days you can relate to bc coils, kw, isc, bilstein, etc.

i used isc coilover for occasional track day

Not a fan of loud exhaust so I ended up getting a magnaflow. It has a deep tone and no drone at all. About the intake, I have the aFe that I got from 4wo|afe performance. With this upgrade, the engine noise is more audible than before and there's an improvement in response. Increase in hp/torque is hard to tell though, unless I do some dyno test.

well said JDeezyNYC, at the end of the day its your car so what ever you do to it is perfect, don't let other people bash you for your choice of mods.


if you want to keep it simple you could always paint your oem wheels black, fk coilovers ($399) are greatly priced and go lower then most of the other brands out there. I actually picked up an ebay quad exhaust brand new for $299 and I love it

wow those FK coilovers are really affordable? How long have you had them on the car? How's the ride and can you adjust stiffness?

Hi,the mn54has alto of options, the only real benefits are headers and cams. Factory manifolds are the choke point on these cars, a sprint booster/tune is also a good choice. Gearing is also a good upgrade,depending how you drive,there are pros and cons with all these depending how far you want to take it,hope this helps :D

Sorry for the late reply lol, ive had them on for about a month now and they have been good to me. just need to make sure you install the rears properly or youll get the strut popping thru the top of the strut mounts. found that out the wrong way, lol my shop installed the washer above the bushings and they were rattling like crazy at low speeds but all is well after the fix.


they have non adjustable dampening but are pre set to 30% which is a pretty good balance