neilv

Well it took some time(and still dirty) but its finally done.

I never realised how much of the rear is wagon specific. Wheel bearings, hubs and even the dust shields are wagon specific so replacing those took some time to figure out; plus as we all know getting the rear axles out just plain sucks

Rear calipers are also wagon specific but with proper brake line placement(i went with ecs braided in the rear) it clears. Rotors went from 320 to 348mm diameter, 20 to 24mm thick and are aluminum hat rotors to reduce rotational mass(added 25mm eibach bolt on spacers to negate the offset loss by moving to the rwd hub). Rear caliper piston went from 42 to 46mm.

The v8 brakes absolutely help with a positive brake feel and help slow this heavy tank a bit better. New control arms and fixing that lower hub bushing/bearing also make the rear end feel a bunch more solid.

Hint the corteco hub bushings dont fit and wasted a bunch of my time; lemforder went in like butter. And for wagon folk check your wheel bearings; even though i ordered wagon wheel bearings , they gave me sedan ones so i had to get them pressed back out and onto the new ones.

FuzzyWuzzy

Next time a 545/550 pops up in the junkyard, I may just have to grab the brake bits. Pretty decent improvement without spending $6k on a BBK!

Sean John

Nice thread. I’m in St. Catharines and looking at an auto 530xi e61 white on auburn with the 337 sports package. I just picked up an X1 for the room but the e61 I’ve always wanted. Your thread is pulling my heart strings

neilv

^^Thanks! Funny, I am the opposite. I find the E61 wayyyyy too big and wish it was smaller(the size of the X1 would be perfect but its too bad they are an SUV/tall vehicle and no manual).

Over the weekend I managed to get a few things done: Ran the cable for the 6FL(usb retrofit). Got the connection and block off for inside the console cubby and got the wire from an E60. Being a sedan it was a bit short so I had to run it through a hole under the back seat instead of all the way around the hatch. Will also have to wait for my combox retrofit to use it as MULF was only available on LCI models here.

While I was at it I swapped in an LCI e-brake handle (matte silver knob instead of all black) and CIC controller in prep for my CIC swap. The controller lights up but controls dont do a think with Mask for now. Had to trim the center console for it eventhough both are LCI pieces, and even the CIC trim has different clips at the back that I will have to source. Also to note, The manual shift boot is different for LCI (the CIC trim I swapped) so ill have to source one of those.

kd7iwp

My 2009 came with MASK but a facelifted controller and worked fine, but probably because mine had a newer build date. I also just did a CIC retrofit last month. CIC is better than MASK, but still old, I did it because it let me get one of those MMI boxes for Wireless CarPlay and I've been super-happy with it.

neilv

^^ Exactly. I personally prefer having no I-drive system but the E60 didn't get a choice. I've been able to get all the CIC parts for just over $100 including combox so it seemed like a worth while upgrade. My main reason is bluetooth music playback but getting nav is an extra bonus. I like OE systems like that too so it seemed like the only option.

My CIC drive arrives here this week; It was a risk but cheap, if it doesn't work Ill play with coding and see if I can get the cic controller to do something

kd7iwp

Have fun getting the navigation working... Unless you go the emulator route or something. I got mine working using the CIC Patcher but it was certainly lots of reading and tinkering around. Also, since the CIC I got was from a canadian car it has HD radio. I think next week I'll try getting live traffic working. Not because I'll ever use it but because I can... Unfortunately the MMI box I got prevents me from doing any programming on the CIC, I guess it intercepts signals from the CAN wires so I have to unplug the MMI and install a jumper for the CAN wires each time I program it. Worth it though, this box does CarPlay really really well, much better than the Avin display unit I had previously.

neilv

I'm going to be doing the CIC patcher route as well Just ordered the GPS antenna cable. I had someone else do it(I did the cic swap+combox) on my fathers 335. Do only canadian spec cars have the traffic part? I never use nav either but since I'm getting it, why not.

I don't use carplay or the android one so I haven't much need for apps, I just wanted bluetooth play back so I don't have to plug my phone in and have wires hanging around lol.

kd7iwp

That I'm not sure of. I do know that only the north american CIC units have an HD radio tuner built in, the european ones do not. I had to add that to my VO and enable it on the CIC unit. Regarding traffic, I'm not 100% sure if it'll work for me but I read (and here) that if I make these changes to the coding for my CIC that traffic might work so I've made the changes in this file but haven't yet sent it to my CIC unit yet.

NAVI_TRAFFIC_INFO_MAP
aktiv
TI_CA_TMC
aktiv
TI_FALLBACK_DISABLED
aktiv
TI_TMC_REGIONAL
aktiv
CHECKBOX_TP
aktiv
TI_VINFO_C0B
aktiv

And add $6UH to your VO.

You're welcome to browse the history of changes I've made to my CIC unit over time here on github.

chunky

What wheel and tire size are you running with those style 95s? Are they staggered? There's a local seller with a set of 19" but they have the original 7-series tires on them, which will be too big? I'm just wondering if the 10" rears will be too wide for our xi?

Love the build updates.
I just picked up a 550i front bumper and side skirts that I'll have to put on. I should have grabbed the brake carriers and rotors too. That's all you need to upgrade the brakes right, if I'm reading your experience correctly?