jcolley

Quite the diverse crowd in here. What's up guys?

Interested in the intake development as well. Doesn't seem fair the E9x crowd gets all the fun.

Beautiful car Evan, yours is the primary motivator for me contemplating an E61. Well, that and the Second Ice Age this winter.

ucsbwsr

I have been following the turbo inlets and seen the 600+rwhp and AWHP pulls from the E9X guys, impressive any way you slice it. I don't necessarily want or need to push that kind of power because I have visions of my output shafts and other drivetrain components struggling with the load, I have already replaced a damaged front half-shaft.

BUT I do like the idea of the inlets with upgraded turbos (RBs in my case) being able to make the same power with less strain on the turbo is reason enough for me. Longevity is the name of the game for me and part of the reason why I am upgrading to RBs.

Development of the inlets will likely be interesting as we can copy most of what the E9X guys do but with some unexpected nasty surprises, my biggest concern at this point is clearance around the turbos to fit the intake piping or lack there of, I think the resorting of the engine bay won't be too difficult but I don't have much data to back this up, just a speculation.

There is a another member "Ocean" on N54Tech who is really progressive with his 535xi's performance he may be headed down this road as well, we should all sync up develop together if timing allows.

Regarding the design I like what another N54Tech member did with his "DIY" turbo inlet system; instead of 2 filters and 2 pipes he runs 1 Filter that splits and feeds both turbos. I like the idea of the air pressure and source being the same for both turbos, it makes sense to me, and let's not forget that the parts for his intake build were around $150 as opposed to $1,100 or $1,500 or whatever TFT charges...... murder.

Evan

jcolley

I like that, but seems the E61 DSC unit is in a problematic location. Where is it on the M5 touring? For that matter, I wonder if the M5 DSC unit would work as a retrofit...

ucsbwsr

I am not sure about the M5 DSC unit, I will look into that later.

ucsbwsr

LED interior lighting


My machined pedals arrived, I ran these on my M5 and love them, pricey but totally worth it.


You drill holes right into your oem pedals.


All mounted


Detail


My Data-logging cable was ran like this and it drove me crazy, I tried to run it through the wire wall once and failed, I wasn't taking no for an answer this time.


The tutorials I saw for 335s and E60 M5s didn't apply to me, I had to cut a hole in the plastic to route the cable.


I used some flashlights to help locate where the hole needed to be


Hole and hanger used for feeding the cable through


Much better


I drained my BMS Oil Catch Can while I had my engine bay apart, a fair amount of oil from maybe 1 year of use


Swapped the e-brake handle for an aluminum one, before


After


Much better, a sport steering wheel and round air bag is next.

ucsbwsr

19x10 ====> 19x11 Rears

Evan

ucsbwsr

I snagged a set of Ultra Racing braces for my wagon, thanks Booyaazaa! Front upper strut, front lower strut, and rear lower. My wagon came stock with some E61 specific pull rods to help with the added weight up top of the panoramic roof, I wasn't sure if this brace would work in conjunction but I ma happy to say it does. This UR braces uses the same mounting locations the M5 pull rods would but I don't think the M5 units would overlap with my E61 rods, so I think this is the best configuration I can manage.

Don't mind my schmorgesborg of an exhaust system; it is ugly and heavy and will be replaced this week or next with a completely custom system with the help of Turbo Hoses out in Livermore, CA ...more on that soon.

There is some contact between the brace and exhaust so as a temporary fix I used some high temp silicone rubber covered with some high temp aluminum foil, hopefully it holds until my new system goes in.

My pull rods were a little weathered so I pulled them off, washed them, and hit them with a couple coats of Rustoleum High Temp paint.

Evan

Lotus99

Hey, that looks familiar.... Are those from the same source as I got mine?

Wait, didn't you have a different trim colour you had plasti dipped like 6 months ago? Did you redo your dip / cover it with vinyl wrap already?

ucsbwsr

It is the same Plasti-Dip I applied a while ago, it has held up extremely well on the decorative interior trim.

bmwmonkey

Where did you source the pedals from?