Great looking car, and I like your to do list!

Only comment I have is skip the piggybacks for tuning, unless the cost is the issue, since Cobb costs a few hundred more. Flashing is less of a PITA, especially if you need to uninstall to go in for warranty work. I have a Cobb (had a Procede piggyback for 3 years) and am pretty happy with it.

If you do want a piggyback, consider the Procede too. I am going to sell my Procede actually, in case you're looking! :-)

And if you're going to mod for power, you might as well add downpipes (you can get hi flow catted too) and a FMIC, and be stage 2+ then, and have horsepower somewhere above the 400's!

I found a great deal on a JB4 so I will give that a go for a while, I would love to do downpipes but will probably wait until the warranty is all expired. Performance for now will be intake and a tune. I will also delete the rear muffler which is primarily for the enhanced audio.

Day #3 Update

- Picked up my E61 M-Tech Rear Bumper from the shipping center; fit it in the wagon no problem B). The bumper is from Umnitza and is a more flexible poyurethane material compared to OEM. I hear fitment is great, it looks fine in photos I will make a final judgement on this one it is on the car. One thing to note with this bumper: if you have PDC you are required to drill (4) 18mm holes, take the PDC mounts from your old bumper (or buy new ones) and glue/adhere them to the new bumper so you can therefore mount your preexisting PDC sensors.

- I swapped the old and warn beige floor mats for some OEM All Weather ones. If I could change on this on this car it would be the transmission, I swap the auto box for a manual...after that I would change the beige carpet for black. I don't mind lighter interiors but I need some contrast, before the swapped the mats I felt like I was floating in sea of vanilla, I hated it. The black rubber mats are a welcome addition, the are black, durable, and new! I replaced all 4 interior mats but left the cargo unit alone, I didn't car to spend $100+ for that additional piece.

The To Do List for the Interior includes:
- Replace the steering wheel ideally with a M-Sport wheel (thicker and w/ thumb grips) that supports the heating function and also has titanium trim, or I may just get the regular heated sport wheel if I can get a good deal on one.
- Replace the center console, again...to much beige and there is a lot of wear and tear on the edges between the sliding and tilting segments.



That is it for today. Tomorrow the fun stuff should start arriving in the mail. :smile:

Evan

Before and Afters with the Floor Mats...

You on a roll!

Get the SAT flash for your auto, not as good as a manual, but worlds better then the stock auto!

Intrigued, do you have a link for more information? Can the benefits be had with just a flash or are there other modules/parts needed to complete the upgrade?

I was planning on doing the DIY Sport Button upgrade mainly for the improved transmission characteristics. I assume the SAT flash takes this to another level?

Any info you can offer would be greatly appreciated.


I snagged a center console from a local part out. My beige console was a little torn up and was... beige. The console and floor mats in black really change the look. Once I find a good deal on a heated sport steering wheel the aesthetics of the interior will be nearly complete.


Lastly, KWV3s, OEM M5 mirrors, tune, Intake, and RDSport Sways arrived!

Evan

looking forward to your build out. I have an 08 E61 as well (64k). M5 rep front bumper, OEM m side skirts, 19" M6 rep wheels, Black Sapphire exterior, brown on black interior, sport package and last but not least cobb tuned... Also fitted an ultra strut front strut brace. Love the rarity of the car especially with the mods. Curious about the RD sway bars, but might just fit E60 m sport rear bar (16MM - $160) for now (stock is 12mm).

Stopped by Illest OC last weekend and met with Adrian aka "FendaRolla" to have my rear fenders rolled; cool guy and does great work.

Also stopped by LTMW to drop off some parts for paint, they will be doing most of my body work so as the parts arrive I pass them along. While I was there they installed my KW V3s.

My car was experiencing some misfiring under hard acceleration, the codes read bank 1,3,and 6. I took it to Sterling BMW in Newport and like clock-work they replaced the ignition coils in those banks, no more no less. Later that day a code popped up informing me there was a misfire in Bank 2, you think they would have replaced all ignition coils if half were bad and the time line suggests it would be good to replace all? I guess Ze-Germans are by the book. Hopefully I can get some more codes to pop up before I go back in and pay my $50 deductible for warranty work.

My car battery seems to be on the way out, if I am working on the car with the doors open, hood open etc for more than 1-2 hours the battery is drained so low the engine won't turn over. It looks like when getting a new battery the On-Board Computer needs to be reset to appropriately charge the new battery. I need do more research on this.

Grabbed a nice price on a set of Miro 111s which will be my temp wheels until I totally finalize fitment and am comfortable ordering custom offsets. My set up is 19x9.5" all around, et33F and et20R. Tires are 255/40 Hankook V12. Don't worry, be happy, this will work and it will be bad ass. Fitment is TIGHT all around and this setup requires a lot of attention to detail and some massaging to make it work but it will be work it:

- 255 contact match in the front for front end bite
- added concave wheel depth from 9.5" all around
- 40 tire height to smash potholes with confidence.
- satisfaction proving everyone wrong who questioned my decisions.


I also, got the windows tinted and installed some M-Tech skirts I bought of a fellow 5Series.net member who is parting out an E60.


More to come!