For those who are having issues viewing the pictures you can try other websites, although this thread is the most complete showing the build from Day 1, all the modern updates are also post on these sites. AFAIK historically Google hosted images don't have hosting issues like other sites so I assume this might be a website issue since browsers don't seem to resolve the issue. With all the time, info, and pictures posted in this thread the unfortunate reality is I don't have time to go through and check/correct anything. If it is in fact the website then browsing on another site is the easy solution. Let me know if the pics work with these links.
https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=908702
https://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36899

This thread has a bit of a different style where I started it much later in the build process and consolidated some of the projects:
https://bmw.spoolstreet.com/threads/...build-log.559/

Evan

 

Thanks Evan, the pics on those sites are working for me. So must be this site. Really appreciate it.

EDIT: Most of the pics are working on the other sites, a few are still not loading, but no worries. Thanks again for the links to the alt sites. Have a great one!

 

We have ourselves a nice little update right here....

Although the E61 has been mechanically flawless for the past year, it has been running around San Diego as a bit of an ugly duckling with a blue M5 fender and an primed OEM front bumper. I am happy to report the wagon has received some much needed aesthetic love.
.....but wait there's more!

In this installment:
- OEM M5 Front bumper had PDC holes and washers deleted + paint
- OEM M5 fender had vent deleted + paint
- Cracked windshield replaced with new OEM glass
- New OEM cowl
- New OEM windshield surround
- New pano roof surround
- EHC sensor replaced
- Dinan rear sway bar installed
- Cluster received M5 bezels and pre-LCI needles
- OEM Brushed Aluminum Door Trim (dash and console OTW)


"Clean" is always the goal and I am a big believer in less is more. Continuing the there of deleting the (non-functional) M% fender vents I decided the have the PDC sensors and headlight washers shaved. The washer system is super annoying and functionally the system has been deleted for quite some time so it was a no brainer to delete the tilting covers. As for PDC, I know how to park and have good depth perception.

Here is a photoshop I did earlier which convinced to be do the deleting, it's subtle but .....clean!


With the bumper and fender off at paint I decided to also get my cracked windshield replaced.


I also replaced the weather stripping for the pano roof







Broken load leveling sensor replaced


Bumper and fender installed!



Bought a used M5 cluster to steal some parts from, the circular gauge bezels which are part of the front plastic and main bezel. It was a little scratched up so I polished the plastic a bit.


Before/After with M5 bezels, subtle


I also pulled some pre-LCI needles from the junkyard. The pre-LCI needles have the same design as the M5 but are white instead of red. I prefer the design of these needles to the LCI ones my wagon came with, in comparison the LCI needles look a bit bloated and not as sharp.

IMO the red M5 needles look "cool" (I run them on my X5D cluster) but are much harder to see during the day and therefore inferior to the white.

Here are the final pics:



New OEM windshield going in,



Fresh


Since I converted to RWD the RD Sport sways I had would no longer fit, since they are NLA and arguably the most desireable sway bars for the E61 I sold them as a set. My front sway bar is from a convertible M6 which is the largest OEM bar available for the E6X, for the rear I went with a Dinan unit which surprisingly, carries a reasonable price tag considering it has also the usually-overpriced Dinan badge.

 

Finally found some OEM brushed aluminum trim at a reasonable price, center console and dash trim is on the way as well.

The old trim was OEM wood wrapped in 3M "brushed aluminum" I much prefer the real deal!



Before


After



Looking good!

 

Man, not sure what’s going on but only a handful of the images are showing up for me. Just a bunch of prohibitory signs

 

The website is having issues, you can Google "Evan's E61" and find one of my other 5 threads (same content) posted on websites that don't have issues.

 

Evan,

The poolstreet forum seems to be working great....all the photos are on there.

That said, I have to say that I really hate your posts....every time I look at all the cool shit you're doing to your wagon I get an overwhelming feeling of inadequacy......so please stop doing such an awesome job and stop posting such amazing work.

-r

 

Update time! Hopefully the pics work if they don't on this forum then Google "Evan's E61" and you can find other forums I post the same content on.

In chronological order....

My buddy imported an 12' E63 AMG P30 (550hp 590tq) so naturally we got together to go for a drive, snap some pics, and do some pulls. This is the first time I have lined up to do some pulls against one of the modern power wagons.

We had a couple fun runs but our starting RPMs were all over, I was starting in 3rd everytime which put me below 3,000rpms @40mph which wasn't ideal but this gave me the jump the first couple pulls since Andrew was in even lower gears, he then started in higher gears and got the jump. In hindsight I should have been in 2nd or, ideally in 3rd with some anti-lag. Andrew was letting out a bit earlier than I was expecting but my takeaway from these pulls is:
- we both suck at roll racing, lol
- the E63 has a TQ advantage and my E61 has a stronger top end

His E63 was completely stock and my E61 is detuned to 500whp down from 550whp. Overall it was neck and neck which I was great to finally see how my E61 stacks up against one of the big boys. Once my LPFP is upgraded (again), 550-600whp + anti-lag would yield different results. I will hold my head high until Andrew gets a tune and makes 700+whp tune only. lol

Here is a link to the very poorly made video I uploaded.




Washy washy


I got an OEM cover to help protect the E61 from UV while the E39 was hogging the garage getting a manual swap and tons of other upgrades.


The slumber of the E61 didn't last long since our X5 got a flat on a road trip to AZ and of course me being me I run a rare sized tire that no-one stocks so after being towed home I uncovered the E61, racked it up, and we left the next morning for Havasu.

For a highly modified, ethanol burning, lowered, straight piped, ethanol burning, 500+whp performance wagon with very short gearing the E61 was a peach just humming along. My fiance and our 2 Australian Shepards arrived safely ...and quickly! lol





Nom Nom Nom


Parking lot pic next to a nice looking Toyota!


I would have a hard time dealing with the ride quality of 20s but for fun I mocked up the 20" Camaro ZL1 wheels I run on the X5.


Used not abused! E61 drying rack!


We bought a house and I am remodeling the garage before I move my stuff in, not much car activity at the moment but I have a nice large driveway that can fit 7-8 vehicles! Room for another project wagon?



My father in law was visiting and this was his first time in the white E61. I took him on a drive through some nice local driving roads but unfortunately my shifter snapped while downshifting into second. It was a bit of a fumble getting this thing home since I couldn't get into reverse and to get the shifter over into the 1-2 gate I needed to use the OEM lug-nut tire iron from the emergency kit white my father in-law held the steering wheel. Unfortunately he didn't get the full experience as my wagon had just reached operating temp prior to the incident but fortunately we got home safely and the shifter will be an easy fix. It made for a great story!




I am helping a guy beta test his monoball bushings for the E6X thrust arms. These are very similar to the monoballs Turner sells. He has excellent pricing and I will be sharing more info once I have them installed. Here are some pics from the builder. Custom monoballs in new Meyle HD arms. I got a set for my diesel X5 too!

 

Glad to see you having some fun with it! Very interested in the monoball setup - looks sick.

 

I suppose the same restriction applies that the bushings can only be replaced once in the arms? I replaced my bushings a year ago with my press at home. Would certainly be interested in monoballs but I guess I'd be purchasing new arms at that point as well.