Cpalacay

Wow Evan, no wonder you've been quiet. I'm glad to see you making progress on the brakes, although the pics of puller have me hoping I don't run into something similar issue.

The pics of the bearings side by side has the stock bearing looking quite different than the M5 unit. It looks like we'll need to be ordering M5 bearings…?

Awesome job!

-Christian

ucsbwsr

Christian,

Keep in mind the units I photographed are complete hub units and can be separated. The top is the bearing and appears to be identical between oem 535xi and oem M5. The difference is in the lower cone which the rotor mounts onto. In theory you can buy the M5 mounting unit and press it into the stock 535xi bearings but the trouble is NOT damaging the bearing when extracting the stock cone.

Since one of my bearings is shot, I ordered a replacement unit and will be pulling the current M5 hub assembly apart to install the new bearing. This also requires some specific tools. The bearing is on the way and should be here in time to get it completed this weekend... hopefully once and for all.

Evan

2008Msport

Do the front brakes bolt on without the need to change the hub?

ucsbwsr

Yes, the fronts are a direct swap and use the existing hubs.

Cpalacay

Thanks for the tip!

My M5 hubs are in, I'm just contemplating which bearings to order. I've confirmed that the Xi and RWD (non-M5) rear bearings are the same, just not sure about the M5 bearings. If the Xi bearings will fit the M5 hubs, I'll just order this kit and it should be all good. I can't understand why the M5 bearings are so much more…

Home Page Search 33411095652 ES#2592646 Rear Wheel Bearing Kit - Priced Each - 33411095652KT1

-Christian

ucsbwsr

I bought this off of ebay: BMW Rear Wheel Bearing ES 2184796 | eBay and installed it last weekend (finally a smooth install).

It is OEM and a fits properly to my M5 hub. In the description the seller says they bought a lot of 3 so it may be worth your while asking if they have more.

I think the link you sent is for a E39 bearing? I didn't check the part numbers but bearing prices for E60 M5 bearings are around $130.

Part number I used successfully is 3341-2282-675


Evan

norsecarnut

I like what you're doing, however, how is it faster 0-60? How is it even close in terms of handling/suspension? Is oem E60 M5 really that slack on handling? I've driven a few and thought they were considerably better than oem suspension E61. I am guessing the KW are the big difference?

I would not mind tighter springs but I don't really want to lower the car. I could live with dropping maybe 1 cm but do not want to intentionally "lower" the car.

I'm planning on putting in the RD anti-sway bars. Looks like I'll call up Trinity Monday for those.

Have you looked into down pipes? I'm am trying to figure out the best fit, and also legal for emissions testing in WA.

My engine is getting dropped this week so anything while it's out will make sense to do now. Getting new turbos under warranty and cleaning the intake ports.

ucsbwsr

New turbos under warranty...nice!

Certainly there are some smaller suspension components and factory calibration that separate this car from the M series but I would give the KWs the nod over oem M5 struts/springs and also the RD Sways the nod over OEM M5 sways. These are the sways which E60 M5 owners comment on saying how much stiffer they are than OEM. My 535xi may lack the finesse of a well dialed M chassis but in terms of real world usable performance I put it right there (besides how much finesse does an AWD car need, they are essentially point-n-shoot-n-mass the right pedal.

0-60? AWD is the reason for a quicker 0-60, my wagon launches pretty hard and hits 60mph at the top of 2nd gear, I consistently pull in 4.2sec-4.3sec 0-60 times, the car has ran a couple sub 4 second runs and can do 4.6 at 7,000ft elevation and 4.5 with 2 additional passengers in the rain.

I have not crossed the down-pipe bridge yet, I plan on doing so. Ideally I will throw in some catless downpipes and replace the secondary cats and resonator with some sort of high-flow silencers. I already have a muffler delete but with the cats and resonator removed the car would sound TERRIBLE! I love the power and how smooth the N54 is but [B]my goodness[B] does the exhaust note let you down. I want as much flow as possible with keeping the sound down. I registered my car in Nevada so I no longer need cats


I hope this answered our questions!

Evan

Glowin

Do you need emissions testing in WA? I've got a set of AR Design DP's on my 3 series (catless) and they are beautifully built, and were easy to install (it's very tight in the engine area). If you were looking a month ago, I'd have said grab a set on BF deals for sure. They are known as being the top of the line (and hence a bit of a premium cost) DP's. PM some vendors on E90Post who'll give you a break on MSRP I'm sure, like Jeff at TopGearSolutions. Not sure if any vendors here sell them.

And for emissions, you can get them in high flo catted version for a few hundred $ more, or if you go catless, you might be able to get away with an O2 sensor tricking thing that you'll install in the ECU compartment which you'll need, come to think of it, since Dinan AFAIK does not suppress O2 codes, unlike other tunes.

It's called a downpipe fix: BMW Downpipe DP Fix by BMS - N54 Twin Turbo Motors - BurgerTuning.com Gets readiness set I believe for emissions and prevents the code from tripping the check engine light. Many other tunes just suppress the code, so you don't see a check engine light, but don't set readiness from what I've read, so those people still end up buying one and installing it just to pass emissions.

PS I assume you know this: No point getting DP's if your tune isn't going to take advantage of it to make more power. If Dinan does not, you'll have to change tunes as well. Cobb's been awesome for me and their tune has different stage maps, so when you go catless, you load the appropriate map.

Island Road

Are u guys able to find the M5 Hub used? All i can locate is it new for part # 33412229120. Also do you know for sure the hub works in conjunction with 535xi bearing?