Good Evening everyone. I will be using this thread as a means to document my build of my 2015 X5 35d. I routinely tow a 24' trailor with a car inside it or my own personal fun car. Here are the outlines of the build. This is long I will try to answer anyones questions and respond to this thread a few times a week. THanks for reading. Cheers!
Enhancing the X5's Towing abilities.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (before anyone on here flips out about this that hasn't done thier homework the F15 X5 35d is rated for 3500KG or 7700#'s row but only 6K# here. Not like there were massive changes in suspension or design of the vehicle beetween our US spec and the rest of the worlds. I'm assuming BMW doesn't trust us Mericans to not drive like dicks with a load lol I assure you with proper setup and equipment this is a safe weight your X5 can move with.
Trailor---------------done
ATC 24' Raven with upgraded torsion axles 3277# empty
10K weight distribution hitch and sway control
Prodigy RF wireless trailor brake controller.
X5 Towing setup-----------------done
Curt Hitch-Note that there really isn't a place to put the electrical connections for this hitch. I am working on a solution to that now currently 3d printing some prototypes that will later be made from stainless steel.
Suspension--------------In development
Currently Fabbing up a 1.75" body lift that will give us more clearance for larger wheels/tires. This will not affect susp travel or the self leveling rear air susp. because of the wider wheels/tires wont make the X5 unstable.
Wheels/Tires---------------In development
Forgeline is a partner for this build and will be making me some custom 1 piece forged wheels that are not only much lighter than stock but also much stronger.
These will work around the front suspension wheel carrier to run a much larger setup. 20X10F 20X11R 285/50/20 and 305/50/20 Michelin tires
Performance----------------In development
We are designing a DPF delete pipe and then will be tuning. Nothing to crazy just 50-70 hp and 100-120# TQ the alphabet soup delete for me has more to do with EGT's and reliability. Additionally we are adding a trans cooler to help us with wear and tear. Kooks Exotics will be fabbing up a custom exhaust for us tips may pass through the rear steel bumper, haven't decided yet.
Exterior additions and deletions------------------in various stages
Ok so the factory running boards have to go. We will be looking into retractables in the near future once the X5 is higher but for now I find them annoying. anyone want to trade for normal side skirts?
-All the lower parts of the front bumper as well as side skirts will be LineX'd this is for as much function as it is for looks.
-Front center skid plate is steel and then LineX'd
-Rear bumper with integrated D rings and backup lights is custom and made of steel. We are in the cad phases with this and will serve to tie the rear frame rails together nicely reinforcing the pull points where the hitch attaches too.
-The LED floodlight on the roof is custom as well and we are designing the housing in cad right now and will be 3d printing the mounting brackets and housing soon for test fit.
-Black kidney grills will be LineX'd
-X5M fender flares are already here and will be LineX'd soon with a bunch of other stuff.
-Exterior satin aluminum trim and roof rails will be removed and Powder Coated/ LineX'd satin black.
-Mud flaps will be manufactured to be functional
Interior--------------
Yall will just have to wait
