New Owner

[Dan_Q]

After initially looking for a low mileage '18 50i or M, I got scared off from the M by a +$100/month insurance cost. I ultimately decided on going for an older higher mileage car that I could essentially buy for close to an even trade when selling my current daily (4Runner). M-Sport was a must for me. I ended up finding a 2015 Space Grey on black 50i w/66k miles locally for a good price. 1 owner car serviced at my local dealer for life with minimal issues seen. Bought it last night and this will be my 7th BMW. It will be joining my '18 Grigio Telesto F80 M3 6MT in the garage this weekend. Dealer is dealing with some PDR on some minor dings that I think will come out before I pick it up. Overall the car is in pretty good condition given it's 7 years old and was probably owned by a normal person who isn't as OCD as me about car care. There are no signs of mods although no holes drilled for a front plate was a nice surprise. All 4 wheels have rash unfortunately and I'm not sure I can live with that although I do like the wheel style. I may repair and refinish them darker which I think looks good with the shadowline trim. Really looking forward to moving on to this new platform and learning as much as I can about it. Immediate needs are to figure out the best method to rectify the driver seat bottom leather cracking on the side, the exhaust tips look like they've never seen a minute of attention in the car's 66,000 miles and need love, and the creaks coming from the tailgate need to be calmed down. The ultimate goal will be a super clean OEM+ look although I'm not in a huge hurry to get there immediately. Really looking forward to using this as my year round daily in rain, snow and sun. The dumptruck ride and lack of anything resembling moderate acceleration in my lifted 4Runner will not be missed.

The new ride:


The other ride:


And the one hopefully finding a nice new home soon:

[lht5059]

Welcome! Congrats on the new ride ! I can tell that you like grey haha

[mike@x-ph.com]

Congrats

[jiggz]

Welcome to the X5 forum, and the Space Gray M Sport club! ....there's actually no such club... I especially like your individual Grigio Telesto F80, that and Nardo are my 2 favorite colors on that model M3.

As for your tailpipes, I normally would never recommend parts from eBay as I'm a big OEM fan, but the tips at the link below have worked out really well. They simply slide over your existing tips. Many here have tried painting the stock tips black, and regardless of prep and products used, the paint almost always failed shortly thereafter.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144116461814

Here's mine at the link below with black 469M's, you could powder coat yours if you want a darker wheel. Will match the shadowline trim perfectly.

https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...ostcount=11303

[Dan_Q]

Originally Posted by lht5059

I can tell that you like grey haha

Thx! I didn't actually plan it that way. The Grigio F80 was intentional and required some dumb luck when a forum member in NY posted it for sale. I knew that day that if I didn't jump on it I'd regret it and I haven't regretted it since. The others just turned out to be what was available and I wasn't opposed to them. Alpine White would have been my 1st choice but I'm not complaining with SG.

Originally Posted by jiggz

Welcome to the X5 forum, and the Space Gray M Sport club! ....there's actually no such club... I especially like your individual Grigio Telesto F80, that and Nardo are my 2 favorite colors on that model M3.

As for your tailpipes, I normally would never recommend parts from eBay as I'm a big OEM fan, but the tips at the link below have worked out really well.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144116461814

Here's mine at the link below with black 469M's, you could powder coat yours if you want a darker wheel. Will match the shadowing trim perfectly.

Hahaha I'm happy to be part of the club, real or not! Thx for the exhaust tip advice. That is what I was looking for and will be perfect for immediate action. I agree black or dark grey wheels look great on it. Yours looks menacing. To start I'm getting those exhaust caps, painted reflectors, black kidney grilles & roundels, spacers, and refinishing the OEM wheels. That and a good detail and it should be looking clean.

[P1]

Congrats on the new ride. Looks almost identical to my dad's last F15 before he got the G05...

[Dan_Q]

Got my inaugural wash done Saturday morning and she cleaned up nicely. Very happy with the overall exterior condition for 66k miles. Less than a week in and I've gotten black grilles and painted rear reflectors installed, debadged it and added a black X5 badge. Black exhaust tip covers are en route and I'll install the painted front reflectors at the same time the driver's side open lower grille and M50D trim pieces arrive. Also on order is a blanking plate for the center arm rest so I can remove the phone charging cradle that manages to be perfectly sized to limit access while taking up as much of the console space as possible. I'm thinking a blacked out rear roundel, refinishing the wheels dark graphite and lowering it slightly will complete the initial look. Thanks all for your thoughts and input to this forum to get me pointed in the right direction.





Thanks to the crazy current car market I sold the 4Runner immediately and for $500 more than I paid for it 4 years/50,000 miles ago. The X5 was finished being prepped for pickup a half hour before I sold it. Pretty sure I can count on no future car sales happening this easy for the remainder of my life. But I'll gladly take it this time!

[Seattlesquash]

Looks fantastic, great job. You can check some carbon covers for mirrors too, and phone out was pretty easy and did that last weekend. Also, I lowered mine on Dinan springs and very happy with results, on 20's in picture. Got some paint touch up for shop to do, so left to do all my reflectors but will do at same time + new tow cap front.

P.s love your color btw, one of my favorites.

[jiggz]

Looking good! Black roundels for sure since you've done a black X5 badge & have black tips en route.

If lowering 'slightly' I'd recommend the Eibach pro kit, unless u have the rear air suspension.

Yours is coming together nicely

[Seattlesquash]

Originally Posted by jiggz

Looking good! Black roundels for sure since you've done a black X5 badge & have black tips en route.

If lowering 'slightly' I'd recommend the Eibach pro kit, unless u have the rear air suspension.

Yours is coming together nicely

Good point on air, got Eibach pro on the E92 for last 8 years. I got air and as far as I found Eibach had no option for front and linkage adjustment for ride height rear but Dinan been good if you got air option.

[brianhinton77]

Originally Posted by Dan_Q

Black exhaust tip covers are en route

Where did you end up ordering the black tips from?

[tlow98]

Creaks from the tail gate is 1 minute job. Apply a little grease to each of the black ‘support blocks’ that locate the tailgate.

Many people go through and completely refit all of them. Not necessary in my experience. A fan of grease on each one and creaks are gone.

[jiggz]

Originally Posted by brianhinton77

Where did you end up ordering the black tips from?

Probably from the link above in post #4.

[Dan_Q]

Originally Posted by brianhinton77

Where did you end up ordering the black tips from?

I got them from the ebay seller jiggaz linked. It said they'd take like 5-6 weeks to deliver but it only took about 2. Installing took about 5 minutes.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144116461814

Originally Posted by tlow98

Creaks from the tail gate is 1 minute job. Apply a little grease to each of the black ‘support blocks’ that locate the tailgate.

Appreciate that! I'll get right on it.

Originally Posted by jiggz

Looking good! Black roundels for sure since you've done a black X5 badge & have black tips en route.

If lowering 'slightly' I'd recommend the Eibach pro kit, unless u have the rear air suspension.

This weekend I'm pulling off the front bumper to do the reflector & grille work. The rear bumper will also be coming off to installing a hitch. Going to a friend's who is an artist on Sunday night and he says he'll airbrush the roundels in place on the car. A nice free mod! Spacers will also arrive Thursday. Appreciate the advice on the Eibach kit. I will check that out when/if I do springs. I used an Eibach Pro kit on my E90 many years ago. Loving the vehicle so far and these basic mods really finish off the look of it.

[X5guyinRI]

Originally Posted by tlow98

Creaks from the tail gate is 1 minute job. Apply a little grease to each of the black 'support blocks' that locate the tailgate.

Any chance you can send a pic? I have all sorts of pops back there, would love to fix this!!

[cfm56d7b]

Congrats and welcome! Sharp car.

I also had 4Runners in the family fleet some time ago. The most reliable vehicle I ever owned.

Current 2015 X5 has been very reliable as well.

[Edwardsc1]

Welcome! I'm basically in the same boat as you, I just sold a 4Runner and an E92 M3 and bought a 2015 50i. Loving it so far! Let us know what path you decide to take when you lower it.