NEW RIDE Found another one! (Kinda rare N54 535i xdrive touring 6 speed) :-)

bimmer4life

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Feb 18, 2008
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Wheaton, Illinois
So lately I am having some OCD with finding ultra rare 6 speed manual 5 series BMWs. I still have my 535i with 6/speed which really is amazing to drive. Then this past Friday found an even rarer 2008 535i x-drive with a 6 speed. Drives amazing of course. Previous owner was BMW tech who started his own buisness now . But in past 20k he dropped cradle rebuilt turbos. rod bearings replaced all gaskets etc.

Plans
- Probably just a stage 1 tune for now. Eventually FBO stage 2+ tune will be in its future.
- Working on cleaning up interior. Its a black interior but front seats swapped out for sport seats (they are tan) :eek: . So on the hunt for E60 M5 seats or black sport seats to match
- Thinking of changing out the rims to style 172 or 166 . Go a little bigger fill the gap up.
- Update current radio to android version that supports idrive as well. Some pretty sweet upgrades out there
- M sport front bumper im thinking is a must.

Don't really need to touch exhaust. PO imported M6 bumper and had custom exhaust put on :D

Only one pic for now

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Ron Vogel

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If you’re doing a canned tune, the stage 2 runs like poop in the wagon. Get a better ic and run the stage 1+. Since the wagon is heavy, it needs a bit more motivation. With stage 2+ I ran slower than stage 1+. With the bigger IC and meth, stage 1+ ran 12.5@110. I am running a custom tune now, which I would suggest you do after you plan what goals are. The MHD tunes are...ok. They run rich w/o much timing.

not sure what size you plan on running, I have 245/40/18 front, 275/35/18 in back. I get a little bump steer in front compared to the stock 225/50/17, so I wouldn’t suggest bigger. Ride is great on stock springs. Switch to poly bushes and change rear swaybar to the 18mm M5 bar. Will get rid of the massive under steer from stock settings. Siberian bushing carries them.

you can go to a 325ix front strut mount and lower the car 1/2” w/o messing up the ride, then use protool to lower the rear bag height to match if you want to tighten wheel gap. PN in pic

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bimmer4life

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If you’re doing a canned tune, the stage 2 runs like poop in the wagon. Get a better ic and run the stage 1+. Since the wagon is heavy, it needs a bit more motivation. With stage 2+ I ran slower than stage 1+. With the bigger IC and meth, stage 1+ ran 12.5@110. I am running a custom tune now, which I would suggest you do after you plan what goals are. The MHD tunes are...ok. They run rich w/o much timing.

you can go to a 325ix front strut mount and lower the car 1/2” w/o messing up the ride, then use protool to lower the rear bag height to match if you want to tighten wheel gap. PN in pic

View attachment 86810
Perfect. Thanks for all the info Ron. For now going to run the stage1 MHD tune since its fairly cheap. And I will bump up to the 1+ once I get the intercooler. Definitely want a tighter fit in the wheel well. I was looking at some E60 rims. Some people said 19s don't fit well because offset. Then others said they fit fine if you run fronts all around. Also I like the m sport bumper but they are hard to find in the states with PDC. There are some on ebay over the pond but wait is like 2 months. I know you modified yours and it looks nice.
 

Ron Vogel

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I love the offset of the e60 non-ix wheel, but you almost have to run mudflaps or never drive in rain. I had a few different choices picked for wheels, I chose these because it simply was the best deal. They are a heavy rim though. If you’re doing M5 front bumper, you’ll get a better rim fit with the M5 fenders.
 

bimmer4life

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Finally can post some interior shots after swapping things out. :angrys00ls:

First swapped old shifter knob and boot
Old
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New
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Then swapped out old idrive head unit for something more modern. But I can still go and control idrive settings via same head unit
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New
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Then it came time to pull out the seats. This is black interior car. But previous owner swapped for tan sport seats and swapped out rear bench as well. He still had rear bench which I swapped back. But had to find some black sports seats on ebay.
Ones on ebay did not come with the seat belt buckle and air bag. So had to swap over the airbag and get wiring working. Pain in the but.

Old
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New

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Next things on the list is larger intercooler which is on the way and a M5 style front bumper. But loving the interior now!
 

bimmer4life

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Damn, those changes look great!
Thanks Mook Mook and IDAFC21 IDAFC21
Interior was pissing me off. Now I’m loving it. Might make some minor tweaks but it’s coming together. Probably will go back to the walnut center area . Previous owner put the carbon fiber wrap. Don’t hate it but like original oem . Upgrade interior lighting as well . More to come
 

bimmer4life

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Welpz still have this bad boy and probably will for long time. Can't find another manual E61 for under 20k and thats high miles ones. It gave me a little fun this weekend . Have not driven it in a month. And I knew the battery was weak. So like a dummy I locked it and forgot about it :ROFLMAO: . Well got to love BMW and their infinite wisdom when it comes to things like dead batteries and getting into the car. For this lovely example there is only 1 manual key hole on the driver door. This is an electronic lock. Some BMWs (not this one). Allow you to engage a manual/mechanical unlock if battery is dead. You can turn the key then lift the handle blah blah blah but not this car! Some BMW you can get into the trunk with the regular key and jump the battery but guess what?? Not this one. Then I read you could power rear hatch via the rear license plate lights. This did not work for me. Although it did set the alarm off. Looking back at this moment should have tried the electronic door like with the actual key but I only tried with the remote no luck. Anyhoot, spent an hour removing wheel and inner fender liner. Only to find out its damn near impossible to reach the two hood latch release cables. Eventually pulled them down with coat hangle and yanked like a mother. All is well again . I have heard people smashing their windows to get in. I am a tad more resourceful then that :ROFLMAO:

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Jimy Bilmo

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No but I bought another bmw does that count ?? And wut witchcraft requires holes!
It’s a u-boat!

But for real, drill three holes down there. They’re notorious for a) sunroof drain clogging and leaking back there b) sunroof drain coming off and leaking back there c) sunroof seals flattening out and taking on too much water to the point it just runs over the headliner and back there d) tail gate mounted brake light seals failing and letting water in back there e) due to cabin pressure can randomly suck water into the trunk floor area

There was a SIB for drilling three holes in the spare tire well ? and some folks go hammmm and relocate the modules up and to the sides and what not to be super safe. Drilling the holes should be enough insurance IMO.
 
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bimmer4life

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It’s a u-boat!

But for real, drill three holes down there. They’re notorious for a) sunroof drain clogging and leaking back there b) sunroof drain coming off and leaking back there c) sunroof seals flattening out and taking on too much water to the point it just runs over the headliner and back there d) tail gate mounted brake light seals failing and letting water in back there e) due to cabin pressure can randomly suck water into the trunk floor area

There was a SIB for drilling three holes in the spare tire well ? and some folks go hammmm and relocate the modules up and to the sides and what not to be super safe. Drilling the holes should be enough insurance IMO.
I’ll have to take a peek might already be done
 
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