The Beemer X5 Project

October 2, 2013|Richard Nikoley||

I was pleased with so many helpful comments before that seriously steered me this way and that, so here’s an update and a bit of a bleg.

To recap, I’ going from exactly this:

Beemer
Beemer on Tow

To something like this, with the same 1-2″ lift, wheel spacers and bolt pattern conversion from 5 x 120mm to 5 x 4.75in. 17×9 in Cragar steel wheels, and 305/65R17 AT tires.

Zombie Apocalypse 1
Zombie Apocalypse

Their first 2 posts on the build are highly instructive.

  1. THE PROJECT X STORY: CHAPTER I, IT BEGINS
  2. THE PROJECT X STORY: CHAPTERS II AND III

Here’s what I have totally sorted:

  1. Those are Cragar steel wheels, 17×9. Like these. $106 each, so $425 for a set. Problem is, X5s have a 5 x 120mm bolt pattern and the nearest Cragar makes is 5 x 4.75in (5 x 120.7mm).  Luckily, here:
  2. 5 x 120 to 5 x 4.75 wheel adapter. $179 for the set of 4 and I can select the thickness. 1.5″ ought to do it and take care of the oversize tire rub at steering lockout. But, maybe I’ll go with 45.75mm  (1.8″) space. Better safe than sorry.
  3. The tires are 305/65R17. I’ll probably get these Falkens at $1,008 for the set.

So, that puts me at $1,612. I’m at a loss for the lift, and this, from their part 1:

Clearance
After & Before Clearance

I called ’em yesterday, looking to see what they’d nick me for to fabricate the same lift they did DIY.

X5 Lift
X5 Lift

Apparently, they’ve been getting a lot of inquiries and are trying to put something together. I’ve searched around online, but can’t seem to find anything that looks objectively correct. My X5 has the self leveling air suspension in the rear.

Any of you car gurus have any info on this you can shoot my way?

In terms of the color, still torn between the plasti-dip or vinyl in matte black. Here’s a real good post on DIY vinyl. Plasti-dip looks ridiculously easy by comparison. One alternative is to do the body in vinyl and then all the trim and side-view mirror housings, roof rack, etc. in the plasti-dip.

If all goes well, I should be able to get at least the cost of the lift, wheel and tire job from my existing 20″ Beyern Mesh wheels and mounted tires which still have 75% wear to go.

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2 Comments

  1. James H. on October 2, 2013 at 17:27

    Hoo boy, make sure you’ve got good sound insulation. Those tires are gonna sing like a stuck hog at highway speed.



  2. Steve C on October 3, 2013 at 02:18

    The X5 is quite a big car, check you can get vinyl in big enough rolls to cover the major panels in one piece. I’ve seen vinyl wrapped cars over here (UK) that have had to put a different coloured stripe over the centre of the car to hide the join of two rolls of vinyl