[Junebug85]

I finally managed to find some underbody covers for the Pre LCI 540ix that fit - one of the covers is for where the oil drain plug is. The other, is known as a subframe underbody cover. On an F90 M5 or M550i, this is is where the oil filter is located. Not sure why BMW decided to do away with these on the 540ix - it's kind of like a layer of protection in my opinion.

If you look online, all other models seem to come with them. While looking for something else on realoem, I stumbled across them on a G30 530ix and thought it was worth a chance to see if they fit...Oil drain one went on fine, the subframe one required a little persuasion on the front side before seating as it should.

Part numbers:
51757325393 - Subframe Cover
31116865263 - Oil Drain Cover

Less than £20 for both covers from main dealer.

[Junebug85]

I've been stock piling some bits from Black Friday last year, for a little engine bay dress up 'project' that I've been working on. The last few pieces are now painted and ready to go back onto the car.

Going with a Motorsport Blue theme...

Golden Wrench Billet Covers for:
- Oil Filler Cap
- Coolant Tank Cap
- Charge Cooler Cap
- Washer Fluid Cap (the F90 one fits the G30)

Purchased a new OEM Coolant Tank cap as I will be replacing the resevoir to the new version soon.

Downstar Dress Up Bolts and Blue Washers:
M6x20mm bolts and M8x35mm bolts

Hardrace Q0659 Engine Strut Brace

New replacement OEM left and right strut tower braces (51617416969 and 51617416970) painted to match the theme.

Lastly, I thought the exposed bit of silver on the rear top cross connection bar (as it's known as) would look out of place so I went about removing it to paint this too... this required a lot of strip down, including the air filter and a lot of trims🤦🏽‍♂️ - I mean if you're going to do something then do it properly right!? 😄

I was able to make a little popup spray booth in my garage - 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of paint and then 2 coats of matt laquer on the oem parts... now all ready to go back on the car. I would of had it all installed today but I want the painted bits to fully dry/cure before they go back on. I did intially paint the bits in one blue shade but it wasn't to my liking. This shade is not 100% match but it's close enough with the matt finish.

[The Zimmer]

Welcome to the Hardrace Brace crew Jeet, glad you decided to pull the trigger

[Junebug85]

Originally Posted by The Zimmer

Welcome to the Hardrace Brace crew Jeet, glad you decided to pull the trigger

Cheers Paul. Thanks again for the recommendation 👍🏼

[Junebug85]

Following on from yesterday's post, I fitted the dress up parts today.

Parts Fitted:

Golden Wrench Billet Cap Covers:
- Oil Filler
- Coolant expansion Tank
- Charge Cooler Tank
- Wash Fluid

Downstar Dress Up:
M6 Blue Beauty Washers with Stainless Steel Bolts
M8 Blue Beauty Washers with Stainless Steel Bolts

Hardrace Q0659 Engine Strut Brace

Painted BMW OEM Sturt Tower Braces and Rear Top Cross Connection Bar in Hycote Pageant Blue, finished in Matt Lacquer

Everything has come together nicely, I think!

[tjbuggy2b]

Keeps getting better!

[Junebug85]

Originally Posted by tjbuggy2b

Keeps getting better!

Thank you

[742002tii]

Amazing! Beautiful machine. Thank you for posting and documenting. Really appreciate seeing what can be done with Bluestone. Looks amazing. Since I am in California, I wonder if you might not mind if I duplicate your look? Stunning!

[Junebug85]

Originally Posted by 742002tii

Amazing! Beautiful machine. Thank you for posting and documenting. Really appreciate seeing what can be done with Bluestone. Looks amazing. Since I am in California, I wonder if you might not mind if I duplicate your look? Stunning!

Thank you for the kind words!

Go for it, I don't mind at all. We all take inspiration from each other... I look forward to seeing what you do

[BluestoneB58]

Great thread awesome build! This is my first post...had to make an account after going through every post here. Truly inspired.

[Junebug85]

Originally Posted by BluestoneB58

Great thread awesome build! This is my first post...had to make an account after going through every post here. Truly inspired.

Thank you for the kind words much appreciated and glad you enjoyed reading it all

[Junebug85]

Pure 800 Cast Turbo

Today I received the 2nd part for the next phase of performance modifications... it came in the form of the Newer Cast version of the Pure 800 Turbo.

My current setup is:
Stage 2+ BM3 93 oct map
XHP Stage 3
VRSF 4.5" Catted Downpipe
TU HPFP
TU Spark Plugs
MST Intake
Masata Chargepipe
Remus Catback Exhaust

As some of you know the Pure 800 has been a popular turbo in many B58 cars, but this newer Cast one is even better with more gains. It has a cast compressor housing along with a cast exhaust manifold, essentially built from the ground up. This turbo also spools up quicker than the older Pure 800. Another positive, there's no core charge with this so you get to keep your stock turbo too.

Few more bits to get before everything gets done. As mentioned in a previous post, I already have a 5" Osprey Performance Catted Downpipe waiting to go on. I'm also going to upgrade my coolant lines and coolant tanks to the newer versions that BMW released for the G30.

Looking forward to getting all these bits on and seeing where the build goes.

[tjbuggy2b]

Well, you've officially surpassed the level I think I'll ever get to with my car. lol. Excited to see dyno numbers!

[jag81]

Hey Jeet.

did you have any symptons before the GPS lost where you were?

Mine seems to think i'm tavelling sidways everywhere, wondering if its a sympton of this needing sorting on my car...

Originally Posted by Junebug85

New GPS Antenna & TC Battery

Not quite a performance or visual modification - more of fix to an issue I had this week. When using the navigation system, it was placing my location around 70 miles off from where I actually was.

I tried a few things to rectify the issue (idrive resets, battery disconnection and even trying to enter my position in manually). I put a thread on here and I was given instructions on how to access the hidden service menu in the idrive. This allowed me to check the status of the GPS signal and found the antenna was at fault.

After doing some research on how to remove the faulty part and how to get access to it, I ordered a new antenna from my local dealer. I also ordered a new Telecom Battery. This is located in the TC Box on top of the headliner and under the shark fin antenna. You need to loosen the headliner at the rear of the car to gain access to the TCB. Removing this away from the antenna allows you to unscew the T25 bolt at the top and the part is free to be removed.

The reason I ordered a new TC battery is because I've seen a lot of people having to replace this recently - especially on cars that are 2017 and 2018 builds. Mine is a Mar 2018... it was only a matter of time before I had this issue.

The install of the new parts was quite easy. The battery is enclosed in the white plastic case and is easily accessible. On removing the old one, it had a manufactured date of Sept 2017. The antenna has 2 clips on the bottom of it. They fit under the roof skin and then the TCB clips onto the underside of the antenna. I would say the most time consuming task was removing the shark fin cover. I have a gloss black wrapped roof and didn't want to damage to vinyl or any parts. (I did at first think the roof wrap may have caused the issue or the shark fin not being sealed correctly - but that was done a many months ago and everything has been fine until the other day)

Thought I'd do a little write up to help anyone that may have these issues. Few pictures below of the errors I had before, install pics and after.

Part Numbers:
Antenna - 65209303037
TC Battery - 84102447710

[Junebug85]

Originally Posted by jag81

Hey Jeet.

did you have any symptons before the GPS lost where you were?

Mine seems to think i'm tavelling sidways everywhere, wondering if its a sympton of this needing sorting on my car...

Hey Jag,

My location would show 100 miles or so from where I actually was. Accessing the hidden menu confirmed that it was a GPS fault under the status bit.

[jag81]

So going through the hidden service menu (on mine its hold controller up for 10 seconds, 3 clicks right, 3 left, 1 right, one left, one right, press controller select. Then it appears in the My Vehicle menu), mine seems to be dropping the GPS fix it'll drop the signal for about 10 seconds before it finds it again...

maybe i have the same issue brewing.

[Junebug85]

Originally Posted by jag81

So going through the hidden service menu (on mine its hold controller up for 10 seconds, 3 clicks right, 3 left, 1 right, one left, one right, press controller select. Then it appears in the My Vehicle menu), mine seems to be dropping the GPS fix it'll drop the signal for about 10 seconds before it finds it again...

maybe i have the same issue brewing.

Sounds like it's the same issue, or getting to that stage.

[Dasky_spas]

What's the feedback on Hardrace products so far?

[Junebug85]

Originally Posted by Dasky_spas

What's the feedback on Hardrace products so far?

Honest answer - I don't know 🤷🏽‍♂️ with the recent Fast Road Geo Setup and all the F90 M5 suspension Parts/Braces/Reinforcements I had fitted recently, it's hard to tell. The F90 Front and Rear ARB's have made the biggest difference in tightening things up. The Front and Rear F90 Braces do play their part and I think it all works well as a package.

Hardrace say it improves stiffness and chassis rigidity (where it mounts at both strut towers, ties the top of the engine bay together). In summary, I haven't felt or seen any negative effects of this, so that's a positive...I like to think it's doing something and playing it's part, although it was worth doing for the looks alone!

I have the say the construction and finishing on the brace and brackets for it, has been done to a very high standard. It all mounts up using the OEM locations too.

[Junebug85]

Another Photo Dump...

(This is what I've currently done to the car)

-10mm & 12mm/15mm Spacers
- BBS 20" CI-R Alloys / JR 19" SL01 Alloys
- MSS Height Adjustable Springs (30mm/25mm)
- Remus Catback Exhaust (102mm Tips)
- G30 LCI Tail Lights
- VRSF Catted Downpipe
- Masata Chargepipe
- B58 TU HPFP
- BootMod3 Stage2+ Tune
- XHP Stage 3 Gearbox Flash
- MST Intake Induction Kit
- BMW F90 M5 Front Bulkhead Strut Brace
- F90 M5CP Front Anti-Roll/Sway Bar
- F90 M5CP Rear Anti-Roll/Sway Bar
- F90 M5 Front End Links
- F90 M5 Cross Member
- F90 M5 Rear X-Brace
- HardRace Q0659 Engine Strut Brace
- Spires Tuning Fast Road Geo Setup
- Osprey V2 Turbo Heat Shield
- Gloss Black Roof Wrap
- Gloss Black OEM M550i Diffuser
- Gloss Black M Perf Style Side Ext's
- Gloss Black M Perf Style Splitter
- Gloss Black M Perf Pro Style Spoiler
- Gloss Black Rear Side Ext's
- BMW M550i Aero Grilles & Trim Retrofit
- Painted IND Grille Centre Trim Piece
- GW Rear Light Blackline Kit
- GW Billet Engine Bay Cap Covers
- Downstar Dress Up Bolt Kit
- Smoked PPF on Headlights
- M Performance Style Steering Wheel
- Jogon Steering Wheel Paddles

(Waiting to go on...)

- Pure800 Cast Hybrid Turbo
- Pure Turbos Silicone Turbo Inlet
- Osprey Performance 5" Sports Cat
- New V2 OEM Coolant Tank
- New V2 OEM Charge Cooler Tank
- New Charge Cooler Tank Cap
- New Coolant Tank Cap
- New Coolant Pipe (Coolant Tank to Radiator)
- New Coolant Pipe (Charge Cooler Tank to Intake)
- NGK 94201 Spark Plugs

[Dasky_spas]

Originally Posted by Junebug85

Honest answer - I don't know 🤷🏽‍♂️ with the recent Fast Road Geo Setup and all the F90 M5 suspension Parts/Braces/Reinforcements I had fitted recently, it's hard to tell. The F90 Front and Rear ARB's have made the biggest difference in tightening things up. The Front and Rear F90 Braces do play their part and I think it all works well as a package.

Hardrace say it improves stiffness and chassis rigidity (where it mounts at both strut towers, ties the top of the engine bay together). In summary, I haven't felt or seen any negative effects of this, so that's a positive...I like to think it's doing something and playing it's part, although it was worth doing for the looks alone!

I have the say the construction and finishing on the brace and brackets for it, has been done to a very high standard. It all mounts up using the OEM locations too.

Would you be able to post the measurements from bolt to bolt on the Hardrace strut tower brace? F90,g30,f92 and I think g15 share much of the same dimensions. Hardrace won't confirm so I'll check your measurements and then if it looks the same order it too.

[Alscoob]

Car is looking amazing, great to see and read about the attention to detail that's going into this.

How are you getting on with the Conti 7's and the Japan Racing wheels? be good to know as I'm thinking of a change to 19's due to the dreaded potholes!!

Thanks