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BMW 5-Series (G30) Forum Photos - Video - Build Threads 2021 M550i Phytonic blue

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      08-17-2021, 03:32 PM   #1
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2021 M550i Phytonic blue

Feels like I have enough content for a build thread now, so here it is.

Delivery Day March 2021
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      08-17-2021, 05:09 PM   #2
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The stance was the first thing that I noticed needed a bit of an uplift. Modification numerno Uno: Burger Motorsport spacers 10mm front, 13mm rear. Kept it conservative for an OEM plus appearance. I also fitted the floating center caps from the 7 series at the same time. These were a bit of a disaster if I'm honest. Had to modify them to spin in the 668 wheels as they didn't fit right. Then they would jump out at high speed!
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      08-17-2021, 05:17 PM   #3
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Next up I popped these into the front doors. I love them but the wife thinks they are a bit wacky haha.
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      08-18-2021, 04:40 AM   #4
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I'm not sure if US cars are the same but in Europe this M550i comes with a lot of badges stuck to it. So the next job was to take of the side Ms and Xdrive at the back. It's not that interesting so I will spare you a photo. At this point the car had done it's 1250 mile run in so it was time to test it out. The rolling numbers 100-200km seemed very good. The standing numbers were rubbish! The 1/4 was 11.9 with 3.9/4.0 0-60. I initially thought BMW had hobbled this car as not to show up the M5! It turns out thanks to reading this forum the software for launch control was flawed on the LCI...
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      08-18-2021, 04:48 AM   #5
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In the mean time I was also finding that now the car was run in and the redline was open to exploration, the car didn't sound as good as I thought it might at full throttle. So I knew what had to be done. OPF joy killers needed to go. The risk with this is limp mode kicking in and CEL errors as I discovered. It made sense to have the resonator out at the same time and go for a X pipe. I decided on an X over straight delete pipes from listening to videos on YouTube. I think the X sounds more sophisticated personally.
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      08-18-2021, 04:53 AM   #6
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Look at how horrible the flow is through the awkward squashed pipes and the OPF membrane!
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      08-18-2021, 04:56 AM   #7
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Next job was to overcome the limp mode from the ECU getting upset from reduced pressure in the exhaust system (that's how the function of the OPF is determined) Leib engineering in Germany solved this one perfectly : https://www.leib-engineering.de/Homepage_1
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      08-18-2021, 04:59 AM   #8
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Here's a clip of the new X pipe
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      08-18-2021, 05:02 AM   #9
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These took months to arrive from Italy thanks to the French and covid... I also took large lumps of foam out of the intake box at the same time. The resulting uplift in turbo sound is surprisingly strong from a drop in filter and de-foam!
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      08-18-2021, 05:13 AM   #10
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With the relatively minor intake and exhaust mods complete for primarily more sound and emotional value. I was also interested in measuring any performance uplift. Remember at this point BMW still had not fixed the LC software so anything standing had not improved. On a roll I was quite pleased however
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      08-18-2021, 05:20 AM   #11
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Now it was time to add some boost...
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      08-18-2021, 08:29 AM   #12
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Fitting a jb4 on a right hand drive LCI was a bit more difficult when it seems you are the first one to do so and there are no instructions. I was also finding one thing after another which did not work. The EWG plugs are the wrong way round, the code auto delete doesn't work, the default maps were made for a car that runs much less boost and power (F series550i). It took two weeks of changing things and logging to get the JB4 into a good place. The first run on map 1 was disappointing.
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      08-18-2021, 08:38 AM   #13
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Once the car had stabilised with the +4lbs of boost, the weather good cooler and I added some octane. She felt like she was really moving now and I was ready to retest.
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      08-18-2021, 09:36 AM   #14
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At last, BMW recall issued for the 1st gear boost problem. Finally meant I could launch the car properly and test the 1/4 mile. This is on JB4 map 0 for a baseline.
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      08-18-2021, 09:42 AM   #15
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Then again with map 1
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      08-18-2021, 09:50 AM   #16
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Fast forward to this month (August 21') the next modification I wanted to do was get the secondary cats out as they are not monitored buy the ECU and won't cause another limp mode / drivetrain error. They are much bigger and denser than on the M5. I noticed right away that the car felt more eager and had much more low down torque. The sound was perfect now to my ears also.
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      08-18-2021, 09:57 AM   #17
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Jb4 logs were showing the car making over 21lbs of boost at 4.5k rpm now which was making me uncomfortable as this is M5 level boost on a car with smaller turbos and less engineering around heat management. So I moved to map 6 with my own boost targets, +3lbs peak. I was surprised to see that the car was now in fact faster with less boost! (I don't know why the 0-60 came up as invalid, it's the same bit of road I've used every single time!)
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      08-20-2021, 03:25 AM   #18
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Fast forward to present day. Plan is to add some carbon parts to the exterior. I like the CS style spoiler from the club sport M5. It's more subtle than most of the other items I've seen previously. On the performance side I'm pretty happy with map 6 on the daily now. Peak boost is around 17psi and the car is really happy with it. Once the evenings drop down to 6-7 degrees C this autumn I think this car could have a 10.9x 1/4 in it. Would take all the child seats out and add a load of octane for a map 1 hero run on dragy. Otherwise I think some new UHP tyres is all this car would need a d it's the perfect stealth bomber!
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      08-20-2021, 06:20 PM   #19
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Nice mods. Those are some serious numbers. Have you thought about lowering springs?
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      08-21-2021, 03:15 AM   #20
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I live out in the country, the roads can be be pretty ugly here. I need to preserve the ride and ground clearance, hence considering upsizing the tyres (already bent a rim) rather than lowering! It's the prime reason I chose the 550i over an M5.
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      09-08-2021, 01:14 PM   #21
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Pic of my 2022 M550 in phytonic, rugged edition.
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      09-08-2021, 04:11 PM   #22
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The above is another good reason to leave those lowering springs alone right.
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