Chadillac2000's 2016 BMW M5 Competition Build Thread

[kerrit]

Love this thread! How is the fuel smell with the catless downpipes? Keep going back and forth here, I want the power and sounds!

[m5rosco]

Nice update. I feel you pain in regard to the Bosch coils not fitting and having to use the oem Delphi ones, recently had exactly the same issue with my 2016 car!!

[Ickdeep]

That's awesome!! These cars really perform like they should once you get catless downpipes.

Originally Posted by kerrit

Love this thread! How is the fuel smell with the catless downpipes? Keep going back and forth here, I want the power and sounds!

I highly recommend getting them. The fuel smell for me was only "bad" on start up in the garage and when stuck in traffic, besides that it wasn't too bad. I did change the cabin air filter which helped with the smell too. You'll enjoy the power much better once you get them in and a proper tune.

[Doctor_X]

Big upgrades this weekend bud!

Great pics, the overall look of the mods is gorgeous!

[santamonica00]

Brake pads that were non-BMW. The dealer didn't know what they were but these were covered under warranty so to spend out of pocket is pretty interesting. Additionally, always serviced at the dealership but must have gone elsewhere for these addons.

After the dealer, I took it to Bavarian Workshop in West Hills (Southern California) that Dinan actually referred me to. Did a full diagnostic and said it looks great. Didn't actually answer the question I had on non-BMW parts and what was on there. Little odd but made me feel better.

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by kerrit

Love this thread! How is the fuel smell with the catless downpipes? Keep going back and forth here, I want the power and sounds!

On the very first start up after installing everything, the fuel smell was evident with the catless downpipes in the garage, but not unbearable by any means. I actually enjoy the smell, but know some people heavily dislike it. All of my cars have been catless for the past 5 years or so, so I'm used to it by now. But for the increase in power (especially with a tune) and the increase in fun noises, it's well worth it.

Originally Posted by m5rosco

Nice update. I feel you pain in regard to the Bosch coils not fitting and having to use the oem Delphi ones, recently had exactly the same issue with my 2016 car!!

Glad to hear that my car was not an anomaly. I had considered trying to modify the Bosch versions and just grind off the tab preventing the harness from seating fully, but ultimately decided against it. $180 versus $700+ was not a fun pill to swallow.

Originally Posted by Ickdeep

That's awesome!! These cars really perform like they should once you get catless downpipes.

I highly recommend getting them. The fuel smell for me was only "bad" on start up in the garage and when stuck in traffic, besides that it wasn't too bad. I did change the cabin air filter which helped with the smell too. You'll enjoy the power much better once you get them in and a proper tune.

Even with only 50 miles of driving or so, I can attest to this. The tune + downpipes really woke things up. In sport+ mode, the car is an animal.

Originally Posted by Doctor_X

Big upgrades this weekend bud!

Great pics, the overall look of the mods is gorgeous!

Thank you sir! Even though I've only owned the car since late summer, I almost have it set up like I want. I'll be looking into wheels/tires soon -- always envious of those HREs you picked up recently. Can't decide if 21 inch wheels are a good idea, or if I want to go with something more OEM+ looking like 20 inch BBS CH-Rs or something. The roads in my area are pretty good for the most part, but I wouldn't want to compromise the ride much more than it is right now.

[SpeedProtocol]

In reference to the coil change, I noticed moisture in a couple of mine as well. I suspect a previous power wash.

[co_pa]

looking good! the dinan intakes make the engine bay. living vicariously through you for sure.

i'd be in for a vid of start-up after this round of installs if you get a chance. mine is a non-zcp and with the bm3 stage 1 93 tune it sounds ... ok. my plan is to install the dinan coils and mufflers come spring. thinking dps might need to be added to the list now and would love to hear it if possible!

[Doctor_X]

Originally Posted by chadillac2000

Thank you sir! Even though I've only owned the car since late summer, I almost have it set up like I want. I'll be looking into wheels/tires soon -- always envious of those HREs you picked up recently. Can't decide if 21 inch wheels are a good idea, or if I want to go with something more OEM+ looking like 20 inch BBS CH-Rs or something. The roads in my area are pretty good for the most part, but I wouldn't want to compromise the ride much more than it is right now.

Yeah man, you’ve been busy in this car, and the result is stunning.

Wheels are one of those things you just gotta go with your gut on. I love 21’s but if the car isn’t lowered enough they tend to make it look like a roller skate. I cranked my KW’a down almost all the way to get to a place that I like after I bolted up the 21’s.

Also - was going to mention - you said you were basically done with the car - but since you’ve gone down the engine performance road a little bit - may want to consider a billet diff mount. Cheap insurance, straightforward install, and lots of piece of mind.

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by Droner

In reference to the coil change, I noticed moisture in a couple of mine as well. I suspect a previous power wash.

The engine bay wash almost has to be the culprit. It would be nice if there were some type of covers to keep the recessed area where the ignition coils and injectors are located. Otherwise I imagine it would just puddle and corrode the metal unless immediately driven for a long time after the engine bay wash to steam off all the moisture.

Originally Posted by co_pa

looking good! the dinan intakes make the engine bay. living vicariously through you for sure.

i'd be in for a vid of start-up after this round of installs if you get a chance. mine is a non-zcp and with the bm3 stage 1 93 tune it sounds ... ok. my plan is to install the dinan coils and mufflers come spring. thinking dps might need to be added to the list now and would love to hear it if possible!

Thank you! I love the look of the Dinan intakes. Even though they aren't quite as show stopping as some of the front grill mounted options, I was looking for functionality first and foremost, so this system made the most sense. And of course to stay in theme with the other Dinan parts I'd selected.

If you have a non CP, I would recommend the coils and mufflers even more as I'm sure it will be an even larger change than it was for myself. Granted that's about $3,000 for those parts, or closer to $5,000 with downpipes, it really transformed things. Sounds cliche, but this is how this car should have been set up from the factory. Aggressive, while still retaining that OEM+ feel.

Originally Posted by Doctor_X

Yeah man, you’ve been busy in this car, and the result is stunning.

Wheels are one of those things you just gotta go with your gut on. I love 21’s but if the car isn’t lowered enough they tend to make it look like a roller skate. I cranked my KW’a down almost all the way to get to a place that I like after I bolted up the 21’s.

Also - was going to mention - you said you were basically done with the car - but since you’ve gone down the engine performance road a little bit - may want to consider a billet diff mount. Cheap insurance, straightforward install, and lots of piece of mind.

I really have. I hadn't planned on doing everything this quickly, but as usual, I get carried away when I purchase a new car. I can't help but trying to dial it in quickly.

Thanks for the opinions on the wheels. Ride height would probably be another reason to stick with the 20" configuration I currently have. While I do like the ultra low look, my wife drives this car too and I'd prefer to keep with the conservative ride height I have currently.

I will look into the billet diff mount -- I've read a bit about them already. I have been somewhat intrigued by the thought of picking up some of the CSF intercoolers too, but they are a pretty penny.

[chadillac2000]

Unfortunately I’ve found myself home on self-quarantine after a Covid exposure. Luckily, I’m feeling fine, but took some of my free time away from my family to install the Burger Motorsports charge pipes I didn’t get a chance to put in when doing the intakes and downpipes. They looked easy enough to pop in, so I started late one night with ambitions of being done in an hour or so.





For $229 you get a couple of beaded, gloss black sections of pipe with meth bungs that come blocked off, four couplers, 8 clamps, and a new bracket for the turbo coolant lines that run over top of them to sit in. The first step is getting off the old clamps on the OEM charge pipes, which I had picked up a specialized tool to assist in this removal.



Once those are removed, the coolant pipes have to be removed from their brackets that are built on to the exterior of the OEM charge pipes. The driver side hard line is fairly pliable, but the passenger side is not. For the record, these charge pipes are a very tight fit. Not much room at all to wiggle the hoses and charge pipes out of where they're situated, especially with some hard lines hovering above them.



I should have been more careful, but just as I was getting the passenger side charge pipe removed, I felt the tension on the coolant pipe release and the heartbreaking sound of coolant leaking out. I had hoped that it was a simple hose clamp that had failed and slid off a fitting, but unfortunately it was worse than that. The bottom of that passenger side coolant pipe leads all the way down to a specialized fitting with a nipple on the end of it. This piece had become brittle over time of all the coolant heat cycles and snapped off flush as I had been pulling on it.



At this point, after coming to the realization that my car was inoperable until I ordered an entire new coolant line with this pre-fabbed fitting already installed, I removed the entire turbo coolant line so I could more easily finish the installation of the charge pipes.





After getting the line out of the way, I decided to go ahead and pull the broken fitting itself off the water pump, and as soon as I did, nearly a gallon of coolant came rushing out into the splash shield underneath and all over the garage floor.



I’d managed to do this in less than 15 minutes from starting this quick little project. It was much easier to install the two charge pipes without the passenger side coolant pipe in the way.



Luckily, ECS Tuning had the turbo coolant line in stock and was able to overnight the part during a busy holiday season, which was great. I ordered the part on a Sunday night, and had it in hand Tuesday morning. I also included a close up shot of what the bottom of the coolant line is supposed to look like when not in pieces.





Reinstallation took some patience, especially since I was paranoid about breaking the same piece again, but eventually I had everything in place. Because the OEM heat sleeves over the coolant pipes were crumbling when touched, I wanted to order some replacements, but once I realized they were going to be $100 for 4, I opted to just get 3 foot length of DEI heat sleeve and make my own.



The BMS branded coolant line bracket gives real sturdiness to the hard lines so they won’t get damaged rubbing on anything.



The finished product looks better than the original pipes, but probably won’t provide much of a performance upgrade since I won’t be running meth, and definitely caused some headaches given the broken fitting. At least it gave me something to think about over the past few days besides catching Covid.





I ended up having to add a full gallon of BMW coolant to the driver’s side coolant reservoir before the system was full again. I also learned how to bleed the water pump in order to make sure there were no leaks and to get out any air trapped in the system -- very similar to my 135i. I used the following method:

1. Top coolant up to the upper edge of the expansion tank. Coolant level may not drop further! No drop in coolant for approx. 1 minute.
2. Connect battery charger.
3. Switch the ignition on.
4. Set heating to maximum temperature. Press Automatic button. Then set the blower to the lowest speed.
5. Press accelerator pedal for
10 seconds to floor. Engine must not be started.
6. The venting procedure is started when the accelerator pedal is pressed and takes approx.
4,5 minutes.
7. Refill expansion tank up to top edge immediately after drawing off until empty.
8. Adjust expansion tank to maximum level at end of bleeding procedure.
9. Check cooling system for leaks.
10. Close expansion tank.
11. If ventilation has to be carried out again, allow DME to drop completely (ignition key pulled out for
approx. 3 minutes), then repeat from point 3.

I’ve also been doing quite a bit of research on wheels/tires of late, and am getting dangerously close to pulling the trigger on a new wheel/tire setup to finish off the look.

[chadillac2000]

After correcting my coolant pipe mishap and getting the charge pipes installed, I wanted to clean up the car, especially the undercarriage and garage floor where all that coolant had spilled. It happened to be nice today, so I broke out the pressure washer and foam cannon. I've really been enjoying the Adam's Ultra Foam Shampoo.



Once everything was cleaned up to my liking, I had enough extra time to make a video showcasing the new exhaust note with the AMS catless downpipes + OEM midsection + Dinan axleback with the Bootmod3 stage 1 93 octane tune. I opted for the cold start delete, which has been excellent so far, as well as having the exhaust valves open in sport plus mode.

This current configuration of modifications is exactly what I was looking for. The absolute ideal sound for an S63. Not overly loud, no drone, and intensely aggressive when you ask for it. The mild burble gives the exhaust a subtle amount of overrun on decel, which quickly gives way to the audible turbo spool now that the cats are gone. I can't recommend this setup enough.

[Doctor_X]

Looking good buddy!

From one OCD guy to another, I appreciate that you placed the tacky BMS logos down on the silicone couplers. Although I gotta say, I’m surprised you didn’t orient the worm clamps the same and make them mirror images of each other on each side :devil:

When I installed my charge pipes, I converted all the clamps to gloss powder coated black RPS t-bolt clamps for a clean look. Clamps added ~$140 to the upgrade cost, but were worth their weight in maintaining that subtle touch I wanted.

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by Doctor_X

Looking good buddy!

From one OCD guy to another, I appreciate that you placed the tacky BMS logos down on the silicone couplers. Although I gotta say, I’m surprised you didn’t orient the worm clamps the same and make them mirror images of each other on each side :devil:

When I installed my charge pipes, I converted all the clamps to gloss powder coated black RPS t-bolt clamps for a clean look. Clamps added ~$140 to the upgrade cost, but were worth their weight in maintaining that subtle touch I wanted.

Thank you sir! I went back and forth, but ultimately decided to face them downwards. And interesting you say that about the hardware. I've been researching t-bolt clamps for the charge pipes ever since installing. After going to a big top mount single turbo setup on my E82, I quickly learned the benefit of t-bolt clamps over worm clamps. I didn't pay any attention until I was installing them, but I'm surprised that BMS didn't include t-bolt clamps just because they work so much better on pressurized piping. I suppose they thought the already tight fit didn't require the upgrade. I'm with you, I might switch to some, especially if black ones are available.

Have any close ups of your setup? I still have ambitions of adding a set of upgraded intercoolers in the near future, so I'd probably upgrade the charge pipe hardware when I tore back in for that install.

[C-dub]

What a tease! The ESCO jack stands with the Reverse Logic Pivot-Top posts are out of stock. Thanks for posting the link, though. They seem like a really convenient design. I'll pick up a set when they're back in stock. And I love the build thread...keep up the great work.

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by C-dub

What a tease! The ESCO jack stands with the Reverse Logic Pivot-Top posts are out of stock. Thanks for posting the link, though. They seem like a really convenient design. I'll pick up a set when they're back in stock. And I love the build thread...keep up the great work.

Hate to hear that! I just posted that up like a month ago and fairly certain they were not out of stock — might just be the holiday season. I love mine. They take a bit more precision when you’re lowering the car down on to them, but really makes things secure. I have the normal round rubber inserts that came with the ESCO jacks as well, so nice to have those for other cars with out jacks pads.

[co_pa]

Originally Posted by chadillac2000

This current configuration of modifications is exactly what I was looking for. The absolute ideal sound for an S63. Not overly loud, no drone, and intensely aggressive when you ask for it. The mild burble gives the exhaust a subtle amount of overrun on decel, which quickly gives way to the audible turbo spool now that the cats are gone. I can't recommend this setup enough.

thanks for the vid, chadillac2000, and I'm sure it sounds better in person, too.

full steam ahead on my very similar path.

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by co_pa

thanks for the vid, chadillac2000, and I'm sure it sounds better in person, too.

full steam ahead on my very similar path.

No problem, I always seem to skip out on the videos and focus on photos during my build threads, but need to make a point of capturing some audio. And yes, while it sounds good free revving, it sounds even better under a load and during upshifts/downshifts. Glad I could solidify your plans!

Now I need some better tires as the current 295 Toyos that came on the car when I purchased it are having real trouble hooking in anything below 4th gear.

[AlisterB]

Originally Posted by chadillac2000

Now I need some better tires as the current 295 Toyos that came on the car when I purchased it are having real trouble hooking in anything below 4th gear.

Consensus there seems to be Michelin PS4S for road tyres. Don't bother with the P Zeros - they're no good at helping get the power to the ground in the M5.

[Craze]

4s are the best for road use!

[AR_Motorwerkz]

She sounds mean!

And yes, Michelin PS4S's are a great road tire. Worth it!

[CHEFJAVF10]

Originally Posted by chadillac2000

It’s always fun to start a new build thread, but this one is especially exciting. For the past 10 years or so, I’ve exclusively driven BMWs -- started with a 6MT 2002 BMW M3, moved to a roomier automatic 2008 BMW 535i, and then eventually to the car I’ve owned for the past four years: a well-sorted single turbo 6MT 2008 BMW 135i. This time however, I wanted a sedan with a usable backseat for the new baby, non 6MT so the wife can drive it occasionally, and something fun to drive. In my eyes, that narrowed it down to the F80 M3 or the F10 M5. After doing a ton of research and deciding to keep my 135i, the F10 M5 made more sense.

I kept track of the market for months, and ultimately ended up purchasing a fully loaded 2016 BMW M5 with the Competition Package and only 40,000 miles on the odometer. The only caveat being that the car was located in Portland, Oregon and I am in Asheville, NC. Once we transferred the funds and arranged shipping, I endured nearly a full month before the car was dropped off at my house. I was a bit nervous as this was the first car that I purchased sight unseen, but everything was accurately described.

I have quite a bit planned for this car and parts already in hand, so stay tuned for updates, but here are the first photos I took after giving the car a thorough cleaning to remove all the ash from the western wildfires it had picked up during its time in Oregon.



























Love having this combo in the garage so far.



Wanted to share this quick clip of the night the car arrived -- my wife and 6 month old daughter wanted to hear the car for the first time, which elicited a priceless reaction from my daughter. It seems I may have another enthusiast in the family. Needless to say, I was pretty excited too.

I have exhaust modifications planned, but the car already sounds amazing as-is with the Competition Package mufflers. Here's a more proper video clip of cold start.

Man this thread is awesome