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      10-09-2020, 01:47 PM   #23
chadillac2000
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After taking care of some of the minor exterior modifications recently, I had a few things planned for the interior as well. The most notably being the OEM BMW Performance steering wheel. I ordered one for my 135i years ago and it immediately became one of my favorite things about the car. The LCI leather steering wheel currently on the car was in great shape and felt pretty good, but nothing can compare to the feel of the alacantara.



Once the battery was disconnected, it's fairly simple to disconnect the original steering wheel. Just pop a screwdriver in the holes on each side of the steering wheel to allow the airbag to removed, and one 16mm bolt holding the entire assembly on. Once those were removed and the harness disconnected, the wheel pulled straight off.



Here's a side by side comparison of the two wheels off the car, as well as some detailed pictures of the interior guts of the wheel:





Once off the car completely, the trim, paddle shifters, steering wheel controls, and lane departure device can be carefully removed and transplanted to the BMW Performance wheel. Installation was just as easy as removal once everything was transferred over. I also installed a set of Dinan aluminum pedal covers and puddle lights while I was in there.











The wheel matches the BMW Performance key cover pretty nicely as well.



And before I was done, I went ahead and installed the Bootmod3 wifi agent so I'll be able to access the software wirelessly from my iPhone. I routed a thin ribbon OBD2 extension from the OBD2 port, through the portion of the dash underneath the steering wheel where it's connected to an Ethernet to OBD2 connector, which then feeds to the wifi agent in the center console. Unless you were looking for it, everything is completely hidden. I did register the VIN, but haven't flashed the Stage 1 93 octane tune I intend on using. In addition to the power increase, I'm mostly interested in the cold start delete and datalogging features.



The next thing I have planned are some exhaust modifications, starting with getting rid of the competition mufflers for a set of Dinan cans with larger, black tips. The sound of the competition mufflers are acceptable, but I could use some more volume and the aesthetics of the competition mufflers left quite a bit to be desired; especially after installing the more aggressive carbon fiber rear diffuser. I also have plans of installing catless downpipes, so I needed something that still had valve control and wasn't going to be obnoxiously loud. I've never purchased anything exhaust related from Dinan before, but these look incredible well constructed.











Installation and sound clips coming soon.
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      10-09-2020, 03:41 PM   #24
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High quality mods bud. Very clean!
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      10-11-2020, 07:06 AM   #25
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Latest round of mods is looking great chadillac2000 - I especially love the steering wheel. Out of interest, where did you source it from?

And are the M puddle lights OEM? If so, any links to where you sourced these?

On your stock exhaust, shouldn't a Comp have the black tips? I wonder whether yours got changed to the chrome ones at some point?

Last question - what's with the little knob next to your headlight switch? Is that for a radar detector?



Keep up the great work (and the pics - always nice to see the progress).
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      10-11-2020, 12:09 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AlisterB View Post
Latest round of mods is looking great chadillac2000 - I especially love the steering wheel. Out of interest, where did you source it from?

And are the M puddle lights OEM? If so, any links to where you sourced these?

On your stock exhaust, shouldn't a Comp have the black tips? I wonder whether yours got changed to the chrome ones at some point?

Last question - what's with the little knob next to your headlight switch? Is that for a radar detector?

Keep up the great work (and the pics - always nice to see the progress).
The steering wheel is incredibly nice. I'm very impressed with it so far. And I've learned as long as you keep it wiped down every week or so with Sonax alcantara cleaner, it can hold up over time. I purchased the steering wheel, front grills, and key cover directly from BMW within their Performance parts lineup.

https://www.getbmwparts.com/c-f10-m5-2012-2016-m-performance-124

Yes, you are correct regarding the Competition exhaust tips. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the tips are gloss black. They just haven't aged particularly well and do look like dull chrome from a distance.

The little knob next to the headlight switch was an adjustment knob for a subwoofer the first owner of the car had installed -- something I did not know about before purchasing the car. I actually spent some time recently properly un-installing some of the wiring leftover. Whoever removed what was installed just cut the wires and they were hidden under the trunk panels. I will probably end up trying to source a new set of trim, or at least that one piece, so I can completely remove all traces of the previous audio system.
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      10-11-2020, 12:38 PM   #27
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cool build!!!
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      10-19-2020, 12:35 PM   #28
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I carved out some time over the past weekend to install the beautiful Dinan Free Flow axle-back exhaust system I'd purchased recently. Most exhaust systems I've purchased do not require cutting the factory system, but the Dinan version does. I've tried the gimmicky "exhaust cutter" type of tools to cut pipe before, but this time I went straight for the Milwaukee Fuel Hackzall which made quick work of the factory piping.



As you can see, a very straight, neat cut with little effort. BMW makes an indention at the bottom of the pipe so you can know where to cut in case you need to service either of the mufflers.





And here's a comparison of the factory competition muffler versus the Dinan:





Once the old mufflers were cut and off the car, installation was as simple as transferring over the rubber hangers and tightening the bolts on the included clamp.



Along with the carbon fiber rear diffuser, 10mm spacers and painted reflectors, the rear of the car is looking incredible.













As far as sounds go, this system is exactly what I'm looking for. Very tame at idle and when the valves are closed, but gets more aggressive under throttle. This should be perfect when catless downpipes and a tune are thrown into the equation, which will be coming soon.

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      10-19-2020, 01:20 PM   #29
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My favorite thread on here - always look forward to your posts.

Looking good!
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      10-20-2020, 07:02 PM   #30
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Love the Dinan exhaust, looks and sounds great!
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      11-21-2020, 03:55 PM   #31
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After spending a few weeks with the Dinan exhaust and putting a few hundred miles on the car since then, here's my feedback:

At most conditions, volume increase is minimal, but as soon as you dip into the throttle in sport modes, things really come alive. I'd say overall there is a 20ish% volume increase versus the OEM competition exhaust. With the windows down, the car really screams at WOT, but with the windows up and under normal cruising conditions, you can barely tell the exhaust has been modified. If this was the only exhaust modification I had planned, I would probably be a little underwhelmed, but since I'm installing catless downpipes in the near future, this should be perfect. As far as aesthetics go, this is one of the best looking exhausts out there. The black tips and stainless cans look great installed -- especially when coupled with the carbon diffuser.

The axleback exhaust didn't take too long to install, but swapping in the Dinan adjustable coilover system would prove to be much more involved. I'd done plenty of suspension installs on different BMWs over the years, but never on an F10. After watching a few videos on some of the particulars of the installation, I was ready to tackle the job myself.

The components of this sleeve kit really do seem top notch. I've always been impressed with the quality of the Dinan parts.







I decided to start with the front first. I absolutely love using these ESCO jack stands with the Reverse Logic Pivot-Top posts. I purchased these when I was working fr on my 135i, and love how sturdy the car sits when using these on the four side jack points.



The Milwaukee M18 Fuel 1/2 and 3/8 inch impacts made light work of every bolt I encountered along the way.



Each of the front struts has three mounting bolts that will need to be removed. In addition, the rubber boot hiding the EDC connector needs to be pulled away and the EDC connector sitting underneath can be pulled straight up and off.





Once those are removed, I took off the nut and bolt securing the control arm's ball joint to the rest of the suspension.



Then down to the sway bar bushing nut that secures the sway bar end link to the strut.



And lastly, the large bottom bolt that holds the strut into place.



After that, the entire hub assembly can be pushed down and manipulated enough to snake the entire front strut assembly out of the car.



Dinan provided step by step instructions on how to disassemble the factory strut and fit in the new adjustable spring perch.



After everything was assembled correctly, installation was reverse of removal.



Moving on the rear shocks + springs, I started inside the car. Underneath the rear speaker covers on each side is a speaker that needs to be removed in order to access the strut mounting bolts on top.



There's also the connection for the EDC modules that need to be unplugged. Because it would be nearly impossible to fish the connectors back down through that tight clearances when re-installing, I taped a piece of wire to the EDC connectors so when I pulled them out top, I would have something to guide them back to their original positions.



After the three nuts were removed off the top of the strut, the forward most rear control arm had to be removed on one side.



Then once the large lower strut mount bolt was removed, again, the entire hub assembly could be manipulated so the strut could be raised over the axle and dropped out. The EDC connector does not come off on the rears like it does on the front.



Because the EDC wire stays attached to the rear strut, a traditional socket can not remove the top bolt holding the strut assembly together. Luckily I had a socket set that worked perfectly for this.



Using the Dinan diagrams, the rear strut was re-assembled and re-installed. I did have to remove the rear wheel well liner in order to install everything back. The passenger side is a tight fit because of the fuel filler neck, etc. You could probably get by on the driver's side without taking out the wheel well liner.







At the initial settings I started with, the rear was completely dumped!



Luckily these coilovers are the most convenient I've seen for adjusting heights and the spanner tool works much better than. wrench. In my case, I didn't even have to remove the wheel in order to get the stance just like I wanted.



I spent hours adjusting each corner, trying to get things perfect and I will say it's tedious work. Eventually I got things looking good all the way around. All in all, this system was exactly what I was looking for. Installation wasn't simple and definitely took a deep tool box and patience, but was decently straightforward.













I drove the car 150 miles in a single day letting the suspension "settle", and even without an alignment, handling is much improved. Body roll is seemingly non existent and ride quality does not feel any more harsh than the OEM competition suspension. I have an alignment set up for this week at the local BMW dealership, so I went ahead and filled up the tank so that could be factored into the numbers.

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      11-21-2020, 04:21 PM   #32
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Looks perfect!! Sick post!
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      11-29-2020, 07:48 PM   #33
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For the week and half since installing the Dinan sleeve kit, I've been driving myself insane trying to get the heights dialed in. So much so, that I actually cancelled the alignment I had planned for last week as I continued to tinker. I quickly found out changing the height of one corner affects almost every other height and that finding a completely level surface to take measurements on is no easy task. At the old heights, the car had a bit of a back to front rake, which I wanted to get rid of, so I did bring the rears up a few turns and evened out the fronts a little more. I'm fairly confident I have them perfect, for now

In other news, a bunch of Christmas presents for the M5 showed up over the past few days. The first being a used set of Alpha Performance catless downpipes from AMS. I had them sent directly to a company called Enigma Coatings where they were blasted and ceramic coated gold. They came out looking absolutely incredible and I think I'm going to forego wrapping them since this should curb extreme temperatures.

Here's the before video I received from the seller:



And here's what I unwrapped from Enigma Coatings









The next being this beautiful carbon fiber Dinan intake system. I'm really looking forward to having the Dinan exhaust + intake + suspension on this car, but not looking forward to having to remove the front bumper to install this intake. I had originally purchased a set of Burger intakes, but just loved the look of this Dinan setup. I did however, keep the Burger charge pipe upgrade that I'll be installing with the intakes.













Unfortunately the flashy gold coating of the downpipes will be hidden under heat shielding, but the carbon fiber intake and gloss black charge pipes should spruce things up nicely.

Once the intakes and downpipes are installed, the car will get a fresh set of NGK 97506s I've already gapped to .020" and coils to make sure everything is in good shape -- then it will be time to flash the stage 1 93 octane BM3 tune I've been holding off on.

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      11-30-2020, 06:36 PM   #34
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What alignment specs did you finally go with after your Dinan?

I'm guessing you like the feel. plan to do the monoball and sways?
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      12-01-2020, 11:08 AM   #35
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Quote:
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What alignment specs did you finally go with after your Dinan?

I'm guessing you like the feel. plan to do the monoball and sways?
I still haven't gotten the car aligned because I was still tinkering with getting the heights to my liking. I plan on getting the car aligned at the dealership here in the coming weeks and I'll provide the specs Dinan suggests that are listed in the instructions, but they may not be obtainable without the other hardware Dinan sells as part of their suspension upgrades.



This car will not be seeing any type of track use, so the cost to benefit ratio of the sways, monoballs, and camber arms weren't there for me. The sways on the competition package are apparently better than the standard bars, so there was even less of a reason to upgrade those. I really don't see myself doing any other suspension mods past this sleeve kit to lower it just a tad -- for the bit of aggressive driving I've done in the car, it feels neutral and very planted.
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      12-01-2020, 07:11 PM   #36
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chadillac2000 , I love detailed build threads like this! Awesome job with the car so far. Keep the updates coming!
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      12-01-2020, 09:21 PM   #37
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great write-up, parts selection and dedication to detail. following a similar path on mine - went cosmetics, dinan sways and tune first - and just ordered dinan coils.

i wish i found your build earlier. subscribed!
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      12-02-2020, 10:10 AM   #38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by m5rosco View Post
chadillac2000 , I love detailed build threads like this! Awesome job with the car so far. Keep the updates coming!
Quote:
Originally Posted by co_pa View Post
great write-up, parts selection and dedication to detail. following a similar path on mine - went cosmetics, dinan sways and tune first - and just ordered dinan coils.

i wish i found your build earlier. subscribed!
Glad you guys are enjoying the thread so far and following along. I selfishly keep these build threads mostly for my own reference, but hopefully they can provide a little help to some of you guys installing these same parts.
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      12-02-2020, 05:25 PM   #39
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Like I said - this thread is legit.

I wish there wore more “build” threads on here. I like to be able to follow the transformation, see your installs, thought processes, mod choices, etc.
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      12-02-2020, 05:30 PM   #40
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I'm enjoying it too - keep up the great work chadillac2000.
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      12-02-2020, 08:03 PM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chadillac2000 View Post
This car will not be seeing any type of track use, so the cost to benefit ratio of the sways, monoballs, and camber arms weren't there for me. The sways on the competition package are apparently better than the standard bars, so there was even less of a reason to upgrade those. I really don't see myself doing any other suspension mods past this sleeve kit to lower it just a tad -- for the bit of aggressive driving I've done in the car, it feels neutral and very planted.
While the Dinan monoballs are pricey, the Turner monoballs, which are normally ~$280, will occasionally go on a "flash sale" down to ~$90. Getting the arms out and back in again is straightforward, and then it's just a matter of having a press with the right cup sizes or getting a shop to press out the old ones and press in the new. I didn't have access to the right cups so paid ~$50 to a local shop, bringing it to $140 total, plus another $70 for new bolts, nuts and clip nuts, to be safe.

The comp pack sways are 15% stiffer than the non comp. The Dinans, even on the middle setting, would be about 25% stiffer than the comp bars (more on the rear). I'd still argue the Dinans are worth it, and the install is also pretty easy, but it is $1K for sway bars and I've never been in a lowered comp pack car.
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      12-13-2020, 09:58 PM   #42
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I hadn't planned on doing any other major installs until 2021, but once I had all the parts in hand, I just couldn't resist digging into the M5 once again. Here she is completely OEM before surgery:



Since I'd be installing new spark plugs, new coils, the Dinan intake system, and AMS catless downpipes at the same time, a lot of the engine bay components had to come out, starting with all the plastic shrouding and engine beauty cover -- plus disconnecting the battery ground since I knew I'd be working near the DMEs. At this point I was only 5 minutes into the tear down when I hit a snag. In order to remove the heat shields sandwiched between the downpipes, I needed a very long o2 sensor removal socket. The only one that was able to get remotely close ended up smashing some of the wiring during removal because it had to be pressed down so hard to catch the sensor. I ended up ordering an extra long o2 removal socket from Bavarian Autowerks through Pelican Parts, as well as brand new primary and secondary o2 sensors. I hadn't planned on getting new o2 sensors, but after 40,000 miles and seeing their condition, it was probably good preventative maintenance.





You can see how much clearance is needed when trying to remove the Bosch sensor with the recessed heat shield.



First look at the OEM downpipes with integrated catalytic converters located extremely close to the back housing of the turbos -- these catless pipes should really increase flow.



In order to access all the coils and spark plugs, each of the DMEs have to be unharnessed and pulled aside. The connections can be tricky, but come out easier than I thought they would at first glance. The two small coolant lines remained attached, but they're flexible.



After the DMEs were out of the way, there was a clear view to all 8 of the ignition coils.



I also made special note of how the v-band clamps on the downpipes were oriented so I could place them in the exact same position as to not interfere with the wastegate.



With the v-bands and brackets removed, I moved underneath the car. Luckily the entire midpipe does not need to be removed, just 4 nuts that need loosened and then the whole assembly can be pulled down enough to free the OEM downpipes. After some wrestling up top, both were out.







Unfortunately the Dinan intake requires the front bumper to be removed, which was intimidating at first, but came off (and went back on) with ease. Removing the front portion of each of the wheel wells, made accessing some of the mounting bolts much easier.





The only thing now that needed removing were the ignition coils and spark plugs -- all of which are original to my knowledge. Having owned an N54 car, I'm very familiar with changing ignition coils and spark plugs, as I change those frequently as preventative maintenance to avoid misfires on my single turbo 135i. I was glad I had new equipment ready to replace the original with, because it was definitely looking fatigued. It also looked as if water had snuck past the ignition coils at some point and created some corrosion around the metal bands. I suspect this happened during a wash of the engine bay; something I will not be doing again unless using extreme caution.









At this point, I had parts laying everywhere.



Using my Burger Motorsports thin walled, magnetic spark plug socket and a long extension, I carefully installed the NGK 97506 colder plugs gapped to 0.020".



This is where my 2nd hiccup occurred. I had a full set of Bosch 0221504470 ignition coils ready to go, which were available for less than $200, and I'd confirmed with FCP and ECS that they would fit. Unfortunately after applying dielectric grease and inserting the ignition coil, the harness would not slide onto the replacement Bosch coils. After looking a little closer, I noticed a tab on the underside of where the harness attaches that was preventing it from connecting.



After some more research, it seems that in 2016 BMW switched to a new harness for the Delphi coils this car requires. Nearly $700 dollars later and I had a new set of OEM Delphi coils -- when they arrived they slid right into place. It was an unexpected cost, and I could have probably gotten more usage out of the original ones I pulled out, but the peace of mind is nice. Once the ignition system was buttoned up, it was time to install the catless downpipes. With a little massaging, these fell right into place -- I was really impressed with the fitment, which was the whole reason I paid a premium in order to go with AMS.











With the heat shield back in place, everything lined up perfectly.



Now the only thing left was completing the Dinan intake install, which consisted of modifying some of the factory plastics in order to run the new air snorkels. Surprisingly enough, this template is an extra $14.95 plus shipping in addition to the $1,899 of the intake itself.



The bottom of the stock intake box had to be blocked off so it would be a sealed system.





Here are the Dinan elbows with the MAFs transferred over. I also hit them with some specialized cleaner before installing them.





And the fully assembled boxes with filters.







The finished product in the engine bay is beautiful.













After triple checking everything was secured back in place and plugged back in, the only thing left was to flash the car with the stage 1 93 octane tune from BM3. I hooked up the car to a charger and made sure I had the required voltage. The last and final change of plans came when I tried to perform this flash through my iPhone and BM3 WiFi agent, which resulted in a failure. I tried probably 20 times, reset the DME, etc. -- all failures.



I contacted BM3, and they agreed to remotely log in and help, but I would need to be able to hook the car up to a laptop. Unfortunately the only computer I had with capability to directly connect an ethernet cable to was a 27" iMac desktop. Before connecting with them remotely, I tried to flash one more time, and finally it worked when using a direct connection. I was able to throw a new set of Dinan floor mats in the car while I was waiting for each of the two DMEs to fully flash.



First impressions are complete satisfaction with the mods I installed and maintenance performed. With the cold start deleted through the BM3, the car did not have the overly aggressive roar of old; something I'd been looking forward to getting rid of. Instead the tone is tame at idle, but with any throttle, turbo spool becomes immediately audible and a new, v8 snarl comes to life. Obviously, acceleration and overall performance has immensely improved with the added boost. The speed really piles on quickly under WOT and the noises between high RPM DCT gear changes and on decel or downshifts are intoxicating. Videos of the new noises will be coming soon.
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Last edited by chadillac2000; 12-14-2020 at 07:18 AM..
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      12-13-2020, 10:16 PM   #43
santamonica00
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Thank you so much for showing the coil over install! I bought a '16 F10 CP (manual) earlier this year that had been CPO'ed. When I brought it in to the local dealer (in Los Angeles and bought it from a CT BMW dealer, car was from Florida) they took pictures and realized the coil overs had been installed - yeah, I didn't do a PPI to find out but never disclosed either (car hadn't even been cleaned when I had a friend rest drive and agreed to buy it before another person could drive it). Out of curiosity, I had the BMW Santa Monica dealer mock up a quote to let me know how much it would be to switch back to stock. It was still under original warranty and just wanted to have a good laugh on the number. $11,700 😳

Anyway, love it on my car but truthfully also don't know the difference to stock since I've never driven another. Thanks again for sharing the step by step photos and beautiful car!
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      12-14-2020, 10:24 AM   #44
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Quote:
Originally Posted by santamonica00 View Post
Thank you so much for showing the coil over install! I bought a '16 F10 CP (manual) earlier this year that had been CPO'ed. When I brought it in to the local dealer (in Los Angeles and bought it from a CT BMW dealer, car was from Florida) they took pictures and realized the coil overs had been installed - yeah, I didn't do a PPI to find out but never disclosed either (car hadn't even been cleaned when I had a friend rest drive and agreed to buy it before another person could drive it). Out of curiosity, I had the BMW Santa Monica dealer mock up a quote to let me know how much it would be to switch back to stock. It was still under original warranty and just wanted to have a good laugh on the number. $11,700 😳

Anyway, love it on my car but truthfully also don't know the difference to stock since I've never driven another. Thanks again for sharing the step by step photos and beautiful car!
Thanks for the comments and I'm glad you could finally see the details of the system you have installed on yours. I'm definitely envious of the fact that you were able to find a 2016 manual car! And to find one with hidden Dinan mods that you didn't even know about + CPO? Seems like you found a great example there.

Since it was a CPO car, the Dinan coilovers might have been originally purchased and installed through the dealership. As far as comparison between the CP suspension and the CP suspension plus the Dinan sleeve kit installed, overall changes were minimal. Aside from a slightly lower stance (which was the main reason I purchased this kit) and feeling more planted in the corners, there isn't much noticeable difference. But, because the kit doesn't compromise comfort, I'd much rather have the lower stance through the Dinan kit versus the OEM CP suspension.

Found any other mods besides the sleeve kit hiding anywhere?
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