Owning an E70 X5///M

[General.Massacre]

Still believe the S63 is not as bad as other "S" series motors. Mine was opened on 75XXXKM under motor plan, because one of the turbo's was damaged, they replaced the whole "rotation assembly" what they called. This was in 2014, costt was a tad above 265 K. There is alot of X5/6 ///M running around, motors was not touched, mileage above 200k.

Yup im going to have to fully agree with this.
I am a firm believe that most (Not all) S designation engines have a bad reputation due to the previous motors (S85, S65 specifically), and because of this, any M car engine is not a problem. stick to regular oil changes, and treat the engine right in terms of warming up etc, and they fine, but this topic has been beaten to death already.

from what i read online, the S63 is very reliable, and does not inherently suffer bearing issues, these only creep up due to neglect. Granted, my motor is still freshly rebuilt and has a mere 10 000km on the engine, but the motor hasnt missed a beat, no bad noises, or stumbles, and not a single oil/coolant leak at all.

 

[Gordvisr]

The other down fall, tuning or piggyback chips ( like mine had when bought ) and not doing homework correctly. Mine ran this route, owner damaged the turbo's and sold it at WBC.

 

[General.Massacre]

The other down fall, tuning or piggyback chips ( like mine had when bought ) and not doing homework correctly. Mine ran this route, owner damaged the turbo's and sold it at WBC.

True, ive been tempted to tune the M6 at some point, but the car is a great drive on stock software, and dont feel the need to tune right now. so apart from the DP, im happy with the car as is.

 

[TurboLlew]

True, ive been tempted to tune the M6 at some point, but the car is a great drive on stock software, and dont feel the need to tune right now. so apart from the DP, im happy with the car as is.

The other down fall, tuning or piggyback chips ( like mine had when bought ) and not doing homework correctly. Mine ran this route, owner damaged the turbo's and sold it at WBC.

The initial world of S63tu tuning was wild. Guys were randomly editing hex values and hoping for the best because everything was still encrypted. The "I never had a problem" gang was in full force defending their tuners on the international forums as well. Guys were sending their ECUs to have this done before OBD unlock was a thing.

Then there were tunes from 'Russia' where guys were going to remote into your PC to tune your car... The parameters the JB4s could control were limited so the torque was through the roof. There were guys even locally that were making way too much torque and breaking transmissions and drive shafts. Alot of those issues are now in the past with actual tuning capability fully unlocked for the F-series. I didn't have any issues with BootMod3 (MANY years into ownership)... even then the car was 99.9% of the time on the 'Stage 0' (Competition pack + catless DP) map. No need for fancy fuel or built transmissions or worrying about the precise plug gap and plug model to fix random misfire issues.

That said, IMHO totally pointless in a RWD even though I had it. It is a lot of fun in stock form. There are other platforms to chase more power on.

 

[Gordvisr]

True, ive been tempted to tune the M6 at some point, but the car is a great drive on stock software, and dont feel the need to tune right now. so apart from the DP, im happy with the car as is.

yes , mine the catless downpipes also installed, was tempted to do software but decided not to.

 

[Gordvisr]

The initial world of S63tu tuning was wild. Guys were randomly editing hex values and hoping for the best because everything was still encrypted. The "I never had a problem" gang was in full force defending their tuners on the international forums as well. Guys were sending their ECUs to have this done before OBD unlock was a thing.

Then there were tunes from 'Russia' where guys were going to remote into your PC to tune your car... The parameters the JB4s could control were limited so the torque was through the roof. There were guys even locally that were making way too much torque and breaking transmissions and drive shafts. Alot of those issues are now in the past with actual tuning capability fully unlocked for the F-series. I didn't have any issues with BootMod3 (MANY years into ownership)... even then the car was 99.9% of the time on the 'Stage 0' (Competition pack + catless DP) map. No need for fancy fuel or built transmissions or worrying about the precise plug gap and plug model to fix random misfire issues.

That said, IMHO totally pointless in a RWD even though I had it. It is a lot of fun in stock form. There are other platforms to chase more power on.

My "love" started with the S63 from your F10 ///M5 thread, allways had a soft spot for a V8, at a stage considered a Lumina, but inside the cockpit, was just not the same as a BMW ( for me anyway ), so for now what is better than a S63 powered X5 . ( Still aiming for an F10 by the way )

 

[Gordvisr]

One of your other points, transmission and shafts failure's. I know of one such (E70) X5///M somewhere here on the forum, that had this issue, motor is stock, never opened, over 200K on the ODO and it races GTR's on the strip. Very capable when tuned correctly.

 

[General.Massacre]

The initial world of S63tu tuning was wild. Guys were randomly editing hex values and hoping for the best because everything was still encrypted. The "I never had a problem" gang was in full force defending their tuners on the international forums as well. Guys were sending their ECUs to have this done before OBD unlock was a thing.

Then there were tunes from 'Russia' where guys were going to remote into your PC to tune your car... The parameters the JB4s could control were limited so the torque was through the roof. There were guys even locally that were making way too much torque and breaking transmissions and drive shafts. Alot of those issues are now in the past with actual tuning capability fully unlocked for the F-series. I didn't have any issues with BootMod3 (MANY years into ownership)... even then the car was 99.9% of the time on the 'Stage 0' (Competition pack + catless DP) map. No need for fancy fuel or built transmissions or worrying about the precise plug gap and plug model to fix random misfire issues.

That said, IMHO totally pointless in a RWD even though I had it. It is a lot of fun in stock form. There are other platforms to chase more power on.

Yep i agree with you Llew, thats why finding a tuner is hard these days.
the car is more than fun stock, gets sideways easily, and even in stock form struggles with traction in the lower gears.

Like Gord says, im enjoying the car also just as is, feels smooth in regualr comfort mode, and an animal in Sport+, its fun when it needs to be, and thats all i can ask.

 

[Gordvisr]

you ever drove in a SUV that gets tail happy ?

"Skrikked my gat af" a few times. Oh and on the X you dont have the sport + , but the M button, mine is permanently on, i just simply cannot drive without it .

On the tuning side, yes if i had free moola to fix what can break i might have done it but breaking these engines do not come cheap.

 

[Gordvisr]

TUrned 196000 Km, about 40 K since ownership, must be one of the best, most enjoyable cars i have owned. Had a trip down to KZN, had a blast. Downt there managed a 7.6 km per litre and the round trip avg at 6.4 km per litre. Have fun folks, happy holiday's

 

[Gordvisr]

Wnet down again this weekend, Now on 197855km, faultless drive.

 

[Gordvisr]

Just some more random shots. Happy Holidays peeps.

 

[SHABSFS]

Just some more random shots. Happy Holidays peeps.View attachment 26518View attachment 26519View attachment 26520View attachment 26521

Glad u enjoying your monster.
Also made a trip to Durbs with the X3 35i.
Roofbox on. 10km per litre.

 

[Gordvisr]

Glad u enjoying your monster.
Also made a trip to Durbs with the X3 35i.
Roofbox on. 10km per litre.

Not bad at all, want to get me a roofbox too. Really want to move down there.

 

[SHABSFS]

Not bad at all, want to get me a roofbox too. Really want to move down there.

 

[Gordvisr]

Just hit the 200 K mark. Other than a higher than normal fuel bill, no issues.

 

[Gordvisr]

 

[Gordvisr]

Reached 204XXX km, had a strange sound coming from below the car on pull away, stripped down and found the carrier bearing rubber damaged. Bearing still fine but replacing the whole unit. Decided while busy replaced universal too. Quite a job, one of the four studs on the exhaust also broke off. Will get the front lifted to remove the flange to install new studs when the assembling of drive shaft and groceries are complete.

 

[General.Massacre]

Reached 204XXX km, had a strange sound coming from below the car on pull away, stripped down and found the carrier bearing rubber damaged. Bearing still fine but replacing the whole unit. Decided while busy replaced universal too. Quite a job, one of the four studs on the exhaust also broke off. Will get the front lifted to remove the flange to install new studs when the assembling of drive shaft and groceries are complete.

Nice work, i assumed you needed a special tool to be able to replace the Guibo, but clearly not.
the amount of covers are insane lol. but good work none the less.

 

[Gordvisr]