Been a member of bimmerpost for awhile but have only had my X1 since about last May. I have owned 3 BMWs thus far and the X1 is surprisingly my favorite. It is not the prettiest car, but on paper, it checks so many boxes that so many other cars fall short on.
Anyway, now that I have some good experience with it (and a ridiculous 17,000 miles in 7 months), I feel its time I make a build thread.
Still need to get the pictures off of my camera so bare with me.
Modifications:
Engine:
Cyba Air Scoops
K&N Drop-In Intake Filter
JB4 G5 with ISO mod + Flex Fuel Wires
VRSF Chargepipes (hot side and cold side)
VRSF 7" Intercooler
VRSF Downpipe
Transmission:
Alpina B3 Transmission Flash
Wheels/Tires:
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ in 235/50/18 fronts; 255/45/18 rears
BMS 15 mm spacers + extended lug bolts
Suspension:
Bilstein B6 HD Shocks
Eibach Pro-Lift Springs *Tips hat to new-found homie tiltmode43*
Dinan Camber Plates
Body/Lighting:
5500K Low Beam D1S
5500K HID Fog Lights H11
OEM Mudflaps
Weathertech window deflectors
18% side window tint / 3% rear window tint
Hidden Hitch Class III Hitch + Yakima DoubleDown-4 Bike Rack
Thule Sonic Roofbox
Coding:
M-Sport Coding
E-Diff turned off
One touch turn signals 5 flash (instead of 3)
Various others
My overall goal for the car is to make it the most versatile daily driver possible. I have owned an X3 but thought it was too big, and had a 330i before that literally made me grin every time I drove it. The X1 has somehow become a combination of the two in a way that is absolutely incredible. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the build as much as I do.
Day 1: This is the day I picked up my X1, after deciding to trade in my beloved X3. I did not like M54B25 drivetrain it had, along with some fears I had with its xDrive having problems in the near future since I had just crossed into the 140k miles range on it. The size difference is pretty crazy. This was also the day I decided I wanted the X1 to sit more like the X3 in height.
I felt fortunate to pick up one of the last 2015 BMW X1 x35i's that was not registered to anyone yet. It was a CPO Elite car with 10k miles on it that I got for almost $20k off MSRP so the decision was very easy for me.
If you can't tell from the X3 picture, I absolutely need dark window tint on my cars. Being in Chicago, I see it as my own insurance policy against petty theft. I ended up putting tint on the X1 within 72 hours of purchasing it. Next was air scoops:
I basically just measured location of where the mounts would go for E9X Fitment and drilled a hole in the plastic paneling above the grill to fit the screws. Literally mounts up the same way it would on an E9X.
1 month in:
I noticed that while I enjoyed the power of the N55, it felt inconsistent in the heat of summer so I decided to go for an intake filter, intercooler and chargepipe upgrade. The VRSF 7" intercooler looks massive compared to the stocky. The stock intercooler comes out in under 10 minutes, but the VRSF one is a little tricky to wiggle in. You have to trim some of the plastic behind the center lower grill on the bumper.
The hardest part however, was putting on the hot side connection because things get tight pretty quickly. Getting this connection off is what makes install go from taking 20-30 min to taking over an hour..
Because you have to cut off the metal band on this pipe to get your VRSF intercooler to mount up to it:
It admittedly felt WRONG to have a car with so few miles apart like this but it was worth it
July/August 2016:
I was starting to feel pretty comfortable with the X1 and all of its features after getting it coded. Still, I had a craving for a little more power since its essentially a 335xi wagon underneath everything, so I decided to throw on a JB4 with Flex Fuel wires and VRSF Catless Downpipe. This was hell putting it on because the front subframe has to be disconnected and lowered slightly to get enough room for everything.. because xDrive...
September/October 2016:
I tried to calm myself down at this point because I realized that while I was looking for an adequate replacement for the X3 that had better power, I wasn't looking to go crazy on it either. The only thing I really added was a set of bimmian orange reflector covers (white) that I think helped change the look of the front end.
I mainly spent these few months enjoying the car for what it was. It was rather hilarious seeing the looks on peoples faces when they'd see me keep up just fine on cruises with car friends.
Photo from a cruise our group did out to Galena, IL. The closest thing to winding roads I'll ever see in Illinois..
One of the more fun trips was a road trip out Aspen, Colorado. This really let me stretch the X1's legs out.
Passing through the mile-high city:
Somewhere on the way back, we had a Mercedes GLA 250 come park next to me one day. These cars could truly be siblings.
November / December 2016:
I had been biking more regularly to work and decided that it was time I actually get a bike rack for the X1. Searching around on the forum of what other member's experiences were, I wasn't sure if I was going to with a roof mount setup or a dedicated rear hitch. I ended up deciding to get a dedicated rear hitch because of the added ability to add a basket carrier / possibly even tow small equipment.
I ordered a Hidden Hitch Class III 2" hitch with a Yakima DoubleDown 4-bike bike rack along with a deadbolt 2" hitch lock. I added a Reese TowPower hitch cover later as well.
Install wasn't too bad, but I've seen some videos of people installing it while only removing the rear bumper's lower plastic trim. I have no idea how they pulled that off because there's not enough room for it in my experience. This was actually my second go at it where I decided to just pull the bumper completely to make life easier.
And the Yakima DoubleDown bike rack looks pretty good against the X1. Had a co-worker joke that it makes the X1 look like the most Subaru-looking BMW out there.
This actually brought me back to the idea in my head about wanting to lift the X1 and took notes from tiltmode43's experience in lifting his X1. I ordered the same Eibach Pro-Lift kit from the UK and began prepping to lift the X1.
At this point I decided to wait to look for shocks as well because I didn't want to risk losing highway stability for the lift. I pretty much sat on these springs until I found something worthwhile.
In the mean time, I decided to get new tires as I somehow managed to kill my stock Pirelli Cinturato P7's. With winter rolling in and not really caring for a dedicated winter tire this time around compared to my previous cars, I decided to get the best all-season available to me - the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+.
To aide in getting rid of the undersized tire look, I sized out 235/50/18's in the front and 255/45/18's in the rear. It helped make the X1 look a lot less like a car and more like a small SUV. I wish I had any pictures of this, but its just tires, so I didn't end find a reason to.
January 2017:
I added the Weathertech side window deflectors and finally got a kinda okay picture of the tires. They definitely change the look of the car a lot.
Had this guy park next to me at work, and I pretty much decided instantly that I needed to finish the lift.. lol
sidenote - when the f did Honda Pilot's get this big?
I ended up picking up Bilstein B6 HD Shocks all around and per tiltmode43's recommendation a set of camber plates. I decided on Dinan Camber plates because they are a fixed plate instead of the adjustable ones that some companies offer. Along with hearing mixed reviews about the adjustable camber plates, I mainly wanted less moving parts to keep reliability where it should be.
More to come later...
