European Member M-bitious (Frank) BMW M5 E60 individual carbon black metallic with aftermarket options from Hartge, Manhart Racing, StopTech, Evosport, RPI, Mos-Tec, Bavarian Soundwerks, Audison, Senergy and Cargraphic + more
European Member M-bitious (Frank) BMW M5 E60 individual carbon black metallic with aftermarket options from Hartge, Manhart Racing, StopTech, Evosport, RPI, Mos-Tec, Bavarian Soundwerks, Audison, Senergy and Cargraphic + more
BMW M5 E60 individual carbon black metallic
This is the story behind my Euro carbon black BMW M5 E60 (2007 facelift) and the changes I have made to the car over the past year. I went from an M3 E46, to the M6, the latest M3 E92 and back to the raw power of the M5 V10. Yes I like my M’s. I don’t believe anyone has introduced his modified car in this way, and I hope you will enjoy it. Let me start with some general pictures with the end result then detailed pictures of each modification showing you what the parts are. The tuner names are all hyperlinked for your convenience. My goal was not to change the general appearance of the car too much, as if it could have left the factory as a special edition. On the other hand I wanted a more aggressive look, a more powerful NA engine and a better sound system. I hope you will enjoy this trip.
Frank.
Note: I had to use some pictures from suppliers and should anyone object then such a picture will be removed.
I would like to thank Adam and Bart for taking most of these brilliant pictures.
3 piece 9.5 and 10.5 x 21 inch Cargraphic rims with Conti Sport Contact 3 in 255/30/21 and 295/25/21. I realize that these wheels are heavier than stock, but it is a small sacrifice for good looks. The wheels weigh about 13.5 kg. I actually haven’t noticed/measured any difference in performance, but then again my Stoptech brakes are lighter than stock.
HARTGE – Spoilers, springs, steering wheel, pedals.
The Hartge front splitter actually produces some extra down force at high speeds. All German tuning parts have to pass the TÜV, so it is more than simple cosmetics.
Hartge lowering springs. Comfort is almost oem and the 25 mm drop still allows me to take all these ridiculous speed bumps. Body roll is obviously less now. I could have gone for a coil over, but I didn’t want to lose the EDC settings.
Stoptech 6 pot Big Brake Kit 380x35 mm at the front with slotted discs. I decided to go for slotted discs as they are more heat resistant than drilled ones. Braking has improved dramatically with no fading whatsoever. If you look at the last video clip, you will understand why braking is important to me.
Carbon Factory is one of my favorite companies. The grilles and all other parts are better than oem quality. I just can’t believe how nice all their work is, and relatively cheap as well. You simply send them your oem part and they do their magic. They will also purchase a new oem part for you and overlay that, so you can keep the original part.
Carbon factory upper mirror covers with oem gloss black lower cover. Be warned that these upper covers are a lot of work to install. The whole mirror needs to be disassembled.
Carbon factory engine bay parts. Nice little photo shop job. There are 9 parts overlaid with real carbon and it looks so classy. This is how BMW should have done it. A board member already classified this engine bay to be “the sexiest on the m5board”.
CA-Automotive black/silver carbon trunk roundel. I had Bimmian stickers before this, but they came off during heavy rain. These babies are the real thing.
Carbon door pins. I just happened to come across these on my first visit to their website and thought they looked really smart. A first step to greater things by Roy and his people.
CA-Automotive remap including speed delimit, 8,400 rpm raised rev limit and smg software, which makes the transmission shift faster and smoother when not at WOT. Engine management defaults to P500 and they activated video on the move. In winter I use the spare key which defaults to P400. Mike can do almost anything you wish with very reasonable pricing. The tuning list below resulted in the following dyno sheet with 450 RWD bhp and 510 Nm of torque. I don’t have a before dyno. There is a bit of a strange torque dip at 4,500 rpm, but we’ll look into that. Next on the list are the Stage 2 Schrick cams with custom live remap by Mike. I will have the car dynoed afterwards.
Race Precision ram air induction kit with BMC air filters. Cheap power making mod. Nuff said. This is a mod that even I could do myself. It takes half an hour to do the whole thing. I have been driving in heavy rain storms and no water gets into the air boxes at all.
The Evosport under drive pulley kit was also installed by CA Automotive. Under drives the accessories by 12%, allowing more power to go to the wheels. Unlike other reports my M5 does not run any hotter than before, but revs quicker and easier.
Manhart Racing 3.91 differential making the engine run 250 rpm higher per each 62 mph. I noticed a much quicker 62 – 125 mph time. More than 1.5 seconds (hand clocked), which is quite impressive. The top speed is still in excess of 335 km/h or 208 mph on the speedo at 8,000 rpm.
The BSW stage 1 speaker upgrade gives a better kick bass than the Harmann Kardon Prologic 7 set and the treble is much clearer. The subwoofers under the seats I left untouched.
This Herz Mille ML 2500 subwoofer I had installed in a ported enclosure. It is a sound quality subwoofer, rather than SPL, that even with only 10 inch size can withstand 600 Watt RMS. It is therefore very heavy. (But I have enough power to compensate for it).
I have always liked the quality of the (LRx 5.1MT) Audison ABD class amplifier. It is a 5 channel amp producing 2x60, 2x170 and 1x750Watt at 4 Ohm. There is no distortion at any sound level.
The Audison bit-one digital sound processor de-equalizes the oem system and can then be fine tuned through a laptop to suit your needs. You actually have to measure the distance between each speaker and your head for the best performance.
I decided to have everything neatly hidden behind this wall. Even with the enclosure and the huge amp behind it, it can still take enough bags for 4 people.
The Audison Bit one in car remote allows further adjustment of the sound and allows personal presets. Often CD’s sound much better than the radio, so I simply select a different setting for that.
The Senergy 6 DVD changer for movies or live music recordings to be selected with a remote control. Obviously the car has various switch boxes installed for the monitors, AV capability and the AUX port was dealer activated.
The Senergy digital tv and radio allow me to receive all common stations and then some, although in my country they are all encrypted, so you need a Digitenne subscription. The picture shows that on screen car messages pop up through the movie image at the bottom and i-drive allows me to change source or channel. Once set I usually change the screen back to GPS and leave the movie to the people in the back.
BMW M5 embroidered floor and trunk mats. We can’t get these in Europe and I can’t order them from Europe. But hey, a board member helped me out here. Gotta love the m5board!
To make the car come alive I uploaded some clips to youtube.
I hope this was both interesting and useful. If you need detailed information (like pricing) from me, the best way is to PM me. General questions I will answer in this thread.
Fantastic car! So beautiful! I got a white E60 M5 and would love to have so much carbon fiber on my car but it's kinda expensive. Thank you for sharing!
Question: How is the evosport pulley working? Do you feel the gain? I want to get it put I am not 100% sure yet. Does it have an effect on the warranty?
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European Member M-bitious (Frank) BMW M5 E60 individual carbon black metallic with aftermarket options from Hartge, Manhart Racing, StopTech, Evosport, RPI, Mos-Tec, Bavarian Soundwerks, Audison, Senergy and Cargraphic + more
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