Blackknight530i 530i6 -> M5 Conversion Build Thread

[blackknight530i]

That's the worst part about owning an E39— all the other drivers that don't give a damn about our cars.

The funny part is your insurance probably still considers your car a 200k mile 530i, when it's really a lower mileage M5. Do you have agreed value on it?

Yeah, 222k mile 530iA to be exact . Hit this the other day:



No, Geico wouldn't do agreed value on it, but it's their insurance that is supposed to cover it, so I'm not sure it should matter. In reality, I have no contract with her insurance company, so they should really cover whatever it costs to make it right, but I'm no expert on insurance companies and getting in accidents. This is the first one I've ever been in where insurance was needed to get involved. When you sign up with an insurance policy, they do a check on your VIN and give you a premium based on that, but if it's someone else's insurance paying for damages, I would think they should just pay whatever it costs to make it as good as it was.

Either way, the shop just told me that when he said he figured there wouldn't be an issue with getting them to pay it all, he made the mistake of assuming the value was based on a M5, not a 530i, so there is still a question, but he's checking on it today. I'll know as soon as he lets me know.

[philly98540]

Sorry you got whacked Paul. Soccer mom texting?

Good luck with insurance. That does not sound like fun.

[blackknight530i]

Sorry you got whacked Paul. Soccer mom texting?

Good luck with insurance. That does not sound like fun.

No, older lady on her way to her daughter's house in my neighborhood. She claims she just didn't see me, even though I was at a stop sign, but I guess my car is all black and was in a shady spot. Either way, even if she didn't see me, she shouldn't have clipped the corner and gone into my lane. People do it all the time though.

[auaq]

"Should buff right out!"

- Bf.c 2018

[Jason5driver]

Wow, sorry to hear...
I can't believe the quote was over $4k...
Maybe the quote would be lower if recognizing that the car is a 530i?
Also, do you think the Ground Control coil-overs road better on Brian's car?
What are the spring rates, and how many miles are on the coil-overs?
Thanks!
Jason

[philly98540]

Dibs on cluster if totalled!! JK P!

[blackknight530i]

Wow, sorry to hear...
I can't believe the quote was over $4k...
Maybe the quote would be lower if recognizing that the car is a 530i?
Also, do you think the Ground Control coil-overs road better on Brian's car?
What are the spring rates, and how many miles are on the coil-overs?
Thanks!
Jason

The quote was for all brand new OE parts. New M5 bumper ($700), fender ($468), headlight ($1400), headlight trim, etc. Then add in painting and R&I labor. That said, if they give me crap for it being as high as it is, I could easily get used parts for much cheaper and bring the quote down. Also, I don't need a whole headlight, but since it's only sold as a complete headlight, I would just get new lenses. Of course, I would love to be able to just get new parts. No, the quote would be just as high if it was a 530i, except for maybe $100-200 or so difference in the bumper cost (if there is even that much). The rest is the same for both models.

I didn't ever ride in Brian's M5 that much. Just on occasion and mostly around town, and even then it wasn't like living with it in my car. They feel somewhat similar to riding around in his M5T, but again, we don't really get up to highway speeds much, so it's hard to know. My description of "bouncy" isn't really super accurate. Basically, it feels like it's controlled over every single bump. This means if there are several small bumps in succession, it rides over them all without the tires feeling like they ever lose contact with the ground. There isn't very much absorption if you get my meaning. It's not going to soak up the bumps like a Cadillac, but it seems a bit too "controlled". I might back off the damping a bit and see if it improves the feel.

The spring rates are I think their street/HPDE rates, but I can't remember what that actually is. They have about 25-30k miles on them I think.

[JimLev]

Paul, sorry to see your car with dents in it. Nice that your going to get the front resprayed.
Hope everything turns out OK.

[blackknight530i]

Hey guys! I've got excellent news! The adjuster approved all repairs other than repainting the hood (figure he wouldn't anyways as it was just a minor scratch on the side of the hood that isn't seen when it's closed), but since he approved a brand new headlight and I'm only going to replace the lens, I'll have a bunch of money left over to cover respraying the hood and probably enough to buy M5 pork chops that I was missing brand new . Work will begin on Monday. I'm told that there will be no marks on neither the Carfax nor the title, so that's a huge plus, though I'm not worried about selling the car anyways, so doesn't make that big of a deal.

[JimLev]

That's good news Paul.

[auaq]

Nice!

[philly98540]

Very good news! Car is going to be like new.

[Jason5driver]

Awesome that everything worked out well!
Pictures of the car with the Ground Control coil-overs ?

[blackknight530i]

Awesome that everything worked out well!
Pictures of the car with the Ground Control coil-overs ?

Won't be able to get those until car is back home.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[MrDucky]

I want that cluster......

Your projects are realy awesome, i wish i was that handy :P

[blackknight530i]

I want that cluster......

Your projects are realy awesome, i wish i was that handy :P

I can make it happen, www.facebook.com/Fixels.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[blackknight530i]

So, the good news is that the car is done as of Friday and I'm getting about a $400 balance check back after having him repaint the hood and both fenders along with the new bumper. He tells me it looks amazing. The bad news is that I had to work late yesterday and wasn't able to get by there before he left, so I'll need to get it later. He says that he should be in the shop on Sunday and Monday, so I'll probably drop by then. I also received one of my new M-Sport pork chops for the M5 bumper that has the brake duct holes in them. The other one will come in Tuesday. They were purchased from FCP Euro, so hopefully if they get damaged in the future, I can just get new ones using lifetime warranty. They were about $240 each, so that $400 balance check will go towards those pretty much exclusively. I'll just be happy to finally be able to install the M5 belly pan and have a complete car. My genuine M5 trunk lip spoiler that I had my buddy paint a while back is done, but I still need to pick it up and swap it out for the cheap Taiwan one I have now. Then it's finding some M5 side mirrors and getting those painted, installing the M5 exhaust and getting the trunk floor modified before the M5 conversion will be complete. At that point, and only at that point, I'll cut in the holders in the door rub strips and add the M5 badges and add the brand new M5 badge to the trunk.

[purplecty]

So, the good news is that the car is done as of Friday and I'm getting about a $400 balance check back after having him repaint the hood and both fenders along with the new bumper. He tells me it looks amazing. The bad news is that I had to work late yesterday and wasn't able to get by there before he left, so I'll need to get it later. He says that he should be in the shop on Sunday and Monday, so I'll probably drop by then. I also received one of my new M-Sport pork chops for the M5 bumper that has the brake duct holes in them. The other one will come in Tuesday. They were purchased from FCP Euro, so hopefully if they get damaged in the future, I can just get new ones using lifetime warranty. They were about $240 each, so that $400 balance check will go towards those pretty much exclusively. I'll just be happy to finally be able to install the M5 belly pan and have a complete car. My genuine M5 trunk lip spoiler that I had my buddy paint a while back is done, but I still need to pick it up and swap it out for the cheap Taiwan one I have now. Then it's finding some M5 side mirrors and getting those painted, installing the M5 exhaust and getting the trunk floor modified before the M5 conversion will be complete. At that point, and only at that point, I'll cut in the holders in the door rub strips and add the M5 badges and add the brand new M5 badge to the trunk.

Awesome! Can't wait to see pics...

Sent from my SM-N910T3 using Tapatalk

[blackknight530i]

Ok, so I got the car back today and it looks incredible! The paint color match is perfect and other than it looking a bit newer, you can't tell it's been repainted. It just so happens to be a nice sunny day today and while at Wendy's for lunch, one of the women behind the counter was talking to a friend and said, "Who's BMW is that out there?", LOL. She wanted the keys.

I already have the new headlight lens installed as well. I love that now that I've cut the original lenses off I can just use butyl and heat it up in the oven to re-open them.

The reason I'm not posting pics yet is that while the paint was drying on the bumper rub strips and headlight trim, his guy knocked them off and they got scratched, so he is repainting them and I'll be able to get them tomorrow.

I can say that the 15mm spacers I installed, with the car on the Ground Controls, look perfect and don't seem to rub. If you'll recall, I was testing them out when the accident happened initially, so it's only now that I'm able to know for sure. I'm debating whether or not I want to lower the car a bit more.

Pics tomorrow.

[philly98540]

Sounds like the pics are going to show well! Congrats on solid repairs.

[blackknight530i]

Picked up the remaining painted parts from the body shop tonight and got them installed. Car now looks complete from the front. I also installed the brand new pork chops with brake cooling duct openings, the metal brake ducts that I've had sitting around for nearly a year now, and the M5 belly pan I've also had sitting around forever. I'm missing a few clips for the belly pan and had to make do with some screws for the pork chops, but at least they're all mounted and looking good.

I might need to find another set of M5 rear fender liners as the ones I got recently had the screw tabs for the lower deflectors broken off. I bought brand new deflectors, but realize that the clips attach to the fender liners, and those are gone. Not a huge issue, but something I want to fix at some point.

I talked to my buddy who is going to do the trunk floor mod for my exhaust and he's still working on my buddy's e30 exhaust, so it will still be a little while before he can get to it. I really want to get that done so I can actually feel better about driving it around with the M5 rear bumper. Right now it looks pretty pathetic with the 530i exhaust showing through the diffuser, LOL. I could probably pick up a 540i M-Sport diffuser and use Brian's old muffler from his 540it M-Sport, but I would still need that welded up and it probably would be more effort than it's worth. Not really driving the car much right now since it's winter and the car looks spectacular, so if it has to wait til the spring, that's fine. It turns out my wagon's battery died today, so I had to buy a replacement for that, so at least I can keep driving it around in the cold.

Both of my cars are going to need the seat heater wiring installed soon. Both have heated seats, but neither have the wiring for them. I pulled the wiring out my old e38 though, so I just need to pull the seats and carpets to install it. Such a pain.

I didn't get pics of the M5 today as I finished later this evening and we were supposed to get snow this afternoon as well. I'll take some pics when it's sunny again.

[amancuso]

Awesome on not totalling out that car. There is hope out there for all of us!

[blackknight530i]

Awesome on not totalling out that car. There is hope out there for all of us!

For sure!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Jason5driver]

Can’t wait for the pictures.
How’s the Ground Control coil-overs?

[blackknight530i]

Can’t wait for the pictures.
How’s the Ground Control coil-overs?

Still working on dialing them in. On smooth roads, they feel incredible. On rougher roads, they seem to be a bit under or over damped, so I'll need to play with the adjuster a bit. I think it needs a bit more damping, but I won't know til I play with it. I've still got a strange clunk at low speeds that I need to figure out. From what I can tell, it's nothing in the suspension, but it feels and sounds like it's the suspension. Going to check tightness of motor mount nuts and see if there's any evidence of leaking. Everything is all still pretty new, so I'm a bit baffled. Still salt brine on the roads and it's cold af, so won't be dealing with it right away.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk