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      12-21-2021, 11:12 PM   #14
FSHNGRY
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Drives: INDIVIDUAL F90 M5C LCI
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Fort Lauderdale

iTrader: (1)

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Naturally, after the “ooooo---aaaaaa” honeymoon stages are done and gone, you begin to feel bored with the lack of excitement. From start to finish, the whole process of making attempts to satisfy the “modbug” is the excitement of the entire process. The moment I click “complete purchase” on IND’s website, to the dozen or so emails for tracking updates, and then following the truck (sometimes literally) for my delivery of yet another expensive “touch up” to my car are some of the most exciting/aggravating times when a new car arrives. Not to mention the “what do you mean you can’t install this?” conversations I have with my shop at 4pm on a Friday lol

This round was one I was most excited for. I’ve shared my thoughts and concerns regarding the rear end control and balance, or lack thereof, along with the idea of downpipe. I voiced the same thoughts to Ryan over at @IND-Distribution and you guessed it, a solution was presented…followed by some problems, and then multiple solutions thereafter.

I also used this opportunity to adjust the overall stance of the car. Originally, I had fallen in love with how low it was. But as driving time and seat time went on, I was quickly shown that it was in fact, too slammed, and needed to be adjusted. Besides, tires rubbing the wheel well causing those cringeworthy scraping sounds are not cool. Certainly not in any way, shape or form acceptable in an M5. The rocker panel of the car was dead even from front to back as I had originally wanted. But the rear tires just felt too “tucked” for my liking and I wanted the equal squared off stance on all 4 corners. It is a time-consuming process to say the least, and one that requires alignment (even more damn aggravating) so getting this all done at once was the best bet. I'm happy to report that the seemingly minor changes to the suspension, have 86-ed the scarping noises.

Dinan Rear Suspension Link Kit:
Thank you @MILLER over at Dinan in Alabama. I had a limited amount of time away from work over the course of the last week, so sourcing, shipping, and installing everything in a limited timeframe was crucial. Miller was able to help me out by overnighting the item to me at no extra cost. Total gentleman! Thank you!

The whole problem in a nutshell, the F90 has this “looseness” and wobbly/feather light rear end feeling that did not make me feel as connected to the car as I’m used to. I know every car is different, but for the top-of-the-line M car- I expected different. You could REALLY feel it under hard acceleration and braking. My moment of “F this, time to order this ASAP came to me last week when I was traveling on the highway. It was a Sunday evening and limited traffic flow allowed for me to put the windows down and enjoy the passing lane. I’m sure the mixture of speed, open windows, wind, and air filling the cabin didn’t help. But I honestly did not feel safe traveling at the rate I was. I’ve also pinpointed the on/off ramps on the highway being the most noticeable to replicate the feeling I’m trying to describe. From what I understood, the Link kit is designed to prevent that flex during these periods, and in turn keep the car firmly planted.


Carbahn Tension Strut Ball Joint Kit:

*Shout out to @m5_guy again for the info on this! Had it not been for his help, I would be waiting around for another month or so to complete the famed “ball joint kit ‘fix’” everyone has been so thrilled with.

Steve Dinan (The founder/OG of Dinan) left his namesake and started “Carbahn.” I was informed that the “Dinan” version was backordered until December 2021 (which might as well be a year in my eyes) so this was an easy sell. Super quick turnaround, and helpful folks there as well.

Performance PROS
:
YES. YES. YES. YES. FINALLY! THIS is how the F90 should feel. NIGHT AND DAY difference. I’m completely OVER THE MOON on how the M5 now feels while driving. Full confidence restored. Although I am slightly let down that this “fix” came at the cost of about 2500 bucks after parts, install, and alignment took place. Especially for an M car that was north of 150k, I’m not exactly thrilled I had to go this route to feel “right”, but boy- what a difference. The best way to describe it, imagine a V8 Go-kart, with 650 HP, and cornering capabilities of an E46 M3. Yes- I just said that

Eisenmann Lower Downpipe:

Initially, I ordered these along with the Ball kit at the same time with the Rear links. Unfortunately, just like the Ball Joint kit, the Eisenmann Lower DP were ALSO backordered until late December of this year. Now most people would brush it off and wait it out. Some folks could end up canceling the item. Me, I just went up a notch in “I want this” when I’m told “it can’t be had” scale. Time to focus…

Vivid Racing showed one on their website. For some reason, no one answered the phone at 2am (kidding). I placed yet a second order for this downpipe, only this one was a few hundred more as it was the “Black series” Version.

Then another heartbreak occurred. An email- OUT. OF. STOCK. / “nationwide backorder” were the words used.
John at @Eurowerks tells me “I have an Upper and Lower Eisenmann set I installed on a client’s car. 2500 miles later, and he decided to go with a different set up”

SOLD.

The offer was too good to pass up. I have the Upper (Primary) Downpipes in the original box and kept safe. To my knowledge, tunes are not yet confirmed or available for this car, and I’m not into the idea at all having witnessed firsthand the strain it puts on the motor with my F82, so keeping the uppers would be pointless. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll list them for sale, or how much. If you’re someone that is REALLY after an Eisenmann Upper Downpipe SPECIFICALLY, I’ll entertain an offer – shoot me a PM!


SOUND:

Significantly more crisp and throatier. The same sound of the MPE is there. But the “gargle” sound at idle is far more pronounced. Seems comical to say this, but its not “muffled” anymore. The exhaust now just talks, sings, grumbles without restriction. The restriction that seemed to choke up the RPM range climb is now gone. I find that cruising at 5k RPM in 3rd or 4th gear doesn’t seem laggy or choppy. WAY louder at cold start, which I love.

PERFORMANCE:

You can feel it. There’s no exact description for how the power delivery has all of a sudden appeared, probably because after 600+ HP, what are you REALLY going to notice, right? Wrong. In my short time driving around with the new set up, I can somewhat confidently say that the added power comes in around 4k RPM. From what I’ve been told based on previous dyno testing to an F90, the lower unit alone is good for 24 WHP. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
I’m interested in seeing how the upper unit and a proper, well tested tune would make the M5 feel.


Here is the link to the cold start comparison video I made quickly and posted to my youtube channel. still haven't figured out how to embed them here, but check it out! happy to answer all questions as usual!



Enjoy, bimmerpost!

FSHNGRY
__________________
CURRENT: '21 M5| FSHNGRY | TARTUFO | CCB | MPE | KW | IND | EVENTURI | EISENMANN | DINAN | LOADED |
GONE: '15 F82 M4 | YMB | IND | MPERF | KW | BM3 | LOADED
GONE: '11 E92 335IS | BLKSPHR | OYSTER | LOADED
GONE: '05 E46 ZHP | LOADED | DINAN STG3 PKG |

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