The Project X Story: Chapter I, It Begins

The Project X Story: Chapter I, It Begins

Since we never gave you a full build thread for Project X, a.k.a. Dick Cook’s E53 X5, let’s do that now.

mfest1_9

Now that winter’s coming back into full swing, we were reminded that we’d never really made a fully fleshed-out, proper build thread for the X5. We were so wrapped up in secrecy at that point, that we never really got to show you many of the cool mid-construction shots of the X5 as it was being built by hand at FMU headquarters. After the front bumper began construction, we put a moratorium on all Project X content, preferring to show the big pieces during its big reveal at Tuner Galleria and MFest. But those are almost a year behind us, so let’s get to showing you everything we couldn’t. In true build thread form, let’s start all the way back at the beginning, shall we?

x5bt_1_1

Project X, before we gave it that name, wasn’t even our car to begin with. Rather, it was a wrecked X5 brought in by a customer with the goal of fixing it and giving it back to the owner. Well, as time went on, the customer gave us the car, but disappeared shortly thereafter. After plenty of time has passed, and after plenty of attempts to get a hold of the owner, we were left with one choice – put a mechanic’s lien on it. So we did, and that’s how we ended up owning this Bavarian beast.

x5bt_1_2

Ideas had been swirling in our head ever since we took possession of the car. We knew one thing from the outset – it wasn’t going to stay stock. But the second question was a bit trickier – what were we going to do with it? After plenty of thought had been given to the subject, we settled on creating a vehicle that oozed the aesthetic of urban assault, with the typical Fluid goal of launching fireballs. So we started doing some drawings and got to work.

x5bt_1_3

The wheels and tires were the first addition that took almost no time to settle on. In searching for the most aggressive SUV setup we could, we settled on Cragar’s steel wheels for that heavy-duty steelie look, and a set of Dick Cepek tires. These aren’t your normal tires – they are covered in skulls and bones, which doesn’t give off a very happy-go-lucky, take-your-kids-to-soccer aesthetic that’s typical of a normal X5.

x5bt_1_4

From there, we needed to set the X5 up such that the tire clearance wasn’t a problem. Instead of trying to find a kit on the internet, we made our own custom lift kit for the X5’s OE suspension setup. Featuring a billet aluminum set of spacers, it lifted up the X5 between 1 and 2 inches, providing the clearance we needed.

x5bt_1_5
x5bt_1_6
x5bt_1_7
x5bt_1_8

Finally, we made the exhaust for it. As with all our other custom setups, this featured nothing but 304 stainless steel and TIG welding. The setup is relatively large, with the midsection running 3” pipes up to the rear, where we expand to 4” at the tips. We went with a different routing system, as well, choosing to exit the pipes through the rear tow hook panel on the rear bumper. Sometimes it’s nice being able to showcase your craftsmanship front and center. Plus, the two tips directly next to one another could provide for much better fireballing.

x5bt_1_9

Well, that about sums up our first post on the build thread. There are 8 parts in total, so 7 more are on the way!

10 Comments
  • Ryan
    Posted at 15:35h, 15 November

    damn excited to see the rest of the build series. Such a beast.

  • Jonathan
    Posted at 21:59h, 27 November

    are pieces made for this build going to be made available for purchase? I’d love to have lifted X5. Also, is the overall diameter of your wheel and tire combo equal to that of the OE OAD? If not, what has been done to ensure that the transfer case can deal with the altered road speeds? I’ve hear X3 and X5 transfer cases can be pretty finicky when it comes to things like this.

  • fluidmotorunion
    Posted at 08:15h, 28 November

    Jonathan,

    We’re more than willing to make another custom setup for an X5. If this is something you might be interested in, shoot us an email at andrew@fluidmotorunion.com!

    And to answer your questions about the overall diameter, it’s not the same as the OE OAD. I’m not sure off the top of my head as to what we did with the transfer case, but it’s driven to Las Vegas and back (and not to mention all over town) without issue yet. Even off-road, the car is performing as well as it did in its fully stock form.

  • Jeremy
    Posted at 08:48h, 26 June

    I know it’s been awhile since the build, but do you happen to remember the dimensions of the rims. Like the bolt pattern and rims size.

  • fluidmotorunion
    Posted at 09:15h, 26 June

    Jeremy,

    Bolt pattern is 5×120, standard BMW. The wheels are 17×9 at all four corners.

  • Klāvs
    Posted at 13:49h, 11 August

    I’ve been thinking about putting Cragar wheels on my BMW. So, I have a few questions:
    1) Cragar wheels have 5×120,65 bolt pattern, which slightly differs from BMW’s 5×120. Did you use stock bolts or wobble bolts?
    2) did you use hub rings?

  • kevin
    Posted at 22:00h, 24 September

    are those 305 65 17? hard to see, i am also curious about purchasing the billet lift adaptors and curious what was done (if anything) to help the transfer case endure….thanks
    Kevin

  • CRAIG
    Posted at 11:11h, 22 October

    LOOKS GREAT. I WANT TO LIFT MY X5. HOW MUCH DO THE 2″ SPACERS GO FOR, ARE THEY INSTALLED @ THE TOP OF THE STRUT AND THE BODY TO GET THE 2″ LIFT.

    THANKS

  • adam
    Posted at 12:36h, 19 June

    hi I love this car and am trying to get a hold of a set of lift spacers can I order a set to be shipped to the uk?

  • fluidmotorunion
    Posted at 12:34h, 04 August

    Adam, thanks for your interest. Please e-mail mmarzano@fluidmotorunion.com and we’ll update you on the X5 kit.

Post A Comment