[jjh2oman]

Hello all,

I just picked up my first BMW last month after being pretty heavily involved with the Audi scene for the last several years. It was time to move on from my coupe to a sedan. So, I decided to make the switch, ending up with a 2014 550i M sport in carbon black metallic, with black interior. I absolutely love the car, even though I've only had it for a month now.



I've always been a fan of the OEM plus look, and I plan to keep this car clean and tasteful. One of my first orders of business was to fully detail the car and protect the paint, so I had a ceramic coating applied to the whole car just like I previously had on the Audi. I'm a huge fan of these coatings. I don't have the time to detail the car myself, but I still want the car looking flawless with no swirls so even though it is pricey it is great for me.

My birthday was just the other day, and my presents to myself finally arrived. Gloss black dual slat grilles and a set of DPE wheels. Can't wait to get some tires on those bad boys. I have only seen one other 5-Series with this DPE wheel set up, but it is one of my favs, clean and looks almost OEM but nicely concave. 20x9 ET 32 front 20x10.5 ET 45 rear.

Other mods coming soon:
Window tint
Rear spoiler - still trying to find the right one
Possibly vorsteiner front lip

Down the road:
Maybe lowering springs
ECU tuning

I'll keep updating as I go though.

[.BMW.]

Looks great!

Congrats.

[vpatel867]

looking good! I love carbon black metallic.

[The_M6]

Congrats! Those wheels are gonna be sharp.

[jjh2oman]

Originally Posted by Blu550

Congrats! Those wheels are gonna be sharp.

I am pretty excited to see them on in person. I'll post plenty of pics when I do.

[jjh2oman]

Originally Posted by vpatel867

looking good! I love carbon black metallic.

It's my favorite color, changes from black to midnight blue depending on the lighting.

[xxpanipuri]

looking good! Congrats on the new ride!

looking forward to see those wheels, check out ACS springs if you want a slight drop (1") but still maintain factory ride height...

[jjh2oman]

Originally Posted by xxpanipuri

looking good! Congrats on the new ride!

looking forward to see those wheels, check out ACS springs if you want a slight drop (1") but still maintain factory ride height...

Thanks, I like the sound of the 1" drop since this is the daily driver don't want to go too low, I'll check them out.

[xxpanipuri]

Originally Posted by jjh2oman

Thanks, I like the sound of the 1" drop since this is the daily driver don't want to go too low, I'll check them out.

here's my 2014 550i with the same springs....love the drop and the overall ride quality, its slightly stiffer (removed the floatiness from the stock suspension)

Also eliminated the dive/squat of the oem suspension.

when shocks need to be replaced, i'll prob go coilovers, however for now this works great! imho the cost of the springs is worth it (as they are more expensive than eibach and h&r)

[ThaiBruin]

Nice! You're my car twin! Minus about 150hp though... haha

Where in LA are you?

[jjh2oman]

Originally Posted by ThaiBruin

Nice! You're my car twin! Minus about 150hp though... haha

Where in LA are you?

My long lost twin! I'm in Redondo Beach. I'm sure you feel the same, in this area it's hard to properly use the HP a lot of times with all the traffic.

[jjh2oman]

Originally Posted by xxpanipuri

here's my 2014 550i with the same springs....love the drop and the overall ride quality, its slightly stiffer (removed the floatiness from the stock suspension)

Also eliminated the dive/squat of the oem suspension.

when shocks need to be replaced, i'll prob go coilovers, however for now this works great! imho the cost of the springs is worth it (as they are more expensive than eibach and h&r)

Really a nice look, a perfect fit without going too low. Nice car btw!

[ThaiBruin]

Originally Posted by jjh2oman

My long lost twin! I'm in Redondo Beach. I'm sure you feel the same, in this area it's hard to properly use the HP a lot of times with all the traffic.

Yea... main reason I didn't drop the extra cash on the 550i. Though I do regret it from time to time. But who doesn't regret not ponying up for more HP? I'm sure if I got a 550, I'd be regretting not getting an M5. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around, I'm in Playa Vista.

[lsturbointeg]

Congrats!

[BMW BRAD]

Nice ride! I LOVE Carbon Black, but super dark, almost black colors scared me! (as far as upkeep) How much does the ceramic coating run?

[jjh2oman]

Originally Posted by BMW BRAD

Nice ride! I LOVE Carbon Black, but super dark, almost black colors scared me! (as far as upkeep) How much does the ceramic coating run?

There are different levels, and a graded price based on how many coats you want. 5 coats comes with a lifetime warranty and cost me around $1700. I went with the max coating, but 3 coats and I forget 3 or 5 year warranty wasn't much cheaper, $1350. It makes upkeep easy, my Audi was a similar color, deep sea blue.

My old ride below, but you can't stay in the coupe too long with a baby on the way. [IMG][/IMG]

[xxpanipuri]

Originally Posted by BMW BRAD

Nice ride! I LOVE Carbon Black, but super dark, almost black colors scared me! (as far as upkeep) How much does the ceramic coating run?

you can even do the ceramic coating yourself. however it is a long multi step process, but well worth it.

I did this as opposed to dropping 1k on the coating i was looking at, and having them keep my car over 2 days.

Its amazing how much they charge for this stuff.

the shop i was going to take it to was 1k with the paint correction included, but no wheels or windows.

another shop was 1500 with paint correction.

I spent a weekend doing it myself.

The materials cost me 180 (for the wolfgang uber ceramic coating kit).
I already had the Porter Cable Dual Action buffer and pads etc.

Now it remains to be seen how well my $180 coating will hold up (manufacturer says 3 years)

Either way these ceramic coatings are no brainers specially for dark cars.

combine with proper washing (i use a foam cannon with pressure washer) they do a good job protecting your paint.

[xxpanipuri]

Originally Posted by jjh2oman

There are different levels, and a graded price based on how many coats you want. 5 coats comes with a lifetime warranty and cost me around $1700. I went with the max coating, but 3 coats and I forget 3 or 5 year warranty wasn't much cheaper, $1350. It makes upkeep easy, my Audi was a similar color, deep sea blue.

My old ride below, but you can't stay in the coupe too long with a baby on the way. [IMG][/IMG]

which coating did u have on the audi?

[jjh2oman]

Originally Posted by xxpanipuri

which coating did u have on the audi?

Ceramic Pro

[lsturbointeg]

what about the chrome grills? are you planning on changing those out?

[jjh2oman]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

what about the chrome grills? are you planning on changing those out?

Oh yeah, dual slat gloss black JBSPEED grilles are on the way. I thought about OEM dual slat but didn't like the way it looks once debadged, the asymmetry was too much for me.

[The_M6]

Originally Posted by jjh2oman

Oh yeah, dual slat gloss black JBSPEED grilles are on the way. I thought about OEM dual slat but didn't like the way it looks once debadged, the asymmetry was too much for me.

I have the dual slat JBSpeed black grills on my car...perfect fit.