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I've just done this procedure tonight in my driveway using ramps. I used the ECS "kit" which has both bars, bushings, front brackets etc... Based on what I found on my 4/2011 production non-sport, non-DHP 535xi:
REAR:
- T30 and 16mm socket/wrench to work with the link ends.
- 16mm to work with the brackets
- break link ends with socket, switch to holding with wrench then drive the T30 opposite to unfasten
- IMO this would have been far easier with the suspension at least partially unloaded. The swing arms were simply in the way and I spent most of the whole job trying to get the old bar out and the new bar in. If the car were lifted halfway, it probably would have been a no brainer.
FRONT:
- 8mm nut driver/socket required for a zillion undertray bolts.
- be careful of the underbody members under the endlinks - they can be undone and carefully swung out of the way as long as the undertray plastic is still flexible (may not work in cold temps)
- T40 and 18mm required for end links
- E18 required for brackets
- Torques are quite high on the front, have sturdy tools.
- removal and reassembly are a no brainer on ramps with suspension in normal position
- the front bar is heavier, and more thought/caution should be taken with supporting the weight of the bar so it doesn't do collateral damage to yourself or to wiring, brake lines or plastic under the car. It's not heavy, but if you just whip out the bracket bolts and it shifts or falls you will damage something
- the bracket bolts are not the same length - PAY ATTENTION
DRIVING OBSERVATIONS SO FAR:
- corners flatter (but that was never my main F10 complaint in the first place)
- understeer feels more evident - either I'm revealing understeer already present by being more able/willing to push the limits of the tires in street driving (not something usually done in my F10, E39 and E90 all the time) or there is outright more understeer with this setup than with factory non-sport x-drive. I drove around the block with the rear upgrade only and the handling was more neutral but still so wallow-y I wouldn't want to not do the front. I think this would be better matched with a 17-18mm rear bar instead of the 16mm. I'd love to find one and try. (18mm was my first instinct)
- no change to steering feel, lack of "BMW-ness", feedback or communication
- it should have been more like this from the factory - I haven't noticed any downsides in comfort
- it does not make the car feel smaller, lighter etc... it just tracks a little flatter through the curves and feels less like it responds to steering input by leaning instead of turning. (when I upgraded the rear bar only on my 704-equipped I6 E39 the improvement was dramatic - the change in balance to being almost neutral made it feel like a much smaller, tossable car)
Yes, I'd recommend doing it, but it's not going to make it an E39, E46, E90 (or even an E60). There's still lots of BMW-ness missing, at least from my 2011 X-drive despite hydraulic steering. There are some in F10 forums saying that what's missing from the steering on the F10, and improved on the F10 LCI, is "tightness" and stiffness in the surrounding suspension, and that bars and springs will largely fix the issue. I disagreed when I first read it and still do now. I think that hydraulic assist owners may need changes to rack (faster ratio) and pump (less boost) and we all - maybe even more for X-drive - need changes to suspension geometry (castor and return-to-center force). Electric boost owners may see a lot of improvement from software alone, and perhaps BMW slipped the changes in to the LCI.
Now if I could only retrofit 704, or get some coilovers, and we could see where we get. Or, even better, if someone discovered a rack or PS pump retrofit to bring back the love.
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