BMW F10 2015 535d Stage 2 (ultimate daily!)
Discussion
Hi All, I thought it was time I did a write up on my 2015 BMW 535d. I’ve owned this car for about 15 months now and to be honest, I’ve modified it far more than I anticipated since taking ownership. I am sucker for tinkering with my own cars and a bit of a BMW fan boy, so it felt like the 535d was the perfect candidate to become the ultimate daily driver. I’ve listed below all the modifications I have made; all the engine mods have yielded me 410bhp and approximately 800nm of torque (dyno prinout below). When driven sensibly on the motorway, I am still getting 45mpg-50mpg and local driving mid-30s so I am very pleased with the results. My other toy is a 1999 CLK55 AMG and although this car will never sound as remotely good as that car, it sounds completely different with the DPF removed and not half-bad to listen to.
Performance Modifications:
• Intercooler (Darkside Developments)
• DPF delete (Darkside Developments)
• Swirl flap delete (Darkside Developments)
• EGR valve delete (software)
• Stage 2 ECU tune (Performance Remap Ltd, Gloucester)
• Stage 3 XHP gearbox map (Performance Remap Ltd, Gloucester)
• Performance strut bar brace
• Sport+ mode and launch control (coded)
Cosmetics
• M Performance rear diffuser
• M Performance front splitter
• M Performance side skirt extensions
• M Performance carbon exhaust tips
• M mirror caps
• PMS style boot spoiler
• M4 GTS style rear lights
• Steering wheel wrap (East Detailing)
• Alcantara wrap dash trim
• Carbon fibre wrap dash trim
• 10mm spacers (front), 12mm spacers (rear)
• Chameleon windscreen tint
• Brake calipers painted
ICE
• 12” Android head unit
• Integrated dash cam
• Rear view camera reftrofit
• Speed limit info (coded)
• Digital speedo (coded)
• Sports displays (coded)
No reliability issues since I have had the stage 2 tune. I had a water leak recently but this was a bad pipe rather then any issues cooling the car.
In terms of what else I am planning to do: this particular car did not come with paddle shift and I have parts on order to retrofit this. I am also considering retrofitting folding mirrors. The other thing I would really like are some sportier seats although I’ve read M5 seats will not work due to coding issues. If anyone has any suggestions on seats, I am all ears.
I know the cosmetic changes are not to everyone’s taste, particularly the boot spoiler although I think it gives the car a little bit more of an aggressive look that it deserves. I would like to add that I haven’t added any M badges to my car that don’t belong there! Yes, the M mirror caps don't belong on my car and I was against fitting them...but guess what, BMW now fit this style mirror caps on their semi skimmed M cars so it's no longer a full-fat M characteristic. There are absolutely no additional “aquafresh” stripes anywhere! This is a massive hate of mine, especially when people are rebadging their cars to M320d, or my favourite on the X cars, and MX5 lol I recently saw someone put a M550d (US exclusive model!) on their 530d ffs
One thing that definitely intrigued me were the features I ended up coding in. Bearing in mind that I had a 2015 BMW M135i when it was new, I was surprised this car did not have Sport+, Sports displays or Launch control. I was able to code all of these features in using Bimmercode but this shouldn't be the case. Not long before we will have to code in heated seats LOL
Performance Modifications:
• Intercooler (Darkside Developments)
• DPF delete (Darkside Developments)
• Swirl flap delete (Darkside Developments)
• EGR valve delete (software)
• Stage 2 ECU tune (Performance Remap Ltd, Gloucester)
• Stage 3 XHP gearbox map (Performance Remap Ltd, Gloucester)
• Performance strut bar brace
• Sport+ mode and launch control (coded)
Cosmetics
• M Performance rear diffuser
• M Performance front splitter
• M Performance side skirt extensions
• M Performance carbon exhaust tips
• M mirror caps
• PMS style boot spoiler
• M4 GTS style rear lights
• Steering wheel wrap (East Detailing)
• Alcantara wrap dash trim
• Carbon fibre wrap dash trim
• 10mm spacers (front), 12mm spacers (rear)
• Chameleon windscreen tint
• Brake calipers painted
ICE
• 12” Android head unit
• Integrated dash cam
• Rear view camera reftrofit
• Speed limit info (coded)
• Digital speedo (coded)
• Sports displays (coded)
No reliability issues since I have had the stage 2 tune. I had a water leak recently but this was a bad pipe rather then any issues cooling the car.
In terms of what else I am planning to do: this particular car did not come with paddle shift and I have parts on order to retrofit this. I am also considering retrofitting folding mirrors. The other thing I would really like are some sportier seats although I’ve read M5 seats will not work due to coding issues. If anyone has any suggestions on seats, I am all ears.
I know the cosmetic changes are not to everyone’s taste, particularly the boot spoiler although I think it gives the car a little bit more of an aggressive look that it deserves. I would like to add that I haven’t added any M badges to my car that don’t belong there! Yes, the M mirror caps don't belong on my car and I was against fitting them...but guess what, BMW now fit this style mirror caps on their semi skimmed M cars so it's no longer a full-fat M characteristic. There are absolutely no additional “aquafresh” stripes anywhere! This is a massive hate of mine, especially when people are rebadging their cars to M320d, or my favourite on the X cars, and MX5 lol I recently saw someone put a M550d (US exclusive model!) on their 530d ffs
One thing that definitely intrigued me were the features I ended up coding in. Bearing in mind that I had a 2015 BMW M135i when it was new, I was surprised this car did not have Sport+, Sports displays or Launch control. I was able to code all of these features in using Bimmercode but this shouldn't be the case. Not long before we will have to code in heated seats LOL
Another day, another mod! Some parts arrived from Lithuania (eBay) for a paddle shift retrofit kit. The paddles had BMW labels on them but still not 100% sure they're genuine. In terms of quality and feedback, they seem like they could be OEM parts. This mod has been done before and there are various YouTube videos so thought I'd give it a go, even though it meant drilling into the steering wheel. Steering wheel removal very straight forward and pretty much impossible to refit it misaligned. This all took about an hour and a half
Wiring was a straight swap with the harness supplied. I'd guessed mine would be pre-wired as it was one of the last F10s and was correct! The only thing I had to do was code the feature on Bimmercode which was far easier then I thought it would be.
I've already been told by people they're not fans of the red paddle shift extensions so I'm prepared for that as feedback lol I'm actually really liking them as they're made out solid metal so feel really good quality and feel good on your fingertips. Also...red means FAST. Pretty sure that means they add 10bhp each lol Joking aside, the gearshifts are immediate and it does absolutely respond like they were factory fitted.
Wiring was a straight swap with the harness supplied. I'd guessed mine would be pre-wired as it was one of the last F10s and was correct! The only thing I had to do was code the feature on Bimmercode which was far easier then I thought it would be.
I've already been told by people they're not fans of the red paddle shift extensions so I'm prepared for that as feedback lol I'm actually really liking them as they're made out solid metal so feel really good quality and feel good on your fingertips. Also...red means FAST. Pretty sure that means they add 10bhp each lol Joking aside, the gearshifts are immediate and it does absolutely respond like they were factory fitted.
CG2020UK said:
What would your total spend be on this vs just getting an M4?
Sorry if sound like a knob, but this feels a little bit irrelevant. I've never suggested my car is on par or better than an M3/M4. Hands down, an M3/M4 is the 'better' car and would be more rewarding to drive. Especially on track. I've driven an F80 M3 and they feel much sharper to drive and felt the LSD gives you more grip. But to entertain the comparison, this is how prices compare today for a 2015 model with about 70k miles for each car when looking on AT and buying from trade:2015 M3 £29k
2015 M4 £26k
2015 535d £19k
I can tell you for sure that building my car definitely hasn't cost £7k (or £10k vs M3) lol. And servicing and day to day running costs will be substantially different especially considering things like tyres and brakes.
Edited by ahmedre88 on Sunday 16th October 22:30
Edited by ahmedre88 on Sunday 16th October 22:35
ahmedre88 said:
Sorry if sound like a knob, but this feels a little bit irrelevant. I've never suggested my car is on par or better than an M3/M4. Hands down, an M3/M4 is the 'better' car and would be more rewarding to drive. Especially on track. I've driven an F80 M3 and they feel much sharper to drive and felt the LSD gives you more grip. But to entertain the comparison, this is how prices compare today for a 2015 model with about 70k miles for each car when looking on AT and buying from trade:
2015 M3 £29k
2015 M4 £26k
2015 535d £19k
I can tell you for sure that building my car definitely hasn't cost £7k (or £10k vs M3) lol. And servicing and day to day running costs will be substantially different especially considering things like tyres and brakes.
Apologies mate kept it brief as I was on the phone and didn’t mean it in an offensive way.2015 M3 £29k
2015 M4 £26k
2015 535d £19k
I can tell you for sure that building my car definitely hasn't cost £7k (or £10k vs M3) lol. And servicing and day to day running costs will be substantially different especially considering things like tyres and brakes.
Edited by ahmedre88 on Sunday 16th October 22:30
Edited by ahmedre88 on Sunday 16th October 22:35
I just give the M4 as an example as you have essentially the same power as that or the M2 Comp in what would be a more comfortable and cheaper to run package.
I certainly wouldn’t bet on a winner against my M2.
Realistically we all spend the majority cruising about in our cars and was interested in the difference price wise.
CG2020UK said:
Apologies mate kept it brief as I was on the phone and didn’t mean it in an offensive way.
I just give the M4 as an example as you have essentially the same power as that or the M2 Comp in what would be a more comfortable and cheaper to run package.
I certainly wouldn’t bet on a winner against my M2.
Realistically we all spend the majority cruising about in our cars and was interested in the difference price wise.
No worries as tones easily get misconstrued when typed. I think if the goal was to create something that dynamically matched an M3/M4, then you would end up ploughing more money into things like springs/coilovers, LSD, tyres and bigger brakes and then you really do have to consider "should I have just bought an M3 instead?" lol In truth, I am not going to go down this path as I don't think the costs outweigh the benefits. I really would like to go with springs/coilovers but concerned the comfort will be compromised (plus I don't like the idea of catching the front splitter on speed bumps!)I just give the M4 as an example as you have essentially the same power as that or the M2 Comp in what would be a more comfortable and cheaper to run package.
I certainly wouldn’t bet on a winner against my M2.
Realistically we all spend the majority cruising about in our cars and was interested in the difference price wise.
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