Perfecting the F10 535is For True Luxury Performance - Pat's Take
There are plenty of ways to jump into an executive sports car, but our favorite right now is the F10 535is. It offers modern luxury conveniences paired with phenomenal potential for performance from the N55 under the hood, but they aren't perfect straight off the lot. Our resident F10 fanboy and Turner Motorsport Brand Manager, Pat, has been hard at work making the perfect luxury-performance commuter sedan out of his F10 535is 6-speed. We're here to share those upgrades and his take on how they improve the car so you can know exactly what your F10 needs to be every bit of the car it deserves to be on your daily commute. From simple visual upgrades and quality of life improvements to real performance adders, this is what Pat suggests for every F10 535i to be all it can be. | | Turner Motorsport Full Carbon Intake
An intake is typically one of the first performance upgrades we see, and we noticed that there weren’t any carbon fiber options on the market for F10 535’s. We designed a beautiful full carbon system that sounds as good as it looks. The induction noises are exhilarating when on the throttle, and the beauty of the system will have you staring at your engine bay. We also took things a step further and made the entire intake tube in carbon fiber. This is a modular setup, so you could mix and match depending on your current setup. | | | | | | ECS Coilovers
ECS' upcoming coilovers (don’t worry, coming soon) are the best way to improve your handling while not giving up any comfort. These coilovers were designed with spirited daily drivers in mind, giving you comfort and forgiveness over bumps and fierce handling on those high-speed on-ramps. This is also a great way to lower your ride height and get the wheel fitment and stance you are looking for without spending too much on coilovers that do more than you need for a daily-driven BMW. | | | | ER Catted Downpipe
Your downpipe is the most restrictive portion of the exhaust. An upgrade here will allow you to tune the vehicle for significantly more power while adding a noticeable increase to your turbocharger's volume. | | | | | | VRSF Charge Pipe
The OEM charge pipe is easily the most failure-prone area of the car, especially if you plan to turn up the boost. Replacing the flimsy plastic pipe with an aluminum one is an absolute must to prevent premature failure. Even if you plan to keep it stock, this plastic piece will inevitably fail at some point, which results in a total loss of boost pressure and major headaches. Just replace it on the front end and put your mind at ease. | | | | | | | | VRSF Race Intercooler
The VRSF race intercooler is a great way to keep charge air temperatures down regardless of whether you are tuning. This is a plug-and-play upgrade and has a drastic effect on the temperatures whether you are pushing the car hard or not. | | | | | | | | Remus Axle-Back Exhaust
Remus offers one of the best sounding exhausts available on the market. Our 535i runs a downpipe, stock center section, and Remus Mufflers which results in a jaw-dropping note. Remus is an OE manufacturer for a variety of performance makes, so the sound engineering on these systems is second to none. | | | | | | NGK One-Step Colder Plugs
For N55s that are pushing more boost, swapping out to slightly colder plugs improves ignition performance under extreme conditions. With factory spark plugs, you can encounter misfires under high boost and full throttle, which is less than ideal. If you plan to modify your N55 even with just a tune and intake, colder NGK plugs will keep your spark consistent when you demand all the power from your BMW. | | | | Kies Motorsports Crank Seal Guard
The Crank Seal Guard from Kies is the most thoughtfully designed crank seal guard on the market. This product protects you from the infamous belt walk-off of your crank pulley. The belt can get pulled in by the timing chain and work into your internal engine, which you definitely don't want. This crank seal guard prevents that possibility from becoming reality. | | | | Injen Throttle Booster
Depending on the displacement of your F10, there may not be quite enough “power” at your foot. With the 535i, the pedal felt light to us so we decided to install the Injen X-Pedal throttle booster which adds a lot of pep to the daily driving experience. With multiple settings of throttle sensitivity as well as driving modes like “snow” and “eco”, this is the most robust throttle booster on the market and adds to the fun of driving the car every day. | | | | | | Rear Lip Spoiler
One of the easiest things to improve is the appearance of your F10 535is. With a carbon fiber rear spoiler like our Turner Motorsport Rear Lip Spoiler, you can give this stately sedan a more aggressive look that compliments the performance potential these sedans hide behind a demure exterior. | | | | | | Painted Reflectors
An easy way to improve the look of your standard 5 series is to remove those pesky, bright, orange-colored bumper reflectors. It’s amazing how much of a difference this simple upgrade makes. | | | | ECS Flush Kit
The wheel to fender gap on stock F10’s is pretty significant. The ECS Tuning flush kit takes care of this and drastically improves the stance of the vehicle. With the aggressive design of the F10, the additional aggression from the wider stance makes all of the difference. Paired with a wheel stud conversion, you'll have a bit more aggressive wheel fitment and easier wheel removal or installation along with the added safety benefits of wheel studs. If you're curious about stud conversions and spacers, we have a handy article all about the common myths vs. facts you can read on our site. | | | | | | P3 Gauges
The P3 Gauges vent gauge is such a cool way to receive critical data while not interrupting the stately look and feel of the F10’s interior. You can monitor your boost pressure, oil temp, coolant temp, throttle position, measure 0-60, and more. We like to be able to see how much boost we are pulling on spirited drives! | | | | | | M5 Illuminated Shift Knob
A common upgrade on manual-transmission F10s is the M5 Illuminated Shift Knob, which adds a bit of flair to your interior as well as a more tactile shifting experience. It isn't going to add any performance, but it fits the interior much more appropriately than the boring factory knob, especially with some of our other 'sporty' interior modifications. | | | | | | Bimmertech Carplay with Front & Rear View Cameras
The Bimmertech carplay upgrade is great for those of you who “need” carplay. The MMI unit from Bimmertech plugs into the OE head unit and maintains the OE screen, but adds tons of additional functionality. You can run carplay, switch back to the standard interface when needed, screen share from your phone, watch movies, etc. The carplay (or android auto) directly integrates to the OE steering wheels controls which allows you to control the system, activate Siri, etc for a factory-like experience. Add on a front and rearview camera when doing this upgrade for those vehicles not optioned with cameras. | | | | Bavsound Speaker Upgrade
The Bavsound speaker upgrade is a must whether you are an audiophile or not. Whether you listen to music or podcasts, this upgrade feels like an extra layer of sound. We were shocked by the transformation (which only took about 1.5 hours to complete) and kicked ourselves for not performing it sooner. The plug-n-play install process is as simple as popping out the speaker cover mesh, unscrewing and unplugging the old speaker, with the process reversed to install the new speakers! If you only have one upgrade in the budget, this quality of life improvement is the one we would choose first. | | | | | | Wrapping Up
This is by no means a comprehensive list of everything that can be done with the F10 535i platform, but it's a healthy start. Adding a set of wheels, like APEX ARC8s, to the mix will certainly give it a 'complete' look, but wheel choice is up to you as an individual owner based on your preference. Of course, there are also more significant modifications you can include, like Snow Performance water-methanol injection, professional software tuning, beefier brakes, turbo upgrades, and more, but you'll start to notice a shift away from daily drivability and more towards dedicated performance. This list is a healthy balance between retaining the original intention of the car and giving it just a bit more fun from the driver's seat, which we know you'll enjoy wherever you take your F10. | | | | | |
