2003 BMW E39 530i (5 Speed Manual)

This is my base model, Alpine White 2003 BMW 530i 5 speed manual. I purchased this car in April of 2013 from Tom Bush BMW in Jacksonville, FL. My first two modifications were getting rid of the ugly license plate holder on the front bumper and replacing it with a “delete” strip, and an M5 replica trunk lip. My second modification was getting rid of the 16” stock wheels. I replaced them with Beyern Mesh black/aluminium 18” wheels, 8.5” wide in the front, 9.5” in the rear. Shortly after, I won both front and rear Eibach antiroll bars through a giveaway Eibach was running on their Facebook page. This upgraded the handling immensely.

After I moved away for college, the modifications started slowing down. The next mod was a muffler delete, followed shortly by a zhp weighted shift knob and an auxiliary input addition to the OEM head unit. A month or two later, I replaced the huge four spoke steering wheel with the three spoke, M sport wheel found in the e39 M5s and e46 M3s.

After meeting some fellow BMW enthusiasts who convinced me I needed a nicer set of wheels, I found a set of 17” BBS RKs for trade on a Florida BMW Owners Facebook page. I jumped on the set and met the guy down in Bartow Florida, three hours away from my residence in Jacksonville. The wheels are a huge improvement over the Beyerns. The RKs are staggered, 8.5” in the front, 10” in the rear.

Fast forward to 2014, and I have installed M Sport coils and shocks (which are blown). I am currently waiting for Solowerks coilovers to be shipped out to replace the current suspension setup. I also ditched the sheepish OEM front bumper for the Mtech variant, complete with the T-bar grille. After finishing the suspension refresh, I plan on gathering all the correct plastic components for the new bumper, as the old front fender liners no longer fit properly.