Sweating the small stuff
The phrase “God is in the detail” has grown in relevance in my own life since the day we began developing IND many years ago. I’ve realized that when modifying a car, you are not merely adding parts, you are developing the details.
The owner of this E70 X5 35d is someone who understands that any car starts as a blank canvas and is not truly complete without these details. Although this X5 is not intended to compete with it’s M brothers our client added some key touches to make the truck truly his own.
IND braved some new ground to perfect this X5. As this is a performance diesel engine we knew a gauge package would be an important tool. Because there is no off the shelf gauge solution for the X5, every step of the process involved custom work. A gauge pod was fabricated from sheet metal to fit perfectly in place of the ash tray, and finished in a high gloss black to integrate seamlessly into the interior. On the engine side a custom fitting was fabricated to interface with the Exhaust Gas Temperature probe, a barbed fitting was integrated into the car’s piping for a boost pressure reading, and an oil temperature sending unit was installed in the car’s oil system.
The complete interior trim was removed and refinished in Ferrari’s Grigio Silverstone color, accented by a stripe of the car’s original silver trim to integrate the new color scheme into the existing door pulls and shifter surround of the car. The 35d’s green nature was something we felt we had to acknowledge, and we did so by adding our IND logo in a bright green color.
The exterior of the car was kept simple by again only changing details where it was critical. The wheels are finished in the beautiful Grigio Silverstone color, while black and green logos were added in place of the original chrome badges. Even the X5 logo on the trunk was changed from the original large badge to a smaller more elegantly sized X5 badge from the X5M. X5 V8 exhaust tips were retrofitted and powdercoated black to give the rear of the car a more sporting appearance.
Our finished product is something all of us at IND and the owner of this car can be proud of. This X5 is one that may pass for a factory original car to the untrained observer, but to the initiated it is a car that represents a tasteful sense of restraint and an appreciation that nothing is complete without it’s details.
Enjoy the photos!
