2001 BMW X5 3.0
Owner: Harry Wijaya
Location: San Francisco, CA
Website: http://www.sf-krew.com/
Team: sF kRew
One glance at this decked out BMW X5 immediately kills any thoughts that this belongs to a soccer mom.
Bay Area resident Harry Wijaya slapped on 22" rims, lowered it, threw on a full AC Schnitzer body kit and made other exterior & interior touches and of course installed very slick I.C.E. to come up with one very cleanly done luxo cruiser.
| How did you end up deciding to buy a X5? Where you considering other SUVs or cars at the time? | | 
When arrived in the States, which was back in 2000, I was not given the option to get a car at all. I was involved in a major accident back in Indonesia (I'm from Jakarta, the capital). So when i got here, my Dad's like, "You're not getting a car! Ride a bike!" and so I spent a semester of my college walking. No i didn't get a bike, I'd rather walk back then. So after half a year, my dad finally gave in. The first choice was a Mercedes C320. Luckily for me, they didn't have it in stock, and I would have to wait a couple months for one. So we went to BMW dealer just to check it out and there it was, the all new X5. Dad fell in love with it and so did I. So when he asked whether I'd rather have a X5 or a C320, I definitely chose the X5.
| What got you into modifying it? | |
To be honest, I can't even remember how I got into modifying it. All I remember was I started ordering stuff for it.
| Is this your daily driver? Do you friends try to designate you as the "taxi" since you have a SUV? | |
This is my daily driver, but LOL no my friends didn't call my X5 a taxi. They would never step a foot in it unless they have to, or on Saturday night to go cruising. They call it "riding a horse" because of the stiff suspension.
| Have you heavily modified other cars/suvs in the past? | |
Nope, this is my first victim.
| A X5 is quite a nice ride, but what's your dream car/SUV, cost no object? | |
Right now my dream car is a fully modded Ferrari F430, with either full Hamann or Novitec Rosso. As for SUVs, I really have my eyes on the new Infiniti QX. Man that SUV's really gorgeous.
| Of all the modifications to your X5, are there any that you are most proud of? | |
Yes, there are two things. First, the headlights. It was customized with my own ideas. People kept asking me how did I get the headlights (even now, 4 years later). Second, the suspension. The X5 is really a head turner sitting so low. People are like "man how did you get it so low?" I just love the look on people's face when they look at my X5, then walk a bit and they look at it again a little bit more.
| Is there anything next up for the X5 or are you more or less done? | |
I'm definitely done. In fact, I'm parting it out now. I'm goin back to my Indonesia by the end of this year for good. Done studying. It's sad; it really hurts to see my car being parted.
| If you had to do it all over again, would you do anything different to it? | |
I can't think of anything that I'd do differently, I looked at it as building a dream car so it's almost perfect.
| So will you be getting a new ride & modifying it when you return to Jakarta? | |
I'm hoping to get another SUV when I get back, hopefully a Porsche Cayenne or an Infiniti QX. Yeah, I'm going to modify it haha..it's in my blood I guess. As far as modified cars in Indonesia, they're crazy. Indonesians have been very well known amongst car enthusiasts to have the lowest cars ever using springs and not air rides. They're crazy when modifying cars: they'll chop roof tops, chop here and there, I don't know how else I can explain -- it's simply crazy. I'll say it's pretty comparable with the extreme modifications done in the US.
Supersprint exhaust
Customized H&R Springs (heated and lowered)
- AC Schnitzer Type II 22" wheels
- Dunlop SP 9000 285/30-22 tires
- Brembo big brake kit
- Front: 15" rotors with 8 piston calipers
- Rear: 13.6" rotors with 4 piston calipers
- Full AC Schnitzer body kit
- Custom headlights
- DDE Lightning Enhanced angel eyes
- AC Schnitzer roundels (badges)
- AC Schnitzer pedals and handbrake
- Carbon fiber interior trim.
| In-Car Entertainment (I.C.E.) |
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- 2x Focal Utopia Component Speakers
- 2x Focal Utopia 6.5" Separates
- 2x Focal 33WX Utopia 13" Subs
- Pioneer AVH7500 DVD 7"
- Pioneer AVI80 DVD Nav Unit
- 4x Pioneer AVD W6210 6.5" Touchscreen Monitors
- Accelle Vision 22" widescreen monitor (motorized up and down)
- 2x 7" Farenheit monitors (in visors)
- Playstation 2 with motorized cover on the front side of passenger airbag
- 2x Soundstream Tarantula TR500/4 amplifiers
- 2x Optima Yellow top batteries
- First and foremost to God and my family. Definitely a shout out to my crew: sF kRew. We came from no where and now we're pretty well known.
- Thanks to TOPLINE and VIP.
- To all my friends who have supported me all this time, especially Achong who has been so helpful.
- Also to Team [ uMpPh ]
- And lastly to all my friends.
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