• Akrapovič brings over 30 years of manufacturing and engineering experience to OEM and aftermarket car and motorcycle applications.
• Akrapovič’s world-championship-winning exhaust systems are crafted from proprietary titanium alloys, producing an unmatched aural experience.
• We chose two Akrapovič components for this year’s build: a Slip-On Line titanium exhaust with carbon fiber tips and a gloss carbon fiber rear diffuser.
• Thompson Performance Group (TPG), a performance-centric, mod-friendly division of Thompson BMW’s service department, helped us through the entire upgrade.

There’s an immense sense of pride when you know you’re buying the best. Akrapovič is exactly that in the exhaust game. This Slovenia-based manufacturer has leveraged its in-house foundry, superior sound engineering and design arm, and connection to world-championship-winning race programs to create some of the most iconic exhausts for cars and motorcycles over the last 30 years. Indeed, we are the happy beneficiaries of Akrapovič’s motorsport learnings; its racing technology has trickled down to the company’s consumer performance products in full.

M PEDIGREE

I know what you’re thinking: an SUV is far from something that needs racing technology. That’s absolutely true—the X5 M Competition is no racecar—but that doesn’t discount the fact that it’s a high-powered family hauler. The new 4.4-liter S68 bi-turbo V8 produces approximately 600 horsepower from the factory—enough to embarrass a gaggle of Lamborghini owners.

FIT FOR A DREAM

That oomph, coupled with the expectations of building the grand prize in BMW CCA’s Dream Car Raffle, made choosing Akrapovič easy. By our self-inflicted pressure, this X5 M Competition should represent the best of the best. And as I said before, there isn’t anything better.

For anyone who hasn’t had an Akrapovič exhaust before, there are a few signs you’ll notice while pulling any of its systems out of the box. One is that the exhaust is deceivingly light. Pudgy-centered folks like me would believe we’d suddenly unearthed some magical strength, but titanium is simply a featherweight compared to steel (-18.5lbs or 40.6% weight loss). Once you’ve tasted that slice of humble pie, you’ll take notice of the next thing: the build quality. Again, some of that is the material—titanium has this irreplicable color and finish—but the other is down to Akrapovič’s engineering standard. The welds are pornographically perfect, as are all the extra reinforcements, bends, and brackets. It’s rare to find any manufacturer that can bend titanium like this; I’d even argue you’d struggle to find another. The last thing I’ll mention in this section is how easy it is to install. While other exhaust manufacturers should consider including a rubber mallet for the procedure, you’d guess that the Akrapovič exhaust was made by BMW—it fits just as well as a factory unit. The longest part of this F95 X5 M Competition Slip-On Line titanium exhaust (S-BM/T/35H) install was swapping over the hanger bushings and valve actuators.

DIFFUSE THE SITUATION

As we mentioned last year, Akrapovič has expanded its horizons beyond exhausts to include carbon fiber aero and accessories. The F95 X5 M Competition diffuser we chose for the build was gloss carbon (DI-BM/CA/8/G) considering every exterior finish—save for the front grille surround—is gloss. The Akrapovič design, which borrows cues from BMW’s visual language with three carefully sculpted fins, adds dynamism, sportiness, and aggression to the M SAV’s posterior. Back to back, it makes the stock piece look incredibly mundane. Not a flattering word to use to describe a $130,000 SUV. Akrapovič’s accessory lineup installs just as flawlessly as its exhausts—plug and play with absolutely zero fuss.

ONE LAST THING

With the Slip-On Line exhaust and diffuser successfully installed, it was time to finally install the double-walled, titanium and carbon fiber tips. The inner and outer tips on each side are connected via a bridge. The tip “unit” couples to the Slip-On Line exhaust via a circular pivot instead of a unidirectional pipe. Both considerations significantly reduce the time it takes to painstakingly align the tips with one another. Once we got that right, we stood back to admire the exhaust/diffuser combination. It’s amazing how much of a difference the Akrapovič add-ons made to improve the X5 M Competition’s sporting character. And this was even before we started it up for the first time.

Once Mikey—our trusted Thompson Performance Group tech—revved this monster up, we couldn’t help but grin. It was bold and bellowing in the M SAV’s native mode, and transformed into an exotic, refined aural symphony once we clicked it into Sport Plus. As the car burbled back to idle, we exchanged a fist bump to acknowledge we’d made the right choice for this year’s grand prize. It was a perfect way to start BMW CCA’s Dream Car Raffle build for 2024.

Thank you to Akrapovič, BMC, CSF, Future Classic, H&R, Thompson BMW, Genie Company, Vossen, and XPEL for contributing to this year’s grand prize build. We are excited to give this X5 M Competition away to one lucky BMW CCA member soon.

Gallery