It has been a month since the official launch of the Proton X50. Many soon-to-be owners are still anxiously anticipating that one phone call from their sales advisors, but for others, the modding spree has already begun. There is one that went viral on social media, and you’re looking right at it. Meet, the “Bumblebee.”
At first glance, this satin pearl yellow X50 might seem like the kind of understated mod your usual neighbourhood car enthusiast would do, although it’s anything but. To know more about the car, Lee, as he prefers to go by, walks us through the list of modifications he has done since taking ownership of the X50. Disclaimer – Lee spent roughly RM52,000 on his 1.5 TGDi Flagship to date, but he’s not quite done yet.
One of the first things he did was do a full body wrap with chrome-delete. The original chrome trims on the grille, headlights and window surrounds have all been wrapped with gloss black vinyl, as have the roof rails and door handles.
The LED headlights and LED fog lamps remain standard, but each side of the latter housing gets a trio of LEDs that double as regular DRLs and amber-coloured turn indicators in sequential fashion. All variants of the X50 already come with dual front lip, but Lee saw fit to add a third one, complete with glossy carbon-fibre print.
Moving to the side, the stock 18-inch alloys have been replaced with 20-inch wheels from Veemann. These matte black twin six-spoke rims have a bead seat profile of 8.5 inches (8.5JJ), which is wider than the 7JJ factory profile. Lee’s tyre of choice is Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S (235/40 ZR20), because why settle for less?
We’ll talk more about the colossal rotors below and focus on just the aesthetics for now. Other exterior upgrades include carbon-fibre wing mirror caps, a larger rear spoiler taken from the Geely Binyue Sport, LED bar on the tailgate (which relocates the Proton script above it), as well as black Proton and X50 letterings.
The exhaust system is half new. The section from the stock header to the primary catalytic converter (the X50 has two cat-cons, the first has the oxygen sensor) is retained, but everything aft of it is new. The second cat is removed, and the new mufflers generate an audibly raspier note (Bluetooth remote-activated valves in the pipes further amplify this). The quad tips also get nice carbon sleeves. Lastly, there’s also a hands-free powered tailgate, so just wave your foot to swing it wide open.
Interior modifications aren’t quite as extensive, but Lee is the kind to leave no stones unturned. The entire dashboard has been wrapped with black Alcantara, replacing the red soft-touch plastic that once graced the entire top section of the dash. The brushed silver dash trim, centre armrest and door trims (originally red leather) also get wrapped in the same material.
Additional details include yellow contrast stitching on the dashboard, centre armrest, and door panels. Besides the bright red floor mats, everything else remains untouched. There was an attempt to upgrade the 360-degree system to higher definition cameras, but that endeavour met with a minor technical glitch.
Lee spent approximately RM4,500 to upgrade the sound system, which includes new FRP speakers, a digital sound processor, and an underseat digital active subwoofer. All four doors have been lined with two layers of sound dampening mats which, aside from improving audio quality, also help create a more solid thud when closing the doors.
So much has already been done thus far, but if you think this is all for aesthetics, well, it goes beyond that. Opening the bonnet reveals an intriguing device called Race Chip GTS (one of their most premium models), which is an aftermarket tuning chip that can be used to improve engine output, alter ignition timing, optimise air-to-fuel ratio, and more.
But for this specific purpose, the chip (piggybacking on the ECU) is used specifically to increase the performance of the 1.5 TGDi mill. Lee’s dyno tests show a gain of 22 PS and 35 Nm of torque at the wheels, which he says help shave almost a second off the century sprint time. A quick spin around the block tells us that the SUV does indeed feel quicker off the line, and especially responsive in Sport mode.
Impressive as it may seem, Lee says further refinements could see output figures go up a tad bit more (likely 6 PS and 10 Nm more). Taking that into account, it’s possible for the 1.5 litre mill to make slightly over 200 PS and close to 300 Nm (at crank) with just the tuning chip alone.
Stopping power is provided by massive 405 mm drilled and ventilated rotors up front. These are taken from the Cadillac CTS-V, a V8-powered super sedan. The discs are clamped by six-piston golden Brembo calipers. Overkill is certainly an understatement at this point.
The rear discs, which currently look decidedly puny when compared to the front rotors, will be replaced with appropriately large 380-mm ventilated discs (with four-pot clampers) taken from the Porsche Cayenne. The factory brake booster pump and brake linings will also be upgraded in the future.
For suspension, all four corners are lowered and fitted with Hi-Lo adjustable coilovers. These are specifically made for the Geely Binyue and are fortunately compatible with the right-hand drive X50. Other fine-tunes include a -2 camber angle for the front wheels – Lee says the factory camber angle is -1 for the front left wheel, and +1 for the front right. As a regular at Sepang track days, Lee tells us the mods are not for show, because he plans to field the Bumblebee once the CMCO period ends.
So there you have it, that’s approximately RM52,000 worth of modifications done to the X50 1.5 TGDi Flagship – exactly half of what the SUV actually costs. But it’s not the end of the line yet!
Future upgrades, if the “budget” allows, Lee says he plans to install forged pistons, suggesting the eventual move to equip a larger turbocharger for higher boost pressures. Otherwise, a full Mitsubishi 4G63 engine swap is on the cards as well.
Other “smaller ticket” upgrades would be a four-piece carbon-ceramic disc brake system plucked from the Audi RS5, as well as Recaro race bucket seats.
Now, what do you think of the Bumblebee? Pretty audacious, no? If you’re planning to do your own X50 mods, keep in mind that these may affect warranty. But hey, as Lee has shown, do what makes you (and your wallet) happy! Start your journey with All In Cross Fifty Accessories Malaysia, here.
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Nice yellow Bumblebee..Deswai sesuai kedai Bubble Bee supercar Mclaren 650s, Porsche GT4, Camaro Chevrolet, Mustang dan Dodge Challenger SRT.
Why keep calling it BUMBLEBEE?
This is HARIMAU MALAYAN laa !!!
Good. Next please
My civic turbo 4 cylinder same power with 3 cylinder, what a waste!
That’s… really not how this works. :/
Guys, that Veemann 20-inch wheels matte black + is Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S… agak2 bajet rm6ribu lepas tak..??
Nothing to shout except waste, waste and waste
applegreen
RM6k only can get tires for 20 inch
That’s not how cylinders work…
Well, spent 50k on already over price suv is the owner choice. Good luck.
Might as well get a X70 and a Pesona combined,for that same amount of money if the dude is a hardcore protong fan.
TLN ..in Hakka ..those who dont understand,kindly ask PAUL Tan.
You dunno man. Is stylo yo abang-abang bumblebee swag everything yelo…. Chevy Camaro & Ford Mustang..
Only Proton could garner such love from a public joe to plonk in 50% of the car value giving it some serious TLC.
Marketing for the x50 after market accessories dude. Obvious.
Only Proton? are you sure about that haha
Try finding another brand that gets this much luv on a car just launched 1 mth ago then talk.
Im waiting for Hafriz to make a custom X50 too.
Cute taxicab yellow colored mini crossover
Say that to yellow e-haling lambo
why so much attention given on this car?
other website also keep spamming.
Why do you come here to rant?
You have choice not to read & comment you know
You know, it’s a business. People keep searching for “X50” in their search bar. Of course, any site would notice this seeing it from analytics. So they deliver what people want, people see more ads, websites get more money.
Ohh boy…. just accept it, X50 is popular. People want it, 27k bookings in 2 weeks after launch. Just like how new gen Myvi was launched back then. Or the Civic FB premiere. Every websites keep spamming them.
Why not? It’s the most popular car in 2020. Just like them singers, if they’re the best in song charts, many will ride on their popularity. Not so hard to understand right?
well, its still a proton
His money la..why so kepo..ic mybees can so can x50s la ..x70 is for mature audiences so they wont do this
Bumblebee is meant for American Camaro.
This X50 better call it something related to Malaysia or Malaysian culture, or identity. Durian King Maybe? or Nitro Nangka? Super Kunyit?
Harimau Malaya… The badge already rimau
X50 Pisang Emas.
This is great example of when to stop modding your car. When you exceed 50% of the car’s value to modify and turn it into something it’s not designed to do. What’s the point? It will never brake, turn, accelerate as hard as that of a stock golf gti or even an a250. The visual mods are lovely, but one of the x50’s strong suites is it’s ride and low nvh. And he just ruined that by slapping some coilovers and low profile tyres on it. I’m going to assume those ridculously overkill big brake kit also made the steering needlessly heavy. But then it’s his money so I guess it’s none of my business.
OMG…the dude has too much cash. 50 grand is kacang putih to him.With many households worrrying about the next meal,it is just pure disrespect to our fellow Malaysians who couldnt give a damn how he boasts of his bumblebee.
I wont be surprised when Geely brings the China Preface to our shores,he will splash 100 grand.
It is just to show off.Thats bad when people are suffering from the economic downturn will tons of unpaid bills.
Copy paste: “So sorry you cannot afford it”
posting here for vely last time…. kredit fon prepaid ord kering, kete dh pon kne tarik.. tunggu kwsp jela. take k gais, adios amigos
How about look at it from another way. He spends RM52K on accessories but that RM52K is helping to feed families their next meal also. So conclusion is he is helping the economy while you are here complaining he is boasting his money.
owner runs an accessory shop.
he is using this x50 to marketing his own accessory so thats why he so extravangant.
it’s all marketing budget so that you will notice and then buy the related part from him.
can go see his fb group, all in cross fifty
Proton Iriz was modified more than 1000% of its original values, and it wasn’t built to race. But yeahh… it has put Golf GTI into shame countless times stock or modded. Well that’s an Iriz R5
My point is, it isn’t impossible. You have to know what you’re doing if you want to modify without compromise it’s performance. There’s also give and take, better handling will cost you a comfort, more performance will cost you fuel consumption, aesthetic will cost you aerodynamic and vise versa.
Also, there’s many kind of car enthusiast, most of them are fine with some NVH loss for a better handling capability. Yeah, only car enthusiast would do such thing.
Yes but in this case the limitations is that the x50 is an suv and it wont handle the same as a gti or an a250 or an iriz which are all hatchbacks.
Although the car looks good and mods are somewhat tasteful this would be considered rice at this point. Like do you really need 3 front splitters? Well as nuggets mentioned its his car he can do wtv the hell he wants.
Suv are capable of handling like hatchback even with that high ground clearance. Have you ever driven a Porsche Macan? Honestly I could say from experience it’s objectively handle a curve better than H Civic sedan. If Proton really want, they can tune the X50 to behave similarly. They have the expertise. But there’ll be a lot of compromises since it has to start from chassis development. Also safety requirements.
But now we know current X50 won’t be able to handle like that, their owner also know that really well. That’s why this modification is purely aesthetic, aesthetic that mimicking functional mod what we call rice. Though they do get some benefit, coilover will reduce the ground clearance, low profile tyre will improve steering response. But yes, 3 layers front splitter just look horrible non functional, that big disc brake is overkill, complicated exhaust system. Yea this one is properly riced.
I mean yes but cars like the Porsche are built to drive like that and even still a 911 or cayman will out handle its suv brothers like the macan and cayenne. Point being ” It will never brake, turn, accelerate as hard as that of a stock golf gti or even an a250.” as the original commenter is somewhat true. And even if they brought it to that point where its basically a raised hatchback, the car is probably gutted or so low that you might as well not buy an suv in the first place… right? :/
Other that that I do agree with the 2nd paragraph lol.
So sorry you cannot afford it
Writer have a change to call it Harimai Malaya themes instead of bubblebeee… Man… Western culture sucking real dry in Malaysia, sad… Btw this is beautiful car, so clean and well design
Aiyaa, for sure the this fella never paid RM50K++ of his own money for all these X50 mods lar ….this is all marketing for gullible people to believe he is willing to spend that much money accessorising his X50 and therefore it has been tested, works well and looks good so others will follow and all order from his highly promoted All In CROSS FIFTY Accessories shop which could be his business or a partner of that shop.
All these accessories is most likely sponsored and the price his telling is after all the markups in between the vendors and the accessory shop, he is actually very smart in marketing, one of the first X50 to be out on the road and heavily modified with Geely ori accessories for the X50 within a short period of time and very fast to market it before all other 3 party accessories shops in Malaysia comes into play with Geely accessories for X50 for the wider market of consumers in Malaysia and prices will be very competitive which is harder to make fast profits.
So by he pushing this hard to promote his heavily modified protong X50 now, he gets first coverage with the consumers whom are taking delivery of their X50 and where do you think they are going to go for all these accessories….for sure all will go to All In CROSS FIFTY Accessoriess shop coz they are first to market it.
Sure business must be good, all this X50 accessories must be flying off the shelves as more people take delivery of their X50 but its a very good business model, nothing wrong in what he is doing but again for him to say he spend his own money amounting to RM50K++, that is just a marketing ploy …. probably the only things he paid at cost price for were the brakes, rims, tyres and maybe sound system … everything else is probably sponsored by the accessories shop/vendors. My guess would be somewhere around RM15k to RM18K and the rest as mention is all sponsored.
Good for him, he deserves to succeed it as its a very good marketing plan he has come up with and am sure he also took a calculated risk as well at the beginning, being one of the first to void complete warranty for his protong X50 but can see its paying off very nicely and his accessory business must be doing very well. Congrats Lee and All In CROSS FIFTY Accessories Malaysia on just plain good old marketing done and being the first to just do it :P
very true, in a friend perspective
for the past few month he just flood his fb with all the post on this car, and all tag to the cross-fifty page
Is okay the govt servants modded up X50… but not asked cash & undertable outright.
Yessss!!!! Now with clean gomen, all those criminals hired last year are getting put in jail. Well done!
Yessss!!!! That imigresen staff hired last year
Oo.. the review is sponsored by ahbeng shop. No wonder la. Hope rakyat who will get iSinar EPF money don’t spend 52k like this. Next year become iPokai & ask for more withdrawal.
i wonder did he register with JPJ on the colour change. else it’s illegal.
Body wrap is not illegal since it isnt permanent
body wrap is legal but the colour change without informing JPJ is not. the owner has to inform JPJ that the colour of the car has been changed. You can read about it and it’s covered in this site.
Some of it is nicely done. Some of it is on the wrong side of tasteless. There is such a thing as overdone and this maybe just qualifies. Reminds me of some girls in my office. One whole year don’t wear makeup then annual dinner they decide to sapu all of it on at once.
ah yes.. the annual dinner.. brings a lot of memory.. a cringeworthy memory that is.
How about look at it from another way. He spends RM52K on accessories but that RM52K is helping to feed families their next meal also. So conclusion is he is helping the economy while you are here complaining he is boasting his money.
Lol…..what a waste of money on the X50!
His money his call. Whats it to you? Your own hobby might be viewed as waste of time n money.
Dunno I feel wasting money with 4 stroker while 3 stroker is good enough to churn same power
He owned car accessories shop, yes?
It is good to have more people like him who loves to spend money on non essential things to boost Malaysian economy.
It is good to have more people like him who loves to spend money on non essential things to boost Malaysian economy.
Ya lah. Still useless if hard to get the spare parts when broke down.
People who mod like this bumblebee owner will not worry about the spare parts. he will get whatever parts (normally better version) from outsource to replace the problematic parts or maybe upgrade it
Refer to above comments, so many ppl jealous the X50 too good in sales.
Whatever you do..no matter how much you spent..it’s still a proton..it can never change to BMW no matter how you mod it..Ah Beng will still be an Ah Beng…Better save the hard earned money for better car with better status even if it’s in its stock form…CX-5 will always feels better than X50
Yellow is not Bumblebee. We should called it yes Harimau Malaya!
Different people different taste, I personally think this mod is just ok ok only, nothing wow about it.
At first glance rm50k mod sounded abit too much, but when you look closer, if you ditch those less important cosmetics, you can actually get quite some gains on performance, power, grip, handing & braking power are increased. Last time you need rm20k just for a turbo charger, now you just need a chip.
Total cost only rm150k, if you go for the mid range you can safe even more.
For rm150k, i doubt you can find any new car close to it in terms of performance.
So the mods have potential.
It’s still a Proton even with 200K mod…hahahaha…For 150K, better get yourself a CX-5…a much better chicks magnet
I think this car seems be the new evolution in our country.