The XX4 comes apart fairly quickly, there is not much to report there.
At the end I set about cleaning the various parts of the car I knew would be used for the X-5, the shock towers and suspension assemblies and front belt cover were all cleaned up.
The rear arms were replaced with new graphite versions at this point and the hubs reattached.

With the XX4 parts mostly cleaned and ready for the conversion, we move on to the X5 conversion process.

The X-5 requires a small amount of parts modification.  This consists of the following.
Cutting the front belt cover.
Removing a channel from the front belt/steering tunnel.
Removing material from the rear shock tower to enable it to sit over the X-5’s larger (than the XX4) belt tunnel.
Cutting lugs off the rear bearing blocks.

I set about modifying the steering tunnel first, using a hacksaw and file the task was simple and quick.  The manual shows the use of a Dremel and rotary cutting disc, I have these but thought the job would be even easier with a hacksaw and file, it is certainly a neat way of doing it.. 

Looking at it afterward I think I took slightly too much material off, creating an unnecessarily wide gap, it could let in slightly more dust / dirt but to be honest its not something thats going to really effect things.  Ah well, it’s something to watch out for if you are doing the conversion.

Have I seen cleaner and better looking moulded chassis ?  yes, to a small degree, but make no mistake about it, the X-5 chassis is a very good quality moulding indeed, and way beyond what I expected from a small company like Xfactory.

The chassis is very similar front and rear to the XX4 chassis, as it of course needs to be to accept the XX4 running gear.  The only real difference in these areas is the extra material and reinforcement designed in by Xfactory.
The front part of the chassis uses a modified (by the user) xx4 front belt cover, and the rear uses a kit supplied belt cover.

The front and rear of the chassis aside, the rest of the design is unique to the X-5, there is very little similarity to the XX4.  The servo is further forward and inline with the belt tunnel. Since the belt runs down the centre of the car the motor now sits far out on the left of the chassis.  The 6 cell slots are arranged to counter balance the weight of the motor on one site, with a 4+2 cell arrangement. 
This cell arrangement is clearly going to put some people off, no “basher” stick packs in here I’m afraid, certainly.  The ethos of the Xfactory team seems to be no-holds-barred performance and function, which persists throughout the car, including the cell arrangement.

The heaviest components in the X-5 are more centred front/rear in the car than the XX4, the cells sitting further forward and the motor further back. This should make the car turn a bit quicker.