First, Milky, I hope you have a ton of fun with your new old ride. Indeed there is life in the old nail yet; properly maintained she's a dream to drive and very competitive.
There are several threads on here about the X - 5, and I suggest you give them a read. Biggest thing is to make certain the belt is running straight and free. Take the bottom cover off and run the car -- you'll se what the belt is doing and you can move the idler in or out to make the belt run straight.
There are many posts on belt tension. Some people try to make it ridiculously tight in an attempt to eliminate skip -- you can't. What you want is minimal skip. The driveline must be free to rotate, and tight enough to eliminate skip is just too tight.
Finally, don't run a big motor. You'll say this sounds slow, but an 8.5 is about the most she will handle and when the driveline is properly free, it's plenty fast if geared right. The car was designed around the 11 double and 3300 cells, about all you wanted in 2003. Modern LiPos and brushless motors simply overpower the driveline.
So please check the other threads and see if they answer any other questions you have.
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