What have you done with or to your M3 today?

Lightened up some brackets with my new hole punch. Also took out the rear seat floor carpet and foam that extends underneath the center console.

roastbeef wrote

Lightened up some brackets with my new hole punch. Also took out the rear seat floor carpet and foam that extends underneath the center console.

These are my favorite forum posts! Love the dedication! Stamp away good Sir.

DRLane wrote

roastbeef wrote

Lightened up some brackets with my new hole punch. Also took out the rear seat floor carpet and foam that extends underneath the center console.

These are my favorite forum posts! Love the dedication! Stamp away good Sir.

Thanks. I'm eyeballing body panels too, but this will be a project for another day. It's almost beer time.

^^^all those panels back there are considered structural. If anything maybe dimple die (provide some strength), but please dont punch holes in those...

roastbeef wrote

Thanks. I'm eyeballing body panels too, but this will be a project for another day. It's almost beer time.

This guy.

I wonder how much the wiring harness weighs?

BayE30 wrote

^^^all those panels back there are considered structural. If anything maybe gussets (provide some strength), but please dont punch holes in those...

I'm just a garage hack, but I would argue the stress path would be lengthwise rather than horizontal. Reasonable holes in the non-molded center would be acceptable without any negative effects.

I cf skinned the center shift trim.

I bought it for a good price because it had a cigarette burn all the way through the leather and plastic. I was able to fix the plastic and use it to continue practicing my CF skinning. Too bad it's DCT because it turned out way better than I was expecting.

Reminds me of this ... haha

Washed these

Silos wrote

I cf skinned the center shift trim.

I bought it for a good price because it had a cigarette burn all the way through the leather and plastic. I was able to fix the plastic and use it to continue practicing my CF skinning. Too bad it's DCT because it turned out way better than I was expecting.

Yes! Nice work.

When I do carbon fiber projects I always freak out in the middle of the project because at that point, for me it always looks terrible and unusable but then you sand for a while and sand some more, fill the pin holes and pound on some clear coat and Then the end result turns out beating my expectations.

Great job.

LakeSurfer wrote

Yes! Nice work.

When I do carbon fiber projects I always freak out in the middle of the project because at that point, for me it always looks terrible and unusable but then you sand for a while and sand some more, fill the pin holes and pound on some clear coat and Then the end result turns out beating my expectations.

Great job.

Same. It's incredible how rough it looks half way though the process, and what I've been able to salvage with more resin and sanding. So thank you!

By the way, no clear coat here - I polished the resin!

No ragrets...this things a monster.. what have I done 🤦*♂️ #bigwanggang

It'll adjust some

Silos wrote

I cf skinned the center shift trim.

I bought it for a good price because it had a cigarette burn all the way through the leather and plastic. I was able to fix the plastic and use it to continue practicing my CF skinning. Too bad it's DCT because it turned out way better than I was expecting.

Weave looks pretty much perfect. Nice work!

You don't realize how many surfaces are covered in leather in your car until you clean and condition all of it. Holy.

Extended leather life: half the damn dash, whole center console, even the trim... ugh. So much cow skin in this damn thing! At least it's good for the season now.

Also fixed the wrinkles in the door panels. Pretty disappointed that they start to sag even at such low mileage. BMW should've put more adhesive across the skin instead of only in select few spots...

Before & after:

6ixSpd wrote

You don't realize how many surfaces are covered in leather in your car until you clean and condition all of it. Holy.

Extended leather life: half the damn dash, whole center console, even the trim... ugh. So much cow skin in this damn thing! At least it's good for the season now.

Also fixed the wrinkles in the door panels. Pretty disappointed that they start to sag even at such low mileage. BMW should've put more adhesive across the skin instead of only in select few spots...

Seriously. I was just thinking that this morning. Between the 6 different types of molded plastic & the 8 different places with leather trim, keeping the cockpit looking like new is a full time job.

A local reupholstering shop wants to charge $300 to redo the leather trim in the center console and $500 for the seats. Tempted but holding off for now.

lancerr wrote

Seriously. I was just thinking that this morning. Between the 6 different types of molded plastic & the 8 different places with leather trim, keeping the cockpit looking like new is a full time job.

A local reupholstering shop wants to charge $300 to redo the leather trim in the center console and $500 for the seats. Tempted but holding off for now.

I feel like it is easier to think of what surfaces you are not covering in conditioner lol: namely the upper dash, controls, and about half the door panels. So much real estate to cover.

Got so used to smartphone camera pics that I forgot about my Sony Nex-3 sitting around gathering dust. Got it out, mounted on the tripod and with the overcast weather in California, the diffuse lighting was perfect to try and get some detailed shots and practice. Dog decided he wanted to be part of the shot so got him in as well.

Still can't get a perfect shot of this car.

New wheels went on today 18x10 square and running 275/35

Bimmer Barney wrote

New wheels went on today 18x10 square and running 275/35

I've been very tempted to run a square setup. How does the car feel?

Silos wrote

Bimmer Barney wrote

New wheels went on today 18x10 square and running 275/35

I've been very tempted to run a square setup. How does the car feel?

I've only driven the car about 25 miles so far. Probably won't notice anything until I get it on track.

6ixSpd wrote

You don't realize how many surfaces are covered in leather in your car until you clean and condition all of it. Holy.

Extended leather life: half the damn dash, whole center console, even the trim... ugh. So much cow skin in this damn thing! At least it's good for the season now.

Also fixed the wrinkles in the door panels. Pretty disappointed that they start to sag even at such low mileage. BMW should've put more adhesive across the skin instead of only in select few spots...

Before & after:

What's the process to do this just steam? Mine are little wavy also and only 22k on clock

GRUESOM3 wrote

What's the process to do this just steam? Mine are little wavy also and only 22k on clock

Same. Mines at roughly 25k as well and I was graced with these wrinkles this spring... It never sees rain and it's always garaged but I guess it's inevitable. I swear I noticed some last spring too but it went away once it got hotter in the summer.

I used a heat gun! Steam doesn't do anything in my experience except clean and disinfect. Same process I described for my seats in the Recaro thread. Be sure to condition the leather after as it will be dried from the heating.