Slonik CF roof on E90 M3

[SYT_Shadow]

Looking good!

Thanks BigJae!!

[SYT_Shadow]

Thanks for the write up and review. Seeing these installs really helps to understand what's involved, so appreciate you taking the time to post this.

Currently talking with Slonik/Slon Workshop about their E46 roof. May end up going with their CF roof bow.

QQ: My assumption is you do NOT use structural adhesive on the roof bow? Do you only use caulking/silicone there?

My line of thinking is that you want the roof to expand & contract (in particular, in sunlight) and if you glue down the roof to the center bow, you'd have potential warping issues. I could be thinking about this completely wrong, but was planning on only use the glue on the outer perimeter of the CF roof.

On the flip side of that thought, I could see where tying in the roof to that center section would help with torsional rigidity to some extent. Likely marginal, but...

Yup, used silicone/caulk on the roof bow

[bigjae46]

Looking good!

[Casa de Mesa]

Thanks for the write up and review. Seeing these installs really helps to understand what's involved, so appreciate you taking the time to post this.

Currently talking with Slonik/Slon Workshop about their E46 roof. May end up going with their CF roof bow.

QQ: My assumption is you do NOT use structural adhesive on the roof bow? Do you only use caulking/silicone there?

My line of thinking is that you want the roof to expand & contract (in particular, in sunlight) and if you glue down the roof to the center bow, you'd have potential warping issues. I could be thinking about this completely wrong, but was planning on only use the glue on the outer perimeter of the CF roof.

On the flip side of that thought, I could see where tying in the roof to that center section would help with torsional rigidity to some extent. Likely marginal, but...

[liam821]

I love the e90m3, it looks so great. Beautiful car.

[0-60motorsports]

Looks great!

[SYT_Shadow]

That larger weave looks great! Did the curing require any weighing the panel down or simply let it cure like a windshield?

It was like a windshield. The weighing was only for the side rails which are springy and have to be glued down

[IamFODI]

Very nice!

[Bimmerteknik]

That larger weave looks great! Did the curing require any weighing the panel down or simply let it cure like a windshield?

[SYT_Shadow]

My E90 track car is a stripper with DCT as its only option. This means I’m one of the lucky few to have an E90 slicktop vs the sunroof version.

For whatever reason BMW did not make the E90 with a CF roof. They acknowledged the error of their ways in the F80 and now the G80 gets the CF roof standard on the 4 door M. So everyone is in on the party except the E90! We must fix this!

I’ve considered switching the roof to CF for a long time but wasn’t willing to pull the trigger until I heard Slonik (www.instagram.com/slon_workshop/?hl=en) was building one. Aftermarket CF tends to look ok in pics but in person it looks like garbage. I’ve never been able to put aftermarket CF on my car… until now

Anyway, here it is! I went for a bigger than stock weave (large twill weave) so it has a more defined look vs the OEM look. It reminds me a bit of the M2 CS roof panel vs the E9X’s.
-Vacuum infusion with post-curing
-Installed with the same structural glue BMW recommends for the F8X roof
-Options – oem look plain weave, small or large size twill wave. Any other options on request
-Weight loss of 16lb (7kg) in slicktop cars and 55lb (25kg) in sunroof cars
-Part weight: 8lb (3.7kg)
-Optional antenna hole (or you can cut it yourself with the template). I went for the more aerodynamic no antenna
-Covered with special protective polyurethane primer and 3 layers of high quality sikkens polyurethane clearcoat lacquer (you can polish it a few times without respraying)
-It also gives some additional torsional rigidity (small figures, but glued carbon is more rigid than spot welded steel)
E46 M3 18500
E46 M3 CSL 18750


Pics comparing to E92




Closeup of the weave


Pics showing install
To install you basically cut out the front and rear glass hoping not to break them. Then you cut out the roof, prepare the surfaces, glue the CF one in.
If your car was a slicktop the reinforcements are in place, but if it was a sunroof car you need to weld in a replacement, or you can glue in a CF reinforcement piece Slonik has
If the body is scratched then it may rust, so anything that gets scratched must be passivated before installing the roof or the glass

In my ‘before’ pics you can see I have a vinyl wrap on the roof as well as a Bimmerworld banner. My front glass had a 16” crack in it but it didn’t break removing it. Of course this was replaced with new OEM BMW glass during the reinstall


Before:



Front glass out:



Rear glass out:



Spot welds getting drilled out



Headliner removed





Car has no glass! Weight reduction FTW!





Test fit the CF roof



After gluing the roof you do the front and rear glass







You let the car sit for a couple days for the glue to dry and voila, CF roof on an E90!