The carbon slicktop thread

[liam821]

I posted that picture-- a friend of mine had his car converted to a steel slick top.

It does look really good. But, I'd go CF even if painting-- while the roof panel is half the price, $/lb saved I bet your worse off with steel than CF-- the cost of the roof is a fraction of the cost of the project.

You're probably right if you look at it like that. The metal roof is heavier by like 5-10#s, its also heavier in all the wrong places. I've heard rumors that Lang has in the past sold CF roofs that weren't perfect at a discount - so finding something like that might work great since you're going to paint over it anyway. It's a project I want to work on next winter.

[Obioban]

I posted that picture-- a friend of mine had his car converted to a steel slick top.

It does look really good. But, I'd go CF even if painting-- while the roof panel is half the price, $/lb saved I bet your worse off with steel than CF-- the cost of the roof is a fraction of the cost of the project.

[liam821]

FAQs:
Why not use an OEM slicktop roof which is half the price?[LIST][*]From what I recall, the consensus was that it is difficult to weld the thin metal and not warp it. For the cost of the mod, you go all the way.

While you can weld on an OEM slicktop, you can also use 3M Panel Bonding Adhesive. It's made to do just that, bond panels, and if applied correctly is more than strong enough to hold the roof in place and arguably better than welding. This is what I'm planning on doing with my PY car since I want the roof body color, and painting the carbon panel seems like a waste of money when you can get an OE metal one half the cost. I also don't have to worry about getting the carbon panel perfectly flat/prepped for paint since the OE metal panel is, well, its an OE panel prepped for paint.

I think if I had an AW/Silver/Black/IB I might roll with a CF roof, but for PY/Imola/LSB the roof body color looks better IMHO. Somebody posted some pictures of a slicktop conversion done on an Imola on M3F just before the site when down and it looks fan-fn-tastic.

[JeST]

My cars jetblack. Probably the least noticeable color to have a cf roof.

[JeST]

[JeST]

[JeST]

[Obioban]

Tough crowd.

[Tbonem3]

hahah

[mainstreamer00]

^
Thirsty bro?

Will post actual roof pics when it stops raining.

[pawa_k2001]

Those pictures are like if someone asks for cleavage and gets this..

[mainstreamer00]

;}

[Obioban]

This thread is useless without pics 🙌, but for real, I just like to see E46 with carbon roof conversions...

[Albino09]

This thread is useless without pics 🙌, but for real, I just like to see E46 with carbon roof conversions...

[heinzboehmer]

I've heard/read somewhere the actual carbon fiber roof panel is only about a 12 pound weight savings over the slick top steel roof panel. Can anyone confirm this?

Feff

Lang's roof is supposedly the lightest and their website states it weight 7 lbs which is 3.175 kg. RealOEM lists the factory slicktop panel as weighing 8.564 kg:

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/part?id=BL93-USA-04-2002-E46-BMW-M3&mg=41&sg=30&diagId=41_1103&q=41318242962

That means the lightest CF roof saves 5.389 kg which is 11.881 lbs. So yup, about 12 lbs saved with a CF roof. Although keep in mind that this is at the highest point on the car, which is significantly more impactful than in other places.