Widened Carbon Fenders & CSL Bumper

[Nate047]

Reasonable pricing is going to be a tough one to meet to be honest - fitment is awesome. Still need to do the fender once the car is out of mechanicals.

Since you're talking to the company, can you ask them the wheel/tire sizes and alignment specs of the car in their example photo? For the fenders.

[Obioban]

10mm wider fenders almost certainly will see similar results with 10mm more aggressive offsets.

[Nate047]

It's his online persona - believe me you grow to like it when you realize it isn't personal. He's actually quite funny - albeit when he doesn't target you I admit.



I'll ask - but pretty sure he doesn't know as it isn't his car.

Maybe he would provide the owner's IG and I can just ask them? You can DM me if they don't want it public. I could probably guess or spend an hour figuring it out, but there's a hundred E46 ring tools that look just like that. Def interested in these fenders.

[jet_dogg]

It's his online persona - believe me you grow to like it when you realize it isn't personal. He's actually quite funny - albeit when he doesn't target you I admit.

I'll ask - but pretty sure he doesn't know as it isn't his car.

Don't defend me I was finna roast his brokeboi honda-tech ass.

[DoubleSidedTape]

Will the fenders work with a stock bumper or do you need the CSL?

[JaredU]

Will the fenders work with a stock bumper or do you need the CSL?

You should try 5 minutes of reading for your answer

[BBRTuning]

This is a fantastic idea and much needed for this car, something I've been waiting on for years. HOWEVER, when you're really pushing front wheel/tire fitment and need the extra fender clearance, one of the main interference areas is where the OE fender tapers down to meet the bumper. To do this properly, the entire fender needs to be wider, as well as the bumper itself. Without it, you're not really gaining much of anything as far as actual useable clearance with some steering lock applied. I was really hoping that this CSL bumper was also widened in this area to meet up with these widened fenders.

I'm currently running 275/35 with 18x10.5 +22 square and have spent more time with the fender/bumper interface area than anywhere else, getting this setup to fit correctly for actual track use over bumps/curbs etc. Gaining 10mm in this area as well as over the entire fender would be huge.

[BBRTuning]

Here's what I'm talking about. This is at about 3.6* camber. The tire actually clears the fender without issue at the top of fender (I have flared and pulled the fenders). But the real clearance issue is where the fender meets bumper, which is where the width is really needed. Yes, the wheel is perfectly straight here.

It JUST clears here, but I've hacked a decent amount of stuff in there that I would rather not have. FWIW, with 60mm race springs, I only have about 3-4mm clearance on the inside, so going with a higher offset isn't an option.

[Obioban]

Higher offset would work if you went to a setup where the spring perch is above the tire.

[BBRTuning]

Higher offset would work if you went to a setup where the spring perch is above the tire.

it is.. just. The rim of the wheel is the closest. Again shows in 2nd pic below with another different 18x10.5 +25. There ain’t much room left, especially if trying to run say a 295 square. You may buy a few mm with a different damper body design.

Either way, I’m just not sure how much this buys you without the bumper to match. Also, if you’re running a wide enough front tire to need these fenders, then the leading edge of the tire will stick out far into the airflow. A wider bumper would also be of a large aero benefit (see: M3 GTR). These fenders look to be of motorsport or at least clubsport grade and with some (relatively) minor tweaks could be properly functional, IMO.

[Obioban]

it is.. just. The rim of the wheel is the closest. Again shows in 2nd pic below with another different 18x10.5 +25. There ain’t much room left, especially if trying to run say a 295 square. You may buy a few mm with a different damper body design.

Either way, I’m just not sure how much this buys you without the bumper to match. Also, if you’re running a wide enough front tire to need these fenders, then the leading edge of the tire will stick out far into the airflow. A wider bumper would also be of a large aero benefit (see: M3 GTR). These fenders look to be of motorsport or at least clubsport grade and with some (relatively) minor tweaks could be properly functional, IMO.

I don't know what that lower black thing is (weird end link mount? Why?), but it's cutting into your clearances for sure.

275 Hoosiers (which run oversize) on an et35 on my car:



And being ET35 instead of ET25 means I can set camber based on the pyrometer rather than making it fit.

[BBRTuning]

I don't know what that lower black thing is (weird end link mount? Why?), but it's cutting into your clearances for sure.


And being ET35 instead of ET25 means I can set camber based on the pyrometer rather than making it fit.

Yeah, end link bracket, ask Moton why it's like that. These are also full aluminium shock bodies so they're a bit thicker. I'll be moving to MCS soon which do seem to have a bit more inner clearance.

As far as camber, 3.6* I'm at now is close to the minimum of the range that tire temp data suggests to be at. Depending on the tire, especially on something sloppy like an NT01, up to 4* seems optimal especially for tracks like Buttonwillow with almost no straightaways and minimal braking. 3.5-4* is where most of us end up at for our local tracks, so definitely no sacrifices made here other than maybe scrub radius (not really an issue at higher speeds where less steering lock is used) and some extra wheel bearing load, due to wheel offset.

Anyway, this is missing the point. Regardless of whatever wheel/tire size and offset you're running, anyone who *needs* more front fender clearance and is doing anything other than driving straight ahead will also need the entire fender and bumper widened as well to match, end of story.

I don't mean to bash this idea, I'm still considering a set of these fenders regardless of what happens. I just think there's a great opportunity here to make something both novel and functional to the E46 community, and not "just another" CSL bumper, but a more or less complete front bodywork setup that allows us square setup guys to have even front and rear fender fitment and to properly fit wide (275++) front tires. While we're at it, I wonder how a GTS/CS style functional vented hood would look on an E46..

[Obioban]

Yeah, end link bracket, ask Moton why it's like that. These are also full aluminium shock bodies so they're a bit thicker. I'll be moving to MCS soon which do seem to have a bit more inner clearance.

As far as camber, 3.6* I'm at now is close to the minimum of the range that tire temp data suggests to be at. Depending on the tire, especially on something sloppy like an NT01, up to 4* seems optimal especially for tracks like Buttonwillow with almost no straightaways and minimal braking. 3.5-4* is where most of us end up at for our local tracks, so definitely no sacrifices made here other than maybe scrub radius (not really an issue at higher speeds where less steering lock is used) and some extra wheel bearing load, due to wheel offset.

Anyway, this is missing the point. Regardless of whatever wheel/tire size and offset you're running, anyone who *needs* more front fender clearance and is doing anything other than driving straight ahead will also need the entire fender and bumper widened as well to match, end of story.

I don't mean to bash this idea, I'm still considering a set of these fenders regardless of what happens. I just think there's a great opportunity here to make something both novel and functional to the E46 community, and not "just another" CSL bumper, but a more or less complete front bodywork setup that allows us square setup guys to have even front and rear fender fitment and to properly fit wide (275++) front tires. While we're at it, I wonder how a GTS/CS style functional vented hood would look on an E46..

I agree with what your saying WRT fender/bumper— not debating that upside.

So, unrelated to that, what ride height are you running? Sounds like you may be outside of the good camber curve, if you need that much static camber…

[jet_dogg]

I don't believe it's even worth considering as he's in the comically fringe group of people running a 10.5" rim (with a 275 tire) which the car simply isn't capable of accommodating.

[Gearhead55]

I don't believe it's even worth considering as he's in the comically fringe group of people running a 10.5" rim (with a 275 tire) which the car simply isn't capable of accommodating.

the car is perfectly capable of accommodating 10.5s if you just believe in yourself.