Widened Carbon Fenders & CSL Bumper

[Epoustouflant]

I made it, finally.

The fenders' fitment is 10/10, and it fits very well with the OE liner.

The CSL bumper needs fiddling with the driver side bracket to raise it up before paint later this Winter. I've yet to install the E36 fluid reservoir. The snorkel duct fits perfectly along with the bumper grill.

Overall, I'm very happy with where both of these are at fitment wise.

I'm compiling notes, writing up journal entries, will do a proper photoshoot this week and we'll be set to start the pre-order.

The CSL trunk from Karbonius is a whole other story unfortunately. The exterior aesthetics and fitment is great, the accessories fitment requires a lot of work beyond anything to be reasonably expected as a DIY. I have an early production trunk, I'll chat with Karbonius to see if they've made improvements since.

[pawa_k2001]

The CSL trunk from Karbonius is a whole other story unfortunately. The exterior aesthetics and fitment is great, the accessories fitment requires a lot of work beyond anything to be reasonably expected as a DIY. I have an early production trunk, I'll chat with Karbonius to see if they've made improvements since.

Dammit. Your personal opinion, would you buy that trunk again if you knew the problems? My trunk is still on order, should be here in December, I can still cancel the order.

[Epoustouflant]

Dammit. Your personal opinion, would you buy that trunk again if you knew the problems? My trunk is still on order, should be here in December, I can still cancel the order.

For exterior fitment & weight - yes, but I’d prefer buying it knowing fitment work is required for the thumper, license plate lights, badges and OEM rubber stoppers are not compatible.

The biggest letdown is the thumper fitment. It’s not close. The OEM metal is very thin (+\- 1mm) to allow easy fitment.

The thumper is designed by BMW to be very difficult to punch out by thieves. It sandwiches a panel and is twisted to reveal the threads in which you bolt through the panel.

The Karbonius is 3-4x that thickness. I used a 80 grit to get it to nearly fit - but I gave up as it required sanding down the upper part with little space for hand sanding.

It might require a reclear on the inside as I was planning to run it as naked carbon with the OEM CSL liner.

In terms of paint & body, it isn’t anything new or challenging - but this isn’t something you can get painted and fit accessories yourself in its current form.

I’d budget for a few extra hours of P&B when buying that trunk. Ana is awaiting an update from David on whether adjustments were made.

I’m due to snap a few pictures this week. I’ll tag you so you know what challenges I faced.

[Casa de Mesa]

The biggest letdown is the thumper fitment.

What is a thumper? I googled "trunk thumper" and some interesting results were returned. But nothing about a bootlid/trunk.

The CSL trunk from Karbonius is a whole other story unfortunately. The exterior aesthetics and fitment is great, the accessories fitment requires a lot of work beyond anything to be reasonably expected as a DIY. I have an early production trunk, I'll chat with Karbonius to see if they've made improvements since.

For exterior fitment & weight - yes, but I’d prefer buying it knowing fitment work is required...

To expand on this, I spent a bit of time putting a review together in my build thread so people would understand what's involved with installing these trunks. Matt asked me to provide the details, but I don't think he's referenced it anywhere. Admittedly, I've been away from the forum for about 2 months so I might have missed it.

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/member-build-journals/145270-casa-de-mesa%E2%80%99s-m3-color-change-from-blue-to-blue?p=183077#post183077

Dammit. Your personal opinion, would you buy that trunk again if you knew the problems? My trunk is still on order, should be here in December, I can still cancel the order.

I know you asked Matt and not me, but my opinion is yes.

It does take some work to get it installed (read the above post, decide for yourself), but the weight difference is pretty big and the exterior finish is fantastic. Once it's installed and painted, it looks like a factory piece. You cannot tell it's a carbon piece until you open the trunk and it flies open with only one strut...

You're a gram counter and if weight is a priority, these are hard to beat. It takes some work, but the net result is pretty amazing IMHO.

[pawa_k2001]

Karbonius trunk and many other of their carbon parts are coming in on a pallet today, wish me luck.

[Epoustouflant]

See below!

What is a thumper? I googled "trunk thumper" and some interesting results were returned. But nothing about a bootlid/trunk.


A bad case of auto-correct Tumbler! The key lock.


To expand on this, I spent a bit of time putting a review together in my build thread so people would understand what's involved with installing these trunks. Matt asked me to provide the details, but I don't think he's referenced it anywhere. Admittedly, I've been away from the forum for about 2 months so I might have missed it.

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/member-build-journals/145270-casa-de-mesa%E2%80%99s-m3-color-change-from-blue-to-blue?p=183077#post183077

It's on my to-do.


I know you asked Matt and not me, but my opinion is yes.

I agree.

It does take some work to get it installed (read the above post, decide for yourself), but the weight difference is pretty big and the exterior finish is fantastic. Once it's installed and painted, it looks like a factory piece. You cannot tell it's a carbon piece until you open the trunk and it flies open with only one strut...

100%: the lightness and exterior fitment is worth it. Keep in mind Karbonius (David and Ana) confirmed they had integrated fixes on the finishing of the components.

I still don't think anyone should expect to pick this up from the body shop and fit the accessories yourself at home.

You're a gram counter and if weight is a priority, these are hard to beat. It takes some work, but the net result is pretty amazing IMHO.

[pawa_k2001]

Karbonius delivery. Hoping to test fit the trunk this weekend.

Btw, what is the word on the carbon fenders? What is your opinion of the wide of the fender? I don't want the front arch to look larger than the rear arch(rear quarter panel arch).

[Casa de Mesa]

It's on my to-do.

Believe me when I say I get that sentiment!

My post wasn't intended as a dig on you, BTW. Literally have not been on the forum hardly at all recently...

[Casa de Mesa]

Karbonius delivery. Hoping to test fit the trunk this weekend.

Btw, what is the word on the carbon fenders? What is your opinion of the wide of the fender? I don't want the front arch to look larger than the rear arch(rear quarter panel arch).

Keep us posted. Those panels are so badass.

[Epoustouflant]

Karbonius delivery. Hoping to test fit the trunk this weekend.

Btw, what is the word on the carbon fenders? What is your opinion of the wide of the fender? I don't want the front arch to look larger than the rear arch(rear quarter panel arch).

Glad to hear on your safe & sound delivery. Keep me posted on those door cards, it's a big if for my build.

I wrote my DIY fitment review on the fenders here. The current pre-order is here. There are 3x spots left for this Winter's production.

In short, I think it actually looks better. I fitted 12mm spacers on the bagdad wheels to give you a sense, and compared to the E9x M3 F to R fender fitment.

The fender's gap fitment is great all around, the side trims need professional help to fit. My car was shoddily resprayed by the previous owner, I'm showing what I believe to be the worst case with all those new body panels: trunk, bumper, fenders and diffuser.

EDIT: forgot the pics.




Versus e9x stock body

[Epoustouflant]

Updated with pics^^

[Epoustouflant]

Fitment update
"When the pros do it."
New entry to the Build Journal

As a refresher, my DIY fitment last Fall wasn’t perfect: the side trims fitment was wack. Many members were understandably disappointed about the fenders' side trim fitment.

Still, I believed [...] because I know people that know: I still made the statement these were OEM fitment and 6x of you ordered.

As you can see by pictures, the side trim & body line alignment along with gaps are OEM.

We masked the inner fender to avoid overspray on the carbon work: it's that good. The darker shade of the primer instead of white gel coat brings out the bulge of the fenders better. The final darker shade of color I picked should make them pop further more.

If you're convinced, you can order a set here. Lead time is currently 4-6 weeks.

[TexaZ3]

Looking good.

[Epoustouflant]

We're about to see these fitted, and fully painted - finally!

I'm working with Sascha to allocate production schedules for another pre-order once these are up.

[Epoustouflant]

There's a new dual hole variant now available.