Slonik (Slon) Carbon Fiber CSL Trunk Review

[Altaran]

We have fitment issues with aftermarket parts because nobody wants to pay the price for a "perfect" fitting part.
For the most part it is cheaper to have a body shop make the adjustments than to pay 2x or 3x for an OEM quality piece.

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[Icecream]

If we all keep bitching like this soon there will be no aftermarket parts for this platform at all. I get it sucks to deal with these fitment issues but I do think a professional shop could tweak most of it. And if not, seems most companies, this one included, will replace or refund. They sent you another trunk and now they offered to refund and pay return shipping, what else could they do?. Sucks but they can only do so much. I don't have a race in this horse, just hope we don't collectively piss off all the manufacturers still making cool stuff for our cars. It Is a great thing to still have companies build carbon parts like this with as much attention to detail and passion, even if it is not perfect everytime. I'll slowly walk out of the room now.

[chalaka]

hope OP got this trunk experience resolved ..
knowing OP's frustration, yet, also kind of appreciate Slonik to jump in to defense his own product ..

i probably had one of the early made Karb trunk .. (or maybe the 1st buy?)
i think the fitment is GOOD. (Very satisfied )
installation experience was fast for me because i was coming from the Lower quality / cheaper mad FRP rep.
(sort of knowing where to tweak and tune already)

For me, also judging from the picture, i don't recall having the "middle touching glass" issue.. line looks normal to me..
so couple factors from my Karb experience, also treat it as a competitor's reference for Slonik ..(maybe there are something positive for Slonik to copy and keep improving your fine work as well

Karb trunk:
1. 1st impression, reply was fast, spot on, shipping cost, time were all as promised (shipping cost was HIGH though)
2. packaging was REALLY good. that box was really high quality. well protected, professionally done, so it built just that much confidence in their products. (value up)
3. finish is good, closing sound is firm, not flexing like my old rep.
4. screw holes are good and tight
5. BAD: bumper stop hole for the rubber thing is no use, i skipped this since it closes well, so minor issue to me
6. edge tip pressed into the windows corner tight from initial install (requires slight adjustment to move toward rear end)

Before i made the purchase from Karb,
also consider Slonik's .. from OP's pic and their IG, i believe it's a nicely made piece as well
so, hope Slonik can figure out which process went wrong..

meanwhile, that packaging can really take some improvement, especially you guys take pride on your hard work.

[IamFODI]

Guys, let's try to keep the focus on actionable constructive feedback. That tends to get better results than trying to convince someone that they've said something stupid.

[old///MFanatic]

Slon you keep making excuses but was the inadequate packing not 100% your company’s fault? I’m responding to what was shown in this thread pics and that was poorly executed. Moving on.

As for both parties to get a professional body shop installer involved was what I said “I” would have proposed. Didn’t say you should have nor was it negligence on your part for not offering. *(as it would not account for possibility the car in question having unforeseen irregularities). Although outcome would show both of you it doesn’t fit and then immediately make a return label and refund. It’s what I see as a quick decisive answer for both parties.

As for your most recent rebuttal, “do i really need to create ?teaching video? of installation tricks?”
You directly said it was Your Idea. You are now complaining about your own idea and proposal to customer. And never could/would fulfill after 3-4 weeks of customer waiting. You don’t see how just not doing or telling customer you weren’t going to do this anymore would make him or anyone else just be done dealing with your company at this point of waiting and hassles??
“after first pics from Pavel, and his messages about fitment issues, from my side, i had an idea to make some guide for him. and when we started our "tryings" in our workshop to make some guide (video), how to adjust it with the best results”

[Tbonem3]

More food for thought:

[pawa_k2001]

Slonik, you should get your trunks back in the condition you shipped to me. Each trunk is lightly shrinkwrapped in the length ways since you said shrink wrapping them the other way flattens the curve by glass. At the bottom there is materials protecting the first trunk, also I tried to pad the corners. Alot of your shipping peanuts were put into the box between the 1st and 2nd trunk so they don't hit each other. Since the box is meant for just 1 trunk(like you shipped it), it was a tight fit to get both trunk in "ying-yang" like you asked. The box is made from 1" foam(which you used to ship the trunk to me) so hopefully it protects everything inside, nothing inside moves and I shrank wrapped the box so it doesn't fall apart.

[Slonik]

I didn’t respond to owner of co in rebuttal as I could see it was not going to help. Excuses given were of a poor business model. Over two weeks for a tutorial that never was finished on how to adjust trunk. Excuse it was packaged poorly because he doesn’t have shipping equipment or trained a dedicated shipping staff. That’s 100% on company that admittedly ships delicate parts internationally.

all in one trash.
we have made over 500 shipments all over the world. 100+ of them - quite large carbon fiber items.
this is the first time, when piece arrived damaged. for me its a quite good math, but even after this first time i was drew conclusions and we've removed those person from packaging.
but you trying to describe this in absolutely different way.

Regardless, if I (as manufacturer of product) under impression it was correct. I would have told the buyer to get a cpl of quotes from body shops who know E46s for a “test fitment”. Agree on one and both sides work with it to see if it can professionally be fitted to standards without issues. If it can (buyer pays that bill). Only the trunk broken goes back. Now if the shop agrees it’s flawed and fits poorly then seller pays that bill and second undamaged one also goes back. That’s what I would have suggested prior to this loss in confidence in Slon by buyer.

i don't like and don't prefer to prove something to someone, especially if i see that i have very low chances.
do i really need to discuss/rate of customer knowledge in body parts installation in conversation? i dont think, that its correct. do i really need to create ?teaching video? of installation tricks?

for me good argument would be to take a camera, press record and ask our guy to remove oem trunk from the chassis and fit one of those from the box, which would arrive back from US. if he get oem fitment in 5-10 minutes with oem available adjustments, i could rate it as a good item.
and that's all. customer without trunk at the end and unhappy? really sad situation. shit happens. good, that not often. did i planned/assume this? even on 0.001% no. did i made all possible, not to get it, in technical part of the work? - 100% for sure.
teachers, how to make business - i'm glad, that you all know how to make best carbon trunks and respond to the customers 24/7.

i don't know ANY of US body shops, to recommend even one of them, sorry.
but, the fact, that other customers have fitted our trunks in workshops and they are happy, gave a thoughts.

to be 100% sure we need to get trunks back. if we get them and see, that they are not fit as previously (when we tested them before shipping), so they are really were deformed during delivery. i will post info in both ways.


and finally, i really love how many examples of perfect customer's support people made here.

but, i'm a customer too, quite often, and for the years of different cars upgrades have quite huge experience.

can i ask, where to find out company with this perfect service, which you all describe? not those idealistic company from your imaginations, but in the real world.

where you get 24/7 answers on any forum, where all this issues solved like you said?
cause i have some absolutely opposite experience in 99% cases.

[old///MFanatic]

I'm amazed that this thread was created.
Do you honestly believe these guys are just selling parts without test fitting them on a car first?

Thread stated at the beginning it’s about “fitment is completely off and communication is lacking”
By going by what was posted communication by seller was also lacking at major crossroads.

I didn’t respond to owner of co in rebuttal as I could see it was not going to help. Excuses given were of a poor business model. Over two weeks for a tutorial that never was finished on how to adjust trunk. Excuse it was packaged poorly because he doesn’t have shipping equipment or trained a dedicated shipping staff. That’s 100% on company that admittedly ships delicate parts internationally.

Regardless, if I (as manufacturer of product) under impression it was correct. I would have told the buyer to get a cpl of quotes from body shops who know E46s for a “test fitment”. Agree on one and both sides work with it to see if it can professionally be fitted to standards without issues. If it can (buyer pays that bill). Only the trunk broken goes back. Now if the shop agrees it’s flawed and fits poorly then seller pays that bill and second undamaged one also goes back. That’s what I would have suggested prior to this loss in confidence in Slon by buyer.

But seeing what buyer has been put through that window seems closed and limit of frustration exceeded. Think we’ve all been through that so no judgment there.

[pawa_k2001]

that right there is the crux of this issue

the trunk(s) they sent are not even "good enough" fitment

i personally want Slon to be in the right here, because they are one of the few companies developing new and innovative parts for our platform, and i personally want to buy product from them, but that is really gonna be decided by the outcome of this situation

I have no doubt that it will fit perfectly in their shop, this is the same reason I now take the Karbonious supplied pictures of panel gaps with a grain of salt. I want to see customer pictures since they are much more accurate representation of the fitment. So far 2 people posted OEM CSL trunk fitment, both look great, my brother has a OEM CSL trunk, it fits great. 1 Karbonious trunk was posted, fitment is good, not perfect but the person said his glass may have been installed improperly.

[usdmej]

if someone promises you perfection but then tells you, "what do you expect, its a carbon part", it is not right.

that right there is the crux of this issue

the trunk(s) they sent are not even "good enough" fitment

i personally want Slon to be in the right here, because they are one of the few companies developing new and innovative parts for our platform, and i personally want to buy product from them, but that is really gonna be decided by the outcome of this situation

[pawa_k2001]

It's actually not out of the realm of possibility that your car isn't that straight at this point in time. Try fitting rogue engineering rear strut brace that was designed on a very young car now, 20 years later, & you'll find it's a bear to install on our cars.

I have a similar, though slightly better, opinion of this situation than the streamline one about 4 years ago on m3forum - you guys are buying aftermarket body parts from east europe/russia and then getting upset with language barrier, shipping times/costs, not-perfect fitment? Streamline's customer service was even worse, but you have to understand this is not some big company here in America that buys plastic junk from China and can send you another free of charge if you complain so as to placate you, and it barely costs them anything.

The old advice is still the best, buy OE if you have these standards.

I didn't have problems with shipping cost nor shipping time. I actually supported Slonik by buying 2 carbon walls from him, I thought a new quality company entered the E46 M3 market which is why I spent the $2k for their carbon trunk, not Karbonious even though Karbonious is known as the top dog in our market for carbon parts. I also like Karbonious and their CSL box looks amazing under my hood.

I reached out to Slonik after my carbon wall order and asked specifically if their carbon trunk is on par with OEM CSL trunk, I do have a OEM CSL trunk to compare to. I was sold on his words of how detailed they are and how they are perfectionists, if someone promises you perfection but then tells you, "what do you expect, its a carbon part", it is not right. Btw, I don't have a language barrier with Slonik, half the reason I bought their parts was also their conversation on Instagram with my brother and their promise of how perfect everything they do is.

I waited almost 4 weeks for instructions to help me with install if they thought I didn't know what I was doing. I have plenty things I rather do, like drink, mountain bike, drive my car, travel, etc, I wasn't looking forward to spending hours packaging, hours dealing with my bank, hours typing. I rather install my trunk and head out to enjoy a weekend.

If it makes any difference, my M3 isn't some ragged out example, its a 2002 slicktop with 63k miles. What I don't understand is when Streamline and others tried to build carbon bumpers and panel gap wasn't just right everyone exploded, now it seems like people are willing to pay decent money and close their eyes to imperfections.

[Tbonem3]

Regardless of any inherent problems with carbon fiber, the manufacturer promised a perfect fit.

No offense, but it's a ridiculous claim and ridiculous to believe it. Newer OE boots aren't even perfect like the original equipment on true CSLs.

[Tbonem3]

It's actually not out of the realm of possibility that your car isn't that straight at this point in time. Try fitting rogue engineering rear strut brace that was designed on a very young car now, 20 years later, & you'll find it's a bear to install on our cars.

I have a similar, though slightly better, opinion of this situation than the streamline one about 4 years ago on m3forum - you guys are buying aftermarket body parts from east europe/russia and then getting upset with language barrier, shipping times/costs, not-perfect fitment? Streamline's customer service was even worse, but you have to understand this is not some big company here in America that buys plastic junk from China and can send you another free of charge if you complain so as to placate you, and it barely costs them anything.

The old advice is still the best, buy OE if you have these standards.

[01SG]

Regardless of any inherent problems with carbon fiber, the manufacturer promised a perfect fit.

each of OUR TRUNKS were test fitted on chassis in our workshop and they've shipped only if they fitted perfectly (and gap near glass also checked always!). trunk, which was made before this two, and trunk which was made after, were fitted fine on chassis, with correct gap on the glass.