Slon Workshop E46 M3 Carbon Front Triangulating Reinforcement Kit

[Epoustouflant]

He outdid himself on that one - integrating chassis designs from the E9x and more modern cars is a great idea.

FYI, his "wall" design was seen on the new M4 CSL recently, having seen one at the shop. It's a metal panel for the rear seat delete - unsure if structural.

[Obioban]

He outdid himself on that one - integrating chassis designs from the E9x and more modern cars is a great idea.

FYI, his "wall" design was seen on the new M4 CSL recently, having seen one at the shop. It's a metal panel for the rear seat delete - unsure if structural.

BMW did that on e46 sedans, with published numbers:
BMW E46 Sedan (w/folding seats) 13,000
BMW E46 Sedan (w/o folding seats) 18,000

If they did that on the new CSL, I'd put money on it being structural.

[Casa de Mesa]

I absolutely love the way this piece looks. Currently getting all spendy on a non car project but hoping to be one of the earlier adopters of this.

Ian, congrats on getting one of these. Can't wait to see [the currently reserved] post Forum and Vehicle Discussion in this thread!

[nyc951]

I was trying to sell my wife on the new Integra Type S, but she just wouldn't go for it.

Just take her to lunch near an Acura dealership and say, “Oh, there’s an Acura dealer here. Let’s see what this Type S is all about” and let it go friend there.

[D-O]

I would have to view it as an objet d'art. There is no other way I could justify the cost.

[Obioban]

Sigh. Bry5on's review has me all the more hyped to drive this thing.
(for context, installed in him M3 wagon with no rear V brace-- so less rear rigidity that stock... and mine will be paired the SLON rear wall)

I think it looks good in there, especially with the black anodized tower mounts. It would have been too loud with the clear anodized aluminum. Some day I may still remove and paint the cowl filter cover flat black to make it less conspicuous, but it's fine for now.

I've been slacking on updates, and I have a bunch of photos to help detail the install, but for lack of time I'll just give my thoughts here now and detail the steps to install a bit later. Install wasn't too bad, it took about 2.5 hours and I was moving at a pretty quick pace. I'd budget 4-6 for this.

Driving impressions ( tlow98 and mrgizmo04 have both driven it now as well, if they want to comment here), this will be hard to describe but I'll give it my best shot. Right away there's a huge difference. My first thought was immediately that the car doesn't feel like an e46 anymore. I had 50/50 mixed feelings on the first couple drives, but those have given way to 90/10 positive feelings. The car is way more rigid, feels more like a modern car, somewhere around an e39 or closer to an e90 with front end steering precision. Steering precision is way better and more accurate, once you place the wheel, the car doesn't need much interactive correction to keep course. The dead-center e46 feeling is further a thing of the past (this brace, combined with 712 rack and CSL-like toe settings). It's hard to describe, but there is the feeling of more 'support' for the suspension. Initially, it felt like the car was about to understeer because it didn't 'roll' or 'dig' into a corner, the body just stays as one and stays flat. Again very hard to describe.

There is less feedback through the wheel, as some of the e46 feedback through the wheel seems to have come from undamped front end vibration. I'm calling this the e46 'sizzle' and it's what I was initially sad to lose. The car is certainly more capable and planted, keeps more consistent tire loading in corners, and is generally objectively better, but it did take a way a little of the low speed driver feedback that makes tooling around town exciting. It didn't take away all of it, the car certainly isn't like a modern EPAS BMW, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss a little of that feel through the steering wheel. That feel doesn't seem to have provided any real benefit, but it was part of the e46 experience. Now, the contrast to this is that the wheel doesn't vibrate much on the highway anymore, making it more comfortable and more "BMW-like" to cruise at high speed. The e46 always had some extra feedback at speed if you didn't have a super fresh tire balance, and it is actually much nicer on the highway.

NVH is improved, the car is sharper, firmer, and more comfortable over tough roads. It's most noticeable when you hit bumps with only one side of the car, or hit a bump at a diagonal. Really, much more rigid and composed when interrupted. The car is slightly less 'crashy' on abrupt bump inputs, and generally just feels a bit tougher. Again, much more like a modern car

I'm basically ignoring all the handling and feedback benefits, because I'm assuming folks reading this will already be well aware. To be clear, the car corners way more confidently and can be placed more accurately with less see-sawing at the steering wheel on the limit. It's a half way step between an e46 and an e90, and that's a good thing. It keeps a bit of the e46 sizzle, but adds some of the benefits of the stiffer, newer chassis.

Overall, I knew to expect a change, but I didn't really know what to expect. I was really surprised by some of the changes, and after driving around and getting used to it, I wouldn't be able to go back. The rear is also now noticeably less planted and buttoned down than the front. I'm really looking forward to adding that v-brace to balance it all out. Soon. Thanks Slonik for getting this so right!

[Epoustouflant]

BMW did that on e46 sedans, with published numbers:
BMW E46 Sedan (w/folding seats) 13,000
BMW E46 Sedan (w/o folding seats) 18,000

If they did that on the new CSL, I'd put money on it being structural.

I'll try to grab a picture, it's still here.

[jvit27]

$7000 for what is essentially strut braces after you get front & rear.
Better? Presumably!
Worth it? Ehhhh.

I love that Slon is doing this, BUT... $3500 all said and done is where this needs to be IMO.

[heinzboehmer]

$7000 for what is essentially strut braces after you get front & rear.
Better? Presumably!
Worth it? Ehhhh.

I love that Slon is doing this, BUT... $3500 all said and done is where this needs to be IMO.

The problem is that there's no competition. He's the only one making products like this, so he can charge whatever he wants. That + the cost of R&D

[Obioban]

This product also feels like the price point it is. As in, it is clearly built with no consideration for cost. That's both awesome (because it feels like F1 parts) but also... $.

[usdmej]

I love that Slon is doing this, BUT... $3500 all said and done is where this needs to be IMO.

i budgeted $3k for this when SLON teased it thinking that would more than cover any sticker shock but boy was i wrong. still trying to digest the actual msrp before i can pull the trigger


lets hope copycats don't drive them away from this platform, there are people already on this forum selling replicas of their products

[cobra]

I am not sure how necessary the strut bar is realistically, but reducing the weight of the cabin filter thing is sure beneficial. I am always surprised by how heavy that piece is when I remove it. It's like 10 pounds of plastic!

[c watson]

I wonder if $4,650 is going to be the official going rate for this piece, or did IND mark it up simply because they have only one in stock?

[IamFODI]

$7000 for what is essentially strut braces after you get front & rear.

Given that most other options in that category are much heavier and/or vastly less effective, I feel like the word "essentially" doesn't really fit here.

[oceansize]

Someone else noted that this is a final boss mod and its true, as hardly anyone is spending $7k (on parts nobody can see) if they aren't serious about performance. Although at C&C I've seen some mods which fall into the category of I've got nothing to do and I've got money to burn, wait.... maybe I should buy one and put it in my vert..lol, I win C&C boys.