CF doors by Carbon Microsystem

[Carbon Microsystem]

Hello everyone.
As a manufacturer of these doors, I would like to answer a few questions.

We produce all carbon parts using the infusion method with subsequent drying in an oven.
The front side is made of three layers of carbon and one layer of carbon-kevlar. Kevlar is added for additional protection of the outer part from tearing upon impact.
The inner part consists of four layers of carbon and the middle of the door is reinforced with an additional layer. All places where locks and door hinges are attached are reinforced with an additional layer of carbon.
The door also has internal ribs, which give additional rigidity to the door and make it possible to install all factory components.
The epoxy resin that we use is certified for the aviation industry and has UV protection.

We do not use gelcoat as a front layer in production. This adds strength and makes the door lighter, but slightly complicates painting or applying clear coat.

The doors are glued with high-quality and durable two-component glue. The same glue is used to glue carbon roofs of cars.
We glue metal crash bars with the same glue and rivets. In the center, we use a special sealant that remains elastic and does not leave marks on the front of the door.
We take metal crash bars from original metal doors.
On the doors of the E46, the crash bars are installed on bolts, just like on the original doors.

About small defects on carbon parts.
Unfortunately, all parts are made by hand and, like all living people, we can make mistakes and we cannot always do everything 100% perfectly, but we try. Some defects on the forms appear after some time and it is not always possible to notice and correct them in time, but since the doors are usually painted or clear coated, all these defects can be easily removed.

Painting carbon doors is slightly different from painting metal ones.
Due to static electricity, dust sticks very strongly and it is much more difficult to remove it than from metal parts. Therefore, we polish all the parts after painting, this gives a good result.



If you are interested, I can describe the painting process.

Regarding the strength of carbon products, you can watch this video.

Of course, if you fly into a pole at a speed of 150 km per hour with a door, it will not save you, but a metal door will not be a 100% guarantee either.

A little later I will make a video of the doors on my personal car.

We are now in the process of obtaining TUV certification and after that we planned to do tests of the doors in comparison with metal ones, but most likely this will be next year.

If I missed something, write, I will try to answer.

Also, sorry if I write not quite correctly, English is not my native language.

[Mike RT4]

lol that's not even e46 m3 specific!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWt40Z9lSDk

I was actually at the same DN track day when this happened. Inge's car was running plastic windows as well and as you can clearly see, they don't seal properly at high speed due to their light-weight allowing the wind to get in between them. At 174mph, the wind wins LOL. He did retrieve the door, but then had to use copious amounts of duct tape to refix it in for the remainder of the track day, which I was absolutely gutted about, as he'd promised me that the next lap I could go as a passenger LOL.

[Obioban]

This is one of those mods that I'm always interested in, and always scared of.

Looking forward to hearing more.

[Projecte46m3]

ohhh im interested! Looking forward to seeing the end results and fitment on the car.

[Sharocks]

I'd rather spend 2k on other things for this car but that's just me.

[usdmej]

lol that's not even e46 m3 specific!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWt40Z9lSDk

[bigjae46]

Haha…obviously a bad job bonding the inner and outer skins together.

[liam821]

Que Boostedboiz Kyle MR2 when his carbon door blew apart at 180mph...

[Altaran]

.... how fast are you guys driving?

Naturally as fast as traction allows.

On the track of course. 😉

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[9kracing]

Worst case would be a multiple roll over situation.

.... how fast are you guys driving?

[bigjae46]

Looks very interesting. Especially the price point is attractive.

I personally wouldn't install them until I get a welded cage. I am not convinced that the carbon structure can hold the crash bar in case of an impact. CF can be much stronger than steel but only in certain directions. It's unlikely anyone has actually done crash tests.

Nevertheless, having a CF door with an actual window lift is very interesting for a track oriented car that's still road driven. Stripped cars get warm inside very quickly, so being able to open the window is worth it if you're not competing for lap times.

That would be my fear - the CF structure of the door yields and then there is not much protection. Worst case would be a multiple roll over situation. If the door fails then there is nothing to contain you body. Most injuries and deaths in a rollover is caused when the car is on its side and the body and/or head makes contact with the pavement.

I'm guilty, I have provisions for a window net that I never use. I should start putting it up.

[Altaran]

Looks very interesting. Especially the price point is attractive.

I personally wouldn't install them until I get a welded cage. I am not convinced that the carbon structure can hold the crash bar in case of an impact. CF can be much stronger than steel but only in certain directions. It's unlikely anyone has actually done crash tests.

Nevertheless, having a CF door with an actual window lift is very interesting for a track oriented car that's still road driven. Stripped cars get warm inside very quickly, so being able to open the window is worth it if you're not competing for lap times.

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[usdmej]

Looking at the original thread, the door is about 8lbs?

i'm pretty sure he ordered his doors with the metal crashbar installed already, that would explain the difference in weight measurements


yes i think install will be very tedious, not only the panel massaging, but because i'm transferring my crashbar, which requires completely removing/stripping the door before i can start transferring anything to the cf door

[usdmej]

I know Sub2Speedhouse (IG) picked up a set of these and began transferring over components. I'm not sure if he's putting the windows back in though...

i was in a group buy with some E92 guys, one of them installed his doors already and all of his components looked to be pretty solid. he did say the door skin seemed thinner than the stock sheetmetal though. when you push on it it does have more give than stock, i applied some pressure onto my doors and would agree, i think it's unlikely that it would flutter at speed though but we'll see

[bigjae46]

Looking at the original thread, the door is about 8lbs? That seems more realistic. My left door could be a little lighter but don't think it could be 20% lighter without making it alarmingly flimsy. For a carbon part, 1 -2 lbs on a panel makes a massive difference on whether it will flutter at speed - a lesson I learned the hard way. It is not like steel or aluminum.

I'm impressed with the pictures, not impressed with Mr. Curation. Pricing seems extremely reasonable.

If I have some advice, fit the door on the car BEFORE installing all of the other crap on it. Because you're going to take it on and off a dozen times.