Carbon Fibre Wing Mirrors

[9kracing]

Man, I have to say I have zero interest in a fully stock E46 M3.

I was definitely referring to you when I mentioned the Maniacs...

[Bimma360]

I was definitely referring to you when I mentioned the Maniacs...

Ha! To be fair, I am not deviating too much from what BMW did.

To not derail this thread too much. I'll add that I would rock CF side mirrors if I felt inclined. Since they were on the concept, my brain treats that as OE haha.

I wasn't very happy with carboproject's CSL diffuser. The exposed carbon work really wasn't that great on my piece. So I have somewhat written them off for carbon stuff. Karbonius on the other hand, all of the exposed carbon on the interior CSL pieces have been perfect.

[Casa de Mesa]

Then there's the maniacs.

You could have stopped that paragraph here and I would have known you're talking about my idiot assclownery.

[ac427]

na

[Nate047]

Personally I went with the OEM- approach, took a pretty good car and fucked it up a little

[Bimma360]

Personally I went with the OEM- approach, took a pretty good car and fucked it up a little

Ha! Been there.

[bigjae46]

Interesting. I would imagine they used a multi-piece compression mold.

[9kracing]

You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out what the OP is doing... since he's painting the car anyway, he figures 'why not replace some parts with carbon fiber so the car weighs less'

I doubt there's much weight to be lost here with the mirrors though.

You're far better off doing fenders and doors and the hood you were asking about.

Carbonproduction makes the OEM style fenders as well as the doors, and Karbonius makes the OEM style hood. All together it should shed a decent amount of weight.

Might as well do a carbon roof while you're at it.


Bring your wallet.

[bigjae46]

You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out what the OP is doing... since he's painting the car anyway, he figures 'why not replace some parts with carbon fiber so the car weighs less'

I doubt there's much weight to be lost here with the mirrors though.

You're far better off doing fenders and doors and the hood you were asking about.

Carbonproduction makes the OEM style fenders as well as the doors, and Karbonius makes the OEM style hood. All together it should shed a decent amount of weight.

Might as well do a carbon roof while you're at it.


Bring your wallet.

Just pure weight - fenders and hood are kind of a waste. The OEM parts are relatively light. The doors can remove a significant amount of weight.

For performance, hood and fenders are worth the $$$ since you're taking weight off the front end of an understeery platform. A light front bumper as well. Doors will remove weight but have no noticeable performance gain.

[R60BBA]

You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out what the OP is doing... since he's painting the car anyway, he figures 'why not replace some parts with carbon fiber so the car weighs less'

I doubt there's much weight to be lost here with the mirrors though.

You're far better off doing fenders and doors and the hood you were asking about.

Carbonproduction makes the OEM style fenders as well as the doors, and Karbonius makes the OEM style hood. All together it should shed a decent amount of weight.

Might as well do a carbon roof while you're at it.


Bring your wallet.

It’s not actually about weight for me (although a welcome bonus).

I’m mainly considering CF mirrors because the OE mirror bases (which are made from aluminium) are susceptible to alloy corrosion over time.



As you pointed out I’ll be putting the car in for paint soon and thought it would be a good opportunity to permanently address the mirrors. As we know CF doesn’t corrode…

The idea would be to paint the mirror bases body colour and leave the mirror caps CF exposed.

On the CF roof front, I have thought about it but ultimately I am a sunroof guy. Whilst I do track days, the car is predominantly used for European road trips and I enjoy having the sunroof.

Driving with the sunroof open whilst in the Alps is not something I am willing to give up on. Plus I would miss out on being able to take such photos…

[bigjae46]

As we know CF doesn’t corrode…

CF can cause metals to corrode - aluminum is the worst and then steel. That is why any threaded inserts will be stainless or titanium.

The problem with epoxy/carbon parts is urethane paints don't chemically bond to epoxy. Carbon/epoxy parts should be scuffed to achieve a mechanical bond. Ideally, the part would be carbon with polyester or vinylester resin for better paint adhesion.

So if you got the carbon mirror base painted, you'd find that they would need to be repainted WAY sooner than the OE aluminum base.

[R60BBA]

CF can cause metals to corrode - aluminum is the worst and then steel. That is why any threaded inserts will be stainless or titanium.

The problem with epoxy/carbon parts is urethane paints don't chemically bond to epoxy. Carbon/epoxy parts should be scuffed to achieve a mechanical bond. Ideally, the part would be carbon with polyester or vinylester resin for better paint adhesion.

So if you got the carbon mirror base painted, you'd find that they would need to be repainted WAY sooner than the OE aluminum base.

That’s interesting. Guess I have more reading to do…

[ac427]

It’s not actually about weight for me (although a welcome bonus).

I’m mainly considering CF mirrors because the OE mirror bases (which are made from aluminium) are susceptible to alloy corrosion over time.



As you pointed out I’ll be putting the car in for paint soon and thought it would be a good opportunity to permanently address the mirrors. As we know CF doesn’t corrode…

The idea would be to paint the mirror bases body colour and leave the mirror caps CF exposed.

On the CF roof front, I have thought about it but ultimately I am a sunroof guy. Whilst I do track days, the car is predominantly used for European road trips and I enjoy having the sunroof.

Driving with the sunroof open whilst in the Alps is not something I am willing to give up on. Plus I would miss out on being able to take such photos…

It's got to be worth a shot at recreating the ally mirror bases. 3d scan and then CNC?

Perhaps 3d print them from some type of filament?

[332]

22xxlb with 4 doors, the carbon fiber craze is trash.. this place is turning into a honda forum from the 90's. cringe asf

[bigjae46]

That’s interesting. Guess I have more reading to do…

Carbon fiber is conductive but has a different conductivity than aluminum and steel. Carbon acts as a cathode, the steel or aluminum is an anode. So over time things like humidity, rain, and other electrolytes cause corrosion. Typically, the part can be made with a layer of fiberglass for any surface that will come into contact with steel or aluminum.