Tyler's 04 slicktop 6spd Silvergrey MCS/Brembo/CSL/Karbonius/Nogaros/Supersprint

[0-60motorsports]

Tbonem3 Awesome update! You need to come help me do the vince bar in Bahrain LOL

[Tbonem3]

🔥 Looks so damn awesome, man. Great work!

Thanks Shaun!

Fuckin noice Tyler. If you were close I'd let you borrow any tool you need.

I'm hyped on getting mine installed after your confirmation of rigidity. I'm still a bit hesitant to drill the sides though because I'm a pussy.

Thanks bro

If the car is a bubble car/investment I wouldn't, but otherwise, this makes the car so much better and, either completely or in tandem with front cups, resolves further racp damage depending on driving style/ chassis setup to some degree.

[jet_dogg]

Fuckin noice Tyler. If you were close I'd let you borrow any tool you need.

I'm hyped on getting mine installed after your confirmation of rigidity. I'm still a bit hesitant to drill the sides though because I'm a pussy.

[eforty6_m3]

Part 2 of 3 in my big muffler/chassis project...

Part 1 was the muffler tips, and I needed the muffler out of the way (and sect 2 pipes out or at least swung out of the way) for this, part 2 - installing a DMG "GTR style" brace in the boot. I think the name for the DMG part is "COMP-V," but his and Mason and SME and Puretech Sweden's all are very similar, a copy of the brace that the E46 GTR got that ties the shock towers together and connects down to the rear 2 subframe points.

I mentioned in the last post that it started off with my wanting to buy a front strut brace with a better footprint than stock. DMG, on instagram, had done a custom order, powdercoating a bar in yellow, but the customer didn't want it, so he listed it at a discount. I like yellow, to match my calipers, so I grabbed it, and the front bar I wanted anyway (at a discount as well - for buying multiple pieces).

Here's his work (before powder):




So muffler is removed, sect 2 end is swung out of the way (loosen midpipe hangers), as I need access to the rear subframe mounts.

First step is to drill upwards with a 1/4" longboy, as straight as possible, to create a hole topside to use as a pilot for a larger hole saw.




Hello



Now you use that hole to center the 1.75" (IIRC) hole saw



I use beeswax, I didn't have any cutting oil.



Beautiful! You can see, I drilled upwards perfectly as I'm right in the middle of the "T" Tboned



A magnet is perfect to clean up all the shavings! I didn't even have to vacuum or anything.



Now, we can drill down with 1/2" bit. Had to borrow my dad's big boy drill for this. Harbor freight $20 drill-master was smokin'



All done



Now, a test fit:



Nice! Nothing's perfect, and every car is different, so even though I did a good job, the brace didn't fall into place completely:



Once side would line up, but then cause the other to be off by a bit. Luckily, I'm best friends with Archimedes.



Just used a screw driver to "pull" the end over the strut tower lip. Dollar-tree special rubber mallet was used to tap the bottom points in certain directions to center its hole over the hole in the body.

I did have to ream out the subframe bushing "caps" to accept the 1/2" bolts. I assume they're M12.




Alright, now that the bottom mounts are secured and ends are over the strut tower, I installed the RSMs and moved the last step of install, drilling the side fasteners' holes.




Two holes on each side, really simple. Installing the hardware is a little tricky, however, if you're by yourself. I had to secure one wrench against the brace or the tower wall, so that I could then go to the wheel well and tighten the nuts on the other side. Worked out ok, but a second person would be better.




Alright, so that's it for part 2. Part 3 will be about the suspension parts. I'll just mention here, before doing a bigger review later, that the increased rigidity from this brace is nuts! I already had installed a rear strut brace, which many don't bother with, but I did feel an increase there, but this is something else!

This, with the bucket seats, makes the car feel like a cup car. Fuckin love it.

🔥 Looks so damn awesome, man. Great work!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tbonem3]

Part 2 of 3 in my big muffler/chassis project...

Part 1 was the muffler tips, and I needed the muffler out of the way (and sect 2 pipes out or at least swung out of the way) for this, part 2 - installing a DMG "GTR style" brace in the boot. I think the name for the DMG part is "COMP-V," but his and Mason and SME and Puretech Sweden's all are very similar, a copy of the brace that the E46 GTR got that ties the shock towers together and connects down to the rear 2 subframe points.

I mentioned in the last post that it started off with my wanting to buy a front strut brace with a better footprint than stock. DMG, on instagram, had done a custom order, powdercoating a bar in yellow, but the customer didn't want it, so he listed it at a discount. I like yellow, to match my calipers, so I grabbed it, and the front bar I wanted anyway (at a discount as well - for buying multiple pieces).

Here's his work (before powder):




So muffler is removed, sect 2 end is swung out of the way (loosen midpipe hangers), as I need access to the rear subframe mounts.

First step is to drill upwards with a 1/4" longboy, as straight as possible, to create a hole topside to use as a pilot for a larger hole saw.




Hello



Now you use that hole to center the 1.75" (IIRC) hole saw



I use beeswax, I didn't have any cutting oil.



Beautiful! You can see, I drilled upwards perfectly as I'm right in the middle of the "T" Tboned



A magnet is perfect to clean up all the shavings! I didn't even have to vacuum or anything.



Now, we can drill down with 1/2" bit. Had to borrow my dad's big boy drill for this. Harbor freight $20 drill-master was smokin'



All done



Now, a test fit:



Nice! Nothing's perfect, and every car is different, so even though I did a good job, the brace didn't fall into place completely:



Once side would line up, but then cause the other to be off by a bit. Luckily, I'm best friends with Archimedes.



Just used a screw driver to "pull" the end over the strut tower lip. Dollar-tree special rubber mallet was used to tap the bottom points in certain directions to center its hole over the hole in the body.

I did have to ream out the subframe bushing "caps" to accept the 1/2" bolts. I assume they're M12.




Alright, now that the bottom mounts are secured and ends are over the strut tower, I installed the RSMs and moved the last step of install, drilling the side fasteners' holes.




Two holes on each side, really simple. Installing the hardware is a little tricky, however, if you're by yourself. I had to secure one wrench against the brace or the tower wall, so that I could then go to the wheel well and tighten the nuts on the other side. Worked out ok, but a second person would be better.




Alright, so that's it for part 2. Part 3 will be about the suspension parts. I'll just mention here, before doing a bigger review later, that the increased rigidity from this brace is nuts! I already had installed a rear strut brace, which many don't bother with, but I did feel an increase there, but this is something else!

This, with the bucket seats, makes the car feel like a cup car. Fuckin love it.

[jet_dogg]

Good call on the flushness.

Always love the slant cut tips when I first laid eis on eisenmann.

[loudspeaker69]

Looks great for a stock muffler.
The details make the difference!

[Tbonem3]

Thanks Ejaz!

[0-60motorsports]

Those like great Tyler! Nice one

[Tbonem3]

08/2020 to 06/2021

I had a SGT SCZA muffler that I traded away last year in acquiring the CSL wheels. I had a spare set of tips to include with it, so that I was able to retain my 82mm raw ti SCZA tips that I slashed cut ala "lemans" style Eisenmann or Supersprint sport/race tips.

At this point, I was settled with the sounds the car was making and didn't want another muffler. My rear end is pretty gutted, so I wasn't even bothered about the weight of the stock muffler, esp being so low and so far back, to balance me out. The only thing I really wanted was better tips.

So, I set out to adapt the SCZA tips onto the stock muffler. I had no clue if it would work or what type of fab/mod I would need to do, but I just dove in by drilling out the rivets on the stock tips:




Once the tips were off, I was able to see how the SCZA tips might fit on. The ID of the SCZA tips was wayyyy too big to sit over the smaller, protruding stock pipes, but it was very close to fitting over the larger stock piping that the OE tips were riveted to.

They were going to need some material removed, however, and not so little that I'd be able to do it and fit the tips all on in one sitting. Thus, I put the muffler back on the car for the time being:



I used a drum sander bit in a high power/rpm drill to open the IDs of the tips up, so that they could slip over the stock outlets. The SCZA tips secure with 3 set screws (clamping).




The thickness of the rolled exh tips, at the end, was about 3mm or 1/8". I had to take it down by half (1/16") in order for them to slip on.

This took numerous trips/efforts at my dad's house. On the last visit, I polished them:




So, several months had passed at this point, plus I bought another M3 which was keeping me really busy. Fast forward to June, 2021, I was finally ready to finish this project because I had to drop the muffler to install a GTR rear brace in the boot. I bought new suspension, partially in order to put the bilsteins on the second M3, and was trying to time the install with the GTR brace.

My next entry in this journal will be about the suspension/chassis upgrade, and that'll bring me to present day basically. Here are the rest of the photos of the exhaust tip install and muffler re-install.




Not only did I slash cut these tips and polish them (going for the OE chrome look), but I also staggered them upon install. I don't think the SCZA tip method of securing with set screws is necessarily the best, but it did allow me to install these exactly how I wanted. My trick: Get it 90% of where you want it. Tighten all 3 set screws well. Then, pull the tips in the direction you think they should move a little in order to be perfect and knock the opposite side with a rubber mallet. The force, plus your pulling, will move them just a little in the direction you want. Might take a few tries, but I'm very pleased with my fitment.

Ready

[Tbonem3]

Torin Big Reds. Also sold by sunex and schwaben and maybe one other company (in blue), can't remember who. $65 a pair when I got them after the HF recall.

[S3diment]

What jack stands are you using?

[Tbonem3]

Thanks hehe

[robgill]

Nice update, now I have to order new button cap's 😆.

[jet_dogg]

Man it's like old forum days when you're on 56k waiting for pics to load with your picture heavy thread bro hahaa.

The fluted lenses occurred with the 2003.5 update and at first I didn't like them but to me they look a little more high end because you can't see the bulb imho. I prefer it on my because it's period correct but I obviously don't dislike the clear pre-lift one. Always love little touches like plastic trim caps, etc. and such.