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

[Tbonem3]

I was on a canyon jaunt the other day, and I finally had had enough of the heavy, narrow 19" wheels. I had already been contemplating how I could keep the CSL wheels, esp since they're NLA, but with now having an E90 that I wanted to get new wheels for, I decided it was time to sell them.

It's been a very fun 2 years with them, esp since I had just started getting into photography when I bought them (and started an IG account). Getting the CSL boot was my first big "dream" for the car, but the CSL wheels were the other "dream" or goal I had for the car because of my car being silver grey, and having the CSL looking rear end and most importantly, believing that they are the best 19" wheel ever made (at least as far as design/finish).

However, as many know, 19s just ruin every aspect of the car besides looks. And because I've been on a weightloss/performance path with this car, it especially didn't make sense. So, recently, I sold them and was able to buy new flow formed M359s and tires for the E90 and then 9x10" 18" acr8s with MPS4S for the E46.

Borrowed a friend's stock 18s for the car to sit on for a week:



Few of my favorite pics of the car with CSLs in 2022:



Pics of the ARC8s (since no one's ever seen them) coming soon...

[Casa de Mesa]

Car looking stunning as ever, Tyler. I too love the CSL wheels - hell who doesn't?! I really love the BBS LMs in 19". I think that wheel on our car is nearly perfection. But the ride difference between 19s and 18s is significant. Keep us posted on your impressions of the ARC8s.

Great photography too, BTW.

[Tbonem3]

Thanks Brian, I could easily rock LMs or LM-Rs or CHs (and of course the CSL) on these cars, it looks amazing, but I just came to hate the way the car rode.

Here are some pics of swapping wheels, and installing the arc8s/mps4s. First, is a comparison pic of CSL against arc8 against latest batch of AG M359s (E90):




The finish on the AGs is surprisingly close to the CSLs, I'm impressed. The arc*s aren't too bad color-wise, but the orange peel is quite bad. Only noticeable up close and when the wheel is clean, though.

CSLs sold to a local enthusiast I've known for a while for his IB comp. Last shot of them:



Borrowed my friend's truck to take the arc8s to the tire shop. Always fun having brand new wheels AND tires!



Added the still-new center caps that I had from the CSL wheels:



The goal was to not need spacers or to at least use the very small ones so the wheel is still on the factory hub. I can never feel the 3/5mm spacers, but I always seem to feel the 12mm+.

I tired 5mm in the rear, but it rubbed due to the mps4s being so wide:




Had to drop down to 3mm, and it *just* cleared. I won't shave/pull/roll fenders, I just want to go as wide as it will allow, so 3mm it is. (I have studs)

Up front, unfortunately (I wasn't expecting this) it needed 5mm minimum to clear the chunky 996 caliper. 12mm spacers were a bit silly, so sticking with 5mm.

*fitment note* - factory wheels have a larger chamfer on the wheel bore than aftermarket. So an aftermarket wheel like arc8 or my AGs, will have more material still sitting on the car's hub even with a 5mm spacer. Safety is not a concern. Even the larger chamfer with factory wheels is "just ok" with about 2-3mm of contact. These arc8s look to have more like 3-4mm (assuming hub is 10-11mm).






Initial impressions - My "stance philosophy" is that the car looks better on 19s, lowered as much as you can (while retaining enough travel), but on 18", I like the car to have a little more tire gap and a little more rake - I like the more aggressive look and I think it goes well the more aggressive/meatier tires.

The car immediately felt better, but the tires were new, so they still had the mold release agent on them. I didn't want to judge the car too much yet, so I just added some miles over the last 2 weeks.

2nd impressions - I raised the car 1/8" up front to 13+3/8ths & then a little more, like 3/16ths to 13+1/8th in the rear - so a little higher and more rake. I was ok with losing a little bit of camber and gaining a little toe in up front because I already had plenty of camber and a little less will fill out the wheel well better. My last alignment was neutral toe up front, so now I have a little toe in which is fine (tho I prefer a little toe out). In the rear, I did turn out my lower control arms a half turn to give back some of the lost camber and to maintain my toe-in which you want for stability.

Once I'm happy with everything, then I probably should get an alignment just to fine tune any discrepancies.

The other change was something I had been thinking about for a little bit. I had gone from 325lb front springs to 400lb, but I kept my hotchkis bar at the medium setting. Once on these arc8s, the car did become more playful, but that exacerbated the push that I had been noticing on canyon runs. So, I moved the endlinks from the middle to the lighter (further out) hole in the hotchkis. The least aggressive setting is still a bit stiffer than the stock bar.

Car raised a little with rake:



WOW! Unbelievable grip now that the car is allowed to roll a little more. And the tires have about 200 miles on them now. Car feels AMAZING. Can't wait to hit the canyons again now.


Obviously not as nice as CSLs, but they still look the part. The car being better is most important.

[0-60motorsports]

Looks great but CSLs fo Life.....Or BBS LM/CH LOL

[Tbonem3]

Not very many updates these days, but here's a big one. I've been jealous of people putting recent Karbonius parts on their cars, seeing how dedicated Karb has been to perfecting their products. I have a slicktop, so no need for their CF roof. I have an OE CSL boot, so no need for theirs, but I had been mulling over "upgrading" to their CSL airbox.

I've had an Evolve box for 5 years, and they've been very enjoyable years no doubt, but Evolve stopped making improvements, moving on to other platforms. The box was also showing its age, clear coat failing, epoxy showing some cracks, some of it even crumbling at the edges a little. I was worried about the long term health of the box and my car.

For these reasons, I decided to remove the Evolve box and buy a Karbonius one. I decided on their "race" version as I loved the CAI style "trunk." I don't care to recreate a CSL down to the last detail, and I'm not shy of aftermarket parts obviously.

The euro dropping to parity with the u.s. dollar made my decision even easier. I ordered it beginning of August, and it took almost 10 weeks to get to me!

The waiting is the hardest part - Petty



While waiting, I knew I needed an OE CSL air filter by BMC (don't get the Karb pipercross one, it fails. The foam ITG has been fine, but I preferred OE this time). I ordered from Schmeidmann - best price



But this one came with no red oil. I've always seen them oiled, including the hi-flow filter for regular m3. I think there was even a thread here about it.



Finally, it arrives (in perfect shape, and after surprise $65 DHL duty fee)



I'm like a kid on Christmas (even though I've already had a nice airbox for years!) That's the irresistibility of Karbonius.



WOW. The Evolve box was premium, but this is a-whole-nother level. Like it was made by robots. You immediately feel like you got more than your money's worth.




I love all the little details, and how they keep perfecting this box. Feels great to have their latest and greatest!



Unfortunately, it wasn't 100% perfect. One of the holes didn't line up perfectly over the nut for the connection of the 2 large pieces. I had to ream the hole out towards the edge just a little.



Easy enough.



And then one other thing that surprised me: it seemed counter to Karb's philosophy/level of quality to not include some sort of soft washer to go under the allen head bolts, so I added my own little rubber washers.




Time to install! Haven't driven the car in weeks 😭



Luckily, since I'm just switching boxes, the install will be quick and easy, with no tuning/wiring type work at all. I simply need to block off the Karb IAT port and secure my (E34 M5) IAT some where in the intake path. Pics next time!

[0-60motorsports]

So I just received my OE CSL Intake filter and it too was not oiled. Im glad they stopped doing that as the oil ate into the red rubber and it destroyed it. Happened to two filters i had in storage. I will however spray a tiny tiny bit of BMC oil on it as our environment is sandy/dusty here.

[Maxima SE]

Congrats on the airbox. What will you do for the tune?

I have been thinking about picking up one for my Z4M since ill be daily driving it. Right now seems to be the best time to get one. It is just the tune and smog that is holding me back !

[Tbonem3]

So I just received my OE CSL Intake filter and it too was not oiled. Im glad they stopped doing that as the oil ate into the red rubber and it destroyed it. Happened to two filters i had in storage. I will however spray a tiny tiny bit of BMC oil on it as our environment is sandy/dusty here.

Ya, I didn't like how much oil these things used to come with, not to mention if it caused the filter silicone to degrade.

I've decided not to oil mine at all, given my environment and use, but I would use a little like you're planning for your environment yeah.

Congrats on the airbox. What will you do for the tune?

I have been thinking about picking up one for my Z4M since ill be daily driving it. Right now seems to be the best time to get one. It is just the tune and smog that is holding me back !

Thanks! I already have a tune (from Evolve) - I'm just swapping boxes here.

I would honestly just get a canned alpha N tune from Hassan, see if it works well, then maybe do some AFR logging or even a dyno session for him to perfect it.

[0-60motorsports]

Highly recommend HTE

[Tbonem3]

Installing Karbonius Race airbox 10/2022

I couldn't find my original throttle body boots (which are same as CSL); I had been using the ones Evolve provides with their box for the last 5 years. My originals had many miles, so I don't mind buying new ones too much except the prices are silly. Turner(ECS) had their own set made, in the factory style, with some nice worm clamps for $100. The fit is perfect. Take care to position the engine side clamps in a way that doesn't interfere with the throttle linkage.



Main portion of manifold fitted, second set of clamps secured. Underside connections (CCV & 2 x 10mm nuts) fastened. I didn't bother with the attachment to hold the power cable.





^You can see, I've just sealed off the IAT port with duct tape for now. I'm finding a subtle, black, rubber plug in the meantime.

OE air filter fits perfectly. Unfortunately, a fellow member who also recently received a race box reported fitment issues between the filter and edge of the main portion and the fitment of the second CF portion. I had that one QC issue documented above, but luckily everything else has been perfect.



Now, I've slid in the 2nd portion aka "Race" portion. I was wondering if it was going to be similar to evolve or easier/harder. It was a little easier, surprisingly, given that it's a tighter, more perfect fit than the evolve, with a vertical "pin" system employed to retain its bottom position versus 2 horizontal tabs.

What I'm happiest about is that not one part of this race portion touches any part of the car. The evolve "trunk" touched the oil dip tube, some plastics by the MAF wiring housing, and the metal body of the car down where xenon housing is. I was concerned about the vibrations affecting the integrity and the sound of the evolve. Not a concern now, any more.



I don't use the genuine CSL CCV tubes. I simply extended the factory u.s. pieces with some black tubing and some really nice black "squeeze" clips. I know many will pooh pooh the way I've done it, but it's quite clean, and it's not terribly visible anyway with the HVAC filter housing and my DMG brace above.



All done! Really easy install when you've done it many times before and no new wiring/splicing/coding/tuning to do. I'm not even going to bother resetting adaptations. The car is already running perfectly, and the two boxes aren't very different, so I don't expect the car to feel/act any differently.



Time to drive! As expected, no change in how the car operates or feels. Note worthy: the Evolve box (and earlier Karb boxes, iirc) made a pretty distinct whistle when very light throttle is applied. I'm happy to report that this whistle is basically gone. It's a much quieter, lower note "hiss" now that is almost undetectable. I had to really try to hear it, with the window down, with little road or ambient noise. So, not eliminated, unfortunately, but practically gone.

Sound impressions (versus Evolve). The Evolve was quite loud and menacing, but I'd describe it as more of a roar versus my impression of Karbonius' box which I thought of as being a more metered sound. More authentic, cleaner. Not louder, not quieter.

Now, first hand, yes, the Karb box is a sharper, crisper sound. Not louder than the evolve, but more pronounced, less messy noise. A more distinct growl. But, to be sure, I'm splitting hairs.

In the end, as big of a deal as this mod is for people, it's a very small upgrade for me, at least in how the car is. It's no real different than before, with the Evolve. However, my main concerns were very satisfied by this move - to have a higher quality piece that has a better, longer warranty and much more confidence in. I also wanted to own something Karb made!

I still have the Eventuri scoop in my bumper to feed cold air up. I'm still using the E34 M5 IAT I'm tuned for. I secured it to a part of the headlight assembly so it's both out of the way but in the intake path. We already know the factory style airbox without flap or snorkel still gets enough cold air once moving, but I still like my setup.

[0-60motorsports]

Nice work on the Install Tyler. Looking really Nice as usual.

[discoelk]

Nice update. Are you running an alpha-n tune? Who tuned the car? Any issues?

[0-60motorsports]

Nice update. Are you running an alpha-n tune? Who tuned the car? Any issues?

His car is already tuned for alpha n by evolve


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tbonem3]

Ya, Evolve stage 3 Alpha N tune from 2017. Alpha N (hell, even map/csl) tunes can be hit or miss for people - there are different variables in play, but I replaced every maint part and sensor and my car had always performed well, so luckily, the Evolve tune worked perfectly out of the gate for me. I'm also close to sea level in a very temperate place. Haven't had a reason in 5 years to re-tune.

[Tbonem3]

I'm not sure if it's simply my age, or perhaps now daily driving an E90 M3, but I've been lamenting adding certain track parts to the E46 in recent times. You saw that I've been "de-modding" a bit. That continues now with the RSMs. I had bought some really nice AGK spherical mounts, but believed that they added unwanted NVH. Not so much noise, as the poly damper included do really keep them quiet, but there's more road noise than before, and some creaking of the body (I assume) when going slowly over driveways. While the car's purpose is still for very spirited driving, I felt the need to soften it a bit more.

So I decided that RE's rubber RSMs were the most stout rubber based mount you can buy. I was looking at TCKline as well, since their bush is rubber as well (I already had GC poly previously, and wanted rubber this time). I was also limited in my choice of mount due to the 12mm (versus standard 10mm) shaft diameter.




For race shocks, you simply don't use that bearing/collar, but you do need to source larger ID washers (7/16" sae ends up fitting perfectly, and the OD matches the bushing exactly - win/win)



Removing the AKGs (they're for sale hint hint)




I actually could have bought an RSM that didn't have the reinforcement plates since I have this DMG GTR brace, but that's ok, I wanted the RE ones. Luckily, the RE's studs were just long enough to reach through the DMG brace, and have enough for the underside nuts to fully engage.



All done.

Next, thanks to r4dr indirectly alerting me to an issue in this thread: https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...es-14mm-shafts
I realized that TMS does not supply bearings to take up the slack between standard 16mm strut shafts and 14mm MCS shafts.

So, luckily, I found some perfectly dimensioned sleeves/bearings to take up that slack. I wasn't having issues, and I was very confident in the shtrut being well sandwiched by the top nut and shaft shelf, but worried mostly about my alignment angle being off if the shaft were not parallel to the strut mount wall.

AMZN link - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0?ie=UTF8&th=1



Here they are, even already have the edges bevelled!



I measured the depth of the TMS mount, and it'll take 3 of these bearings.



So I dropped the dampers. You can just see the slack or gap between the shaft and the TMS bushing (2mm).



Did a test fit. They slipped over the damper with little effort, but the OD was a tight fit into the TMS bushing.



I also noticed that with these bearing slipped on, I no longer had enough "shelf" for the damper to butt up against, under the TMS bushing. Luckily, I remembered that MSC had supplied washers with the suspension.



And those washers, obviously, fit perfectly. It will raise my front ride hieght by 1.5mm but that's ok
So now I'm ready - washers and 3 bearings.



With such a tight fit, I wasn't able to feed the damper up through the mount by hand. I had to use the jack to force it through. I went slowly, and there were no issues.



Perfect!



Now I can be sure the shaft is perfectly radially centered in the mount. This might slightly affect my alignment. There was a discrepancy in my castor angles left to right (in my last alignment), so maybe I'll get another alignment now.

Went for a drive and was very pleased with a little more compliance in the rear. Slightly less harsh, and the little bit of noise I had was gone!