Black & Tan 332iT

[heinzboehmer]

Oof, thanks for sparing me the pain of that mistake. Now I'm trying to convince myself that this ABS plastic is good enough

Single data point, but my phone holder is printed in ABS and has seen many, many hours of direct sun. No warping or deformation that I can see.

[0-60motorsports]

Alright I’m happy with V3. Just 1mm shorter than V2 and feels right. Time to figure out SLA printing

Those look great

[Bry5on]

Just don't park the car in the sun! lol

Oof, thanks for sparing me the pain of that mistake. Now I'm trying to convince myself that this ABS plastic is good enough

[heinzboehmer]

Am I crazy for considering just printing the whole thing in 60A rubber-like-resin?

Just don't park the car in the sun! lol

[Bry5on]

Wow, I'm surprised at how different V3 looks to V2 after such a small change. Agreed that V3 is the way to go.

Gonna farm out the SLA print? Or new toy incoming?

Farm out is the plan. Looks like they're about $30 a piece or so. Am I crazy for considering just printing the whole thing in 60A rubber-like-resin?

[heinzboehmer]

Wow, I'm surprised at how different V3 looks to V2 after such a small change. Agreed that V3 is the way to go.

Gonna farm out the SLA print? Or new toy incoming?

[karter16]

that looks really good! great job!

[Bry5on]

Alright I’m happy with V3. Just 1mm shorter than V2 and feels right. Time to figure out SLA printing

[Bry5on]

V2 is looking much better

[Bry5on]

Alright not super happy with v1, it's a little long and it repeats a problem that XTRONS themselves designed in where the button underlaps the fascia at the bottom:


v2 in the printer now, the button itself is 3.5mm shorter and 1mm larger OD at the tip transition. Also easier to print as a bonus:

[karter16]

Excited to see how the knobs turn out - that will be a very nice upgrade!!

[Bry5on]

Since the weather has been nice and gas has been getting expensive, I've mostly been driving the electric jag. But today, the e46 finally got a little bit of love.

Borrowing from karter16's method, I decided to re-do the screen protector on my XTRONS head unit so that it's continuous and the seam hidden under the bezel. I managed to do it without braking any of the electrical connectors which were potted into place.

Here's how it started:


And the closest thing I got to a finished photo:


After that, I decided that I hate these chrome knobs enough to finally eliminate them. The plan is to 3D print (first one will be done in 45 mins) some knobs similar to the CD53 and factory nav head units. If I like this geometry, then I'll break this into two parts: A plastic inner structure and an SLA elastomer/resin or an SLS TPU grippy surface. This is probably the easiest way for me to mimic the stock knobs with a fun little project that also means trying out a new print process.

[Bry5on]

Agreed the late model cars got higher— but didn’t the specific springs vary by car spec?

Allegedly, although I’ve only been able to find two different colors in my Internet sleuthing - convertible v coupe.

[Obioban]

Agreed the late model cars got higher— but didn’t the specific springs vary by car spec?

[Bry5on]

No big updates, still slow rolling the super knuckle..

In the meantime, the car has been absolutely fantastic, suspension and is super quick and tight. A few years back I removed aftermarket springs to put on Heinz’s original M3 springs from his early model car (thanks man!) but they were pretty rusty in the rear and I’d always heard that late models sat higher. Since I like me some ground clearance, I installed 6mm front spacers to raise the height with the stock early M3 springs.

So today I replaced those springs with a set of late model ones from a ZCP car. Early springs have 1/4 yellow stripes F/R and late model springs have 1 blue front and 4 green rear. Caliper measurements had them within .5mm diameter of each other (honestly within margin of error and powdercoat thickness) and the same coil count. So on first blush it looks like the springs are the same rate. The front springs free length are about 20mm taller on the late model, and I forgot to measure the rears.

Because they measured taller, I took a chance by removing my 6mm spring spacers. After removing the spacers and installing the late model springs, I’m measuring 2mm higher in front and 9mm higher in rear. From this I can conclude that at least in this instance, the late model springs are 8mm taller in front and 9mm taller in rear. Glad to have swapped them out!