2001 M3 Journey: Laguna Seca Blue Edition

[proto.corsa]

Love this. LSB looks so good.

[0-60motorsports]

Thanks - glad to explain if you want over DM.

In a nutshell you just need the correct windshield prism, then the correct RLS module also pictured. Then the updated/post 03'? lsz (3.6 software) with the auto headlight switch. Code it all in PA soft (easy) or Inpa easy work!

YEs please that would be awesome. What about the wiring? My car is already 03.5 with the updated Module, The previous owner just didnt tick the auto headlight box.

[bavarian3]

WOW amazing work brother. Car looks stunning.

It looks like you retrofitted the Auto headlights.....Any more info on that? Just for my own info as i recently replaced the windshield any way.....

Thanks - glad to explain if you want over DM.

In a nutshell you just need the correct windshield prism, then the correct RLS module also pictured. Then the updated/post 03'? lsz (3.6 software) with the auto headlight switch. Code it all in PA soft (easy) or Inpa easy work!

[0-60motorsports]

WOW amazing work brother. Car looks stunning.

It looks like you retrofitted the Auto headlights.....Any more info on that? Just for my own info as i recently replaced the windshield any way.....

[bavarian3]

Carbon Fiber roof install - Part V - Finishing touches

This post will cover the final steps after bonding the roof. Still much more work than you would think.


Let's work on the headliner first. Install is much easier with a windshield removed.

First I plugged the drains for the now deprecated sunroof. Probably unnecessary tbh. Just used some generic amazon rubber plugs with rtv added.






Then in went the factory insulation. My dog was nice enough to tear up part of it while I had it stored my office one day.






Prepping the headliner. New slicktop specific parts.






Don't actually install the light fixture till on the car.





Install is pretty easy. Don't forget to lower the window moldings to make life easy.









Before the glass installer would be summoned, I worked on finishing the roof rail channels.

It's good to finish this with sealer like the factory.

First I used a primer to finish any remaining exposed steel.











After ensuring no exposed steel is left, urethane sealer can be used.






Forget to take proper pics, but here are some screengrabs.

Basically I just masked off the area and filled in the channel gaps to aid in sealing and complete a factory like finish.










Now the glass installer could finally make his return. I was lucky to find someone talented, but also willing to work with my unique project.

I explained in detail exactly the expectations I had in terms of gaps, alignment, sealing the roof to pinch weld etc.


New seal trim being prepped.






Cool to see a pro grade triangle windshield adhesive bead. I think next time I do a roof install i'll use a powered adhesive tool.






Bonus surprise. There's something different about the front glass than where I started with the Safelite junk the car came with =) I was quite lucky to source this unexpectedly.










For the roof rails I sourced my own junkyard rails to repaint instead of repainting my factory ones. I just had my body shop do "gloss black" though I'd be curious what the exact paint code is for CSL roof rails.

Since the seals were junk, I replaced these with an awesome product from a provider matthewnavis.com. These install with no adhesive.






After all the grinding, hacking, drilling, the car desperately needed a wash, and a polish.

One thing turned to another, and I ended up doing a mild pass on most of the car.












Hourrs later, still not done.

One final stage. So about the windshield. I was very lucky to source a NOS Pilkington "infrared". This came with a newer rain sensor style with automatic lights prism spec.






My module didn't fit as the spec was different, so another junkyard trip got this done. IIRC, I just had to go into INPA and initialize the module.





Since I had LED taillights all this time, I conveniently already had the updated LSZ. All this time, the automatic position (left most) didn't do anything, but now it finally works which is awesome.




I installed all the final bits, windshield cowl, wipers, A/B/C pillars.

Finally 100% complete. What a journey!

Here are some final shots.


















Monterey Car Week was a blast, as always.






Some final thoughts. I honestly think it transforms the car for the better. For one, it looks incredible.

Initially when test driving the car I noticed the weight loss for sure, but nothing drastic. Definitely some easier acceleration, nimbleness around town.

Now after putting some actual miles on it particularly in the mountains, I think it seriously improves(more than i initially thought) how the car handles, rips around sweeper turns, and generally just makes the car freaking awesome/more fun.

____

NVH related, if concerned, 0% increase. Car is dead quiet, and water tight. As a bonus, the windshield is like going from dirty glasses to polarized lenses, also effective in keeping the car cooler, highly recommend if able to find a source.

I'll look to write up a DIY since there's so many nuances, and all the youtube videos do things wrong, or gloss over so much. If anyone wants to see the video walkthrough of this journey visit my IG and find the pinned story. https://www.instagram.com/clublsb/

A+ would recommend.

[bavarian3]

What amazing work on the roof. Doing it yourself you know it's done right. I share Avedis' disdain for bodyshops haha.

Thanks, agree. It would be really hard to find one to do it right, much less with a reasonable turnaround time.

[Bry5on]

bavarian3 yep I used LORD 7545 A/F - not bad to work with at all.

[Bimma360]

What amazing work on the roof. Doing it yourself you know it's done right. I share Avedis' disdain for bodyshops haha.

[bavarian3]

Beautifully done. Its all in the prep work....

Thanks. Definitely one that's significantly more prep than install.

Nice that your adhesive is black and not white like mine! Looks good and I ran the same procedure for making sure we got a good seal. It’s worth the risk of trapping a few small bubbles.

Glad to have affirmation! 😂 Did you use the LORD 7545 A/F?

Amazing installation, you have giving me a lot on confidence on this as I’m more mechanically, inclined then bodywork. Great post

If you're mechanically inclined you can do this for sure. Just have to be patient and meticulous to protect the existing body panels, paint, and interior.

Great work on the roof, I appreciate the attention to detail. Wish you were down in SoCal, I would definitely pay you to help me with the install (I hate bodyshops).

I didn't see it mentioned, but did you do any trimming to the roof? From the homework I have done, the front protrudes 7mm too far over the leading edge and the rear hits the guide nubs.

Thanks! The only trimming to the roof was in this pic marked in yellow to accommodate the roof rack bolts: link, link

The front does overhang, but it doesn't stop the windshield from being installed correctly, nor can it be seen afterwards. Grinding that much carbon would make a mess of fiber dust(no thanks).

You could do your alignment(has to be nailed by this point), mark the overhang line on the underside, then trim it slowly with a vac behind the blowoff. Or a less optimal option - is trim it after bonding, but then you'd have to seal the chassis paint you'd inevitable grind off(perhaps not a big deal).

On the guide nubs that is true. SQ13 highlights this in his diy. I ground mine down as I didn't want any additional parameters for alignment.

[Avedis]

Great work on the roof, I appreciate the attention to detail. Wish you were down in SoCal, I would definitely pay you to help me with the install (I hate bodyshops).

I didn't see it mentioned, but did you do any trimming to the roof? From the homework I have done, the front protrudes 7mm too far over the leading edge and the rear hits the guide nubs.

[M3_legend]

Amazing installation, you have giving me a lot on confidence on this as I’m more mechanically, inclined then bodywork. Great post

[Bry5on]

Nice that your adhesive is black and not white like mine! Looks good and I ran the same procedure for making sure we got a good seal. It’s worth the risk of trapping a few small bubbles.

[0-60motorsports]

Beautifully done. Its all in the prep work....

[bavarian3]

Carbon Fiber roof install - Part IV - Roof Install

This post covers the roof unveiling, install, and more.

Let's kick it off with some bling. Finally I unwrapped it fully. Thing of beauty. Not one imperfection.





Test fitting. Don't be surprised if it doesn't rest perfect.





I used the original rails for fitment as it helped with contrast. Alignment takes patience. On the front and back side corners, you have to align the curvature of the chassis, roof rail, and roof into a smooth transition.

Then along the sides, you try to achieve an equal gap between the roof rail to chassis. To measure this, I used plastic feeler gauge.






It takes tons of nudging mm by mm, but you'll get it eventually. Warning - it will drive perfectionists crazy.

Once aligned to my liking, I used tape across the 3 parts, then cut while in place. This was also done in the rear(as shown) and front perimeter which folds under the chassis panel.







So alignment is done. Now I can finally prep the roof and chassis perimeter. You can do this earlier on, but I didn't want the raw steel exposed over the several weeks I took to do this project. No primer is used on the perimeter in my process, keep in mind.

This is done with the die grinder and an 80 grit disc, per the 3M TDS. I used slow speed on the grinder to create a rough surface, almost pulsing it to minimize material removal.






For the roof, I scuffed the perimeter by hand with the 80grit disc, and as you can see the inner portions where the windshield adhesive will bond to.






Another part that took a load of time was figuring out how to handle the roof rack bolts.

I won't get into all the details here, there's more than one way to solve this, but I ended up trimming the roof enough(yellow spots) to allow the bolts to thread into the chassis like stock.






I carefully trimmed the yellow marked spots little by little till I got to this point.

I trimmed only enough to have the bolt flange sit on top of the roof layer(as shown), so yes there's an overhang in this picture, but remember there's loads of panel bond and sealer that fills that space on install.

You can trim even more so the flange is completely flat against the chassis, but the roof starts to get quite thin on material there. Besides, this is only done to fill the open hole where the bolt goes, and hold the receiving nut in place which is loose without something threaded into it.







Everything is prepped, cleaned a million times over. I could finally commit to the install and start applying time sensitive products.

This is all the windshield adhesive related products. 3m 08693 windshield adhesive, 3m 08682 primer.






The primer got applied to the roof and roof bows. This facilitates bonding to the windshield adhesive.







A little glare, but you can see the strips of primer applied to where the adhesive will bond to.






For the windshield adhesive itself, this actually gets done last, as the working time is much shorter than the panel bond (15mins vs 90mins). Prep the tip to create a triangular bead.






Here's the panel bond arsenal. I ended up using 08115 as the 07333 was too viscous.

I won't get into too much about the right or wrong product to use here. What I'll say is for the roof bow I wanted structural panel bond, while the roof I was less concerned as this a skin. 3M actually recommends this product in the TDS for this use.

Bryson pointed out a structural adhesive product that has the right viscosity, but a longer working time than BMW adhesive(very short working time which is why I didn't consider it).





My process for panel bond application is a bit different than others I've seen. I wanted a fool proof method against leaks. This process ensures I don't have to be fancy with the bead as all the low spots will have been covered.

It's like this for the panel bond on the chassis perimeter:
-step 1: Use the scraper to apply a thin layer over any exposed steel on the chassis perimeter.
-step 2: Fill the low spots. This includes the several dips along the rail, and the transitions at the corners.
-step 3: Apply a thick bead around the chassis perimeter.

then

-step 4: Scrape or brush a thin layer on the carbon roof perimeter.
-step 5: Apply the triangular windshield adhesive beads on all roof bows.

Obviously we were focused on the process at the time, but managed to have a couple pics taken.












Boom!

Before clamping the sides down. I stuck the roof rails on and triple checked the gaps with feeler gauge. This is where alignment prep really pays off.









What a good feeling to have that done. Checking the work on the inside. No cleanup was needed here.

Just the right amount of bead coming through. Not too much not too little. And the contact with the roof bows and windshield adhesive was perfect (hard to grab a pic).





While the hard work is done, still much to do at this point.

Next will cover the sealing, windshield reinstall, headliner, and some final shots showing the finished product.

[bavarian3]

Your attentions to detail! Love this build this is a good reference to any carbon roof swap. I need to add this to my E90 M3 in the future

Appreciate that ! Update coming...