2001 M3 Journey: Laguna Seca Blue Edition

[0-60motorsports]

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

[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.

[M3_legend]

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

[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.

[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.

[Bimma360]

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

[Bry5on]

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

[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.

[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.