Karter16's Silbergrau E46 M3 Journal

[karter16]

So I ordered some Alcantara soft today to make myself an insert for the CSL centre console. Shelling out for a genuine one seems excessive so will go the route of making my own. I'm planning to 3D print a template to trace with a blade to cut the piece out.

The other thing that I'm planning to look into on a (literal) rainy day is a script to intercept files coming across FTP from the Gauge.S and to rename them sequentially. One of the issues with Gauge.S is that if it doesn't have the current time from a time server it reverts to an incrementation-based naming convention based on what files already exist on the SD card. This means you end up with a bunch of files named something like GaugeS-1.csv with no easy way to tell which is which. If you happen to be connected to wifi at the time the log starts it's all good. The other way to address this is to use the GPS module to acquire the current time.

I suggested to Sorek that a useful little option would be to store a global variable on the SD card with the current file increment. That way it could persistently assign the next increment, regardless of what files still existed on the SD card. Unfortunately Sorek advised he wouldn't be doing this as he considers it "clutter" and that his solution is to buy the GPS module. Given I have no other need for the GPS module I refuse to use that much hardware to solve such a simple problem so will look to solve this server-side on the FTP server.

[Arclitgold]

Any chance you’d share the STL of that ash tray insert once it’s done? I’ve been looking to print something similar!

[karter16]

Any chance you'd share the STL of that ash tray insert once it's done? I've been looking to print something similar!

Yep for sure, will be happy to share once I've got it sorted. Worth noting that the version I'm currently working on is for RHD Cars. I could do a LHD one fairly easily, just would need to be mirrored and have the layout of the retainer changed to accommodate the fact the board itself stays the same (ie not mirrored).

Also thought I saw a post here from Avedis but it seems to have disappeared. Anyway, the answer is that I'm planning to measure the size of the tray and cut the insert to fit. Happy to share the measurements once I've got it nailed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bry5on]

Any chance you’d share the STL of that ash tray insert once it’s done? I’ve been looking to print something similar!

Does this help in the meantime? https://cad.onshape.com/documents/40...f5b6a01462b639

[karter16]

Finally! v7467 (exaggerated) is the one!



Now that I've got the placement spot on I'll take those datum planes/points and model up a final clean version.

[Arclitgold]

Does this help in the meantime? https://cad.onshape.com/documents/40...f5b6a01462b639

YES! Thank you Bry5on!

also looking forward to see how yours pans out karter16

[karter16]

Final version is out for printing!

[karter16]

Test print of the final SMG bracket design:





I'm really pleased with how this design has turned out. I'll run this for a while and make sure all is well. Hopefully at some point others are keen to give this a go as need to test it with Karb and OE snorkels to make sure clearance is still all good with those.


Also completed assembly test of the Gauge.S enclosure (You can see in the photos why it's Dad's least-favourite filament). Everything fits great thought and I think this is now ready for me to do a final design now that I have the packaging confirmed.

[heinzboehmer]

What material is that printed in? I totally get why your dad doesn't like it

What's your plan for the fasteners? Self tappers directly into the plastic?

[karter16]

What material is that printed in? I totally get why your dad doesn't like it

What's your plan for the fasteners? Self tappers directly into the plastic?

It's just a regular PLA in forest green, but for some reason ALWAYS prints like that (other PLA's come out lovely). Dad calls it "prototyping green" and is using it up on test prints where it doesn't really matter.

Yep the plan for the fasteners is self tapping screws directly into the plastic. This isn't something that I'm planning on needing to disassemble very often so should be fine in terms of robustness. (unless you have a better suggestion?)

[heinzboehmer]

It's just a regular PLA in forest green, but for some reason ALWAYS prints like that (other PLA's come out lovely). Dad calls it "prototyping green" and is using it up on test prints where it doesn't really matter.

Yep the plan for the fasteners is self tapping screws directly into the plastic. This isn't something that I'm planning on needing to disassemble very often so should be fine in terms of robustness. (unless you have a better suggestion?)

Should be fine if you don't plan on taking it apart too much, but these things are pretty nice: https://cnckitchenus.store/collections/metric-inserts-1

[karter16]

Soldered the BDM headers today. Hands slightly less steady than when I was 20, but got the job done alright.





Still waiting for the programmer to arrive. Sent them another email today asking at what point they're prepared to accept it's got lost in the post.

[karter16]

Should be fine if you don't plan on taking it apart too much, but these things are pretty nice: https://cnckitchenus.store/collections/metric-inserts-1

Those are indeed very nice. Hmm I wonder if I should go this route. Then again, I'm planning to assemble this once and leave it like that for the rest of time, so it might be overkill (doesn't sounds like me at all )

[karter16]

I'm super happy with how these turned out!

Laser-cut genuine Alcantara Soft (9002 Anthracite).

[karter16]

Life has been super busy since August or so. Over the summer break I was mostly prioritising spending time with family and getting things done around the house. This weekend though my wife and kids have been busy with some friends which has given me some free time.

I've been avoiding doing the trunk interior reinstall after doing the rear RACP brace because I keep changing my mind on the best way to approach it. Finally decided on the following approach.

1: Modify the stock trunk false floor to fit around the RACP brace.
2: Make a cutout in each of the side forms just large enough for the brace to protrude through (e.g. side form is installed after the brace is installed), with a vertical cut to aid installation. As far as I can tell from looking at photos this is how BMW did it with the GTR Strassenversion so figured I'd go with the same approach.
3: Cutouts in the trunk carpet around the vertical tubes for the rear points of the RACP brace.


First up - the false floor. It's made of a composite shell with a rubber foam core, with a felt-type material over the whole thing. I wanted to make it look as original as possible so experimented with separating the felt layer with a blade and the like. It proved to not be possible to separate the felt that way, so I came up with a truely dumbass idea.



Prior to this I made a cardboard copy of the false floor and used it to verify the exact shape I needed to cut out of the false floor. I then cut out a shape 10mm smaller, and used a Dremel cutting disk which had 10mm of cutting depth, to slot out the foam and then grind out the composite shell leaving only the felt. I'm as surprised as you are that this actually worked, although I still think it's a dumb idea. I managed to execute this without any mistakes, and was then able to glue and fold over the felt. I then trimmed the edge the following day. If you look at it closely you can tell it's been modified, but from a few feet away you can't tell. I'm pleased with how it turned out. I considered various options like making a replacement false floor, but to get something lightweight enough was getting pretty expensive for something I didn't feel that strongly about, and still wasn't going to have all the perfect form shapes for mating with the polystyrene tool tray like the original has.

Apparently I didn't take any close up photos, but here's a photo of it installed, which ironically doesn't really show all the effort I went to with felting the edges of my cuts:



This morning I moved on to the side forms. I'd previously bought a replacement LHS side one that doesn't have the space for the CD changer etc, as I don't need it now I have the Xtrons head unit and I'd rather have the additional trunk space.

As I mentioned above I spent some time months ago looking at photos of the GTR and figuring out what they had likely done. I think they simply made a cut, and then shaped out around where the tube of the brace protrudes through. I decided the same approach was good enough for me. I didn't want to go the route of having a cut out large enough to install the form first and the brace second - I wanted it to look as OE as possible.

Fortunately the luggage loops provide an excellent reference point for measurements as the side forms have cuts in them where the loops protrude through. I carefully measured everything up, under cutting to begin with. A few back and forths and I had them fitting very nicely indeed!







The forms are pretty stiff, so once installed properly it all fits back into place (you can actually see in these photos that the RHS one isn't quite aligned, there was a cable running by the luggage loop that seems to have been misrouted by someone in the past and was making the side form sit slightly funny, relocated that and it looks good. I'm very happy with the outcome - this worked out how I was envisioning - fortunately my execution was good enough!

Then finally it was on to installing the side trays and the trunk liner.

Despite a lot of measuring I managed to cut the lining so that it is about 1/3 of an inch too far forward. I rechecked my measurements afterwards and they still seem good to me, so seems to be a case of just the way it lies doesn't quite match up. To be honest you guys and myself are the only people who will ever notice, but I will pick up a replacement liner when I next see one and will redo this to satisfy my own unrealistic standards of myself when it comes to doing things perfectly that I've never done before.


Here is the finished result:









Still to do:

- Trim the rear bench seat sound mat that you can see protruding through.
- Put the caps on the rear vertical pipe sections of the brace.
- Install the push pins things that keep the side forms in place.
- Clean the carpets now that I've finished messing around with install.