Obioban's 2005 IR/IR Coupe

[D-O]

Really nice work. Sonos is the bomb.

[Obioban]

Finally had a chance to get my car reassembled, with the rear wall installed. Hoping to be able to take her for a spin tonight!

Upholstry work is very much not my forte, but it's the trunk, which I've always looked at as the business end of the the car, that doesn't need to look immaculate.



Stupidly, I didn't think to take a picture from the front, and now the child seat is installed... so I can't.

[Bry5on]

I was replacing my Avin (because, being the high quality Chinese unit it is, it has decided that it won't turn on if it's a little chilly out) with an Xtrons, and was kind of surprised that the two units were seemingly different inside.

Fronts (Identical):




Rear (unrelated, everything in different locations):



Also, the new unit has internal wireless carplay, instead of a dongle.

I'm sure it's pissing into the wind, but I selected this particular unit over Xtrons other offerings (or another Avin) because it supposedly uses automotive grade internals. We will see...

Do you ever take phone calls using CarPlay? If so, can anyone hear you on the other end/does it sound like you’re in a helicopter? Not happy with my Avin/Heli setup

[Obioban]

Do you ever take phone calls using CarPlay? If so, can anyone hear you on the other end/does it sound like you’re in a helicopter? Not happy with my Avin/Heli setup

Ha, not if the car is in motion. I either stick an airpod in or stick my phone, on speakerphone, between the sun visor and roof.

That said, that's also what I do in the e60, e82, and did in the e46 back when it had stock bluetooth, sooo.... not much change.

I don't know if my standards have changed, or the way phones interact with bluetooth has changed, but I swear the factory bluetooth speakerphone was viable/fine from 2005 to ~2015, and it isn't anymore. Not sure what's up with that...

[Obioban]

Finally had a chance to get my car reassembled, with the rear wall installed. Hoping to be able to take her for a spin tonight!

Upholstry work is very much not my forte, but it's the trunk, which I've always looked at as the business end of the the car, that doesn't need to look immaculate.



Stupidly, I didn't think to take a picture from the front, and now the child seat is installed... so I can't.

Not sure what people are talking about when they say the rear plate isn't as noticeable as the front brace-- to me, it's just as impactful to the driving experience, in all the same ways! It also has an unexpected side benefit, that I'm getting notably less sound transmitted from the trunk to the cabin. That may sound like stating the obvious, since I literally put a wall between them, but enough sound deadening was removed to install it that I expected it to go the other way. Related: I'm pretty sure this is actually a net weight removing mod, once you factor in the sound deadening that must be removed to install it.

[heinzboehmer]

Nice! Glad you like the rear wall. I think the main difference between the front and rear braces is that the front one has a pretty big impact on steering feel, while the rear one does not. Front one is noticeable even just crawling around through a parking lot, but you have to be pushing the car a little harder than that to really feel the benefits of the rear one.

That being said, I have not driven a car with both installed, so that's an extra variable to consider.

Funny you say that you're getting less noise in the cabin after the brace. I agree that it quiets down noise coming in from the trunk, but this brace is what finally pushed me to get rid of my poly diff bushings. Before it, the whine was just barely on the edge of being tolerable. After, the whine was significantly louder and quickly became too much. Guess the brace was acting like a speaker and amplifying the diff whine.

Also, I haven't had anyone complain about call quality in either the E82 or the E46. Both setups use the factory mics though (Bimmer Tech MMI in the E82 and BlueBus in the E46).

[Projecte46m3]

Wow!! Still good to see this build going from the old M3F days.

[Surge709]

Ian's latest updates to his car, specifically the SLONT plate and the strut brace are amazing product, sharing some views and feedback:

Conclusion: both the front and rear end upgrades make a HUGE difference. Car feels much more on its toes, the time of "setting up" the suspension to make a turn is greatly decreased, front end feels excited and ready to turn in, and significant improvement in decrease in road noise.

Background: I spent 3 hours driving my M3 down to PA and then spent 30 minutes driving Ian's back. Our cars are virtually identical in setup with the exception of the Slon strut brace and trunk plate (suspension settings and mods in particular are virtually the same, done by the same two people). I can't think of a better back to back comparison.

[Obioban]

Ian's latest updates to his car, specifically the SLONT plate and the strut brace are amazing product, sharing some views and feedback:

Conclusion: both the front and rear end upgrades make a HUGE difference. Car feels much more on its toes, the time of "setting up" the suspension to make a turn is greatly decreased, front end feels excited and ready to turn in, and significant improvement in decrease in road noise.

Background: I spent 3 hours driving my M3 down to PA and then spent 30 minutes driving Ian's back. Our cars are virtually identical in setup with the exception of the Slon strut brace and trunk plate (suspension settings and mods in particular are virtually the same, done by the same two people). I can't think of a better back to back comparison.

Just for some context here-- Sergei's car is set up as identically as you can imagine to my car, other than the Slon parts (which will likely be going in shortly, after driving my car with them). He has been working on my cars, and I have been working on his cars, for almost 20 years.

He drove 3 hours to where I was, and then almost immediately drove my car. The most back to back possible back to back comparison.

He does point out something I think I failed to fully put into works in my original post. With a stock car, you kind of turn in, wait for the car to take a set, and then drive the car through the corner. I previously had assumed that waiting for the car to take a set was the tires rolling over. With the Slon parts, that taking a set period is significantly reduced-- which makes me think what I was actually feeling was the chassis loading up/flexing as far as it was going to flex for the load being applied by the corner.

[Obioban]

Wow!! Still good to see this build going from the old M3F days.

I'm sad I lost 15 years on M3F build thread

[Obioban]

Just bought a used F8X driveshaft. Going to follow Altaran's lead and put e46 M flanges on it, for a hopefully OE qualify CF driveshaft on the cheap.

[oceansize]

Just bought a used F8X driveshaft. Going to follow Altaran's lead and put e46 M flanges on it, for a hopefully OE qualify CF driveshaft on the cheap.

When I saw what Altaran did I actually thought of you as I figured six seconds would elapse between you seeing it and you buying one. lol

[heinzboehmer]

Just bought a used F8X driveshaft. Going to follow Altaran's lead and put e46 M flanges on it, for a hopefully OE qualify CF driveshaft on the cheap.

I'm very tempted to do the same, just a bit scared of the increased labor required to get the driveshaft on and off. Looking forward to the reviews.

[Obioban]

When I saw what Altaran did I actually thought of you as I figured six seconds would elapse between you seeing it and you buying one. lol

I don't know how to feel about being so predicable.

[0-60motorsports]

Just bought a used F8X driveshaft. Going to follow Altaran's lead and put e46 M flanges on it, for a hopefully OE qualify CF driveshaft on the cheap.

Yes! Looking forward to your feedback.