Once you put the wall against the body and the glue starts doing its thing, we apply some locking pliers/clips to the top surface to hold the wall in place, then I used a piece of wood going from the front seats to the wall to apply pressureĪfter this step you need to go to the back side of the wall: in through the trunk and apply a second stage of glue to make sure all the voids are filled in. Figure you have 20 minutes of set time to work, after that it gets dicey. Once you apply epoxy you're on the clock. We put a glue bead on the car's surfaces and then another glue bead on the wall's bottom and side which are angled differently. There are parts in the wall perpendicular to each other, same as the car. The CF panel's side and bottom get glue and then the car gets glue as well.
We need to apply it both to the car and also to the CF panel. Now get the epoxy that's been heating up for 30 min, put it into the applicator gun and start applying it. Remove the Tyvek suit and throw it away, then change your gloves After sanding we clean the surfaces with alcohol.
#E46 M3 SUBFRAME REINFORCEMENT EPOXY FULL#
Sanding CF is nasty business, so we put on the Tyvek full body suit we got at home depot, goggles and an N95 respirator, then start sanding the panel's mating surfaces. Now you have to do the same thing to the CF reinforcement wall. When finished, get a microfiber cloth and alcohol to clean up the surfaces and ensure they are clean The objective is to roughen it up, not sand all the paint off, so take it easy. Get a 180 grit sandpaper block and rough up the part of the car where the glue goes. Remove the reinforcement wall from the car and look at the mating surfaces Again, use more masking tape than I did in the bottom area! This takes a while but I think it's the easiest solution. Also, while it's in place we mask up both sides of the car so the epoxy doesn't overflow and mess everything up later. We test fit it just to make sure we understand where it goes. We don't want any rogue epoxy getting on the CF We start by taping up both sides of the wall. Here's a pic of the BMW epoxy that is used. Like everything Slon Workshop/Slonik makes, this is a real piece of art Be careful not to get epoxy on random surfaces. Stage 2: -from the trunk, apply glue to all the perimeter, push it in with your fingers (with a glove on)Ĭlean Up: remove the masking tape and plastic sheeting from both sides. put locking pliers on top both sides and something on the bottom to hold the wall tightly put glue on the wall, only bottom and half of the side Stage 1 -put glue on the sides, bottom, top of the car’s mating surface Clean CF and car's mating surfaces with alcohol
Sand CF mating surface while wearing special suit and mask Anywhere you don’t want glue should be taped up Use masking tape to seal the wall on both sides. Protip: use more masking tape than I did, especially in the bottom. This is not strictly necessary but will make cleanup a lot easier. Use masking tape to seal off the area around the wall where glue does not go. Tyvek full body suit (Home Depot) and N95 mask for sanding CFįirst fit the wall with no glue to see more or less where it goes
#E46 M3 SUBFRAME REINFORCEMENT EPOXY INSTALL#
This is the same glue I used for the CF roof install ( ) a few weeks ago, and the same glue BMW recommends for installing CF onto steel panels in their cars. I use the foam block style.Īlcohol and microfiber cloths (having a source of water handy helps)īMW SF-7888 (K-3) structural glue and applicator gun. Thick enough - about 2.5millimeters of pure carbon layers.ġ80 grit sand paper. Has a sweet ///M in the panel so no one is confused about who builds your grocery getter Installs with structural epoxy, which can be removed with a heat gun Can be installed behind oem seats if desired, no need to rip up your interior or irreversibly turn your car into a track-only machine Any other options on request at time of order
Base options – oem look plain wave, small or large size twill wave (the latter was my choice). My track E90 has fold down rear seats like every E9X, although the rear seats are removed in its current config.Īudi uses a CF panel to increase torsional rigidity by a whopping 33% in its A8. In some cars like the previous gen M5, BMW did not offer a folding rear seat, with the goal of increasing the car’s rigidity. Looking at data, the E9X is 33000Nm/deg and the F8X is 40000Nm/deg Both are very rigid, but I’ve been jealous the F8X is a 20% stiffer! I finally got around to installing the CF panel! There a GB going around so it's a good time to get it done and provide some instructions.įrom the E9X to the F8X generation there was an increase in torsional rigidity.