Carbon Fiber Side Splitters!

[cheshirecat79]

Originally Posted by Joaco135

Where did you buy the closed-cell pvc?

Lowes, isn't that sad

unfortunately, it was the only material that was both pliable and sturdy enough for the application.

Do it the right way- grab yourself some decent universal skirts off of ebay and cut them to fit. For me, I couldn't validate throwing down 350+supplies on the experiment. this set me back less than a hundred bucks including paint and no-one (except you important peeps on the forum) is the wiser.

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by cheshirecat79

this set me back less than a hundred bucks including paint and no-one (except you important peeps on the forum) is the wiser.

Honestly man, your end result looks good, and it's something simple and cheap, adds to the balance of the front lip, and if you whack it on a speed bump, replacing it won't have you eating ramen for a week. Happy to have enterprising members here who are also willing to share their work, that's what community is about.

Nothing to feel bad about at all! Lowes supply source or not. Really.

[cheshirecat79]

Thanks man. The car is pretty low- the skirts have bottomed out on higher speed bumps and in parking garages. it's nice not having to worry about them being scraped up. I've been through quite a few lips/addons (with two of the front lips breaking in half at speed from being worn down at the bottom) and it's always infuriating when they're damaged, even if it's all because I choose to make the vehicle low enough to bottom out and wear down the fiberglass/composite material.

[ASPEC135i]

Originally Posted by cheshirecat79

To the OP:

You're going to have to cut some holes for the oem skirt pressure clips as well as notch out the area for the lift inserts. Tape will not be enough for the skirts. You can use some self-tapping screws or (what I did) create a mounting setup for the addons to mount to the skirt using the OEM hardware. If I were to do it over again, I would drill out the holes completely where the pressure clips are and use a thin piece of metal affixed to the top of the skirt to give the clips something to attach to. I personally used closed-cell pvc which was then paint-matched.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Here's a couple of pictures.

WOW the shot of your car is !!!

MOAR pls!!!

[cheshirecat79]

here's a couple more from that particular day, but I'd rather keep the thread on-topic. Thanks for the interest.
http://robwoodham.smugmug.com/02-09-14-135/

[Joaco135]

Originally Posted by cheshirecat79

Lowes, isn't that sad

unfortunately, it was the only material that was both pliable and sturdy enough for the application.

Do it the right way- grab yourself some decent universal skirts off of ebay and cut them to fit. For me, I couldn't validate throwing down 350+supplies on the experiment. this set me back less than a hundred bucks including paint and no-one (except you important peeps on the forum) is the wiser.

Thanks for the tip.

OP waiting for pics.

[c_ozanich]

Just a heads up to anyone subscribed--received a text that they finally came in; pics and initial evaluation later today

[Blueherb]

Originally Posted by cheshirecat79

here's a couple more from that particular day, but I'd rather keep the thread on-topic. Thanks for the interest.
http://robwoodham.smugmug.com/02-09-14-135/

Holy hell your car is nice.

[c_ozanich]

Well, I'm not entirely thrilled about them, but maybe that'll change once I get them on. Packaging was 50/50, but coming from Cyprus I guess there's a lot of handling and I do attribute some wear to that.

As for the parts themselves, that CF is real, has a nice weave that's consistent. My biggest gripe about them is they are thin. Very thin and therefore rather flexible. I'm hoping that once I get them installed they stiffen up a lot. I guess I had expected a curved/rolled type edge that would provide some rigidity to the part but it's not there--just a flat CF lay with a rubber type stripping on the outer edge.

The one edge has a finished curvature on the outside and the other just ends; I'm betting their "custom length" is just blocking off the mold and letting the CF matrix fill with a squared end. Not a huge deal but gives it an unfinished look. I'll have more time to play around with them this weekend... might do a mock up pic before actually installing, might just yank skirts off and get them on. All depends on time availability to work on it.







I'm split a little between putting the finished curve in front or back of vehicle, my instincts say to put straight edge up front and the tapered curve in rear, but how would you guys do it?

[Fifty3bags]

I would put the tapered curve at the front

[c_ozanich]

Originally Posted by Fifty3bags

I would put the tapered curve at the front

is there reasoning behind that or just prefer the way it would look? I'm going to have to mock it up both ways and determine for myself...but curious of your decision as its opposite mine

[BMist371]

Is it possible to taper both ends?

[Fifty3bags]

Originally Posted by c_ozanich

is there reasoning behind that or just prefer the way it would look? I'm going to have to mock it up both ways and determine for myself...but curious of your decision as its opposite mine

I just think that the curve at the front would look better, instead of having a hard line right at the front. Also the side skirts on the 135 bow out in the middle a bit, which would accentuate the curve in the front.

Originally Posted by BMist371

Is it possible to taper both ends?

This I think would be ideal

[cheshirecat79]

If you weren't going to make any changes, I'd say place the taper at the front.

Otherwise, what I would do is practice tapering the inside of the skirt to see if you can cut/dremel it down and round it off in a way that doesn't destroy the CF finish. Chances are you'll be able to do it and just black out the tapered edge in a way that very, very hard to tell that the cf isn't there.

The pieces should firm up when you mount them. Some flex isn't a dealbreaker.

[Dan116i]

Any updates on this?

[str8shot]

Originally Posted by Dan116i

Any updates on this?

X2!

[RW Carbon]

Can't wait to see the finished product

[c_ozanich]

Originally Posted by Dan116i

Any updates on this?

Originally Posted by str8shot

X2!

I apologize for the delay guys, I'm very anxious to get these on the car

However I closed on a house last week and getting things ready for the move/packing/paperwork on top of paperwork I have neglected the Bimmer. I hope to be more efficient on this in the next several days as now I'm just waiting for the keys and for paperwork to be processed

Originally Posted by RW Carbon

Can't wait to see the finished product

You and me both ha. I feel like with the front lip, the car is incomplete looking a bit. A work in progress, always changing--next its a CF diffuser (which I do like your prices btw) and who knows from there!

[Dan116i]

Bump

[Joaco135]

update?

[c_ozanich]

Originally Posted by Joaco135

update?

unfortunately no, I have not touched them since they shipped in. Other things continuously have been popping up.

I'm debating about buying performance skirts and going that route, which will more than likely happen at this point.

[Joaco135]

You can't go wrong with the performance skirts, I install them few months ago and love them.