[E90Fleet]

January should see BMW release some more Carbon Fibre trim pieces for the E90

The front splitters and rear diffuser carbon fibre covers have been released for the M Sports Pack

and in 2006 they will be releasing Carbon Fibre Mirror covers and a Carbon Fibre truk spoiler

[Jason]

Interesting info. As said before, looks like BMW is really trying to get a piece of the interest in aftermarket type upgrades (blackline lights and now carbon fiber mirror and spoiler)!

[BMW0]

Carbon Fibre Mirror covers and a Carbon Fibre truk spoiler looks like what I've been looking for, thanks Colonel!

[BiBi]

Originally Posted by E90Fleet

January should see BMW release some more Carbon Fibre trim pieces for the E90

The front splitters and rear diffuser carbon fibre covers have been released for the M Sports Pack

and in 2006 they will be releasing Carbon Fibre Mirror covers and a Carbon Fibre truk spoiler

Do you have any pictures of the carbon for the M sports pack

greetz

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by BiBi

Do you have any pictures of the carbon for the M sports pack

greetz

No pics yet

on the rear it covers your eniter non-bodycolor piece in the rear bumper and the front adds little flipper just like the one for the "normal" bumpers

[AidenL]

Bet that won't be cheap, for the large rear piece at least........

Originally Posted by E90Fleet

No pics yet

on the rear it covers your eniter non-bodycolor piece in the rear bumper and the front adds little flipper just like the one for the "normal" bumpers

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by AidenL

Bet that won't be cheap, for the large rear piece at least........

Its probably thinner and of less dense carbon fibre than the front splitters, so will be cheaper per area

but it still will be quite a bit

[JPM8220]

Hartge has already carbon fiber covers for mirrors. But My Hartge dealer informed me about the price, 955 Euro for couples

[jmcphillips1]

I am having carbon fiber b-pillars made for my 330i for $600.00. They are not overlays, but replacements. They are going to be so sweet. If you live near Tampa FL I can tell you where to get them.

[ward]

yeah, I think it's funny when people add carbon fiber accesory's by just gluing them over the stock stuff


hey, it weighed less without the carbon fiber captain lightweight!!

[bimmer4me]

Can someone tell me what is the benefit of carbon fiber?

[longtran]

Originally Posted by bimmer4me

Can someone tell me what is the benefit of carbon fiber?

mainly cosmetic.

[underDAWG]

Originally Posted by longtran

mainly cosmetic.

Would this make us becoming a ricer

[ward]

Originally Posted by bimmer4me

Can someone tell me what is the benefit of carbon fiber?

adds weight to vehicle removes weight from wallet

[jmcphillips1]

Originally Posted by ward

adds weight to vehicle removes weight from wallet

It would remove weight from the car, not add it. That is if you were being serious

[Tierfreund]

Ward is hardly ever serious if he can avoid it...

[ZenDriver]

Can someone tell me what is the benefit of carbon fiber?

In the racing and exotic road car world (think Enzo and McLaren F1), carbon fiber is the material of choice for fabricating bits of bodywork that would otherwise be made from heavy sheet metal. Not only is it very lightweight, but the tooling required to make carbon fiber parts in low volumes costs significantly less then the tens of thousands of dollars required to make production sheetmetal parts.

Companies with advanced engineering and computational horsepower can also fabricate the entire vehicle chassis from carbon fiber which is the same production methods used to create the monocoques on Formula 1 cars. This makes vehicles that are extremely light (like, Lotus Elise light) while also being very very strong.

As far as how CF parts are made, the material is very similar to fiberglass. CF is basically weaved strands of carbon which are laid up in a mold by hand, slathered up with a polymer (read: plastic) epoxy and then baked in a vacuume bag at high temperature. This last step removes the excess epoxy and hardens the composite. The trick to making CF strong is in how one lays the weave of the fabric together and this is where computers (and finite element analysis) comes in handy; you can model a part and software can tell you exactly how to lay the carbon down to get maximum strength. Parts on the McLaren F1 for example, had up to 30 layers of carbon, each one laid down in a different direction.

As a material, carbon fiber isn't expensive, but making carbon parts is very labor intensive with lots of hand work by skilled craftsmen. While carbon molds are relatively easy to fabricate, it can take hours to make a part. Sheet metal, on the other hand, can be stamped out in batches of a dozen parts per minute, but the tooling is EXTREMELY expensive.

Of course, since it is used on race cars, it has taken on a life of it's own. Carbon fiber is to ricers, euro box fans and Ducati riders what chrome is/was to Harley riders and hod rodders from back in the day.

[ward]

Originally Posted by jmcphillips1

It would remove weight from the car, not add it. That is if you were being serious

that's true if you remove a part and replace it with carbon fiber

adding carbon fiber parts over your stock parts, or adding parts to your car that weren't there originally make the car heavier

[BiBi]

Originally Posted by JPM8220

Hartge has already carbon fiber covers for mirrors. But My Hartge dealer informed me about the price, 955 Euro for couples

hamann also got these covers and on the pricelist that i got there costs 595€ export price.

greetz

Download here the hamann pricelist

[mikek]

Originally Posted by ZenDriver

In the racing and exotic road car world (think Enzo and McLaren F1), carbon fiber is the material of choice for fabricating bits of bodywork that would otherwise be made from heavy sheet metal. Not only is it very lightweight, but the tooling required to make carbon fiber parts in low volumes costs significantly less then the tens of thousands of dollars required to make production sheetmetal parts.

Companies with advanced engineering and computational horsepower can also fabricate the entire vehicle chassis from carbon fiber which is the same production methods used to create the monocoques on Formula 1 cars. This makes vehicles that are extremely light (like, Lotus Elise light) while also being very very strong.

As far as how CF parts are made, the material is very similar to fiberglass. CF is basically weaved strands of carbon which are laid up in a mold by hand, slathered up with a polymer (read: plastic) epoxy and then baked in a vacuume bag at high temperature. This last step removes the excess epoxy and hardens the composite. The trick to making CF strong is in how one lays the weave of the fabric together and this is where computers (and finite element analysis) comes in handy; you can model a part and software can tell you exactly how to lay the carbon down to get maximum strength. Parts on the McLaren F1 for example, had up to 30 layers of carbon, each one laid down in a different direction.

As a material, carbon fiber isn't expensive, but making carbon parts is very labor intensive with lots of hand work by skilled craftsmen. While carbon molds are relatively easy to fabricate, it can take hours to make a part. Sheet metal, on the other hand, can be stamped out in batches of a dozen parts per minute, but the tooling is EXTREMELY expensive.

Of course, since it is used on race cars, it has taken on a life of it's own. Carbon fiber is to ricers, euro box fans and Ducati riders what chrome is/was to Harley riders and hod rodders from back in the day.

You are describing autoclave moulding, which is not the only way to do it (it is the best, though). Many aftermarket carbon parts are not made using this expensive process or even vaccuum molded (second best). Much of the carbon out there is pourous with clearcoat used to cover up the surface imperfections, though they go beyond the surface. Some even has cloth or fiberglass in it.
BTW, I have a Aprilia Mille without any carbon and I think it is pretty funny when guys spend $200 on carbon to save <50 grams, all the while carrying an extra 25-50 pounds around the waist.

[england1987]

I think that the piece look good, but the need to be painted the body colour. They look to RICE with the carbon.

[longtran]

Originally Posted by jmcphillips1

I am having carbon fiber b-pillars made for my 330i for $600.00. They are not overlays, but replacements. They are going to be so sweet. If you live near Tampa FL I can tell you where to get them.

wow! thats a lot for just b pillars. you can buy a whole set of carbon fiber interior trim with that amount.