[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

I'd be tempted to carpet that carbon panel, maybe even both sides, to help with the noise too... sacrilege, I know, but there it is

I bought carpet to cover it but decided to try it without the carpet to see how the noise was. And it’s actually doing as good or better job at cutting noise than my old carpeted Hanbin panels. The Hanbin panels were floppy abs plastic so not rigid at all which I think maybe made them less effective for noise reduction. The carbon with no carpeting does a surprisingly good job of killing noise. I might still carpet the backside but I’m not feeling like it’s urgent at all, and I really like how the carbon looks inside the cabin. Since I have more interior carbon coming (door cards and center console) I think I might leave it exposed.

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by Guy Fieri

I replaced the bolts and studs on the center piece with M8x20 cap bolts. Just make sure the replacement bolts are at least class 8.8

Biginboca you might shave a gram or two with this mod

That is super smart. Nice work man!

[The Nightman]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

I tested it after with some water to see if there was any issues. From what I can tell it seems like it’s performing like OEM direction water away from the engine bay, and any water that leaks through would have anyway with the stock set up because it’s not going into the open area I cut but leaking through the cowling seal to the plastic under the windshield.

Huh, is it normal for water to leak into the engine bay under the cowl like that? It looks like water is also building up on the left side, but that is a lot of water at once and may not be representative of rain.

In theory the cowl delete isn't a good idea. The area below the windshield is a high pressure area and may pressurize the engine bay, reducing the effectiveness of the radiator. Engine noise might be too intrusive but that's subjective, and possible a benefit when on track.

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by Guy Fieri

Huh, is it normal for water to leak into the engine bay under the cowl like that? It looks like water is also building up on the left side, but that is a lot of water at once and may not be representative of rain.

In theory the cowl delete isn't a good idea. The area below the windshield is a high pressure area and may pressurize the engine bay, reducing the effectiveness of the radiator. Engine noise might be too intrusive but that's subjective, and possible a benefit when on track.

I didn’t change the gasket at the back of where the cowling meets so I don’t think that area is leaking more water than it would have before I modded it.

I see a lot of guys doing the M3 cowls (and complete cowl deletes with BMS filters). The M3 cowl is attractive but not for the price, and unless you have a M3 hood the M3 cowling isn’t going to seal the high pressure area either.

I debated this mod for about a year before finally deciding to try it. So far I’ve not experienced any negative effects, not even any additional engine noise. I can’t say that it won’t cause an issue over time though I’ll be reporting back if it does that’s for sure lol

[whyzee125]

Originally Posted by Guy Fieri

I replaced the bolts and studs on the center piece with M8x20 cap bolts. Just make sure the replacement bolts are at least class 8.8

Biginboca you might shave a gram or two with this mod

Nice mod, this is the first definitive proof I've seen of a clean solution that should work for everyone!

I should update my post too, as I did get it to work. I switched all the studs to the bolts you in your pic. While lower than the studs, they still hit so I used an angle grinder and shaved the cowl down to about 1/2 the original thickness in those spots and that just BARELY got me the room I needed. Still might switch them out to the bolts you used as that's really a better solution.

[Biginboca]

So the time has come. I finally changed out my wood trim. With going to carbon center console trim and carbon door cards (these are both on order because the e46csl has these parts in carbon also) and with now having that large carbon delete panel the wood looked out of place, it clashed with all the carbon. So the wood had to go finally!

So now I’m going to run brushed aluminum trims which I think will look good with the carbon door cards and console, and be more true to the csl theme.





And I have new wheels on order for the last few months. They are supposed to be shipping in the next 4 weeks or so. I’m swapping to these forged Apex in brushed clear coat. They will go well with the trims lol



I’m going to run the exact same fitments I have now…
Front 18x9 et30
Rear 18 x 10 et25

Will be keeping the bronze wheels for track use only with some RT660’s on them.

[Phil325i]

Those wheels will look mean! Mind telling us what the Apex model number is Al?

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

Those wheels will look mean! Mind telling us what the Apex model number is Al?

Hey Phil, they are the Apex VS-5RS. Apex says it’s their lightest wheel

https://www.apexraceparts.com/our-wh...ged-vs5rs.html

[Torgus]

Nice! Those rims are awesome!

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1873970

I have a feeling I will be running on those same rims in a year or so whenever they make the 17'' version. I believe I can fit the 17s with my BBK. Goodbye 25lbs 19s hello 16lbs.

Can't wait to see them on the car.

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by Torgus

Nice! Those rims are awesome!

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1873970

I have a feeling I will be running on those same rims in a year or so whenever they make the 17'' version. I believe I can fit the 17s with my BBK. Goodbye 25lbs 19s hello 16lbs.

Can't wait to see them on the car.

Dude swapping from 25lb wheels to 16lb wheels would make a huge difference! It was semi painful for me to order the 18’s because the 19’s were in a group buy when I ordered and would actually have been cheaper than the 18’s, but when I started looking at weights the 19” wheels and 19” tires combos started getting 3lbs or more heavier vs 18” set ups, and then the 19” tires were more expensive too… so I had to pony up extra for the 18’s

I read an article once it said that Porsche figures every lb of rotating mass is worth 6lbs of static mass on the car as to how it affects performance. So for me saving that 3lbs per corner is like 12lbs total rotating which is like 72lbs static weight. 72lbs is a lot of saved weight for a N52, it needs all the help it can get.

And some other articles had the formula at saving 1lb rotating worth 8lbs or 9lbs of static. But I trust Ferdinand more than other engineers

[Torgus]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

Dude swapping from 25lb wheels to 16lb wheels would make a huge difference! It was semi painful for me to order the 18’s because the 19’s were in a group buy when I ordered and would actually have been cheaper than the 18’s, but when I started looking at weights the 19” wheels and 19” tires combos started getting 3lbs or more heavier vs 18” set ups, and then the 19” tires were more expensive too… so I had to pony up extra for the 18’s

I read an article once it said that Porsche figures every lb of rotating mass is worth 6lbs of static mass on the car as to how it affects performance. So for me saving that 3lbs per corner is like 12lbs total rotating which is like 72lbs static weight. 72lbs is a lot of saved weight for a N52, it needs all the help it can get.

And some other articles had the formula at saving 1lb rotating worth 8lbs or 9lbs of static. But I trust Ferdinand more than other engineers

My BBS CH-Rs are like boat anchors. Probably also why I have never bent a rim and my friends all have bent rims over the last 5+ years.

It's going to feel amazing. I used to go from summer 20'' rims to 16'' winters on my old maxima and it was like night and day going to a lighter wheel.

The Apex will not look as good as the CHRs but they will perform so much better. I'll also end up running a very aggressive tire more than the MPSS I am running now.

Let us know how you like em and again, pics once they are on the car!

[CalvinNismo]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

Hey Phil, they are the Apex VS-5RS. Apex says it’s their lightest wheel

https://www.apexraceparts.com/our-wh...ged-vs5rs.html

The VS-5RS look amazing! I assume you got their Speed Holes option? Seems very in keeping of the CSL build! 😂

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by CalvinNismo

The VS-5RS look amazing! I assume you got their Speed Holes option? Seems very in keeping of the CSL build! 😂

Hmmm… Can I run PS4s with an inner tube lol

[Biginboca]

Simple mods today but I love the outcome. I deleted the fog lights and installed the ducts from the 335is to feed my oil cooler and ram intake. And this mod did not affect my brake ducts at all because they feed through the large center opening with this m sport bumper.

The old oil cooler duct on the passenger side split the opening half and half with the fog light, so was only taking in air for about have the surface area of the oil cooler. So the new huge inlet is definitely a bonus, plus this mod saved about 1.5lbs off the front. Weight loss and better cooling, I’ll take it!

The driver side vent is also made to feed a second oil cooler which I don’t have, the is and performance package models would have that though. So it was tricky to install because there was nothing to mount it to. I also had to make a panel blank to cover the area not used by my ram.


I think the car looks mean like this. Almost as mean as a M3 but not quite. Well not at all really. But mean for a 328 lol

[fazm]

Looks great. Love this build.

[Biginboca]

I don’t want to point fingers but it looks like someone stole my rear seat delete cargo net idea for their own CSL. The nerve!

What’s especially funny to me is I also bought CSL letters to put on my rear seat delete carbon panel but my buddy told me he thought it would be cheesy and I should leave them off, so I did. What are the odds a week later bmw would show the same I can’t believe it lol

[roastbeef]

the cowls are designed to keep water out of the firewall area that the hvac fan connects to. if you take a look through the passenger side vent, you can see the hvac fan that looks like a hamster wheel. that is what you need to keep dry.
it spills and drains in various locations, including into the engine bay. everything in the engine bay is designed to get a little wet, but its also not a submarine. i've been running the bms filters without issue for quite a few years now.

[Biginboca]

So a small update… last week I swapped to the e92m3 rear LCA’s. This was done to drop some weight and also lay the ground work for future upgrade path to coilovers. Because the car has M4 front spindles it would be ideal to have M rear control arms and just order M coilovers rather than mixing M and series parts.

Also the M Aluminum LCA’s (as a pair) are about 3lbs lighter than the stamped steel series LCA’s. Unfortunately for now I’m not able to fully capitalize on that weight loss because I opted to run cheap Bilstien B4 e92M3 rear shocks which are about 1lb heavier each than the BMW performance shocks I took off. So I only saved 1lb but when I go to coilovers I’ll realize a 3lbs difference and more options with the upgrade.

A small issue was that for some reason the car gained about 1.5” of height in the rear with M3 LCA’s, B4’s, and new spring pads. It was not a good look lol. So I had to cut about 6” length of coil off the spring to get the ride height back to where I wanted it.

I ran the numbers and e92m3 rear springs are 550 lbs/in. The bmw performance rear springs are 505lbs/in. But when I did the math for all the cuts I have made on the spring it has gained about 14% more spring rate to currently be 575lbs/in which seems about ideal to mate with the M3 B4 rear shocks. So that actually worked out well and the car feels really balanced and good.







I had to spend some time getting the rear aligned again after the LCA swap so checked all my alignment settings which surprised me. Last time I aligned I set to 3.5 front and 2.5 rear cambers with 1/16” front and rear toe.

So apparently the camber I’ve been running is… more than I though haha…

Front Passenger -3.8
Front Driver -3.9
Rear Passenger -2.6
Rear Driver -2.6

So no wonder I’ve been cornering so well at the track lol! About 6 months ago I had done a bunch suspension work and did my alignment right after, so I think the car settled a bit since then and the camber increased. The rear I’ve been running the -2.6 knowingly for about 6 months and getting surprisingly good wear all around. I’m not going to change anything.

I signed up for an autocross tomorrow because I want to really push the car to the limit with TC off and gauge how it behaves. Last time I did an autocross with the car it was stock and plowed like a tractor lol

Also as of today the car should be down to 3060lbs. My short term goal set 4 weeks ago was to get from 3100lbs to 3054lbs which is the stated weight of a e46m3CSL. So I need to drop 6 more lbs. I have a plan to get there in the next week or so, going to delete the rear a/c center console vents and the under seat rear heater vents blowing on rear passenger feet. These should be good for 3lbs. Going to delete the center consol lid and either make my own or purchase the ridiculously expensive GTS knock off one on ECS (ugh $240…) for about 2lbs.

And lastly I’m considering deleting the cup holders (0.5lbs each) and making a carbon panel to cover that long piece of the dash with the carbon I have left over from the seat delete panel. My driver cupholder has been stuck shut for about 6 months so I’ve got used to not having it, and I can’t reach the passenger one anyway with my bucket seats so never use it.

Those 3 things would get me to 3054lbs with 1/2 tank of gas!



And I still have these carbon door cards on order for another 15-20lbs. Once those come in it’ll be a new mission to get from ~3039lbs to under 3000lbs with 1/2 tank of gas. That will take some real outside the box thinking to get another 40lbs off the car. I’m not sure it’s even possible with my expressed mission of keeping all sound insulation, all speakers and radio functionality, and full safety features. We shall see…

[Shoooter_j]

Awesome build and journey!!

[Dovydas.B]

Hey, I saw that you used bmw OE PS springs, could you say what was the code for rear and what kind of version T2 T3 or T4?

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by Dovydas.B

Hey, I saw that you used bmw OE PS springs, could you say what was the code for rear and what kind of version T2 T3 or T4?

Hello,

No sorry I can’t. I ordered the kit from an online vendor almost 5 years ago and never even looked at that. I just put in my VIN and they shipped it.

[Biginboca]

So these arrived today. Ordered in late February and I have to say they were worth the wait! On the left is 18x9 ET30 Profile 2 and on the right is 18x10 ET25 Profile 3





A pic taken indoors. The barrels are brushed also, these are really cool looking IRL…



Dropping them off at the tire shop tomorrow with a fresh set of 255/35 PS4S. The bronze will be my track wheels with some 200tw meats starting in the Fall. Hopefully the new Bridgestone RE71RS will be out by then!