[Welcome to NBA Jam]

Originally Posted by OLI77

Why could BMW not think of that? It looks so much better!

They did. It comes on the M-Sport manual.

[GRUESOM3]

That is better then having an alarm

[OLI77]

Originally Posted by Welcome to NBA Jam

They did. It comes on the M-Sport manual.

Agreed, but I meant for those with Auto.

[ki_soarer]

Originally Posted by Mazen328

Installed new shifter knob, what do you think?

That looks pretty good. I think you should swap to the manual boot to finish off the look.

[ky0u]

Finished my high mileage refresher on my car. Now in addition to recently changed, vac hoses and Coolant + Power steering fluid, she has fresh diff oil, engine oil, transmission fluid + mech sleeve (f*ck this thing hard). Plus spark plugs, which werent actually bad at all

Diff oil and trans fluid was surprisingly clean for a 100k car. mine only took 6 liters on refill too. And diff only took 1 which was really surprising. Lifter tick is wayyyy quieter with the new oil.

My body is mad as hell at me now for my jackstand mechanic session, but at least my wallet is happy and the car is set to go for a good while

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by ky0u

Finished my high mileage refresher on my car. Now in addition to recently changed, vac hoses and Coolant + Power steering fluid, she has fresh diff oil, engine oil, transmission fluid + mech sleeve (f*ck this thing hard). Plus spark plugs, which werent actually bad at all

Diff oil and trans fluid was surprisingly clean for a 100k car. mine only took 6 liters on refill too. And diff only took 1 which was really surprising. Lifter tick is wayyyy quieter with the new oil.

My body is mad as hell at me now for my jackstand mechanic session, but at least my wallet is happy and the car is set to go for a good while

You will not get all of the trans oil out by a simple drain & fill. You have to undo the hot line going to the trans cooler & drain all the fluid from the torque converter in order to get all of it out.

[ky0u]

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

You will not get all of the trans oil out by a simple drain & fill. You have to undo the hot line going to the trans cooler & drain all the fluid from the torque converter in order to get all of it out.

Ah you're probably right. I think that was part of the difference I read about regarding trans fluid drain vs flush correct? I had 7 liters in total prepped for this

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by ky0u

Ah you're probably right. I think that was part of the difference I read about regarding trans fluid drain vs flush correct? I had 7 liters in total prepped for this

You probably needed 12 liters. You would drain 3 liters out at a time & fill the filter pan back up with 3 liters. Do that 4x.

[RealJ22]

Got a little wheel refinishing practice in today.

I have to do my other daily's wheels (CT200H) Then finally my BMW wheels. Not sure which color I am going to do yet on the M220's.

You can see how destroyed these were before. Cannot wait to get the BMW looking fresh as well!

[bobbby]

Exterior wash
Engine bay wash
Interior cleaning including leather clean and condition and cleaning and conditioning all rubber surfaces

[MPOWER5266]

Put in LED rear fogs and license plate lights.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[WatchWolf34]

Installed a performance style carbon fiber diffuser on my MSport rear bumper.

Not going to lie - the quality and fitment of this product was absolute trash. It legitimately feels like it was a test mold. Especially considering that instead of molded tabs that would fit into the factory mounting spot in the middle, they just have a couple of thin, Popsicle stick-sized, pieces of aluminum that I needed to bend down to work. Moreover, there were only two of them despite being 4 other spots that tabs could have been added for a more secure fitment (even after the required trimming).

There were no mounting holes drilled on the bottom for the trim bolts but that's not a huge deal. More importantly, the molding in those areas seemed unfinished and the product on their website shows pre-drilled holes.

I've never once received a decent product from Mod Bargains and I am done trying at this point.

Honestly, I'm at a point where I am just "okay" with the finished result. It looks pretty good from 5 ft away. However, the flaws are obvious from anywhere closer than that. I like it enough to leave it for now until my perfectionism gets the best of me. However, I'd prefer to try my luck with an eBay product before ever going to Mod Bargains again.

I realize carbon fiber rarely fits perfectly but this product took a lot of work just to make it look semi decent. In comparison, my Seibon Carbon front lip fit beautifully without any modification needed.



Lastly, a bit more evidence that I was sent an unfinished product...



The areas with long, red boxes were supposed to be part of the carbon fiber molding as well - at least according to the image on their website of the part. However, what I was sent was two plastic inserts with a carbon fiber finish on the front that seemingly need to be added with double sided 3M tape. Of course, there is no mention of that anywhere and no double sided tape was included. But, what's really bad is that the inserts do not even fit the cutout so my only option was to leave them off - they would not have sat flush for the tape to do it's job. Luckily for me, my car's BSM paint blends very well with the coating so it doesn't look out of place.

The small red boxes are the places where the factory panel mounts to the rear bumper with small tabs. There is no reason that this product shouldn't have tabs in the same place. As it sits this way without the tabs there is a small gap that you can see when standing next to the rear end.

For $400, this product should be WAY better.

[RealJ22]

Originally Posted by WatchWolf34

Installed a performance style carbon fiber diffuser on my MSport rear bumper.

Not going to lie - the quality and fitment of this product was absolute trash. It legitimately feels like it was a test mold. Especially considering that instead of molded tabs that would fit into the factory mounting spot in the middle, they just have a couple of thin, Popsicle stick-sized, pieces of aluminum that I needed to bend down to work. Moreover, there were only two of them despite being 4 other spots that tabs could have been added for a more secure fitment (even after the required trimming).

There were no mounting holes drilled on the bottom for the trim bolts but that's not a huge deal. More importantly, the molding in those areas seemed unfinished and the product on their website shows pre-drilled holes.

I've never once received a decent product from Mod Bargains and I am done trying at this point.

Honestly, I'm at a point where I am just "okay" with the finished result. It looks pretty good from 5 ft away. However, the flaws are obvious from anywhere closer than that. I like it enough to leave it for now until my perfectionism gets the best of me. However, I'd prefer to try my luck with an eBay product before ever going to Mod Bargains again.

I realize carbon fiber rarely fits perfectly but this product took a lot of work just to make it look semi decent. In comparison, my Seibon Carbon front lip fit beautifully without any modification needed.

Attachment 2256281

Lastly, a bit more evidence that I was sent an unfinished product...

Attachment 2256287

The areas with long, red boxes were supposed to be part of the carbon fiber molding as well - at least according to the image on their website of the part. However, what I was sent was two plastic inserts with a carbon fiber finish on the front that seemingly need to be added with double sided 3M tape. Of course, there is no mention of that anywhere and no double sided tape was included. But, what's really bad is that the inserts do not even fit the cutout so my only option was to leave them off - they would not have sat flush for the tape to do it's job. Luckily for me, my car's BSM paint blends very well with the coating so it doesn't look out of place.

The small red boxes are the places where the factory panel mounts to the rear bumper with small tabs. There is no reason that this product shouldn't have tabs in the same place. As it sits this way without the tabs there is a small gap that you can see when standing next to the rear end.

For $400, this product should be WAY better.

You learned the hard way. Nearly every product is sourced from the same place. In these cases, you do not always "Get what you pay for".

Honestly, I've had great luck with body parts / panels from good old ebay.

[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by WatchWolf34

Installed a performance style carbon fiber diffuser on my MSport rear bumper.

Not going to lie - the quality and fitment of this product was absolute trash.

For $400, this product should be WAY better.

Not sure if you noticed this but the passenger side exhaust cut out is completely off. Cut out side on the quarter panel side has so much more angle than all the other ones.

I'm sorry to say this but this is completely unacceptable in addition to all the things you mentioned, especially at a $400 price point.

Return this junk and get your money back!

[MSBe90]

Continued to struggle with trying to get my trunk to lock 😞

[nuron]

Originally Posted by RealJ22

Got a little wheel refinishing practice in today.

I have to do my other daily's wheels (CT200H) Then finally my BMW wheels. Not sure which color I am going to do yet on the M220's.

You can see how destroyed these were before. Cannot wait to get the BMW looking fresh as well!

What was your process?

Originally Posted by ky0u

Finished my high mileage refresher on my car. Now in addition to recently changed, vac hoses and Coolant + Power steering fluid, she has fresh diff oil, engine oil, transmission fluid + mech sleeve (f*ck this thing hard). Plus spark plugs, which werent actually bad at all

Lifter tick is wayyyy quieter with the new oil.

Which oil did you use to quiet down the lifter tick?

[WatchWolf34]

Originally Posted by RealJ22

You learned the hard way. Nearly every product is sourced from the same place. In these cases, you do not always "Get what you pay for".

Honestly, I've had great luck with body parts / panels from good old ebay.

You're absolutely right that you don't always get what you pay for. At this point, I am willing to see how an Ebay part (for literally half the price) would look.

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

Not sure if you noticed this but the passenger side exhaust cut out is completely off. Cut out side on the quarter panel side has so much more angle than all the other ones.

I'm sorry to say this but this is completely unacceptable in addition to all the things you mentioned, especially at a $400 price point.

Return this junk and get your money back!

Yep - it's completely off. The whole product is awful. Their website puts a cute little disclaimer on it that says

"NOTE: Like all Carbon Fiber and FRP products on the market, this product must be test fitted & prepped before installing it. Often, slight modifications are required such as trimming, sanding, filing, or smoothing the surface in order to get best fitment and appearance. This is NOT an OEM product, fitment will NOT always be perfect straight out of the box. We recommend having this product installed by a company that has experience working with AFTERMARKET body kit pieces, not a standard collision repair center that only works on insurance claims. Images below show an accurate representation of THIS PRODUCT, properly installed by a professional installer. We also install this product at our own installation facility in southern California."

The invoice also notes that the product is manufactured by JL Motoring despite that not being stated anywhere on the website. However, no amount of professional installation is going to be able stretch the product to fit the exhaust cutout. No professional installation is going to solve the fact that the product is completely devoid of 4 necessary tabs or the fact that they sent an unfinished product.

Guess I got to be the guinea pig for this one. I'd avoid this product like the plague for anyone considering their options.

[tlow98]

Finally got the Dinan camber plates installed! Stellar mod. Car feels 'lighter' and more willing to turn than ever. Jury is out on alignment for tow settings. Think I'll do a home-brew check to make sure i'm not too far out and call it a day.

I cut up a stock M3 aluminum underbody brace and installed in concert with the stock 328i brace. And I do mean CUT up. Kind of hacked and missed a cut, but it really does help front end stiffening. I basically kept the front 1/2 of the M3 brace and cut off the rest. Not surprising really, as rarely are OE chassis stiffening efforts unnecessary. Also, as freedomfries mentions, some sort of underbody crace really offsets the NVH added by M3 tension rod bushings or, in my case, sealed monoball bearings. I'd say I have very minor NVH added overall now with the Monoballs and bracing. I was able to fit the stock underbelly pan over this, as well, which was the goal.

Downsides:
- These two in concert have really highlighted how soft and underdamped my stock shocks are @ 100k. As everything else gets stiffer and more communicative they're quickly becoming the weak link.
- I'm getting a slight faint rattle up front. So, I either missed a fastener or the stock underbody cover isn't playing completely nice with the M3 brace. I have a few areas of possible interference and need to take a look.

I was able to leave part of the M3 brace and tie it into the stock A-frame brace so they work somewhat together. FYI, freedomfries the rear section of the M3 brace I trimmed down did not work with the oil pan (i have the aluminum auto trans model) so there's that and I left it off for now.



Here showing my bit of a hack job. Should have fitted and cut once the rear section of the M3 pan was removed, but time wasn't on my side. This could be the slight, faint rattle... a bit of interference here! The bonus was this bolts both the M3 and stock 328i brace together with these two bolts. Not pretty but that doesn't bother me too much. Will adjust at a later date.

[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by WatchWolf34

You're absolutely right that you don't always get what you pay for. At this point, I am willing to see how an Ebay part (for literally half the price) would look.



Yep - it's completely off. The whole product is awful. Their website puts a cute little disclaimer on it that says

"NOTE: Like all Carbon Fiber and FRP products on the market, this product must be test fitted & prepped before installing it. Often, slight modifications are required such as trimming, sanding, filing, or smoothing the surface in order to get best fitment and appearance. This is NOT an OEM product, fitment will NOT always be perfect straight out of the box. We recommend having this product installed by a company that has experience working with AFTERMARKET body kit pieces, not a standard collision repair center that only works on insurance claims. Images below show an accurate representation of THIS PRODUCT, properly installed by a professional installer. We also install this product at our own installation facility in southern California."

The invoice also notes that the product is manufactured by JL Motoring despite that not being stated anywhere on the website. However, no amount of professional installation is going to be able stretch the product to fit the exhaust cutout. No professional installation is going to solve the fact that the product is completely devoid of 4 necessary tabs or the fact that they sent an unfinished product.

Guess I got to be the guinea pig for this one. I'd avoid this product like the plague for anyone considering their options.

Have you contacted them and explained the defects. Refund is the right thing to do.

[ky0u]

Originally Posted by nuron

Which oil did you use to quiet down the lifter tick?

I used LiquiMoly 5w40

[GRUESOM3]

Rolled the fenders and gave it some hips, first time doing it and went gentle on them. Def improvement gotta go at it one more time

[Emilime75]

Originally Posted by GRUESOM3

Rolled the fenders and gave it some hips, first time doing it and went gentle on them. Def improvement gotta go at it one more time

Sweet little Fiat. Having grown up in Europe, my family has owned several. Have vague memories of all 4 of us piling into one and pulling (believe it or not) a small camper trailer to go vacation on the Adriatic coast.