[Biginboca]

tlow98 OMG this brace is huge! I had no idea it was so big.



Any chance you have a picture of the brace laying on the ground showing trims you made just to give me a head start? It looks to me like you did this from the pic on your build thread...



I’ll say one thing, you are right the brace is pretty light given it’s size. Looking forward to installing it maybe this weekend. Looks like a fun project!

[PORTMOODY]

please document your modifications to the plate so we can benefit.

[S65Hunter]

^^^ I second this motion. I'd like to do this some time soon.

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by PORTMOODY

please document your modifications to the plate so we can benefit.

tlow98 Reached out to me and texted me the info I need. Basically the plate needs to be modified like this:



Delete the rear portion of the brace

There’s a small portion which needs to be removed as a triangle to allow the tip of the original V Brace to stay in place under the new M3 brace (the V brace tip will fit into the triangular removed area.)

All the 3 remaining outer edges need to have the rolled section removed to allow the original plastic underbody panels to be installed over the new M3 brace and fit flush again.

I will document how I did this as per his instruction!

[E92William]

This looks rather similar to the metal brace plate that's on the xdrive cars.

[Phil325i]

Originally Posted by E92William

This looks rather similar to the metal brace plate that's on the xdrive cars.

That looks more like it! Do you have a part number for the xdrive plate? Struggling to find it on realOEM...

EDIT: found it. It's 31116795159. However because the xi front subframe is different, it still won't be an easy fit to a non-xi. Looked at some used on eBay and some seem to be sheet steel and others alloy.

[tlow98]

X-drive won't fit. Went down that road. Very different dimensions, but exactly the same concept :-)

[E92William]

Yeah I didn't expect it to fit the whole subframe is completely different. Just cool to see that the xdrive cars get that brace while rwd doesn't unless an M

[colorado.e9x]

The previous owner of mine ran over a large rock and bent my stabilizer plate up a good bit. Also tore up the splash guards and tranny pan but that's another story.

[W37V]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

tlow98 Reached out to me and texted me the info I need. Basically the plate needs to be modified like this:



Delete the rear portion of the brace

There’s a small portion which needs to be removed as a triangle to allow the tip of the original V Brace to stay in place under the new M3 brace (the V brace tip will fit into the triangular removed area.)

All the 3 remaining outer edges need to have the rolled section removed to allow the original plastic underbody panels to be installed over the new M3 brace and fit flush again.

I will document how I did this as per his instruction!

Looking forward to seeing how this develops. I am tempted.

How the heck did you manage to score one for $85?

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by W37V

Looking forward to seeing how this develops. I am tempted.

How the heck did you manage to score one for $85?

eBay of course lol. What’s even better is the scrapper it came from was only 1 state away so I had it on my doorstep by UPS in 2 days.

I still need to order the fasteners and nutserts so it’s going to be installed probably next weekend or the weekend after.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

eBay of course lol. What’s even better is the scrapper it came from was only 1 state away so I had it on my doorstep by UPS in 2 days.

I still need to order the fasteners and nutserts so it’s going to be installed probably next weekend or the weekend after.

Love eBay for this stuff. I think mine was $100+ and had to come all the way across the country. You really scored! That looks pretty clean even.

[W37V]

Just PSA for anyone looking to get M3 Reinforced Plate

Brand new shield from BMW costs $155
https://parts.sterlingmotorcars.com/...te-31102283032

ECS sells it for $160 with free shipping. Used ones currently listed on eBay cost about $200 shipped. In this case, it is cheaper to buy brand new part then to buy it from eBay. If you find it cheap, then used is a good option.

[E92William]

Wow. Rare occasion a new part straight from BMW is cheaper than the aftermarket

[PORTMOODY]

Originally Posted by W37V

Just PSA for anyone looking to get M3 Reinforced Plate

Brand new shield from BMW costs $155
https://parts.sterlingmotorcars.com/...te-31102283032

ECS sells it for $160 with free shipping. Used ones currently listed on eBay cost about $200 shipped. In this case, it is cheaper to buy brand new part then to buy it from eBay. If you find it cheap, then used is a good option.

Can you link your posts in the mod?

[W37V]

Originally Posted by PORTMOODY

Can you link your posts in the mod?

I think you quoted wrong person. Tlow98 was the one who did the mod. You can find it here:
https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1703949

[tylerhart_21]

With the N54 intake manifold, how does that work? Is the part an easy part to bolt-on or do you need to do some cutting?

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by tylerhart_21

With the N54 intake manifold, how does that work? Is the part an easy part to bolt-on or do you need to do some cutting?

If you go back to post 99 on page 5 in this thread you can find links to the info...

[Olagüe]

Great job!

[Biginboca]

Another minor update...

Last month I upgraded to a Anitgravity lithium battery. It’s been amazing! Cranks stronger than my oem battery ever did, has a built in jump start from a button press on its own key fob, and weighs about 13lbs. Every day it sends me a notification on my phone showing the state of charge. Not that I need my battery texting me but it’s kind of cool lol. The price was steep but I have no regrets on this purchase, and they are supposed t last up to 10 years so I figured I can always swap it to another car if I ever decide to let the 328csl go, which is very doubtful.

Also placed the order for my new front buckets yesterday. Seats are a deep deep rabbit hole and I went in many circles trying not to spend a lot of money but saving enough weight to make it a worthwhile upgrade. In the end I kept coming back to one single option that made sense...





The Recaro Pole Position but not the US version, the ABE version only sold in Europe. The ABE is designed to work with OEM 3 point belts and seeing as how I’m giving up the side airbag in the seat I didn’t want to compromise any more on safety. (And I didn’t want to have to run harnesses to feel safe in my daily.). It also is designed to be a little larger than the standard pole position and fit a more “American” body type Lastly, these are supposed to be the same seats BMW chose for their OEM seats in the E92M3 GTS. So if it was good enough for BMW then it works for my build.



The Pole Positions weigh 15.4lbs and with the mounts I’m doing should come in around 25lbs total. The seats I have now, manual sport seats weigh 54-57lbs depending on which post you read on this forum. So should be around a 60lbs weight savings once they are installed. I’m planning on maybe doing a rear seat delete next year once COVID ends we are planning on adding another SUV to the stable and then I can commit to a 2 seat set up for this car.

I’m hoping with the Recaros and the rear seat delete (-65lbs) the 328csl will be well under 3000lbs.

[W37V]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

I’m hoping with the Recaros and the rear seat delete (-65lbs) the 328csl will be well under 3000lbs.

And before you know it, you will be ripping out the carpet.

How did you code your new battery?

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by W37V

And before you know it, you will be ripping out the carpet.

How did you code your new battery?

Nah I won’t be doing that, I don’t want a noisy raw interior. I used Carly to code for the lowest AGM battery option if I recall correctly it was 40a/h. (The battery I installed was the Antigravity Group 6 30a/h.)