[squaredphoto]

Two weeks ago, I found a set of base F80 M3 mirrors for a fantastic price on Ebay and put them on right away. They came with Black Sapphire Metallic caps but I found a set of Alpine White ones on F80post.

[cdwalls]

dis good! need me some m4 mirrors

[squaredphoto]

Been looking at front and rear strut bars for the F30 lately and decided to go with the KC Design front strut bar and the KC design rear lower bar ( kinda like the F33 rear lower triangulation bars ). Placed an order through them and literally a week later, they both arrived in Chicago from Taiwan. Shipping was a bit expensive...

Overall fit and finish seems great and I chose this set because they're "one piece" and not hinged.




The holes here are oval and I'll show you why I don't like them later. I understand why they're this shape and I'll have to accommodate for them some other day.




First issue. The ziptie / clip holding the harness is in the way. I recommend cutting the zip tie, flipping the clip and using a new zip tie.


Second issue. The DME cover is in the way a lil bit. It gets pushed down more which I don't see as a problem yet.


Third issue. The rear most bolt in scope doesn't even go into the hole until you start torquing down the other bolts. The part of the bar that mates to the strut tower will flex down into shape.


This is mostly user error. The washers I'm using with the Vorshlag camber plates are small and dig themselves into the oval holes. I'm not sure how this impacts the functionality of the bar. I'll need wider washers. I torqued them to around 30 ft/lbs.


With everything buttoned up, the bar looks great! Very low profile and stealthy. Notice the flipped harness clips on the strut towers. The DME cover didn't really get pushed much while comparing the before and after pics




Now, does this bar really do anything? I only drove around for a few minutes to make sure nothing fell off. There appears to be a decrease in body roll and slightly better turn in and directness with steering input. I didn't notice a change in steering weight. With time, I'll chime in some more feedback.


Next up:
- Rear lower bar once I get the room to get under the car
- Front lip once it gets ceramic coated

[squaredphoto]

Decided to wake up early and try installing the KC Design rear under bar. It's pretty lightweight and seems rather sturdy




This cylindrical piece mounts into the rear subframe


More oval holes like we saw in the front strut bar.


Here's the stock support brace. I decided to work on one side at a time as I didn't feel confident lifting by the rear diff. Removing the subframe bolts was the most anxious part on my end.




More ovals. Notice that OEM ovals go side to side and the KC go up and down


All buttoned up. I gave the subframe bolts a few hugga duggas and a few degrees with a breaker bar. The bolts on the brace themselves got one hugga dugga


You can kinda see it from under the car. the clearance seems fine and it sits a lil higher than the bottom of the side skirt








While on a test drive after install, body roll and NVH are unaffected. There might be slightly better turn in but that could also be the front strut bar playing a role. The most significant improvement is the reduction of the rear end squiggling around in a turn and under power. The car feels more planted. Also, shifts under load feel crisper. Before, I could feel the rear end shimmying front to back while upshifting under load.

Overall, I'm satisfied with both pieces. Are they worth the price shipped? Not sure. Any basic strut bar off ECS should be good-ish. The rear brace could be replaced by the OEM brace for about half the price and would have probably comparable results. More info here:
https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...6&postcount=29

[saga boy]

Sick build!

[patryks21]

good car bro

[squaredphoto]

Really wanted to clean up the front end when the headlights are on so I coded out the orange LEDs in the corners. The angel eyes are still on, my iPhone Live Photo mode decided to null those out





I used the following post combined with BimmerCode in Expert Mode
https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...11&postcount=5


These are the orange LEDs that are no longer on

[Ach]

Looks awesome mate, I need to get the same mirrors

[squaredphoto]

Bought a used and damaged 3D Design lip from Japan back in October and recently we had nice enough weather to put it on. Took some finessing but really happy with how it turned out.

Took some photos later in the evening











And a regular pic of the front

[dyk1]

Originally Posted by squaredphoto

Bought a used and damaged 3D Design lip from Japan back in October and recently we had nice enough weather to put it on. Took some finessing but really happy with how it turned out.

Took some photos later in the evening

Looks great

[Ach]

Wow 🤩 I need to learn how to make photos

[ZgadzaSie]

Hi, where you buy m4 mirrors ?

[squaredphoto]

Originally Posted by ZgadzaSie

Hi, where you buy m4 mirrors ?

M Parts Worldwide eBay store:
https://www.ebay.com/usr/mpartsww

I've purchased f80 m3 mirrors, e90 m3 mirrors and other parts from them without issue

[huntersss]

Nice shots man amazing car!!!

[BTCmePLZ]

Nice build! Liking the progress. Is this your daily driver?

[squaredphoto]

Originally Posted by BTCmePLZ

Nice build! Liking the progress. Is this your daily driver?

Thank you! And yes it is

[GOLOMB]

Amazing mods, looks elegant

[squaredphoto]

Originally Posted by GOLOMB

Amazing mods, looks elegant

dziekuje!

[BradNC]

Car looks great man!

[gerryi]

These shots and step by step pictures are great. Thanks for theses impressions.

[Chigurh]

Really great build. What are your thoughts on the vent gauge? Considering one myself.

[squaredphoto]

Originally Posted by Chigurh

Really great build. What are your thoughts on the vent gauge? Considering one myself.

I'm all for it. It's nice to see coolant temp and boost psi. There's many other features/metrics you can look at but I never use them. On my E91, I was able to view codes and clear them.

There's another vent gauge by Awron but it's really expensive but does look cooler. The P3 option is probably the best bang for you buck option if you want a fixed gauge. Other options would be to use your phone/tablet + app and toggle on some views but that's not for me.