[aajami]

Thanks for all the comments, gents. This lip is of phenomenal quality, and despite the relatively high price, it's well worth it to me. It's also worth noting that there are more expensive lips out there -- far more expensive lips.

My modding philosophy with Heidi has always been to go OEM+. That is, keep the mods to tasteful upgrades that are developed by or in close conjunction with the factory. I don't mind spending a little more in order to have the piece of mind that comes with factory-developed parts, as I did with the ZCP retrofit and the M Performance exhaust.

To that end, I had always wanted a lip to complete the front end of the car since I bought her over three years ago, but there was never a product that I liked among the myriad of available lips. They were either too gaudy, too aggressive, or lacked the proper fitment that I desired. Among the lips that BMW offered, the GT4 lip was far too aggressive for street use. I was intrigued by the GTS lip when BMW revealed that car, but I felt that it too would have been too aggressive and sit too low for daily driving. When BMW unveiled the CRT last year, however, I instantly fell in love with its front end.

It took IND a while to get a hold of one in order to offer this product, but for me, the wait (and cost) were well worth it. The lip uses OEM equipment to attach to the car, and the fitment is spot on. Tom@EAS, tlp, and checkcaptain all saw (and fiddled with) the lip over the weekend and they can attest to its quality and precision. At the end of the day, nothing beats OEM.

Some thoughts on others' comments:

Originally Posted by Sean05

looks ok and for the price i would have taken the GT4 version

The GT4 version sits far too low for street driving, and looks way too aggressive for my tastes. As always, I want an OEM/factory/street look for Heidi.

Originally Posted by PIMP "E"

i think you should of went with the GTS rep, besides the fact that it cost less. I thought the CRT was a e90 M3.........?

The GTS lip costs about $1,000 more than what I paid for this lip, and like the GT4 lip I mention above, is a bit too aggressive (and sits too low) for my tastes.

Originally Posted by M3PO

Seems like people will spend exorbitant amounts of money on special edition parts regardless of how they look.

Says a fellow owner of a $70,000 car (who has spent a pretty penny on mods himself)

Originally Posted by Daft

I wonder if this will look good in combination with the OEM cf splitters, or if those will even fit with this on hmmmmmmm.....

Originally Posted by LateBraking

The OEM CRT front lip just comes like that, doesn't extend to the sides. I'm really curious if the Performance front splitters could fit in to the sides, that might be a neat look.

I met up with a forum member who has the Performance splitters installed. We eyeballed the splitters and this lip, and the consensus is that the splitters would have to be lightly modified along the backside (underneath the car) in order to clear the lip. The modification wouldn't be visible to observers, though I think having both the lip and the splitters would be overkill.

Originally Posted by ///M 4 Life

this is completley my opinion but i feel its the ugliest lip for an m3 and i dont't know why bmw would make it look like that? It's just how i feel! i guess i'm entitled lol!

Opinions are like buttholes, my friend. We all have one

Originally Posted by slicer

Did you see the picture of the underside of the bumper? This sits lower and protrudes outward. If he was rubbing the bumper without the lip, he is going to have problems. There are certainly lips that sit lower than this one but the car is already taking hits on the OEM bumper...

Originally Posted by Denk

I really like the subtle look of this lip. Pics 8 & 9 reveal the need for extra caution, same goes for most lips.

Denk and slicer are correct. I have not been kind to my bumper. In my defense, though, all those scrapes happened during the first year of ownership as I was still getting used to the car's proportions. They happened exclusively during parking, as I pulled up too close to the cement stoppers (I came from a much smaller car that was easier to park). In the year that I've been waiting for IND to get a hold of this lip, I've since perfected the art of parking I've had absolutely no problems on driveways, dips, and speed bumps with the new lip so far, and don't intend to.