Cosmetic Mods to Frozen Silver E92

[TheChef18]

I've had by Frozen Silver E92 for about 3 months now and have been driving it completely stock to see what I like and dislike. I am a little short on funds right now so I can't spend a ton. Plus, I think this car deserves subtle touches not bold ones. Here's what I am thinking plus I have some questions.

-IND Painted M3 badge (matte or glossy?)
-IND Frozen Silver reflector covers
-Trunk spoiler(matte/glossy black or 1x1 carbon fiber?)
-Subtle diffuser(was going to get Metak's for price/style, but now what else is similar)

For the spoiler I have been leaning towards CF, but can't find any that are 1x1 to match the roof and don't have an astronomical price tag.

Also, I am prepared to get flamed for this, I love the looks of blue brakes. Mine are currently painted black since it is Frozen Silver, but I was curious about repainting them to blue. The Frozen Black edition has red calipers that don't look bad at all or cheap, so my thought process is why would the blue? I have no intention to track otherwise I would buy a BBK.

Any info on what I laid out, or other mod suggestions are much appreciated. Thank you everyone.

[NYBulldog]

I'd say since you are Frozen you should go with with all gloss-black details makes them pop with more contrast. The paint-matched reflectors are a nice upgrade on all Ms.

As far as brakes, I'd say leave em alone until you upgrade. Doesn't need to be a huge upgrade. I did only front Stoptech BBK and had them redone to look like the new M5 brakes, then just matched the stock rear calipers in the same blue.

[Denk]

Congrats on the Frozen SSII! Do you already have the edition grill and gill's? Definitely get the IND painted reflectors as a minimum. I really like the OEM CF mirror caps on SSII, something you didn't mention but a nice look on SSII. I'm OEM all the way, pricey but spot on fit and top quality.

[TheChef18]

Originally Posted by Denk

Congrats on the Frozen SSII! Do you already have the edition grill and gill's? Definitely get the IND painted reflectors as a minimum. I really like the OEM CF mirror caps on SSII, something you didn't mention but a nice look on SSII. I'm OEM all the way, pricey but spot on fit and top quality.

What are the edition grill and gills? Currently the car has the black ones on there which is stock for frozen. As far as your OEM advice I agree, but isn't the OEM CF performance spoiler 2x2?

[LuxAngelEyes]

I of course would recommend changing the angel eyes

[lsal]

You can probably still get that diffuser if you want... PM me if you want his email.

+1 for Lux V4s

[slicer]

Congrats on the car. I love the frozen silver "edition" model! In fact I added the edition grills and Carbon trim (including center console) from the edition model to my car. My thoughts below:

-IND Painted M3 badge (matte or glossy?)
Gloss Black would look good to match the other gloss accents around the car (gloss spoiler, edition grills and gills, etc.). It sounds like your car is an "edition" model which includes the black chrome grills and gills which of course are glossy.

-IND Frozen Silver reflector covers
They look better than orange but I think they still look like warts. I would have IND fill in the reflector holes on a bumper or buy a euro bumper. It makes a huge difference. The car looks super clean with the reflectors shaved. This is one of the first mods that I did and should be on the top of the list on any M3 IMO. Pictures of my car with shaved reflectors courtesy of IND:






-Trunk spoiler(matte/glossy black or 1x1 carbon fiber?)
Gloss finished carbon fiber OEM BMW performance spoiler all the way. Buy from a forum vendor and the price is right. Don't for a second start thinking you need to match the 1 x 1 weave. Nobody will notice 2 x 2 vs 1 x 1. I'm super anal and I just don't think it should be a concern at all. Plus the OEM spoiler will always fit best and fitment far outweighs matching the weave.

-Subtle diffuser(was going to get Metak's for price/style, but now what else is similar)
Skip this and spend this money on the revised bumper - see above.


Also, I am prepared to get flamed for this, I love the looks of blue brakes. Mine are currently painted black since it is Frozen Silver, but I was curious about repainting them to blue. The Frozen Black edition has red calipers that don't look bad at all or cheap, so my thought process is why would the blue? I have no intention to track otherwise I would buy a BBK.
The OEM M3 brakes are horrible looking. Your reasoning is sound on replacing them. It really isn't necessary unless you track or care about the looks. I would never do anything to attract more attention to the OEM brakes. Painting them blue would make one of the ugliest parts of the car stand out more.

[Hujan]

Originally Posted by slicer

Congrats on the car. I love frozen silver! My thoughts below:

-IND Painted M3 badge (matte or glossy?)
Gloss Black would look good to have some gloss contrast around the car (gloss spoiler, grills and gills, etc.)

-IND Frozen Silver reflector covers
They look better than orange but I think they still look like warts. I would have IND fill in the reflector holes on a bumper or buy a euro bumper. It makes a huge difference. The car looks super clean with the reflectors shaved. This is one of the first mods that I did and should be on the top of the list on any M3 IMO.


-Trunk spoiler(matte/glossy black or 1x1 carbon fiber?)
Gloss finished carbon fiber OEM BMW performance spoiler all the way. Buy from a forum vendor and the price is right. Don't for a second start thinking you need to match the 1 x 1 weave. Nobody will notice 2 x 2 vs 1 x 1. I'm super anal and I just don't think it should be a concern at all. Plus the OEM spoiler will always fit best and fitment far outweighs matching the weave.

-Subtle diffuser(was going to get Metak's for price/style, but now what else is similar)
Skip this and spend this money on the revised bumper - see above.


Also, I am prepared to get flamed for this, I love the looks of blue brakes. Mine are currently painted black since it is Frozen Silver, but I was curious about repainting them to blue. The Frozen Black edition has red calipers that don't look bad at all or cheap, so my thought process is why would the blue? I have no intention to track otherwise I would buy a BBK.
The OEM M3 brakes are horrible looking. Your reasoning is sound on replacing them. It really isn't necessary unless you track or care about the looks. I would never do anything to attract more attention to the OEM brakes. Painting them blue would make one of the ugliest parts of the car stand out more.

Some good advice here from Slicer.

Spoiler: I have the BMW Performance spoiler and love it. I, too, am SUPER anal, and do not notice or mind the 2x2 vs. 1x1 weave.

Reflectors: I have the iND painted reflectors but will someday upgrade to a Euro bumper, probably with molded and painted BMW Performance splitters.

Diffuser: I have been on the fence about this. I really like the look of the Challenge Race and would do that one if I was going to get one. It is as subtle as they come, IMO. But I go back and forth regarding whether it would make the car look too race car. As much as possible, I want to maintain the look of a sophisticated daily driver.

Badge: I personally am not a fan of the black badge, at least on dark cars. It looks a little too intense for my tastes. Instead, I had iND paint it silver ("Titanium Silver Metallic" to be exact) which gives me enough contrast with the Space Gray to be seen while still maintaing an OEM look.

Not sure how TSM would look on SSII, but you could try something like Space Gray or Sprakling Graphite Metallic instead of black, either of which would give you a nice contrast and still retain an OEM-ish look.

Just my $0.02.

[slicer]

Originally Posted by Hujan

Badge: I personally am not a fan of the black badge, at least on dark cars. It looks a little too intense for my tastes. Instead, I had iND paint it silver ("Titanium Silver Metallic" to be exact) which gives me enough contrast with the Space Gray to be seen while still maintaing and OEM look.

That badge looks awesome. I like that! I de-badged my car but would definitely consider a color other than black. I have seen color matched badges look good as well (SSII badge on a SSII car).

[Hujan]

Originally Posted by slicer

That badge looks awesome. I like that! I de-badged my car but would definitely consider a color other than black. I have seen color matched badges look good as well (SSII badge on a SSII car).

Thanks! Yeah, it was this or debadge for me. I'm just not a chrome fan. I actually had Luftkraft do all the chrome parts on the roundel in TSM as well. And, of course, you gotta do the badge on the engine manifold!

[slicer]

Originally Posted by Hujan

Thanks! Yeah, it was this or debadge for me. I'm just not a chrome fan. I actually had Luftkraft do all the chrome parts on the roundel in TSM as well. And, of course, you gotta do the badge on the engine manifold!

Please show us a picture of your roundels. I was just looking at my car and thinking that it would be cool to de-chrome them.

[TheChef18]

Wow, some truly excellent advice on here. Thank you all. Slicer, man I love the way your car looks. That stance is perfect to me and is something I want to do once I both acquire the disposable 2k, and test drive someone else's before to make sure the ride won't kill me since it is my daily driver.

The local BMW shop is very competitive on OEM parts so what do you think I should approach him with to price the performance spoiler?

As far as the emblem, I am strongly leaning gloss black to match the car, but will contemplate more since as you said I don't want it to be to stark of a contrast.

[slicer]

Originally Posted by TheChef18

Thank you all. Slicer, man I love the way your car looks. That stance is perfect to me and is something I want to do once I both acquire the disposable 2k, and test drive someone else's before to make sure the ride won't kill me since it is my daily driver.

Thanks for the compliment. Unfortunately you may need a little more than $2k to get the stance (KW Clubsports are $3k+) but coilovers are definitely the best route. My ride height could be challenging as a daily driver. It takes some extra effort to navigate steep driveways at times. From a comfort standpoint it's surprisingly good.

Originally Posted by TheChef18

The local BMW shop is very competitive on OEM parts so what do you think I should approach him with to price the performance spoiler?

See the forum sponsor section for pricing info (look for the OEM part vendors like McKenna, BMW Part Pros (Steve Thomas BMW), Tischer):

http://www.m3post.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=295

BMW Parts Pros has the carbon spoiler priced at $410.

[Hujan]

Originally Posted by slicer

Please show us a picture of your roundels. I was just looking at my car and thinking that it would be cool to de-chrome them.

Ask and ye shall receive. I am planning to do a dedicated "de-chroming" thread once I get the OSS headlights and my vinyl badges in. I'll grab some photos of the roundels on the car for that thread.

Sorry for thread-jack, Chef! Hope it stirred up some ideas. You've got a great canvas to work with in frozen SSII.