Poll: Need advice on roof

[RoundTwo]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

Hey guys, I need your personal input. I'm on the fence about the current state of the roof on my E92. Right now I have a sunroof, but I am debating all of the following three options:

1) Vinyl gloss black
2) Paint gloss black
3) Retrofit CF roof

Thanks for the input!

Pic below

[Powerbeast]

CF hands down.

[LarThaL]

CF. Way more expensive than the other two options, however.

On a different note, do you drive around with your license plate off to the side like in your pic? If so, wouldn't it look better just properly mounted in the center with a nice frame.

The tow hook thing is great if you drive with no plate most of the time and just want to put the plate on occasionally, but if you actually keep it that way most of the time, it really doesn't look very nice. Just my opinion, of course.

[THE TECH]

If you have the money, real carbon all the way.

[IMG]

Go for the CF roof but make sure you have someone experienced doing it cause you have to add reinforcement after taking out your sunroof.

Good Luck !

[SamS]

Retrofitting CF sounds like crazy money, and would kill resale value.

[Poppin Fresh]

Wouldn't it be better to just trade it in for a car with a factory installed CF roof than taking chances and losing time driving around in your car? Would the cost even out to be the same anyway?

[RoundTwo]

Thought I would give you guys my final decision.. I decided to go with the CF retrofit. Thanks for all the opinions!! I'll surely be posting pictures of the process.

[Johndong888]

It's funny how you're trying to get rid of the sunroof with real cf when I was looking at m3, i looked at only sunroofs. I love sunroofs!!

[Powerbeast]

Originally Posted by Lights407

Thought I would give you guys my final decision.. I decided to go with the CF retrofit. Thanks for all the opinions!! I'll surely be posting pictures of the process.

Good choice.

[thurston]

I would go vinyl. That's because I LOVE sunroofs though. There's nothing like an afternoon drive with some sunshine droppin' in from above. I got the cf roof on mine and I miss my sunroof most days. If you go vinyl, I'm sure there's some other cool designs you could get instead of straight gloss black as well. Maybe a vinyl that looks like cf?? I don't know. Just throwin' out options.

EDIT: Just saw your last post. Lookin' forward to pics, mang. Cheers!

[AndyK.]

Vinyl if CF roof is too expensive for you.

[RoundTwo]

Originally Posted by Johndong888

It's funny how you're trying to get rid of the sunroof with real cf when I was looking at m3, i looked at only sunroofs. I love sunroofs!!

I was the same exact way when I purchased a year ago! Funny how things change..


Thanks for all the responses again guys. The car is headed to iND Friday from VA for all of the work, so I'll be back with pictures in about two weeks time

[jaehshim]

if i were you, i'd jus live with it.
why take out a fine roof structure and install Cf roof (although I understand why you want it, i love the CF roof more too).
it's like changing transmission, result satisfaction + car structure stability < work needed + risk

[richardg]

Do vinyl. Should have bought the car with cf if you wanted it that bad. You don't want to tank the value of the car. I mean if you are keeping it forever then I guess go for full retrofit but otherwise I would just wrap it. That way you can always go back and you keep your roof if you want to use it. I on the other hand got the CF roof.

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by SamS

Retrofitting CF sounds like crazy money, and would kill resale value.

How would it kill resale? It wouldn't add any value but at the same time it wouldn't lower it either. For those worrying about the risk and blah blah...ind is handling it. There is no better place in the world for this to happen than at their facility. Hell I would trust them more than where the m3 originally got built

[karussell]

for the price of changing the roof out, why not sell the car and order one with the options you want or finding one on a lot. white m3 coupe is probably most common color out there. easy to find one. if it was a sedan however, no brainer… cf roof!

[SamS]

Originally Posted by rjd598

How would it kill resale? It wouldn't add any value but at the same time it wouldn't lower it either. For those worrying about the risk and blah blah...ind is handling it. There is no better place in the world for this to happen than at their facility. Hell I would trust them more than where the m3 originally got built

You're certainly not going to attract any buyers with a hacked up roof. Anyone will simply wait for a car with an OEM CF roof, rather than take a chance with one installed after it left the factory. This is all assuming you disclose the modification. I personally think you stand to lose $5-10k in resale value, vs. leaving it as a sunroof.

Don't believe me, or think I'm exaggerating? Start another poll.

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by SamS

You're certainly not going to attract any buyers with a hacked up roof. Anyone will simply wait for a car with an OEM CF roof, rather than take a chance with one installed after it left the factory. This is all assuming you disclose the modification. I personally think you stand to lose $5-10k in resale value, vs. leaving it as a sunroof.

Don't believe me, or think I'm exaggerating? Start another poll.

You have a point maybe some people will wait for a straight from the factory cf roof but the point was resale value. It's impossible for it to go down when that much money was put into it and a company like ind backing it up. I don't see alot of e46 m3 out there for sale with cf roofs just sitting around...

[RoundTwo]

I'm not necessarily worried about resale value as to me this car will always be a collectible. Also I wouldn't be considering it if I didn't have a company doing it who's work has been proven times over and documented with detailed threads from E90 owners doing CF roof installs as well. All replacement parts from the headliner to the roof are OEM purchased from a local bmw rep.

That being said, even if I was to sell it eventually, I wouldn't be concerned as all products will be OEM to begin with. All steel reinforcement stays in place, it's just simple welding and adhesive.

Even though it's a project that will look 100 stock, this is what modding a car is, to me, is all about!


Thanks again for all the feedback guys

[SamS]

Originally Posted by rjd598

You have a point maybe some people will wait for a straight from the factory cf roof but the point was resale value. It's impossible for it to go down when that much money was put into it and a company like ind backing it up. I don't see alot of e46 m3 out there for sale with cf roofs just sitting around...

I don't understand your E46 reference as related to this. You bet your ass it's possible for the asking price to go down because of a replaced roof. IND is all-good, but they're not BMW AG, and that's not a standard feature of that particular car. It would be like adding DCT to a 6MT car, and expect to your money back out of the conversion. As well as turning off a large percentage of potential buyers. I don't care what the OP ends up doing, but don't kid yourself about the impact it has in regards to resale.

Originally Posted by Lights407

I'm not necessarily worried about resale value as to me this car will always be a collectible.

FYI, it wouldn't be considered a "collectible" when you start body panel mods like that, any more than if you had a $1M Ferrari from the 60s and cut some t-tops in it

Hey man, it's your car, you do what makes it fun for you.

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by SamS

I don't understand your E46 reference as related to this. You bet your ass it's possible for the asking price to go down because of a replaced roof. IND is all-good, but they're not BMW AG, and that's not a standard feature of that particular car. It would be like adding DCT to a 6MT car, and expect to your money back out of the conversion. As well as turning off a large percentage of potential buyers. I don't care what the OP ends up doing, but don't kid yourself about the impact it has in regards to resale.

there were many who did cf roof conversions on their e46 m3's. try to find one that hasn't sold and has been sitting for sale for a long amount of time. it's not going to happen because people WILL still buy them up so same will go for this car. i agree with you that most people will just go ahead and wait for the normal e92 with cf roof instead of buying this car but there still will be a buyer. i never said it will add value to the car or that the seller should get his invested money back for the conversion. i said that it will not lower the value from let's say kbb. neither of us are right until the day op sells his car. will it sell fast? everything else constant yes it will sell just as fast as any other e9x m3. how much will it sell for? only the buyers in the market will tell us