Esquire's Dakar Yellow M3 coupe - a Photo Modification Journal

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Powerbeast

Clear up your inbox I was replying to one of your messages and it wouldn't allow me to send it to you.

Done

[esquire]

REVINORA r-CRT Front Bumper - 1x1 Carbon Weave

Those of you who have been following my build know that for over a year now I've been struggling with whether I should modify my front bumper/lip, and if so, what exactly I should do with it. In my mind I've rifled through a thousand possibilities, for more than a year, constantly waning back and forth through the myriad possibilities, all of which had me curious, but none of which I was really passionate about. Then recently I saw the Revinora r-CRT lip, a re-envisioned and more aggressive take on BMW's CRT lip. As soon as I saw it, I instantly knew that my decision was made. I was that taken by it. It achieved each of my 3 goals - (1)it was entirely unique, (2) it was aggressive, but (3) because it didn't extend across the full length of the bumper, i could easily navigate speed bumps, and it could also be driven on the road without fear of it getting destroyed (something which I was very concerned about with other front lips I had considered such as the gt4 lip and the challenge front lip).

But i had another hesitation - Revinora in its earlier years had developed a reputation for questionable customer service. And I'm a big believer in customer service, reputation, and dependability. After reaching out to Revinora, and seeing what lengths they were willing to go to for me, and just how prompt they were in returning phone calls, as well as the quality of their weave and fitment, my doubts about them were resolved. Their work is stellar. They've surprised me with what kind of company they are. And in doing so, helped me take that final leap on modifying the front bumper I had struggled for so long with.



OSS Headlights with Full Blackout

Many of you also know that, for over a year now, I've also had a back and forth over whether I should modify my headlights. There were three issues in my mind. One - whether I should modify my headlights at all or leave them stock. Two - if I did modify them, whether I should go with highly regarded OSS which was far away and would require that I ship my headlights out to Florida, and be effectively without a car for a week, not to mention some pretty serious shipping fees, OR go with a more local company whose reputation I wasn't as sure of but whose proximity would have made my life easier. And Third - whether, above and beyond just modifying my halos, I should black out the corners.

After a lot of internal back and forth, I gave Luis from OSS a call to discuss my design philosophy with him, express my concerns, and to get his opinion. Namely, I was concerned that by by going with the full black-out I would be departing a little too much from the OEM+ design philosophy I've been trying to go with. Luis then offered me a great piece of insight that helped make my decision easy - he pointed out that my car's theme was two color (yellow and back). He said "sasan ,you've eliminated every other piece of chrome from your car, what's holding you back from removing this last bit?" He continued "you're taillights are LCI so they don't have the chrome anymore, your wheels are black, your side markers are black and so are your front grills... leaving the chrome in your headlights as the only remaining chrome on your entire car makes little sense from a design philosophy standpoint." That little bit of insight put all my doubts to rest. Full Blackout, it was.

What can I say about the OSS lights that everyone else hasn't already said. They are insanely bright and vivid, easily 2 or 3 times that of angel iBrights or similar plug-n-play applications. In fact, they were so bright, that it made taking pictures of them very difficulty because of the contrast they created. If you drove with only your OSS angel eyes on at night, and your low beams entirely off, you would have more than enough light - that's how bright they are. What's more is that they are equally bright from all angles, which is something you just don't get in the plug and play applications. Regarding the decision to go blackout, I have to say, I couldn't be more pleased with the decision. the car looks cohesive and clean, and its clear to me now that my fears of taking the car one step too far from OEM were entirely misplaced. Luis's work is very tasteful and detail-oriented. Working with him was a pleasure, and his product is amazing.



I struggled with these decisions, namely beacuse of their potential to change a car's entire character for better or for worse. I have to say though, after having put these pieces on, I'm more excited to drive this car now than I was the very first day I got the car - and that's saying a lot. Thank you both OSS and Revinora.


Now for the pics........
(All the after pics are iphone pics. Higher quality pics on their way come next weekend.)

FRONT BUMPER AND LIGHTS BEFORE:



AFTER




BEFORE



AFTER





A FEW OTHERS:

FINALLY....
I also just installed KW clubsports, M-stitched DCT boot and the M-sitched e-brake boot. I'll be posting up pics of those soon. (Along with more pics of the OSS headlights in both night time and daytime conditions and from different angles). Anyways, hope you guys like the new mods.

- esquire

[GOLFFRR]

love it bro

[GOLFFRR]

PS can you get rid of the orange reflectors please

[rjd598]

glad to see you back in the modding scene. cant wait for the rest of the pics!

[Justin(OKC)]

I love it....especially the blacked out headlights. Didn't think I would like it as much as I do!

[esquire]

Originally Posted by GOLFFRR

PS can you get rid of the orange reflectors please

thats coming soon. now that I'm not doing the euro front bumper, the reflectors are a must.

[tlp]

Looks good. I think the headlights and splitter are beggging for cf mirror caps now.

[Martin_D]

It continues to get better, awesome job man!

-Martin

[AMPowerJ]

Love it. That lip is on my short list. If I can't figure out how to get an actual CRT front lip first.

[Justin(OKC)]

Originally Posted by esquire

thats coming soon. now that I'm not doing the euro front bumper, the reflectors are a must.

Not intending to change your mind, but...

I bought the euro bumper at the last minute because my car was ordered with CWP and I did not want the headlight washers. I was planning on just doing the painted reflectors. In hindsight, I'm so glad I got the euro bumper. I may be the only one who notices it, but it sure cleaned up the front of the car!

[spdy330]

Great job Sasan!

[flipm3]

Wow! Your car looks SO MEAN! You should definitely pick up some CF Mirrors!

Originally Posted by Justin(OKC)

Not intending to change your mind, but...

I bought the euro bumper at the last minute because my car was ordered with CWP and I did not want the headlight washers. I was planning on just doing the painted reflectors. In hindsight, I'm so glad I got the euro bumper. I may be the only one who notices it, but it sure cleaned up the front of the car!

Having IND Painted Reflectors on both the E46 and E90, I must agree with you. It looks 100 times cleaner with a true Euro Bumper.

[Yea Boi]

Dakar yellow Love it

[Richard@M-World]

Looks great Sasan!

[Alen E90]

looks awesome and i love the look of the lip on dakar

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Richard@M-World

Looks great Sasan!

Thanks so much man.

A major shout out to Richard@M-World for being our forums resident suspension expert, and a consummate professional. I came within a hair of buying an M-World lip, unfortunately in LA/OC it wouldn't make much sense with ramps, speed bumps and pot holes everywhere. Thank you Richard for all your advice and kindness. Hope we get to work together soon.

[Lagunae92]

So we don't all blow up his inbox, what does this all run in regards to the OSS mod?

[AWE46M3]

OSS Looks great!

[esquire]

Originally Posted by GOLFFRR

love it bro

Great finally meeting you brother. And appreciate the kind words. Your car looks great too.

Originally Posted by rjd598

glad to see you back in the modding scene. cant wait for the rest of the pics!

Definitely back. And more good things coming. Just had the KW clubsport suspension installed. Will post up pics after it settles and I go back in for a fine-tune ride height/camber/spacer adjustment, and maybe an alignment afterwards. I'll say this though... the car drives like its riding on nails now - and i say that in the best way possible. It grips the road in a way I didn't think possible.

Originally Posted by Justin(OKC)

I love it....especially the blacked out headlights. Didn't think I would like it as much as I do!

I felt the exact same way. I had my concerns, but after seeing them, I felt complete relief they turned out better than i could have hoped.

Originally Posted by tlp

Looks good. I think the headlights and splitter are beggging for cf mirror caps now.

Thanks brother. Probably no on the CF mirror caps though. One of the unspoken (until now) elements of my design philosophy is not to take away or hide any of the dakar yellow paint. Even the lip doesn't hide any of the paint.

Originally Posted by Martin_D

It continues to get better, awesome job man!

-Martin

Thanks Martin - might have to touch base with you and richard about suspension settings. And of course, i need to try out some of your detailing products.

Originally Posted by AMPowerJ

Love it. That lip is on my short list. If I can't figure out how to get an actual CRT front lip first.

Thanks man. The lip has been getting a good reception here on the forums. I first saw it on ROB2K's laguna seca M3 and was pretty taken by it instantly. I had literally scoured the forums for a year for different lips - and I"ve seen them all. Obviously to each their own - but i knew this one was it for me.

On a related topic, something I like about this piece is that it is a single piece of CF, not two pieces seamed together like a lot of other front lips, and its not built on any interior composite its all carbon fiber and its as light as a feather. Feels like its less than 2lbs total.

Originally Posted by Justin(OKC)

Not intending to change your mind, but...

I bought the euro bumper at the last minute because my car was ordered with CWP and I did not want the headlight washers. I was planning on just doing the painted reflectors. In hindsight, I'm so glad I got the euro bumper. I may be the only one who notices it, but it sure cleaned up the front of the car!

Trust me i know. The euro bumper is beautiful. Don't tempt me. Haha. Either way though, the orange reflectors have been on the car for too long and need to be replaced with matched reflectors, either permanently or until i change the front bumper haha. We'll see.

p.s. so if you put the european front bumper over your headlight washers... how does that work exactly?

Originally Posted by spdy330

Great job Sasan!

Thanks man. Great meeting you at LTBMW.

Originally Posted by flipm3

Wow! Your car looks SO MEAN! You should definitely pick up some CF Mirrors!


Having IND Painted Reflectors on both the E46 and E90, I must agree with you. It looks 100 times cleaner with a true Euro Bumper.

Haha. Flip. Thanks brother. Like i said above, no CF mirror caps for me. As for the euro bumper, i totally agree. Time will tell what i end up doing. For now I have my eyes on a few other mods.

Originally Posted by M3pnoy

Dakar yellow Love it

Thanks man.

Originally Posted by Alen E90

looks awesome and i love the look of the lip on dakar

Thanks Alen. I'll post up more pics of the lip from different angles soon. All the pics above are from my iphone, because my main man and photographer, Anthony@EAS was a little under the weather this past weekend. He was doing some of this --> Haha. Feel better anthony.

[Martin_D]

Originally Posted by esquire

Thanks Martin - might have to touch base with you and richard about suspension settings. And of course, i need to try out some of your detailing products.

Anytime I am here

Keep up the good mods it is fun to watch a build in progress...

-Martin

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Lagunae92

So we don't all blow up his inbox, what does this all run in regards to the OSS mod?

I am getting a lot of PM's about this. OSS costs 530 for just the angel eyes, plus another 120 for full blackout. There are other variations and options you can add /delete that will modulate the price. Basically OSS can do anything under the sun with your headlights.

This is the official OSS thread detailing all the various options and prices, for those who are curious:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=566924


Finally, for those not in Florida, you have to also take into account your shipping costs back and forth.

Hope that helps,
- esquire