Slonik CF roof on E90 M3

[SYT_Shadow]

My E90 track car is a stripper with DCT as its only option. This means I’m one of the lucky few to have an E90 slicktop vs the sunroof version.

For whatever reason BMW did not make the E90 with a CF roof. They acknowledged the error of their ways in the F80 and now the G80 gets the CF roof standard on the 4 door M. So everyone is in on the party except the E90! We must fix this!

I’ve considered switching the roof to CF for a long time but wasn’t willing to pull the trigger until I heard Slonik (www.instagram.com/slon_workshop/?hl=en) was building one. Aftermarket CF tends to look ok in pics but in person it looks like garbage. I’ve never been able to put aftermarket CF on my car… until now

Anyway, here it is! I went for a bigger than stock weave (large twill weave) so it has a more defined look vs the OEM look. It reminds me a bit of the M2 CS roof panel vs the E9X’s.
-Vacuum infusion with post-curing
-Installed with the same structural glue BMW recommends for the F8X roof
-Options – oem look plain weave, small or large size twill wave. Any other options on request
-Weight loss of 16lb (7kg) in slicktop cars and 55lb (25kg) in sunroof cars
-Part weight: 8lb (3.7kg)
-Optional antenna hole (or you can cut it yourself with the template). I went for the more aerodynamic no antenna
-Covered with special protective polyurethane primer and 3 layers of high quality sikkens polyurethane clearcoat lacquer (you can polish it a few times without respraying)
-Took 3.5 weeks from Russia to the East Coast, it arrived at my house
-It also gives some additional torsional rigidity (small figures, but glued carbon is more rigid than spot welded steel)
E46 M3 18500
E46 M3 CSL 18750


Pics comparing to E92




Closeup of the weave


Pics showing install
To install you basically cut out the front and rear glass hoping not to break them. Then you cut out the roof, prepare the surfaces, glue the CF one in.
If your car was a slicktop the reinforcements are in place, but if it was a sunroof car you need to weld in a replacement, or you can glue in a CF reinforcement piece Slonik has
If the body is scratched then it may rust, so anything that gets scratched must be passivated before installing the roof or the glass

In my ‘before’ pics you can see I have a vinyl wrap on the roof as well as a Bimmerworld banner. My front glass had a 16” crack in it but it didn’t break removing it. Of course this was replaced with new OEM BMW glass during the reinstall


Before:



Front glass out:



Rear glass out:



Spot welds getting drilled out



Headliner removed





Car has no glass! Weight reduction FTW!





Test fit the CF roof



After gluing the roof you do the front and rear glass







You let the car sit for a couple days for the glue to dry and voila, CF roof on an E90!

















dogbone , OG Shark, come on, I know you're dying to do this!

[SYT_Shadow]

reserved


I need to find some time to install and then post the other goodie I got from Slonik: CF reinforcement plate for the E90/E92! This has an easier install than the roof!

[OG Shark]

Love the dramatic black & white photos!!!

[slowdown_dan]

Does slonik make one for the e92? Could anyone tell me who is the best option, value included, for a retrofit from a sunroof coupe?

[DRLane]

Wow man, you have me woefully regretting my carbon sunroof delete (for which I'm installing literally right now).

Nice work and Slonik continues to impress.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by butte2butte

Does slonik make one for the e92? Could anyone tell me who is the best option, value included, for a retrofit from a sunroof coupe?

I have no idea. I've heard people install oem roofs that were pulled/cut out of totalled E92s.

I've seen another CF roof install from a company with a 'r' in their name that showed the cf weave due to the clearcoat being really thin. Then it yellowed quickly. That's why I didn't do it earlier. When it comes to Slonik you see the same attention to detail used in his dct pans on the roof.

[SAMM3Y]

Nice work.. Is your e90 MC blue? Will be stunning.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by SAMM3Y

Nice work.. Is your e90 MC blue? Will be stunning.

Oh God I wish. My E92 is.

The E90's color is brighter than the E92 and it pops like crazy with the CF roof

[shimmy23]

is this the same slonik that many folks had issues with BBK purchases? this CF roof is awesome! i want one now!

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by shimmy23

is this the same slonik that many folks had issues with BBK purchases? this CF roof is awesome! i want one now!

Yes, the long lead times and then people opening paypal disputes and at least one of them stealing the BBK. Yes.

And the awesome DCT pans

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by DRLane

Wow man, you have me woefully regretting my carbon sunroof delete (for which I'm installing literally right now).

Nice work man and Slonik continues to impress.

Oh boy you seem to have some serious gutting going on in there! Looking good!

[Kelse92]

WOW awesome!
The only cf swap e90 I have seen in person was the Brilliant White car that had the custom V-weave cf roof and loved it. Glad to see there’s an option now for others to get one on their e90’s!

[derbo]

Originally Posted by DRLane

Wow man, you have me woefully regretting my carbon sunroof delete (for which I'm installing literally right now).

Nice work and Slonik continues to impress.

Might as well, stop the sunroof delete and order the CF one!

[FMLYSDN]

Best post of 2021 so far. Love it!

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by Kelse92

WOW awesome!
The only cf swap e90 I have seen in person was the Brilliant White car that had the custom V-weave cf roof and loved it. Glad to see there’s an option now for others to get one on their e90’s!

Brilliant white is such a hot color. Discreet but really nice

[BayE30]

nice, glad to see another option for e90s....some day i will delete the sunroof.

[MJBO]

Looks awesome!

Something weird about seeing an E90 without a fin though

[Rochen_00]

Amazing job!!! It's fantastic

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by BayE30

nice, glad to see another option for e90s....some day i will delete the sunroof.

Wait until you have to replace a windshield, it helps amortize the cost

[dparm]

55 pound weight loss from the roof is pretty big, though it comes with a significant cost & risk. Thanks for sharing.

[kyrix1st]

If I had an E90 I would do this.

[OG Shark]

Going to copy SYT_Shadow again - getting the roof ordered for my E90 M3. The sunroof is such an eyesore on a bright car & I never use it anyways - this is perfect!

Slonik - not sure what all the mess was with the bbk's; sounds like some people had some legitimate gripes there. But can say my dealings with them have all been smooth to this point. Have multiple of there DCT pans & will be using them on all our dct race builds moving forward.