Turner E9x M3 Aluminum Skid Plate Thoughts?

[FMLYSDN]

Originally Posted by dj_dub

Here you go bro! ...some real world pics of the product. Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase. It comes well packaged, very well made quality pieces from each section of the tray to the screws, fitment is great as it allows for room to adjust to get the fitment right for your car.

Everything you get in the package
IMG_6034 by dj_dub, on Flickr

Flipped the tray over to view the other side
IMG_6033 by dj_dub, on Flickr

The mounts and hardware
IMG_6032 by dj_dub, on Flickr

Pics of the mounts installed
IMG_2768 by dj_dub, on Flickr

IMG_2769 by dj_dub, on Flickr

Finished installation pics
IMG_2817 by dj_dub, on Flickr

IMG_2813 by dj_dub, on Flickr

IMG_2820 by dj_dub, on Flickr

IMG_2819 by dj_dub, on Flickr

IMG_2823 by dj_dub, on Flickr

My initial thoughts are it looks good. Nice quality. My concern though is how does one run ducting from the front to the brakes? I run cooling ducts and had to modify the felt pieces to accommodate the duct.

I would hate to start cutting an expensive piece from Turner.

[TTony]

Will share my experiences here...

30 min. install? Not in my case, lol. I hope some of you can relate to this...

Total install time: 7 hours over 2 days (had to finish the last 20 minutes the 2nd day after waiting on a tap & die set for binded threads...)

1 hour of time lost:
I did do the install by myself though with only a jack and 2 jack stands.

No time lost:
To start with, my stock felt pieces were garbage. At 140mph, they just started coming apart and dragging on the ground. Pic below shows the extent of the damage. The M3 became extremely "floaty" when that happened also, you could definitely feel the change in aero. Even being all torn up, the removal of the stock piece was fairly straightforward though. Happy to see the new install hardware included in the Turner piece.

1 hour of time lost:
I also have an ESS-625 kit so I had to move some plumbing around on the drivers side which necessitated cutting some plastic and putting shielding on it to prevent it from rubbing through hoses. This took about an hour of time.

1.5 hours of time lost:
Lining up all the screws took a lot of trial and error. Using pry bars to get holes lined up as well. Maybe my stock pieces were out of alignment? Not sure. It definitely did not just bolt in though.

1.5 hour of time lost:
I lost about an hour installing the 2 small metal pieces in the frame rail. I did not have mechanics wire so I figured I would just use "good touch" and fit it in. That would have worked except there is something magnetic in that rail that you insert the metal pieces into!! It kept pulling the piece out of sight. What a PITA. Eventually I used a magnet of my own to position it good enough to get the bolt started and it worked out fine after that.

1.5 hour of time lost:
2 screw holes I cross threaded because they were not lined up correctly (hard to see under there... The stainless install hardware going into an aluminum plate makes this issue easy to happen. I did not have a tap & die set in the garage so I had to order one via Amazon 1 day delivery...

Was there many curse words said... yes. Would I do it again vs take it and have it installed... not sure, maybe. Am I happy now that it is installed... Yes! I highly recommend this. Several places I normally scrape on, I did not today. A great feeling. The piece is SOLID and I'm happy now.

[sdarc]

I had to to put one in as the stock one decided to stay on the trailer. Why it chose that time in don't know.
Anyway after pricing stock this seemed to make more sense. It is fiddly. Took about 11/2 hrs. definitely more clearance and stronger when hitting those nasty auto-x cones. I am quite happy with my choice.

[are0lies]

Originally Posted by TTony

Will share my experiences here...

30 min. install? Not in my case, lol. I hope some of you can relate to this...

Total install time: 7 hours over 2 days (had to finish the last 20 minutes the 2nd day after waiting on a tap & die set for binded threads...)

1 hour of time lost:
I did do the install by myself though with only a jack and 2 jack stands.

No time lost:
To start with, my stock felt pieces were garbage. At 140mph, they just started coming apart and dragging on the ground. Pic below shows the extent of the damage. The M3 became extremely "floaty" when that happened also, you could definitely feel the change in aero. Even being all torn up, the removal of the stock piece was fairly straightforward though. Happy to see the new install hardware included in the Turner piece.

1 hour of time lost:
I also have an ESS-625 kit so I had to move some plumbing around on the drivers side which necessitated cutting some plastic and putting shielding on it to prevent it from rubbing through hoses. This took about an hour of time.

1.5 hours of time lost:
Lining up all the screws took a lot of trial and error. Using pry bars to get holes lined up as well. Maybe my stock pieces were out of alignment? Not sure. It definitely did not just bolt in though.

1.5 hour of time lost:
I lost about an hour installing the 2 small metal pieces in the frame rail. I did not have mechanics wire so I figured I would just use "good touch" and fit it in. That would have worked except there is something magnetic in that rail that you insert the metal pieces into!! It kept pulling the piece out of sight. What a PITA. Eventually I used a magnet of my own to position it good enough to get the bolt started and it worked out fine after that.

1.5 hour of time lost:
2 screw holes I cross threaded because they were not lined up correctly (hard to see under there... The stainless install hardware going into an aluminum plate makes this issue easy to happen. I did not have a tap & die set in the garage so I had to order one via Amazon 1 day delivery...

Was there many curse words said... yes. Would I do it again vs take it and have it installed... not sure, maybe. Am I happy now that it is installed... Yes! I highly recommend this. Several places I normally scrape on, I did not today. A great feeling. The piece is SOLID and I'm happy now.

Just a mention, but to help recoup a little on this purchase, you can sell your corner pieces, as they seem to be in decent shape (judging by the pics). You mentioned a tap and dye, was there a lot of drilling to be done, or were the holes already there, but had to be tapped? I definitely will be looking into one of these setups. Thanks.

[TTony]

Originally Posted by are0lies

Just a mention, but to help recoup a little on this purchase, you can sell your corner pieces, as they seem to be in decent shape (judging by the pics). You mentioned a tap and dye, was there a lot of drilling to be done, or were the holes already there, but had to be tapped? I definitely will be looking into one of these setups. Thanks.

That's a good idea, thanks! No need to do any drilling, it's a thin plate of aluminum so it just needed the threads unbinded. This is the kit I used (only $11)... https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[R_lara]

I wonder if the supercharger water pump won't run against the passenger side...

[Jimzym3]

Originally Posted by TTony

Will share my experiences here...

30 min. install? Not in my case, lol. I hope some of you can relate to this...

Total install time: 7 hours over 2 days (had to finish the last 20 minutes the 2nd day after waiting on a tap & die set for binded threads...)

1 hour of time lost:
I did do the install by myself though with only a jack and 2 jack stands.

No time lost:
To start with, my stock felt pieces were garbage. At 140mph, they just started coming apart and dragging on the ground. Pic below shows the extent of the damage. The M3 became extremely "floaty" when that happened also, you could definitely feel the change in aero. Even being all torn up, the removal of the stock piece was fairly straightforward though. Happy to see the new install hardware included in the Turner piece.

1 hour of time lost:
I also have an ESS-625 kit so I had to move some plumbing around on the drivers side which necessitated cutting some plastic and putting shielding on it to prevent it from rubbing through hoses. This took about an hour of time.

1.5 hours of time lost:
Lining up all the screws took a lot of trial and error. Using pry bars to get holes lined up as well. Maybe my stock pieces were out of alignment? Not sure. It definitely did not just bolt in though.

1.5 hour of time lost:
I lost about an hour installing the 2 small metal pieces in the frame rail. I did not have mechanics wire so I figured I would just use "good touch" and fit it in. That would have worked except there is something magnetic in that rail that you insert the metal pieces into!! It kept pulling the piece out of sight. What a PITA. Eventually I used a magnet of my own to position it good enough to get the bolt started and it worked out fine after that.

1.5 hour of time lost:
2 screw holes I cross threaded because they were not lined up correctly (hard to see under there... The stainless install hardware going into an aluminum plate makes this issue easy to happen. I did not have a tap & die set in the garage so I had to order one via Amazon 1 day delivery...

Was there many curse words said... yes. Would I do it again vs take it and have it installed... not sure, maybe. Am I happy now that it is installed... Yes! I highly recommend this. Several places I normally scrape on, I did not today. A great feeling. The piece is SOLID and I'm happy now.

Same here, it was a nightmare lining up the holes and not looking forward to removing again if I need to in the future. My other concern is if the skid plate itself threads get stripped the whole skid plate needs to be replaced.

[TTony]

Originally Posted by Jimzym3

My other concern is if the skid plate itself threads get stripped the whole skid plate needs to be replaced.

No need to replace the whole skid plate if the threads are stripped, just use the tap & die to make new threads (a little larger if needed).

[TTony]

Originally Posted by R_lara

I wonder if the supercharger water pump won't run against the passenger side...

On the passenger side I had no clearance issues with my ESS-625 kit. Also, the kit was stable up to 165 with no issues. Above 140, the car started to float with the felt on it (before it ripped). After the felt ripped, anything over 80mph the felt was being pulled to the ground.

[Jimzym3]

Originally Posted by TTony

No need to replace the whole skid plate if the threads are stripped, just use the tap & die to make new threads (a little larger if needed).

if it needs to be re threaded, larger screws will be needed and the parts it screws into will also need to be re threaded.

[TTony]

Originally Posted by Jimzym3

if it needs to be re threaded, larger screws will be needed and the parts it screws into will also need to be re threaded.

Yep, it's not too difficult with a drill though. I would be very surprised if you were able to strip the threads from the holes. I put quite a bit of pressure on them and the allen wrench stripped the allen keys on the included M6 bolts well before enough pressure could be applied to be able to strip the bolt holes. I was able to bind the threads a little which was why I needed the tap & die set. No way could I have stripped the holes with the included install hardware.

[dkexige]

Thanks gentlemen for sharing your experiences with it so far. A couple of driving school events and cones have killed my under tray, so I'll be ordering this soon also.

[BimmerMan33]

Does anyone have an idea as to how much does this aluminum under tray weigh? I am planning to get one soon.

[Aktavate]

Originally Posted by BimmerMan33

Does anyone have an idea as to how much does this aluminum under tray weigh? I am planning to get one soon.

Just weighed mine, its just a bit under 20lbs including all the fasteners.

[slicer]

Anyone determine the weight difference between the turner piece and OE?

[TTony]

Originally Posted by slicer

Anyone determine the weight difference between the turner piece and OE?

OE can't be more than 3 or 4 lbs. It's basically glorified cardboard.

[Aktavate]

Originally Posted by TTony

OE can't be more than 3 or 4 lbs. It's basically glorified cardboard.

Yea installed mine today and the OEM pieces are about 5lbs all together.

Thanks to people for the tips on the threads, I chased the frame rail mount pieces with the included fasteners before even getting under the car and it makes a big difference since there was coating material covering much of the threads. The smaller threaded pieces didnt have that issue on mine. Also the frame rail braces didnt go into the rails as easily as demonstrated in the video and had to modify them slightly to get into the lipped section. The only other problem I had was one of the nutserts on the side started spinning but it was easy enough to just ziptie that section.

Overall really satisfied with the thing, I was surprised with how many of the holes actually lined up perfectly and the fact that it doesnt hang as low as the OEM pieces is nice.

[slicer]

I understand the appeal to this thing but no thanks to adding 15lbs to the front of the car. I have gone through a lot of trouble to reduce the weight of my car and removing lbs from the front is the most difficult and expensive. I do however miss the days when the OE panels were less than half of the current prices.

[GORDON.M3]

Originally Posted by slicer

I understand the appeal to this thing but no thanks to adding 15lbs to the front of the car. I have gone through a lot of trouble to reduce the weight of my car and removing lbs from the front is the most difficult and expensive. I do however miss the days when the OE panels were less than half of the current prices.

True, for a track junkie every lb counts.

[slicer]

Originally Posted by GORDON.M3

True, for a track junkie every lb counts.

It really does. There aren't many things that drop 15lb chunks of weight after you do the seats, exhaust, battery, wheels and brakes. It's 5 lb increments after that (unless you delete interior panels).

[dkexige]

10% sale is on again, so back down to $540 shipped. Ordered mine today.

Good point about the weight though. I'm nowhere near advanced enough for it to be a concern at the moment, so I'm happy to be putting in a stout piece that pylons won't beat up.

[Aktavate]

Yea for track focused people the deans version might be a better solution for worn OEM pieces.