Az's BMW M3 - Found out only 113 in my Paint/Interior, aww yeah

[McLaren]

I think you are missing the point. It isn't to make it stand out more, but to rather make it match all the other trim pieces and such.

And it doesn't do a good job when the purple makes said parts already a bit dark to see. A color like Alpine White makes it stand out more for people to see the matching parts. Daytona Violet is just too dark imo for one to see the parts all match.

 

[Joey D]

I like the way the kidneys are now, I wasn't really feeling the chrome.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Ehhhh... The chrome saved it from being excessively bland IMO...

Like Rev said, the paint is too dark for it to contrast enough to look good, so either chrome or body-color would work, just not black. (I'd keep the fins black and just the outer rings body color)

 

[Keef]

I like the black. I've always hated how BMW makes their kidneys chrome. On the M cars it's the only chrome piece on the entire car and it looks retarded. Much better in black. Stealthy. Mean.

Loowwzzzzzz.

EDIT: Man, you need to do a number on your headlight lenses just like me. Sand them down with progressively higher grit, ending with 2000 or 2500 or so. Clean them well with Wax & Grease Remover, then spray a clearcoat over it. Perfect Balance used an automotive-grade clearcoat on his. They turned out pretty fantastic, and it won't fade again like polished plastic will.

 

[JCE]

Well *I* like the paintjob on the wheels.

 

[Tornado]

I'm conflicted on the wheels, but I think blacking out the kidneys was a good idea. The chrome didn't really go with anything, and they look better in black in relation to the car color than they did in chrome.

 

[bergauk]

I like the way it looks now as well. Not really a major fan of BMW's but this one is just gorgeous. I for one did not like the chrome bits or the wheels in the first color. It just wasn't working. It looks much better with everything else now. One tiny question though Cody, Did you sand up the wheels before painting them up?

 

[Azuremen]

I like the way it looks now as well. Not really a major fan of BMW's but this one is just gorgeous. I for one did not like the chrome bits or the wheels in the first color. It just wasn't working. It looks much better with everything else now. One tiny question though Cody, Did you sand up the wheels before painting them up?

I did not sand them. This doesn't have to last long because I just got money for the Corolla, which means other wheels. These, the DS1s, will get regulated to track days and auto-cross. And maybe further down the road, snow wheels once I get some light weight track wheels.

 

[JCE]

Can someone please post a pic of what this kidney thing you are talking about? I'm having a brain fart as to what that is.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

The grill!

 

[JCE]

Ohhhhhhhh ok. I forgot about that. I also call Pontiac's grille the kidney grille.

 

[Slicks]

Wheels = Awesome. They look sharp.
Those wheels looked pretty thrashed before.

Kidneys = Almost as awesome.

If/when you redo the paint on the wheels, get them sandblasted then straight to primer and paint they go.

ps... you should make a weekend trip. A day of autocross, and a day of making the paint on your car look proper. It appears as if it could use a good polish, glaze, and wax.

 

[CDailey]

Looks great. I can't believe I didn't think of putting playing cards between the rim and tire. I've been using newspaper in a similar fashion. The playing cards make it so much easier though. Good idea. 👍

 

[nobuffalo]

I think the wheels look pretty good, and the kidneys don't really look better or worse, just different. Was thinking about doing the same with my celica supra's, black with a polished lip, or possibly just a dark grey with polished lip.

 

[Keef]

Cody, I've found some motivation for you concerning spacers/wider low-offset wheels, and fender rolling and flaring.

Look at that. It's like a 318 or something. It doesn't even have foglights. And it's faster than your M3, because he was man enough to flare his beast.

Flared.

Flared.

Also note that those last two are rocking CCW's Classic wheel. Gorgeous.

That's the "Race" version btw, which adds "Swiss" holes in between the rims studs, stainless lug bolt seats, and "grade 8" hardware, and they aren't machined for center caps since apparently most race tracks don't allow people to run center caps anyway. The "Street" version does have center caps, and the swiss holes, stainless inserts, and tougher hardware are optional.

They're called Complete Custom Wheel for a reason, lol. Now do some math and pick your sizes.

EDIT: @ Slicks, sandblasting wouldn't really be necessary. It would make the wheels a tiny bit lighter of course, but for the purpose of getting it down to bare metal, some aircraft paint stripper will work just fine. After that, scuff the whole wheel thoroughly with scotch-brite, clean with lacquer thinner or brake clean, and then prime and paint. You can do all that in your garage.

 

[Joey D]

Is that a plexi spoiler on that car?

 

[Keef]

Yup, looks like he made his parachute from plexiglass. Windshield, too.

 

[bergauk]

Yup, looks like he made his parachute from plexiglass. Windshield, too.

Well, whatever works? As long as you know what you're doing with it it can't turn out too bad.

 

[homeforsummer]

Kidneys - don't really like them, much as I didn't like the wheels. However good a job you've done on them, it just looks like you've been at them with a rattle can and all it's served to do in my own view is make an expensive looking car look a bit cheap

 

[///M-Spec]

Well, whatever works? As long as you know what you're doing with it it can't turn out too bad.

I believe that's Bob's Tunnell's car. (one of them anyways)

He knows what he's doing.


M

 

[YSSMAN]

I like the black kidneys, personally. It makes the color flow a bit better, and makes the M3 stand out less (overall). In my opinion, that's a good thing.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

My opinion is that the blacked out look only works on black cars. I'm sort of indifferent about it here. The chrome grille didn't really stand out since the headlights are white.

 

[mustangGT90210]

The black wheels and kidneys look awesome 👍

I'd prefer the wheels shinier, but that's just me. As they sit, they still work

 

[Omnis]

Eh, just not my taste with the black paint. Purple doesn't really flow with the black for it to really stand out like it would on Alpine White.

The fact that you would paint them black on Alpine White invalidates your criticism.

Also, that plexiglass spoiler is just genius.

 

[Keef]

Also, that plexiglass spoiler is just genius.

Notice the vertical side supports for it that jut forward to grab air wrapping around the C-pillar. Keeps that air from escaping around the side of the spoiler and increases the pressure and volume going over the spoiler.

 

[Omnis]

I think it's genius just for visibility's sake.

 

[McLaren]

The fact that you would paint them black on Alpine White invalidates your criticism.

Uh, ok. On Alpine White, you can actually see the kidneys matching the trim. Doesn't work too well on Daytona Violet when the car's color already makes it too dark to see the trim itself....

 

[Jay]

We need dialysis stat!

 

[Azuremen]

The fact that you would paint them black on Alpine White invalidates your criticism.

Also, that plexiglass spoiler is just genius.

Uh, ok. On Alpine White, you can actually see the kidneys matching the trim. Doesn't work too well on Daytona Violet when the car's color already makes it too dark to see the trim itself....

Doesn't look that hot, to me. Just a black mess on white. It is neither subtle there or classy. The contrast is just too much in that case.

 

[McLaren]

My opinion is that it looks better on white than purple, but whatever....