Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

[chickenbackside]

Hi guys.

Received and installed my Vorsteiner sedan bonnet last week. Turned out real crappy as it doesn't fit properly. So I did 2 things:
1) Posted a thread in E46fanatics to show the lousy fitment to get Vorsteiner's attention
2) told Barry about it.

And Vorsteiner responded. They will send me a new one in the event that no amount of adjustment can fix the problem.

Anyway, here's a picture narration of the whole process:

It's here!

Off with the front grill and windscreen washer grill

Priming and sanding

1 piece of carbon fibre bonnet hogging the oven

It suddenly occurred to me that I need CF badges to match the unpainted vents, so went to get some

Final smoothening and polishing

Drlling holes to fit the roundrel

Spraying the Vorsteiner logo underneath silver

To be continued...
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[chickenbackside]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

While I was there, I saw interesting E90 stuff. Looks like the mod market for E90s is finally maturing.

Here are a few things:



Mike showing off Kerscher front bumper

Kerscher bumper uses 1-series fog lights

E90 Xenons with angel eyes

Headlight washer components

Kerscher kit installed

Also saw RaptureM3's old Vorsteiner bonnet

Back to my bonnet...
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[chickenbackside]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

I noticed that I could see the xenon ballasts from vents. That's probably means water will get to it

So, off I went to Ah Wee again to ask him to make some kinda shielding to prevent that. "Oi sai!" he said...



Measuring and designing the shields

Cutting the aluminium sheet

Test fitting

Spraying the shields black to make it not so ugly

Using double sided tape to stick the shields on for easy dismantling if needed

Shields are on! Notice the 2 bottom corners

Xenon ballasts should be water-safe now.


To be continued...
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[chickenbackside]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

Car is so damn dirty, so off to Spa For Cars for a little wash

And it's done!

One with my mountain bike mounted for fun

Lousy fit

Many thanks to Barry for getting Vorsteiner to resolve the fitment issue. Looks like I'm gonna get a new one soon and go through the whole process ALL OVER AGAIN...

Luckily it's fun...

Thanks for looking...
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[SEI]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

nice!!! looks very good!!

 

[rex7_vtec]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

No prob Chic-B, will do all I can to help ya resolve the bonnet issue.

Ok since now we're on the topic of Vorsteiner bonnets, I will take this opportunity to help clear the air on behalf of Vorsteiner (They have called me a couple of times to report their findings on this matter).

Vorsteiner has called me up and told me the situation. During the R&D into manufacturing the sedan bonnets, they overlooked a certain point. That is on the original BMW bonnets, there are actually 2 bars (or thick panels) on the sides near the edge of the sedan bonnets.

During their process for the Vorsteiner bonnets, they actually could not fit the bars into their moulds. Reason being that the bars would actually be in conflict with the VRS Vents. Apparently this problem is not found on the coupe bonnets therefore they totally did not expect it to so call "bulge" or "pop-up" as seen on Chic-B's bonnet.

As I am typing this out, Vorsteiner is actually revising their mould to come out with an improved version which will actually eliminate this problem.

The new bonnet will be in sometime next week or so ( can't be sure cause some older orders have been delayed for uo till as long as 2 months).

Meanwhile stay tuned and I will update you guys on this matter.

 

[gadaffi]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

bro, can u ur no. plate lioa... nice done up! looks dam good on ur ride!! sick!

 

[TripleM]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

CBS
Great stuff...keep the mods spirit coming and as always, thanks for sharing...
Swee2x

 

[mobilefriend]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

Hi, saw the car at BVO, in spite of the flaws, rev 1 already looked awesome! Drool..... I always enjoy reading your very detail modding post. Do keep them coming man! Cheers!

 

[kenntona]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

Nice one, CBS. Hope you could resolve your fitment issue soon. I am still waiting for my Vors bonnet...... Barry !!!

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

Thanks for the kind words guys. I just want to share the fact that most times you don't just buy a part and then slap it on your car. There are many details to consider to actually make the mods work.

This is already the super condensed version. There are other little things that were very important, like:
1) the washer grill had to be modified by cutting parts of it away to fit the bonnet
2) parts of the front grill had to be cut off and glued on (no more clipping in)
3) the paint is wavy looking from certain angles. Mike says can't help it as it is CF.
4) the hood is extremely flexible and extra care has to be taken to close it, otherwise, it feels like it'll actually break. 2 cracks have already appeared at the stress points.
5) the underside is quite sticky and when I open the hood when the engine's hot, the rubber seals tend to stick to it. Still trying to think how to solve this one.

I must say the vents are extremely effective in cooling the engine. After a long drive, you can really feel the hot air rising from the vents while the other parts of the bonnet feel quite cool to touch. Must try to do some BBQ, haha...

I dunno if it's my imagination but after installing the new bonnet, the car feels a bit more enthusiastic. It's extremely light. Anyone can lift the whole bonnet up with one finger. Try doing that with a regular bonnet...
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[chickenbackside]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

Thanks for the detailed update Barry.

Like I told you, they really shouldn't release products that aren't 100% ready. It's not just a matter of sending a new one.

How about the planning of my schedule so that the car can be left at the workshop for a few days, the installation time and effort and fees paid...etc?

Makes me wonder why they sent out this piece. Is it because we're in the far east and that they hope they get lucky and get away with it since we're dumb native Asian people? They are a company that produces high quality and high priced stuff and it is very unlikely that they missed this one out. You can only conclude that best case scenario, their R&D is not thorough, or worst case scenario, they have loose business ethics. Both situations bode ill for their customers.

Anyway, I shall remain optimistic and positive and give Vorsteiner the benefit of the doubt and look at it as a fluke piece...

No prob Chic-B, will do all I can to help ya resolve the bonnet issue.

Ok since now we're on the topic of Vorsteiner bonnets, I will take this opportunity to help clear the air on behalf of Vorsteiner (They have called me a couple of times to report their findings on this matter).

Vorsteiner has called me up and told me the situation. During the R&D into manufacturing the sedan bonnets, they overlooked a certain point. That is on the original BMW bonnets, there are actually 2 bars (or thick panels) on the sides near the edge of the sedan bonnets.

During their process for the Vorsteiner bonnets, they actually could not fit the bars into their moulds. Reason being that the bars would actually be in conflict with the VRS Vents. Apparently this problem is not found on the coupe bonnets therefore they totally did not expect it to so call "bulge" or "pop-up" as seen on Chic-B's bonnet.

As I am typing this out, Vorsteiner is actually revising their mould to come out with an improved version which will actually eliminate this problem.

The new bonnet will be in sometime next week or so ( can't be sure cause some older orders have been delayed for uo till as long as 2 months).

Meanwhile stay tuned and I will update you guys on this matter.

 

[Puny]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

hi chickenbackside,

Saw your car last week evening along Serangoon Rd, travelling towards McPherson.. Most noticable were your rims. The amount of mods you did here is really something and thanks for sharing!

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

Thanks Puny. I know the wheels are a bit overwhelming, but I kinda like it that way.

Unfortunately not all mods can be shared in a public forum. Even the bonnet is an LTA failure, sigh... I have bigger plans in mind to make the car more "complete".

Whatever it is, my last step is to put a 316i badge on it, hehe. Dunno if I can't get one in E46 font...

 

[Puny]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

Thanks Puny. I know the wheels are a bit overwhelming, but I kinda like it that way.

Unfortunately not all mods can be shared in a public forum. Even the bonnet is an LTA failure, sigh... I have bigger plans in mind to make the car more "complete".

Whatever it is, my last step is to put a 316i badge on it, hehe. Dunno if I can't get one in E46 font...

On the contuary, I didn't find the rims overwhelming, they are really unique!.. I felt they really suit the M-Tech II kit to complete the aggressive stance. As for the 316i badge, that's pure evil. kekeke.

 

[hetraa]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

congrats chickenbackside! yr car looks menacing....

slapping on a AA SC?

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

Puny:
316 can stand for 316 mods or 316 bhp or 316km per tank of petrol mah...

hetraa:
ASA may or may not come. See whether I'm happy with a NA engine 1st lah... Hey, is that an M3 bumper I see? Did you modify it to fit or did you get the aftermareket sedan version? Looks great!

 

[polomt]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

congra, nice mod. seems that you have been injected with huge dose of mod virus. hahaha. thanks for sharing, making me drool the whole morning..

 

[hetraa]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

ya thats a sedan M3 bumper...got it from benzline...

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: Vorsteiner Sedan Hood Saga (MANY pics warning)

Was it a pain in the butt to get it to fit right? How much did you pay for it? Who makes it since it's not OEM?