carbon fiber pilers

[grm]

The material is coming off my pillars on my 95 318ti (post in front of door and back of windshield) I have been thinking about replacing the material with carbon fiber, has anyone seen this done? Can you buy them already made or do you think they can be made with not much problems. Any advise would be appreciated.

[jdehaan]

I've never seen those before, but i think they would be pretty sweet looking. It would probably be pretty pricey to get them custom made i would think.

[grm]

you can buy the material on the net and on ebay, i have not worked with much fiberglass or carbon but i think if you can make a mold it shouldn't be that hard, i have a guage pod that looks like carbon that mounts on the pilar and that is what give me the idea. i am woundering if the pilar on the car is metal or if it is a material that comes off so you can install the material on it?

[roadrash]

Just so ya know... you're referring to the "A Pillar."

The construction of the pillar covers may vary from year to year, but on my '97, it's a piece of plastic covered in cloth. The "unseen" side of the plastic part has 3-4 protruding tabs that lock into clips mounted in holes in the bodywork. So, if you want to replicate the entire pillar cover in carbon fiber, that strikes me as a quite detailed process. Alternatively, if you're proposing a carbon fiber cover that basically just replaces the cloth, that will be much simpler.

Have you checked at the various online BMW accessory sites?

[Tyler]

I have them on my car,look in my gallery. I bought them from www.vitessetuning.com about a year or so ago.

A pillar or b pillar?

[grm]

i thought it might come off from the metal frame, that will make it easier, thanks any sujestions how the plastic comes of, do you pry from the top, side or someting else? or is there a tool that you use?

[roadrash]

I described how I removed them here:
http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthrea...t=10545&page=4

[BmWwHiPPin]

you can get ones like tylers on ebay....i believe ive seen them there before!

[fourbysix]

I'm not seeing how you could remove the black(on my car they're black) panels, they look integral to the door? The CF pillars look like vinyls in this picture..

[Variance]

Guys, he's taking about the interior a-pillar panel. The panel that always has the cloth peeling off.

[3DGE]

How much for thoes, I need some, also is it hard to take the old stuff off andput new stuff on?

[H3_2.1-ti]

Hey guys,

Just to clarify everything; our Genuine Carbon Fiber Door Pillars are genuine carbon fiber and absolutely not vinyl. We coat the carbon fiber with a clear urethane UV protective coating. We apply a 3M high adhesive backing and include anadhesive promoter for a permanent installation. We are the only ones that fabricate and offer custom CF door pillar covers for the ti. The ones offered on EBay are for other BMW models.
Quite a few members on 318ti.org have purchased them and are extremely happy with them. I've had them installed on the 2.1 for over 3 years and the link below is a picture after having them installed for two years.

Here is a close-up:http://www.318ti.org/gallery/showpho...00&ppuser=1584



You can purchase them online from the following link:http://www.vitessetuning.com/318ti-cfpillars.asp

Cheers,

[fourbysix]

so the cf pillars are peel n' stick? does it increase the volume of the door the to the door jam doesn't line up flush with the start of the rear window?

[H3_2.1-ti]

Originally Posted by fourbysix

so the cf pillars are peel n' stick? does it increase the volume of the door the to the door jam doesn't line up flush with the start of the rear window?

Can you please clarify your question?

Cheers,

[fourbysix]

I'm just unsure how these work, because its just bare metal on my car..and it looks attached the whole door..and I'm curious of how these work, unless they're just peices with adhesive on the back.