Carbon Fiber Hood?

[Cellardoor]

Hey all,

So im going to be buying a E36 M3 within the next week or so (im so excited i can barley contain myself!) but it has a dented hood, so i was thinking that rather then buying a new hood from a dealer i would save and go straight to a carbon fiber hood ( i would get one sooner or later so i will save some $ this way). So any suggestions on where i can get a hood for a 1995 M3 would be great (preferably something cheapish) i have found one online for about 700$ and if that is the cheapest they run then so be it but i figured it cant hurt to ask and get some more experiences opinions and views... thanks all in advance.

-Hutch-

[dutchbmw]

Search in the e36 forum, there's a topic about it (started by autotechnica). It can be in a 'weight reduction' topic as well, just use the search button!

[Cellardoor]

Thanks Dutch,

I did do a search before i postesd, but i did a search for "M3 carbonfiber hoods" with little success. I didnt think about just the E36 forums. Thanks for the heads up.

-Hutch-

[Cellardoor]

Hey Dutch,

I read the post u were refering to..... it was HUGE! but no where in it did they mention different companies that made Carbon Fiber hoods. Thanks tho.

-Hutch-

[Furious]

there are 3 differnet types of carbon fibre hoods out there, they all usually come from south east asia, (taiwan , jap, ect) anyways , some manufaturer makes carbon fibre hoods from a mold or by hand, they dont always come out exactly the same, so they make 3 catagories, 1 is the low end stuff you see around on ebay and whatnot. the mid grade is stuff like VIS, and the top grade is like ziabon (i think its spelt like that) in any matter, what you are looking for is a hood that has some of the following qualities.

-is straight and true
-no blemishes in the cf, or hte clearcoat
-a solid steel hood latch
-uv protection

if i were you id go with a company like VIS, its not super expensive, and the quality is pretty good.

ill be looking for one very soon myself.

[Cellardoor]

Thanks a bunch Furious,

Great info i new not call carbon fiber was created equal but not to that extent! i will check out VIS .... again Thanks a bundle.

-Hutch-