Mode Carbon Front Lip / RKP Diffuser Fitted! (56K Warning)

[Merli]

For those with a short attention span

BEFORE:



AFTER:

[Merli]

For those who are actually interested, there are a ton of photos below, I've lowered the quality to keep bandwidth impact as low as I can.

When I was searching for a front lip, I was taken by Mode Carbon's approach to minimise how far the lip extends forwards and also how far it extends down. For practicability reasons, coupled with the fact that I wanted to lower my car, this really reasonated with me.

However, I was quite frustrated with those silly artsy photographs that were published that didn't show the lip AT ALL. At best, we got a silhouette or outline and a HINT of what the lip might actually look like.

So for those who weren't as brave as I was in just ordering one and hoping for the best, these over-processed photos (light was terrible this afternoon, sorry - had to try and rescue the detail in the photos) might be of assistance!

I've also included a few installation photos and gotchas that you should know when installing this lip.

........ On with the show!

[Merli]

Firstly, this was PISS EASY to install.

Although I have a plethora of automotive workshop tools at my disposal, I didn't even bother driving to my workshop. I just did this in my driveway. No need to jack the car up, let alone put it on a hoist to install this front lip.

All you need is an 8mm socket wrench, a (short) screwdriver and a cold beer.

Car was a little dirty, so I broke out a quik-detailer lubricant and just gave the front bumper and under-sides a quick wipe down before starting. My car has only done 1500kms, so everything is still pretty clean.



Step 1: Remove the sacrificial rubber pieces, as you can't install this lip over the top of them. I'm a little concerned about removing these entirely as it's quite a large piece that looks like it might affect aero (I haven't had a good look under the car yet to see the aero design, so this is just conjecture), but I'll get to that in a few photos.







You can see how the lip goes over where the rubber guard exists.



You'd have to cut the rubber guard somewhere along the red line to re-install it, but the front wouldn't be secured and will flap around. I'll have to think about this.

Mode Carbon - Any ideas here?

[Merli]

Optional: 3M exterior mounting tape. In hindsight, this really wasn't required at all.





PROBLEM ENCOUNTERED!!!

The two left replacement screws and two right replacement screws don't fit in the nuts.







Easily solved however! 3mm drill bit to slightly enlarge the nut.
N.B. You DO NOT need to do this for the centre 4 screws.



After that 10 minute detour, bolted straight in and VOILA!

[Merli]

[Merli]

...... Oh, and I installed the RKP diffuser too.

Literally a 10 minute job, and that included 5 minutes of me figuring out how to get the two bottom clips of the stock trim piece off

No instruction photos needed for this one, so just a couple since everyone has seen this before anyway.

[Merli]

Lastly, some measurements of the Mode Carbon front lip.

EXCELLENT clearance! Even lowered on KW HAS kit, it still meets the 100mm clearance requirement set by our state government

[Gstone]

I like that front lip. However, it is vert subtle in the pictures. Not sure about spending a large chunk of change if its not noticeable. How is it in person? Too subtle, are you happy?

[NorCal f80]

Damn, .47" is INSANELY low. I don't think you could even drive 10ft like that.

4.72" is more doable though.

Originally Posted by Gstone

I like that front lip. However, it is vert subtle in the pictures. Not sure about spending a large chunk of change if its not noticeable. How is it in person? Too subtle, are you happy?

I wouldn't do it, however if the bottom stuck out 2-3" I'd be all over it.

[EBM235]

I think the conversion from CM to inches is off. just off the top of my head I think 10CM is a little over 2 inches.

[Merli]

Originally Posted by 0-100 real quick

Damn, .47" is INSANELY low. I don't think you could even drive 10ft like that.

4.72" is more doable though.

Originally Posted by EBM235

I think the conversion from CM to inches is off. just off the top of my head I think 10CM is a little over 2 inches.

OMG, how embarassing...

I blame my tired, sun-affected brain. It was 91F in Sydney yesterday while I was installing these goodies

Pics have been fixed and updated, thanks guys!

[Merli]

Originally Posted by Gstone

I like that front lip. However, it is vert subtle in the pictures. Not sure about spending a large chunk of change if its not noticeable. How is it in person? Too subtle, are you happy?

Yes it is subtle, but very noticable to anyone who has spent any amount of time with an M3/M4. To someone who has never seen one before, they would think it's just a normal part of the bodywork.

............. and that's EXACTLY what I'm after

I'm over dealing with ostentatious bodykits with front splitters that stick out too far from the front of the car and chop off ankles and scrape in every driveway.

Subtle is exactly what I'm after, but I completely understand that it would be too subtle for other ppl. In which case, you should look at RKP's diffuser, going by Money's pics would be absolutely perfect!

[Gstone]

Thanks for pics Merli.
G'day, mate

[Padfan9]

Originally Posted by Merli

...... Oh, and I installed the RKP diffuser too.

Literally a 10 minute job, and that included 5 minutes of me figuring out how to get the two bottom clips of the stock trim piece off

No instruction photos needed for this one, so just a couple since everyone has seen this before anyway.

The car looks great! Love the diffuser. Do you see any difference in the RKP VS M Perf ? They look very similar, but RKP is more expensive. Any thoughts?

[_Marty_]

Looks great! thanks for sharing

[NorCal f80]

Originally Posted by Padfan9

The car looks great! Love the diffuser. Do you see any difference in the RKP VS M Perf ? They look very similar, but RKP is more expensive. Any thoughts?

I love the RKP diffuser. It does look similar to the MPE, but to me looks more complete if that makes any sense. Pictures below.

[Padfan9]

Originally Posted by 0-100 real quick

I love the RKP diffuser. It does look similar to the MPE, but to me looks more complete if that makes any sense. Pictures below.

Looks awesome ! Thank you!

[Powerbeast]

Wow talk about proper documentation lol looks good OP

[generalkp]

Installed mine today. Instead of removing the rubber guard I cut mine right around the edge.

[generalkp]

It's Tanzanite Blue

[teamwerx]

Had to purchase a business class broadband connection good enough for a twenty story building but the pix finally loaded.

Excellent write up, thanks for the details. Many of us will refer to this in the future.

What are your thoughts on the trunk function, kick to open or whatever?

[Merli]

Hehehe... I compressed the heck out of the pictures too!
Only 4.15 MB for all of them, shouldn't be too taxing for today's broadband connections...

Yes, I lost the kick open function for the trunk after I installed the RKP diffuser.

To be honest, that thing only worked about 50% of the time for me anyway, and I felt that you had to hold the "kick" for far too long before the car decided that you wanted the trunk opened. I felt like such a dumbass doing it.

I don't miss the feature at all