GTS Hood

[domino_z]

Originally Posted by Figurka

Why?

Do you think all BMW parts are hand made by German engineers?

Idk...for my taste 2k are already much $$$ for a hood without painting.

Btw
... RW is located in California?

So they manufacture in California or is that where a warehouse/office/laptop with internet connection is located?

Each to their own

Imo +2k is a small price to pay for an oem fitting hood that is primed ready to paint to a flawless smooth finish out of the box (don't discount labor cost of filling and sanding a wet carbon overlay part)

FYI if they were manufacturing rep parts in US they'd have a law suit on their hands pretty quickly

[LOW4LYF]

Idk where they are located... I'm just saying that original M Performance parts are also made in cheap cost countries to safe money.

Nothing wrong with good aftermarket parts. Just because it's expensive and oem doesn't mean it's a great product, see the MPE exhaust.

[domino_z]

Originally Posted by Figurka

Idk where they are located... I'm just saying that original M Performance parts are also made in cheap cost countries to safe money.

Nothing wrong with good aftermarket parts. Just because it's expensive and oem doesn't mean it's a great product, see the MPE exhaust.

sure there are some great aftermarket companies, majority of which manufacturer for oe applications as well because they are great at what they do, ie; akra, bilstein, ohlins, etc. but no oe supplier is sourcing wet carbon overlay for structural/safety parts such as body panels from 'cheap cost countries'

the gts hood is manufactured in germany by Solvay using an autoclave - not to mention winning an award recently for most innovative composite part

perhaps you need to spend some time on google looking at the difference bw a wet overlay carbon part and a true carbon autoclave part, it'll help understanding the price disparity bw a genuine part and a replica off alibaba

[Kossos]

Originally Posted by Figurka

Idk where they are located... I'm just saying that original M Performance parts are also made in cheap cost countries to safe money.

Nothing wrong with good aftermarket parts. Just because it's expensive and oem doesn't mean it's a great product, see the MPE exhaust.

Absolutely, there are some fantastic aftermarket parts out there. If I can get the exact same look at 1/2 or 1/3 of the price, then why not?

[tom @ eas]

You'd be hard pressed to find a 3rd party hood that fits well. It just doesn't exist.

We've already had a few F8X aftermarket hoods through the doors, none properly line up. We'll be fitting an OEM GTS hood shortly - looking forward to it.

[LOW4LYF]

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

You'd be hard pressed to find a 3rd party hood that fits well. It just doesn't exist.

We've already had a few F8X aftermarket hoods through the doors, none properly line up. We'll be fitting an OEM GTS hood shortly - looking forward to it.

I agree with you... but this is not only a F8x issue.... btw. in my opinion the stock gaps on a F8x are already horrible, specially Fender, Hood, Bumper.

[LOW4LYF]

Originally Posted by domino_z

sure there are some great aftermarket companies, majority of which manufacturer for oe applications as well because they are great at what they do, ie; akra, bilstein, ohlins, etc. but no oe supplier is sourcing wet carbon overlay for structural/safety parts such as body panels from 'cheap cost countries'

the gts hood is manufactured in germany by Solvay using an autoclave - not to mention winning an award recently for most innovative composite part

perhaps you need to spend some time on google looking at the difference bw a wet overlay carbon part and a true carbon autoclave part, it'll help understanding the price disparity bw a genuine part and a replica off alibaba

I'm not talking about the hood... you may right with the hood. Idk to be honest.
Splitter, Diffuser etc. are defenetly not made in Germany, but the MPE exhaust is.

And yes, I do have them on my car... lol

But I'm also okay going with good quality aftermarket parts without a BMW logo

[Kossos]

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

You'd be hard pressed to find a 3rd party hood that fits well. It just doesn't exist.

We've already had a few F8X aftermarket hoods through the doors, none properly line up. We'll be fitting an OEM GTS hood shortly - looking forward to it.

I don't expect to get an OEM fit of a CF hood from an aftermarket company. I understand a hood is an extremely hard part to produce so that it fits perfectly, regardless of who's making it. I had a slight gap issue on my $800 Seibon hood on my Subaru and it still looked great. If I'm paying $4,000 - $7,000 less for a none OEM hood I'm excepting a loss in quality. It comes down to personal preference and the individuals threshold for quality vs cost.

My personal preference is to have a hood that has exposed carbon fiber so I can show some of it off when I get the hood wrapped. If the RW fails to meet my personal quality expectations, then I'll opt to pay the premium for the OEM hood and just wrap the entire thing.

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by Kossos

I don't expect to get an OEM fit of a CF hood from an aftermarket company. I understand a hood is an extremely hard part to produce so that it fits perfectly, regardless of who's making it. I had a slight gap issue on my $800 Seibon hood on my Subaru and it still looked great. If I'm paying $4,000 - $7,000 less for a none OEM hood I'm excepting a loss in quality. It comes down to personal preference and the individuals threshold for quality vs cost.

My personal preference is to have a hood that has exposed carbon fiber so I can show some of it off when I get the hood wrapped. If the RW fails to meet my personal quality expectations, then I'll opt to pay the premium for the OEM hood and just wrap the entire thing.

No one should really have to "expect" a loss in quality on aftermarket parts - your hard earned dollars are at work here. The overseas factories (China, Indonesia, etc) that these parts are sourced from have a single goal: volume.

Here's the typical script of how a lot of these companies operate:

- Overseas supplies manufactures carbon parts under various trading companies, looking for US vendors
- US based company buys & inventories carbon parts, marketing to US customer base
- US based customer sees US based vendor and purchases
- US based customer gets part, doesn't fit/bad quality and complains to US vendor
- US vendor swaps another part, receiving other in return, often not fitting or lax QC issues
- US based customer either accepts sub-par quality, "blames himself" for buying cheap parts, or returns part and pays restocking fee to US vendor
- US vendor repackages returned part, shipping to another customer and repeating same cycle over again until complaints stop

** Some companies will even go as far as taking returned product and "damage" it in shipping, and filing a claim from UPS/FedEx.

It comes down to only a matter of what you're willing to settle with or how sensitive your OCD is. If you got a part and are happy with it, you're one of the lucky ones.

/rant.

[jaybird124]

Generally speaking, what makes the hood harder to produce than the roof or deck lid?

GTS hood is not apples to apples with the stock CF roof. I'm only suggesting economies of scale and/or production techniques reduced the cost of the roof and deck lid. Could this be achieved with by OE suppliers with the hood for aftermarket or BMW afterSales?

[domino_z]

Originally Posted by jaybird124

Generally speaking, what makes the hood harder to produce than the roof or deck lid?

GTS hood is not apples to apples with the stock CF roof. I'm only suggesting economies of scale and/or production techniques reduced the cost of the roof and deck lid. Could this be achieved with by OE suppliers with the hood for aftermarket or BMW afterSales?

all those carbon parts are made using an autoclave to ensure utmost strength - have you seen what happens when you impact a wet carbon overlay part, it snaps just as easy as any frp part but with a much sharper edge that can slice through glass with the right amount of force - in australia carbon hoods/doors/trunks are illegal for this very reason (non oe that is)

aftermarket cuts labour cost by using wet lay up techniques, and sometimes vacuum forming on the higher end like revozport. no manufacturer in china selling 100-300 buck carbon parts on alibaba and ebay have the resources or budget within that price point to make parts using an autoclave

[jaybird124]

Originally Posted by domino_z

all those carbon parts are made using an autoclave to ensure utmost strength - have you seen what happens when you impact a wet carbon overlay part, it snaps just as easy as any frp part but with a much sharper edge that can slice through glass with the right amount of force - in australia carbon hoods/doors/trunks are illegal for this very reason (non oe that is)

aftermarket cuts labour cost by using wet lay up techniques, and sometimes vacuum forming on the higher end like revozport. no manufacturer in china selling 100-300 buck carbon parts on alibaba and ebay have the resources or budget within that price point to make parts using an autoclave

I'm talking about OE suppliers. BMW is not using china or alibaba to supply their roofs and deck lids. Not are they being manufactured in a manner that would compromise crash safety.
Simply curious if price and technique will be optimized alongside the upcoming CS

[mariom3]

Originally Posted by Pennzoil

Got the hood already one month , yesterday have time arrange paint job , very nice hood

What is that green line on the bottom of your vorsteiner front lip? Is it a layer of protection from scrapes?

[edwinm3]

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

You'd be hard pressed to find a 3rd party hood that fits well. It just doesn't exist.

We've already had a few F8X aftermarket hoods through the doors, none properly line up. We'll be fitting an OEM GTS hood shortly - looking forward to it.

^This

[domino_z]

realoem listing a retrofit parts guide - seems the hood struts are unique to this hood given the change in weighting

interesting they note it as a CS part too

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...61#41618068159

[horsepower_and_hounds]

Their US location is US but I highly doubt it is made here. I have the lip, splitters and diffuser and it looked imported

RW Carbon
3921 E La Palma Ave Unit E
Anaheim, CA 92807

[Pennzoil]

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

You'd be hard pressed to find a 3rd party hood that fits well. It just doesn't exist.

We've already had a few F8X aftermarket hoods through the doors, none properly line up. We'll be fitting an OEM GTS hood shortly - looking forward to it.

Even oem gts hood also have a little bit fitment issue , the rubber seal on the bumper will push up the hood , need do some job

[jeff@autocouture]

We have 2 OEM GTS hoods in stock now

[mariom3]

......

[mikex25]

Originally Posted by ehagerty

Their US location is US but I highly doubt it is made here. I have the lip, splitters and diffuser and it looked imported

RW Carbon
3921 E La Palma Ave Unit E
Anaheim, CA 92807

Parts from them are definitely from China

[jeff@autocouture]

Originally Posted by Lowness

PM me price shipped

Pm sent

[jpdchicago]

I have your solution. You can still find a GTS at MSRP as of this week. Gets you the hood for free...