redblur

I was at the Philadelphia International Auto Show this past weekend, and despite all the MORONS with no respect for any car at the show (hitting, steeping on armrests and seats, knocking body panels with knuckles as if looking for wall studs), I was noticing something about the BMW M3.

This particular one had a dry carbon fiber interior. Some parts of the console had what appeared to be dry carbon just wrapped around some parts. It looked really sharp, and I was wondering if anyone knew where to find something along those lines. Thanks!

alleycat58

What do you mean by "dry" carbon fiber???? Carbon fiber is actually a fabric that's then covered with a coating to make what we usually see in exterior car parts. So all you're really looking for is the fabric without the coating. Not sure where you'd find it, but it's not anything terribly special.

ls1fbody

dry carbon fibre is a different process of coating/forming Alley, it does exist.

Deathscythe

you have dry and wet. Wet is the glossy kind that we are used to seeing on most cars now. Dry looks exactly like it sounds... dry.

And I think the dry carbon parts cost a lot more due to the manufacture process.

ls1fbody

^true, "wet" carbon, is just a sheet of woven carbon threads, molded, then coated in a resin or epoxy or both.

Dry carbon, the ultimate form of carbon fibre. This method is also known as vacuum formed dry carbon
fibre and is usually the most expensive due to the lengthy moulding and curing procedures and
actual material costs . This method is more suited to the hardcore race and track cars where
maximum strength and minimum weight are paramount and is mostly applied to main
structural components such as seats, body panels, blanking plates, chassis members etc. A
100% pre preg carbon fibre roof panel for example can weigh over 20kilo’s LESS than a factory
component.
“Pre preg” refers to the pre impregnated carbon sheeting employed, where the carbon fibre
material has been pre impregnated throughout with the resin mixture.
The manufacturing process consists of vacuum- forming sheets of pre-resin impregnated
carbon fibre into a mould, under great atmospheric pressure and at temperatures between 150
and 500 C in a chamber known as an Autoclave. This allows the fibres to form into an incredibly
strong yet exceptionally lightweight composite material completely free of weakening air
bubbles. Carbon products made this way display the most strength and durability of any
process

Deathscythe

The Zonda R has dry carbon that is woven with titanium. It's one of the lightest cars on the market that isn't a F1 car.

ls1fbody

^that is ridiculous. Dry carbon looks like some crazy ****. Seibon will never make parts for our cars...

its just not practical to have it on a street car

Deathscythe

there is a dry carbon fiber kit for the gt-r and it costs about 24 grand. That's more than what I paid for my car.

IMADreamer

Sure it is, but it's like everything else in the Cobalt world people say they want it until they see the price and then they are too damn tight to buy it so no vendor will ever make it. Dry Carbon fiber aftermarket parts is a very popular thing amongst Porsche owners and I've personally bolted on a few dry carbon parts to my exgfs 335i.

So clearly it's doable in a street car but as usual the clientele dictates if it gets made or not. Ask the vendors here, the reason we don't get stuff like this is because the kids here say they want it but won't pay.