LED Spars with Integrated Rad Grilles and Wheel Spacers Fitted This Weekend

[Andy L]

My new LED spars arrived this week from the US. So yesterday I managed to get a bit of time to fit them to the car. The job took around 30 minutes at the most to complete and was really straightforward. there was not cutting of any wires and all of the original foglamp wiring is nicely sealed and tucked away if I want to return to the original factory look.

 

I'm sure there will be differing opinions, but I think these really tidy the front end of the gen 1 up and give it a much more modern look. The integrated grilles also look great and provide practical protection at the same time.

 

Before and after photo's below. I also managed to fit a set of wheel spacers this weekend. 7mm front and 15mm rear. I think they've really improved the look and stance of the car. I'll upload some photos of the newly spaced wheels once I get chance.

[Andy L]

Fitted a new Pioneer CarPlay head unit this weekend. Easrier in the week I replaced the basic door and dash speakers with a set of Rockford Fosgate 165-S Prime speakers. The speakers dropped in to both the doors and dash without the need for any drilling or adjustments. The improvement in sound quality is incredible, I'd go as far as to say it's better that the sound in my previous gen 2 car which had pcm 3.1 and Bose. With the colour matched bezel I think it looks great and I've now got full iPhone integration, Bluetooth, sat nav and phone functionality.

[DJMC]

The LEDs look OK, but why didn't they retain the fog lamps and just make the inboard spars into LED ones? That way you'd keep the functionality and add a little extra. I guess it's down to cost.

[DKR_77]

4 hours ago, Andy L said:

Fitted a new Pioneer CarPlay head unit this weekend. Easrier in the week I replaced the basic door and dash speakers with a set of Rockford Fosgate 165-S Prime speakers. The speakers dropped in to both the doors and dash without the need for any drilling or adjustments. The improvement in sound quality is incredible, I'd go as far as to say it's better that the sound in my previous gen 2 car which had pcm 3.1 and Bose. With the colour matched bezel I think it looks great and I've now got full iPhone integration, Bluetooth, sat nav and phone functionality.

 

Nice job! 

[Luke]

1 hour ago, DJMC said:

The LEDs look OK, but why didn't they retain the fog lamps and just make the inboard spars into LED ones? That way you'd keep the functionality and add a little extra. I guess it's down to cost.

 

Looks more modern in my opinion. Rare to see rounded fog lights on the front of many new vehicles.

[Andy L]

11 hours ago, Luke said:

 

Looks more modern in my opinion. Rare to see rounded fog lights on the front of many new vehicles.

That's the intent. The guy who designed them felt that the foglights looked a little dated, so came up with this design. Apparently they work really well in the fog so you're not actually losing anything. I'm really pleased with them, the photos just don't do them justice. I really need to up my game when it comes to taking pics of my car.

[DJMC]

16 hours ago, Luke said:

 

Looks more modern in my opinion. Rare to see rounded fog lights on the front of many new vehicles.

 

What has happened to fog lamps at the front generally? Are headlamps taking over their function nowadays?

[Andy L]

I think the significant increase in efficiency and effectiveness of LED's is starting to render the traditional foglamp pretty much redundant. In an increasingly design conscious world LED technology enables manufacturers to be far more creative whilst increasing efficiency and longevity. 

 

[Beanoir™]

I don't have them (or need them) on the M5, I think we may see them disappear eventually.