After 2.5 months of work, I am proud to be able to share this with all of you. This took over 200 hours of my time in between work and school, I hope you can see the passion that was put in to this and hope you will enjoy the mod 
This was the first project of this size I have taken on and I have learned a lot about the process.
A high-detail touring car.
-> 3.0L Inline 6, 6-speed H-shift
-> Full unibody frame
-> Original suspension
-> Detailed gauges, many goodies and animations
Has a lit taxi marker!
- Use Rear Fog Light (rfog) to turn on the center light.
- Use Extra Light (light extra) to turn on the duty lights.
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- Some work does remain that we'll keep plugging away at.
-> Some extra texture goodies to be added. Nothing critical, just extra features.
-> LOD2 needs work, it's just a basic model right now.
-> Driver's animation can use improvement. In some areas it needs fixing but does not impact one's ability to enjoy the mod.
-> Some further polish work to be done.
-> Wheels need some bolts.
-> A V8 version is on the way
- The model does not appear "perfect", but it's the best I have been able to do.
- Although this mod is inspired by a real life car, the intent was not to adhere to every single detail of the reference car, to allow creative decisions to be made. Only some elements of the mod will be matched to data of the real life counterpart - for example: downforce and transmissions. Items like suspension and differential, engine etc. were not made in exact reference to the real car.
Discussion is welcome, please be constructive and respectful. I hope you enjoy!
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Construction timelapse:
I learned a lot about this process as I was doing it - if you watch the timelapse video, you may find I'm making some poor decisions at the start. As I get through the project at the start, I realized I had to essentially start construction over because of mistakes that I didn't realize, which led into those issue cascading into larger issues. This cost me about 20 hours and another 16 hours to fix, but it was a worthwhile effort in what I learned.
Only the major construction portions were recorded. I didn't record most of the texture work being done, just because it takes so long to do and isn't as interesting to look at. There were many hours spent getting the skin map correct as well. Lots of these 'try-test-fix' situations just didn't make sense to record considering how long they take to get through.
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Downforce calculation:
Formula (informed by: https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/drag-coefficient-d_627.html) :
Fd = Cd * 1/2( (density of fluid) * (flow velocity^2) * (frontal area of the body) )
Fd = Downforce (Newtons) (all of the below multiplied together.)
cd = 0.27 (known drag coefficient value for the reference car)
p = 1.2 (kg/m^3) (air at standard pressure & temperature)
v = 27.8 (m/s)
A = 2.17 (m/s^2) (informed by: https://www.m5board.com/posts/1859540/)
For 100kmh
0.27 * (1/2 ( 1.2 * 27.8^2 * 2.17) = 271.684 N
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Frame:
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Derived model:
Credits:
This was the first project of this size I have taken on and I have learned a lot about the process. A high-detail touring car.
-> 3.0L Inline 6, 6-speed H-shift
-> Full unibody frame
-> Original suspension
-> Detailed gauges, many goodies and animations
Has a lit taxi marker!
- Use Rear Fog Light (rfog) to turn on the center light.
- Use Extra Light (light extra) to turn on the duty lights.
============
- Some work does remain that we'll keep plugging away at.
-> Some extra texture goodies to be added. Nothing critical, just extra features.
-> LOD2 needs work, it's just a basic model right now.
-> Driver's animation can use improvement. In some areas it needs fixing but does not impact one's ability to enjoy the mod.
-> Some further polish work to be done.
-> Wheels need some bolts.
-> A V8 version is on the way
- The model does not appear "perfect", but it's the best I have been able to do.
- Although this mod is inspired by a real life car, the intent was not to adhere to every single detail of the reference car, to allow creative decisions to be made. Only some elements of the mod will be matched to data of the real life counterpart - for example: downforce and transmissions. Items like suspension and differential, engine etc. were not made in exact reference to the real car.
Discussion is welcome, please be constructive and respectful. I hope you enjoy!
============
Construction timelapse:
I learned a lot about this process as I was doing it - if you watch the timelapse video, you may find I'm making some poor decisions at the start. As I get through the project at the start, I realized I had to essentially start construction over because of mistakes that I didn't realize, which led into those issue cascading into larger issues. This cost me about 20 hours and another 16 hours to fix, but it was a worthwhile effort in what I learned.
Only the major construction portions were recorded. I didn't record most of the texture work being done, just because it takes so long to do and isn't as interesting to look at. There were many hours spent getting the skin map correct as well. Lots of these 'try-test-fix' situations just didn't make sense to record considering how long they take to get through.
============
Downforce calculation:
Formula (informed by: https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/drag-coefficient-d_627.html) :
Fd = Cd * 1/2( (density of fluid) * (flow velocity^2) * (frontal area of the body) )
Fd = Downforce (Newtons) (all of the below multiplied together.)
cd = 0.27 (known drag coefficient value for the reference car)
p = 1.2 (kg/m^3) (air at standard pressure & temperature)
v = 27.8 (m/s)
A = 2.17 (m/s^2) (informed by: https://www.m5board.com/posts/1859540/)
For 100kmh
0.27 * (1/2 ( 1.2 * 27.8^2 * 2.17) = 271.684 N
============
Frame:
============
Derived model:
- SketchFab model https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/bmw-e39-free-531a5a93da5d493d9918eb36f011c20d . The model has been brought to LFS and groomed heavily, has all new textures and has been simplified in many areas.
- Blender project organization
- Model segmentation, import, cleanup, simplification, construction, grooming, adding in ancilliary features.
- Frame, suspension, engine sounds
- Modeled the gauges and various other interior goodies
- Modeled all panel gaps
- Did re-model of several areas in order to do cleanup
- Modeled misc items such as, license plate, plate holder, brake discs, boot logo
- Brake calipers: AutoHouse Performance Project - https://discord.gg/F4Xt5F7T6K
- Either used base-game textures, or textures were made myself.
- Extensive work was done to create original textures. Aimed at using as simple of textures as possible and focused on good choice of material versus finding tons of png's to use.
Credits:
- Biomeri: QA, coaching, consulting, modeling assistance
- Cocaina, OGDave, Badkapp, Marty, Kaiku: Creative input, research.
- Cocaina and Kaiku provided original videos with engine sounds
- RedLine Team: your support and faith in the project <3