Carbon Black E46 m3


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Dannyboy205

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Well after some searching i stumbled across this e46 M3 manual coupe, fit the budget and had a suitable spec for me. Ready to get upgraded and tracked!

Its had 1 owners from new! Just had new brakes, full cooling system over haul and mich pilots all round. Steering wheel has been retrimmed with m stiching, but i want this redone in alcantara

Needs a new m3 rear badge and thats about it. Has a warranty so ill be giving the car a full inspection need week.

Has 18" wheels, i might try source two rears and run a square setup.

 
Nice! Really like these and can get them for a good price now!
 
Thanks, once christmas is out the way ill start collecting parts for it

Plans are
Square setup
Ap/ bbk
Kw v3
Maybe leather recaro drivers seat
Evolve map
 
if you are wanting V3's it is worth paying the wee bit extra for the clubsports - V3's don't come with top mounts and also use a progressive front spring whereas the clubsports have top mounts and linear springs

looks very clean for an early one!!!
 
Ye i did wonder about the top mounts! Ill look into cs then. Need to remove the clutch delay valve and also do the aux fan removal and electric fan upgrade.

Any other advice steven? What rear camber arms are you running.
 
turner motorsport ones with metallistic bushes - spherical wouldn't last on a road car. the turner arms allow all adjustment at the end of the arm unlike eibach etc which are obscured at one end by exhaust etc

where the rear upper and lower arms bolt to the RTA, there are spherical ball joints on the RTA rather than bushes - guarantee these will all be seized, mine were even after 65k so replaced them all with lemforder ones

nice upgrade inside is to fit a bobby basic rear centre console which will delete the arm rest - it's just a pain when you're out for a spirited drive
 
Ye i was looking into an arm rest delete, i found it got in the way even in the first m3 i took for a test drive. My mate lives near royal steering wheels, so i might get a second steering wheel to redo in alcantara
 
So i found out a few things, car has hsd coil overs and eibach rear anti roll bar and standard springs with eibach springs on the front!??

Also the car has the shut off rattle from the gbox. Getting a new clutch and release bearing monday on the warranty so ill inspect the rattle then,
 
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Little update. Car had alot of gbox chatter. Turns out it has a single mass flywheel but the wrong clutch. I fit a new dual mass/ clutch/ bearings/ bolts and removed cdv. Hopefully should keep me in good stead for track next year.
 
So i managed to source a replacement O ring for the leaking constant pressure valve. As i didnt need to buy a new valve and bmw dont sell the O ring on its own.



i also purchased some rear shock tower reinforcement plates as the car has rear coilovers.



After looking into making the car reliable on track, cooling seems to be an issue on hot days. And this seems to come.down to restricted air flow from the aux fan and shroud setup. So i have ordered a 16" mishimoto electric fan to replace the aux and viscous fan setup. This should add air flow through the rad, then in traffic the mishimoto puller fan will be run of the standard aux fan controller.

Fan should be here tomorrow but i have this fitting kit to mount it to the rad. Not sure if i want to use this kit yet or make some brackets.




Also got a alcantara gear gaitor and handbrake gaitor, hopefully ill have another steering wheel to retrim soon in alcantara

I also picked up a another set of 18 inch wheels so i can run a square setup.

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So my mishimoto puller fan arrived! Will get this wired in soon with some updates with the aux/ viscous fan delete!





on the weekend im goner swap my wheels around, give the arches a clean and get some protection on the arch lips if the weathers ok (previous experience from old hondas).

Ill also swap over the gaitors and fit the reinforcement plates
 
Few updates. Had the car up on the ramps and has 2 small subframe cracks. So i will get the floor reinforced soon as well as some bushings/ adjustable camber arms.

Ive been pretty ill so havent done my viscous fan delete yet, but i did get around to fitting the rear shock tower reinforcement plates. And i swapped the gaitors over. As you can see it needs some new interior plastics as there scratched.

Fitting the gaitors, not sure if the colour scheme fits or not, as i need the steering wheel retrimmed, Im after a spare wheel as mine is in such good condition i feel bad getting it redone!



Gearknob comes off with a swift two handed pull, but dont hit yourself in the face! can any one identify this gearknob?



Gaitor comes of by pushing either side in to release the tabs



Hand brake gaitor pulls forward towards the front of the car to release itself





All fitted, not too sure on the look. ill see how it goes...

Accessed my rear coil overs



and fitted the strut tower reinforcement plates

 
A So a few little updates. Picked up a set of kwv3s for a good price.
Stripped them and gave them a clean up.


Ive ordered new rear topmounts to go with them and im currently looking for some decent front top mounts.

I also popped into costco and got a new jack for a decent price.



Ive also removed the aux fan and tomorrow ill be removing the viscous fan and fitting my mishimoto fan
 
Q So i fit my rear kws today, still waiting on my front top mounts

Right so i made a few orders including one at bmw

Rear diff output seals/ o ring and lock rings.
Rear diff oil
Rear spring rubbers as the oem ones are missing

Also picked up a aet of top mounts fir my front k3 coil oves



And i ordered new upper spring perch bearings to go with the top mounts.



Then i just need some rear lower camber arms and im nearly there suspension wise. I think ill rebush the rear end and get the geo setup and see how she drives.

Just need a bbk and im happy, royal steering wheels are currently retrimming a wheel in black alcantara for me. So i had a few parts arrive from BMW which is always exciting!



I fit my front KW v3s on the weekend, actually found a pretty nice setup for them, the rears are too stiff at the moment, i find at speed bumps effect them to much so ill have to adjust them. Also i might add some more front camber as its pretty conservative at the moment.





I stripped the coilovers and top mounts right down. Cleaned amd greased everything.

New upper perch bearings and rubber and new oem lower rubber spring perch and uprated rear topmounts with reinforcement plates.

Also on a side note we made some cool tracks at work!

Haven't updated this for a little while. Have been pretty busy, but i have a new job with access to a fully equipped workshop so expect to see sum big updates soon.

Now the car was serviced 2k before i got the car, i checked the filters etc and they where in good condition but im pretty particular with my vehicles so i decided to start afresh.

Using Mahle filters as im pretty certain they are the provider of BMW oem filters.

Oil Castrol 10w60
Oil Filter
Fuel Filter
Pollen Filter
Air Filter
Spark Plugs
Vanos Filter + O ring.

I will do a Gbox oil and Valve clearance check soon. Also will be doing a rear end rebuild so i decided to do the Diff oil then at the same time.







Old vanos filter





I also removed my AUX fan and viscous fan for my mishimoto slim line puller setup. As you can see i have chopped the original van controller unit and crimped new connectors on to the mishimoto fan.



I ran the wiring around the air pump and secure the unit on the chassis leg but not close to the exhaust manifold.



I used push fit quick fan fittings as i didnt want to remove the rad to drill holes (didnt have access to a drill with 90 degree attachment)

Then last weekend me and a few friends popped to wales for a trip up snowdon and hit up the evo triangle and surrounding roads. There are lots of pics and go pro footage that need to be sifted through. But heres some grainy pics from my mobile etc









Thats all for now. I had a good look over the rear end of the car and have found a few Issues.

The good points are the discs and pads are fairly new and the upper and lower control arm spherical bushings are actually in good condition.

The bad points -

2 small subframe cracks
Diff out put seals weeping
RTAB soft and excess movement

So i have collected so far
Complete OEM bmw differential seal kit with snap rings
Powerflex rear trailing arm bushings

To buy this week
Rear camber arms
Rear Brake lines (braided)
Pagid RS249 Pads
Subframe reinforcement kit

Will keep you guys updated
 
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