phoenix yellow e46 m3 coupe manual
Discussion
Good to see you are all prepared. Not a bad score on the 'lid!
As for the Falkens the 453s are not a bad choice. They are very grippy for sure.
If I had any complaints it would be:
-Poor tyre life ; they only last around 8-9k with other seeming to be similar; there is a very good chance I'll be changing mine before Xmas ; they are below 2.5mm in places already with 7k on them!
-Poor rim protection ; Compared to the Michelins and Contis the protection is terrible. Not bad if you park in parralel bays etc. but a nightmare if you parallel park or drive in a small town. Yes you can avoid kerbs but it's tricky in something with the visibility of the E46 ; small wonder the LH mirror dips when reversing.
If the car is for low mileage though I would probably get them again
. Seeing as it is a daily I may bend over backwards and get the MPSS ; I know the PS2s on my 944 Turbo lasted an age (around 13k when I sold the car and they still were far from being illegal ). But what a cost for anything in 19, coming from paying no more than £120 a tyre!
As for the Falkens the 453s are not a bad choice. They are very grippy for sure.
If I had any complaints it would be:
-Poor tyre life ; they only last around 8-9k with other seeming to be similar; there is a very good chance I'll be changing mine before Xmas ; they are below 2.5mm in places already with 7k on them!
-Poor rim protection ; Compared to the Michelins and Contis the protection is terrible. Not bad if you park in parralel bays etc. but a nightmare if you parallel park or drive in a small town. Yes you can avoid kerbs but it's tricky in something with the visibility of the E46 ; small wonder the LH mirror dips when reversing.
If the car is for low mileage though I would probably get them again
. Seeing as it is a daily I may bend over backwards and get the MPSS ; I know the PS2s on my 944 Turbo lasted an age (around 13k when I sold the car and they still were far from being illegal ). But what a cost for anything in 19, coming from paying no more than £120 a tyre!Cactussed said:
Odd hijack, but I've got some tyres kicking around at home which are up for grabs?
1 x 265/30/19 FK453
1 x 265/30/19 P Zero
2 x 275/35/19 FK453's
All with 5-6mm tread on them. Are they of any use to you guys? I'm located near High Wycombe (so you're prob driving past on your way to the ring from Cardiff)...
If you had 255s I may have been interested. I really don't want to change the rears and then have to change the fronts to wider tyres as well.1 x 265/30/19 FK453
1 x 265/30/19 P Zero
2 x 275/35/19 FK453's
All with 5-6mm tread on them. Are they of any use to you guys? I'm located near High Wycombe (so you're prob driving past on your way to the ring from Cardiff)...
Good feedback on the 453s SM, won't be used much so wear shouldn't be too much of an issue, hopefully I don't curb the wheels!
Cheers for the offer Catcussed, yea if you had some 225/40/19s there I prob would have taken you up on the offer and got them fitted over there!
That kinda sucks S3, I don't feel sooo bad now ha; but still pretty poor rate. WIll no doubt be the same next month for France.
Kinda bored just hanging around now, want to get off.. Enjoying watching Dannydc2's vlog on YT though; very good watch
Cheers for the offer Catcussed, yea if you had some 225/40/19s there I prob would have taken you up on the offer and got them fitted over there!
That kinda sucks S3, I don't feel sooo bad now ha; but still pretty poor rate. WIll no doubt be the same next month for France.
Kinda bored just hanging around now, want to get off.. Enjoying watching Dannydc2's vlog on YT though; very good watch
well back from NBR; great trip..
The run down to Folkstone was a quick one on Thursday night, the roads were clear so didn't take too long to get to the tunnel.
The crossing is less glamorous than I'd imagined, think I've seen the EVO guys going over and romanticized it somewhat
the journey is very quick though, 25 minutes and we were in France
we arrived early on Friday morning and parked up at our accomadation @ Burgstube with the Zur Nurburg restaurant just across the way as seen here
great line up of cars and some very quick boys, the rs3 and the Evo 10 setting mid 8 minute times, very impressive.
Enjoying the first beer of the trip
The TF sessions were plagued by stoppages unfortunately, we queued for 2 hours to get on for Fridays session which didn't happen at all
spent the whole time on the roundabout
while I was there I recognized the guy in a Cooper S Works in front of me; asked his mate and turns out it was Dan Prosser of EVO mag the boy I asked works for TG too, sounds like they were on a jolly, or not so jolly as the session didn't go ahead.
Sat PM TF session didn't happen either (I don't think?! - hard to remember!) I didn't get out on the circuit I know that much. We were all set for an early lap on Sunday as the TF session was from 8am to 7pm. So we got up, had breakfast, and headed down to the circuit with quite a few others having the same idea. We waited; and waited some more, then Dale Lomas announced over an FB livestream that someone had painted the track over night with emulsion paint and a clean up crew was needed to clear it all up
some have no sense really, did they expect emulsion to dry on a wet track at night?
So we managed to get on at about 11am. I bought 4 laps which was 105 euros. I managed 3 laps in total before the track was shut again due to crashes etc. Quickest was a 10:09, frustrating I couldn't break to 10 min barrier but didn't get a clean lap, yellow flags and on my quickest I got held up by a polo sat in the fast lane through lauder links which didn't help.
We filled up the days with watching and going for some scenic drives, we had a professional photographer with us so there should be some great photos coming out in the next few days/weeks.
the rs3 had complete front pad failure so needed full replacements, Hawk pads were ordered and Rent 4 Ring graciously opened up and fitted them
we lined up for the necessary picture before departure on Tuesday morning before walking around the complex; which is still more or less empty. Still lots of flies in our Subway sandwiches though
whilst out there I thought we'd see lots of m3's, wasn't prepaired to see so many phoenix yellows though!
There were many others!
Think I spent about 800 euros all told, most of that went on food and petrol. 1,200 miles all told.
The BM held up well, it did feel it's age, or rather mileage whilst pushing on track. Going out in the s2000 with new coilovers and Federal RSRs felt incredibly taught and poised compared to the M3s slightly wooly feel through the corners. This should all get sorted in the next few months though.
A great trip, looking forward to getting back with a few improvements made to the M, 3rd time lucky on the sub 10 minute lap hopefully!
p.s. I may have mixed some of my days up! still pretty tired from the slightly arduous and long trip home
The run down to Folkstone was a quick one on Thursday night, the roads were clear so didn't take too long to get to the tunnel.
The crossing is less glamorous than I'd imagined, think I've seen the EVO guys going over and romanticized it somewhat
the journey is very quick though, 25 minutes and we were in France
we arrived early on Friday morning and parked up at our accomadation @ Burgstube with the Zur Nurburg restaurant just across the way as seen here
great line up of cars and some very quick boys, the rs3 and the Evo 10 setting mid 8 minute times, very impressive.
Enjoying the first beer of the trip
The TF sessions were plagued by stoppages unfortunately, we queued for 2 hours to get on for Fridays session which didn't happen at all
spent the whole time on the roundabout
while I was there I recognized the guy in a Cooper S Works in front of me; asked his mate and turns out it was Dan Prosser of EVO mag
the boy I asked works for TG too, sounds like they were on a jolly, or not so jolly as the session didn't go ahead.Sat PM TF session didn't happen either (I don't think?! - hard to remember!) I didn't get out on the circuit I know that much. We were all set for an early lap on Sunday as the TF session was from 8am to 7pm. So we got up, had breakfast, and headed down to the circuit with quite a few others having the same idea. We waited; and waited some more, then Dale Lomas announced over an FB livestream that someone had painted the track over night with emulsion paint and a clean up crew was needed to clear it all up
some have no sense really, did they expect emulsion to dry on a wet track at night? So we managed to get on at about 11am. I bought 4 laps which was 105 euros. I managed 3 laps in total before the track was shut again due to crashes etc. Quickest was a 10:09, frustrating I couldn't break to 10 min barrier but didn't get a clean lap, yellow flags and on my quickest I got held up by a polo sat in the fast lane through lauder links which didn't help.
We filled up the days with watching and going for some scenic drives, we had a professional photographer with us so there should be some great photos coming out in the next few days/weeks.
the rs3 had complete front pad failure so needed full replacements, Hawk pads were ordered and Rent 4 Ring graciously opened up and fitted them
we lined up for the necessary picture before departure on Tuesday morning before walking around the complex; which is still more or less empty. Still lots of flies in our Subway sandwiches though
whilst out there I thought we'd see lots of m3's, wasn't prepaired to see so many phoenix yellows though!
There were many others!
Think I spent about 800 euros all told, most of that went on food and petrol. 1,200 miles all told.
The BM held up well, it did feel it's age, or rather mileage whilst pushing on track. Going out in the s2000 with new coilovers and Federal RSRs felt incredibly taught and poised compared to the M3s slightly wooly feel through the corners. This should all get sorted in the next few months though.
A great trip, looking forward to getting back with a few improvements made to the M, 3rd time lucky on the sub 10 minute lap hopefully!
p.s. I may have mixed some of my days up! still pretty tired from the slightly arduous and long trip home
cheers guys, should have literally hundreds more images soon, but not taken me ha
Yea I can see the potential in the m3, maybe I'm being too critical it felt great out there, but in the back of my mind a suspension refresh inc all bushings etc should really tighten things up and bring back that new car handling smell
Yea I can see the potential in the m3, maybe I'm being too critical it felt great out there, but in the back of my mind a suspension refresh inc all bushings etc should really tighten things up and bring back that new car handling smell
Love it, another E46, 330i flavour. And was at the ring back in April, still not confident enough for the 10min mark, but down to low 11's without feeling rushed.
Found stock brakes are a bit lacking, DS2500 pads, full fluid flush with ATE Typ200 and stainless lines solved that problem
Found stock brakes are a bit lacking, DS2500 pads, full fluid flush with ATE Typ200 and stainless lines solved that problem
Edited by Sf_Manta on Wednesday 10th August 21:19
I think that's a picture 99% of us see as a 'must have' at some point great photo, still yet to find any of mine!
Yea mine had the ATE fluids and new pads all around just before I bought it.
Still a good time bud, there was huge pressure from the boys on my trip to get sub 10; and a year of banter coming for not quite getting there but you really have to be shifting to achieve it. The time comes in the faster sections I believe, I was happy to hit about 110/120mph max in the BM as this was its first proper outing and pretty much an unknown to me, next year I'll have more confidence in it.
The boy with the rs3 did an 8:48 on his first ever lap, that's seriously impressive and he was happy hitting big speeds on the faster sections where I was holding at a cruise. More to it than just that of course but think that's where I'll make the most gains next visit.
still had fun though
https://youtu.be/3BzQm667B0U
great photo, still yet to find any of mine!Yea mine had the ATE fluids and new pads all around just before I bought it.
Still a good time bud, there was huge pressure from the boys on my trip to get sub 10; and a year of banter coming for not quite getting there
but you really have to be shifting to achieve it. The time comes in the faster sections I believe, I was happy to hit about 110/120mph max in the BM as this was its first proper outing and pretty much an unknown to me, next year I'll have more confidence in it. The boy with the rs3 did an 8:48 on his first ever lap, that's seriously impressive and he was happy hitting big speeds on the faster sections where I was holding at a cruise. More to it than just that of course but think that's where I'll make the most gains next visit.
still had fun though
https://youtu.be/3BzQm667B0U
https://youtu.be/0fLV4tXbNCM
plenty of room for improvement, shame about the yellow and the hold up @ Lauder though, could have been sub 10 without any more effort
plenty of room for improvement, shame about the yellow and the hold up @ Lauder though, could have been sub 10 without any more effort
squareflops said:
I think that's a picture 99% of us see as a 'must have' at some point great photo, still yet to find any of mine!
Yea mine had the ATE fluids and new pads all around just before I bought it.
Still a good time bud, there was huge pressure from the boys on my trip to get sub 10; and a year of banter coming for not quite getting there but you really have to be shifting to achieve it. The time comes in the faster sections I believe, I was happy to hit about 110/120mph max in the BM as this was its first proper outing and pretty much an unknown to me, next year I'll have more confidence in it.
The boy with the rs3 did an 8:48 on his first ever lap, that's seriously impressive and he was happy hitting big speeds on the faster sections where I was holding at a cruise. More to it than just that of course but think that's where I'll make the most gains next visit.
still had fun though
https://youtu.be/3BzQm667B0U
It's better not to chase a time, certainly on your first trip, but it's not too bad. I was spoiled when we went in May as only the very first morning session (or after a closure) was as busy as that, the rest of the time was quite quiet. That and knowing where the track goes is what gets your times down. A mate of mine who's a better driver threw his E36 M3 round in about 8min 20 odd (1 minute quicker than my E46!) I think on only his second lap, some people are just born quick! Appreciate what you say about the speed though, I was building up slowly then one lap thought I'd go for it. Went from 120mph heading up to Schwedenkreuz to 130mph, then 140mph hitting about 145 in the end. All in the cojones! great photo, still yet to find any of mine!Yea mine had the ATE fluids and new pads all around just before I bought it.
Still a good time bud, there was huge pressure from the boys on my trip to get sub 10; and a year of banter coming for not quite getting there
but you really have to be shifting to achieve it. The time comes in the faster sections I believe, I was happy to hit about 110/120mph max in the BM as this was its first proper outing and pretty much an unknown to me, next year I'll have more confidence in it. The boy with the rs3 did an 8:48 on his first ever lap, that's seriously impressive and he was happy hitting big speeds on the faster sections where I was holding at a cruise. More to it than just that of course but think that's where I'll make the most gains next visit.
still had fun though
https://youtu.be/3BzQm667B0U
oh and
squareflops said:
Enjoying the first beer of the trip
That's not a beer. THIS is a beer! 
It's only 200cc short of our engine capacity
Edited by Mr.Jimbo on Thursday 11th August 22:45
That's definitely a photoshop; right? 
Well finally managed to wash Germany, Belgium (hate Belgium motorways) and France off the BM today. I pulled the wheels off to check the pads as we're off to France in about 5 weeks and thought I might need some fronts but all good
rears are great too
so the oils topped up, and ready to go. I've ordered 8 litres of Castrol Edge, oil filter & fuel filter to change before France as that'll likely be another 1k on her.
Washed, still sitting high as hasn't settled yet
I'm deciding which way to go with it at the moment. plan A is to refresh the engine with a vanos rebuild if required and maybe a new head gasket plus whatever else it needs like bushings, diff seal renewal (there's a slight weeping from at least the near side output shaft) power steering lines etc etc i.e. whatever it needs to freshen it up. Plan B is lots of goodies, lighter seats for the front (Sparco Pro 2000 2s) coilovers (ST ATXs), big brake conversion (D2) and rear cage with rear seat removal etc. Option C is a mix of both - plus a few other bits and bobs.
hmm, not sure. I really like the car as it is but I've never been a fan of leather and these seats barely hold you in when you're on a circuit and I do fancy doing some more track work. Ohh, I'm really liking the CAE shifter too, think that's going to be a must have.
We will see in time
Well finally managed to wash Germany, Belgium (hate Belgium motorways) and France off the BM today. I pulled the wheels off to check the pads as we're off to France in about 5 weeks and thought I might need some fronts but all good
rears are great too
so the oils topped up, and ready to go. I've ordered 8 litres of Castrol Edge, oil filter & fuel filter to change before France as that'll likely be another 1k on her.
Washed, still sitting high as hasn't settled yet
I'm deciding which way to go with it at the moment. plan A is to refresh the engine with a vanos rebuild if required and maybe a new head gasket plus whatever else it needs like bushings, diff seal renewal (there's a slight weeping from at least the near side output shaft) power steering lines etc etc i.e. whatever it needs to freshen it up. Plan B is lots of goodies, lighter seats for the front (Sparco Pro 2000 2s) coilovers (ST ATXs), big brake conversion (D2) and rear cage with rear seat removal etc. Option C is a mix of both - plus a few other bits and bobs.
hmm, not sure. I really like the car as it is but I've never been a fan of leather and these seats barely hold you in when you're on a circuit and I do fancy doing some more track work. Ohh, I'm really liking the CAE shifter too, think that's going to be a must have.
We will see in time
squareflops said:
That's definitely a photoshop; right?
Haha no Photoshop, just 3 litres and €20 of beer. Took ages to drink and weighed an absolute ton at the start, best to set aside an hour or three if you plan on ordering one Best bit was we only wanted 1 litre! (Each)
Agree with you on the seats btw, got a Pro2000 in the track car, and even drove all the way to lemans and back in a Peugeot Sport Corsa (pretty much identical to the 2000 as far as I can tell) - really like Sparcos. I'm sure I had bruises off the inflatable bolsters on the M3 seats after two days at the ring!
Edited by Mr.Jimbo on Sunday 14th August 21:04
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