2003 BMW M3 - The New Daily
Discussion
Now, back on track....
I may as well say it to avoid keeping you folks lingering! A few of us of this parish have been meaning to hit the Spa racetrack for quite some time. The idea was first discussed over a year ago, inevitably in a pub, where all sorts of dangerous things are suggested! This however, would soon become a reality a few months ago when I booked the track time, accomodation, and Eurotunnel for heading over! Typically, as I've alluded to in the Citroen 2CV thread I've been a pretty busy person lately, with a job change, a couple of evenings of getting back home later from work due to increased mileage, as well as family news testing my time limits. Couple that, with me getting the W124 ready and fit for the roads with its own set of issues the poor M3 just sat forlorn in the unit after the Retro Rides Gathering. That would all change when I got a set of wheels for it. Sure, No-one needs a set of track tyres, but like anything, they can help bring a bit of mojo back to the table with a car. Since I hadn't done a brake fluid change since I first bought the car I ended up tying those two jobs into one.
Of course, this is how the car started out:
M3 Wheels by Charlieboy, on Flickr
M3 Wheels by Charlieboy, on Flickr
It's funny, I debate an E9x M3 at times but as time goes on, I find myself wanting one alot less. Strange I know!
With the brake fluid bought and a new bleeding device obtained I made a start on preparing the car:
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on Flickr
The Laser brake bleeder was more expensive than an Eezibleed. Despite being more fragile in some ways (easy with pulling up on the pump too hard!) it's much less of a faff to use compared to an Eezibleed, and far far easier to move about! Thanks to this new device I changed the wheels and had the fluid all changed within the hour. Not a bad result at all As for the brake fluid, yes, I know it's Ford brake fluid, but being Super DOT 4, it should be an improvement over most of the stuff at my local motor factors. Which brings me onto doing the oil filter, a job I'd been meaning to do since changing the big ends:
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on Flickr
Under my ownership, the car has only seen genuine filters, albeit a Purflux item when I first got the car. I know it was Mahle filters before that service going by the history. This filter was a Mann that I took it. Yes, it's almost half of the price of the latest BMW/Mahle item, but the Mahle item (in the OX187 flavour, not the earlier OX68D), is said to have some good filtration material in addition to more pleats than other filters on the market, including the earlier filfilter. Maybe that seems a little overkill to do on a 16 year old car, but then again, those S54 lumps don't come cheap. Considering the filter is about the same price from BMW as an oil filter for a Focus ST/Mondeo 2.5T it doesn't make much sense to save a couple of quid for the sake of it:
It was also much eaiser to install the new filter over the Mann filter, which requires disconnecting the TPS sensor every time in addition to forcing/bending it past the inlet manifold.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&a...
At the same time I switched the rather tired looking ignition coils for 5 new Bosch items, thus meaning all of the coils in my M3 have now been replaced. But why did I change them? Now and again on the motorway and if the engine was getting warm from sitting behind someone slow for some time, like I did with someone in an MG Midget coming back from RRG (25mph in a 50 anyone?) the car would occasionally hiccup. Not firm enough to notice,but for someone like me, who has known the car for a couple years, it was bugging me. This is what prompted me to swap out the coils. BMW now sell Bosch items if you go to them, but it seems the factory items were indeed Bremi items, albeit different to how to the Bremi items look now:
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on Flickr
With that done, it was time to drop the car back onto the ground. I wasn't particularly happy that the new wheels were in Silver over the factory's Shadow Chrome, but the paint finish isn't what bothered me. But in truth, I'm surprised at how the silver looks.
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on Flickr
There was one more detail to add however to the car. Some will like the detail, others won't. I'll let you folks decide what you think? Am I a bit of a wannabe Frenchie, a racer, or simply adding a simple but different touch to the front of the car?
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on Flickr
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on Flickr
Overall, the looks came out fairly well much to my surprise! I was debating flashing over the wheels with some Anthracite/Grey paint but after seeing another Mystic M3 at a show this weekend, I'm not so sure. It would have to be a light Anthracite, almost silver, which would, of course, make me have to go to more of a specialist wheel refinisher to get that kind of paint finish. It seems here, stock or similar to stock finishes may be the way forward, or maybe dark Bronze?
M3 with Dark wheels by Charlieboy, on Flickr
M3 with Dark wheels by Charlieboy, on Flickr
Hmmm, choices choices!
Choices however wouldn't be something I'd be making in terms of getting this car ready! Somehow I got the car ready and then managed to dial in the tyre pressures, something which is important to consider when going from Track tyres to normal tyres. I did mine in a bit of a layman's way, which is something Tony Angelo's Hot Rod Garage presenter discussed in only last week's episode. In short, you get an Infra Red Pyrometer (read thermometer without touching the subject) to get an idea of how warm the tyres are. If you do this on an OEM tyre at the normal pressure it's surprising what results you get, and it can help explain a little about the wear/camber issues you mau have. Of course, there are no hard and fast rules, but eventually, with a few subtle changes I got the car to behave in a manner I wanted it to. On the road anyway, the Kumho V70As were not only a Kumho tyre that I genuinely liked, but also a track tyre I could get along with! They seemed to have better turn in than the R888s I had on my 205 GTI despite the M3's extra 800kg payload! Furthermore, these things gripped! They required less warming up than the Nankang NS-2Rs on the Escort RS Turbo and were lovely! Will I buy them again? Maybe not on the M3 ; my tyre sizes aren't right ; they're a profile too short. On other cars, they certainly will be considered! They are however near Michelin Pilot Cup 2 money too it should be pointed out!
So the car was looking good and seemed to be driving good! It was time to hit the road with @maph2 in tow.
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on Flickr
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on Flickr
Unfortunately, we were halted by a broken down train at the Eurotunnel. That added around 2 hours onto our travelling time! Great! It was just what we needed as the kids had broken up for Half term! Yup, it was busy at the Chunnel alright! Eventually, we go on and pressed on to head to Liege:
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on Flickr
It doesn't look bad now I must admit! Damn, the car does get under your skin!
M3 Spa by Charlieboy, on Flickr
Yes, a friend of mine did turn up in a Focus ST of all things!
It was then a case of refuelling on the other side of the border, and getting to the hotel! Naturally we were quite tired once we hit the hotel at 8pm, considering we left home at 7am! Sleeping however wouldn't be easy, espeically since we were all anxious, yet full of anticipation for what awaited us the next day.
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on Flickr
The following morning, we all hit the track. The details weren't looking good however! The car was saying it was 1 degrees C outside and truth be told it was super warm outside, albeit it felt warmer than the 7 degrees we currently have over here! Strange eh? With that in mind it was time to hit this spot known as Spa Francorhamps. That will be reported on later. Why? I'm trying to overlay Harry's Laptimer onto the GoPro vidoes, which it seems is easier than done! But you folks can wait until then, right?
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on Flickr
I may as well say it to avoid keeping you folks lingering! A few of us of this parish have been meaning to hit the Spa racetrack for quite some time. The idea was first discussed over a year ago, inevitably in a pub, where all sorts of dangerous things are suggested! This however, would soon become a reality a few months ago when I booked the track time, accomodation, and Eurotunnel for heading over! Typically, as I've alluded to in the Citroen 2CV thread I've been a pretty busy person lately, with a job change, a couple of evenings of getting back home later from work due to increased mileage, as well as family news testing my time limits. Couple that, with me getting the W124 ready and fit for the roads with its own set of issues the poor M3 just sat forlorn in the unit after the Retro Rides Gathering. That would all change when I got a set of wheels for it. Sure, No-one needs a set of track tyres, but like anything, they can help bring a bit of mojo back to the table with a car. Since I hadn't done a brake fluid change since I first bought the car I ended up tying those two jobs into one.
Of course, this is how the car started out:
M3 Wheels by Charlieboy, on FlickrM3 Wheels by Charlieboy, on FlickrIt's funny, I debate an E9x M3 at times but as time goes on, I find myself wanting one alot less. Strange I know!
With the brake fluid bought and a new bleeding device obtained I made a start on preparing the car:
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on FlickrThe Laser brake bleeder was more expensive than an Eezibleed. Despite being more fragile in some ways (easy with pulling up on the pump too hard!) it's much less of a faff to use compared to an Eezibleed, and far far easier to move about! Thanks to this new device I changed the wheels and had the fluid all changed within the hour. Not a bad result at all As for the brake fluid, yes, I know it's Ford brake fluid, but being Super DOT 4, it should be an improvement over most of the stuff at my local motor factors. Which brings me onto doing the oil filter, a job I'd been meaning to do since changing the big ends:
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on FlickrUnder my ownership, the car has only seen genuine filters, albeit a Purflux item when I first got the car. I know it was Mahle filters before that service going by the history. This filter was a Mann that I took it. Yes, it's almost half of the price of the latest BMW/Mahle item, but the Mahle item (in the OX187 flavour, not the earlier OX68D), is said to have some good filtration material in addition to more pleats than other filters on the market, including the earlier filfilter. Maybe that seems a little overkill to do on a 16 year old car, but then again, those S54 lumps don't come cheap. Considering the filter is about the same price from BMW as an oil filter for a Focus ST/Mondeo 2.5T it doesn't make much sense to save a couple of quid for the sake of it:
It was also much eaiser to install the new filter over the Mann filter, which requires disconnecting the TPS sensor every time in addition to forcing/bending it past the inlet manifold.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&a...
At the same time I switched the rather tired looking ignition coils for 5 new Bosch items, thus meaning all of the coils in my M3 have now been replaced. But why did I change them? Now and again on the motorway and if the engine was getting warm from sitting behind someone slow for some time, like I did with someone in an MG Midget coming back from RRG (25mph in a 50 anyone?) the car would occasionally hiccup. Not firm enough to notice,but for someone like me, who has known the car for a couple years, it was bugging me. This is what prompted me to swap out the coils. BMW now sell Bosch items if you go to them, but it seems the factory items were indeed Bremi items, albeit different to how to the Bremi items look now:
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on FlickrWith that done, it was time to drop the car back onto the ground. I wasn't particularly happy that the new wheels were in Silver over the factory's Shadow Chrome, but the paint finish isn't what bothered me. But in truth, I'm surprised at how the silver looks.
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on FlickrThere was one more detail to add however to the car. Some will like the detail, others won't. I'll let you folks decide what you think? Am I a bit of a wannabe Frenchie, a racer, or simply adding a simple but different touch to the front of the car?
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on FlickrM3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on FlickrOverall, the looks came out fairly well much to my surprise! I was debating flashing over the wheels with some Anthracite/Grey paint but after seeing another Mystic M3 at a show this weekend, I'm not so sure. It would have to be a light Anthracite, almost silver, which would, of course, make me have to go to more of a specialist wheel refinisher to get that kind of paint finish. It seems here, stock or similar to stock finishes may be the way forward, or maybe dark Bronze?
M3 with Dark wheels by Charlieboy, on FlickrM3 with Dark wheels by Charlieboy, on FlickrHmmm, choices choices!
Choices however wouldn't be something I'd be making in terms of getting this car ready! Somehow I got the car ready and then managed to dial in the tyre pressures, something which is important to consider when going from Track tyres to normal tyres. I did mine in a bit of a layman's way, which is something Tony Angelo's Hot Rod Garage presenter discussed in only last week's episode. In short, you get an Infra Red Pyrometer (read thermometer without touching the subject) to get an idea of how warm the tyres are. If you do this on an OEM tyre at the normal pressure it's surprising what results you get, and it can help explain a little about the wear/camber issues you mau have. Of course, there are no hard and fast rules, but eventually, with a few subtle changes I got the car to behave in a manner I wanted it to. On the road anyway, the Kumho V70As were not only a Kumho tyre that I genuinely liked, but also a track tyre I could get along with! They seemed to have better turn in than the R888s I had on my 205 GTI despite the M3's extra 800kg payload! Furthermore, these things gripped! They required less warming up than the Nankang NS-2Rs on the Escort RS Turbo and were lovely! Will I buy them again? Maybe not on the M3 ; my tyre sizes aren't right ; they're a profile too short. On other cars, they certainly will be considered! They are however near Michelin Pilot Cup 2 money too it should be pointed out!
So the car was looking good and seemed to be driving good! It was time to hit the road with @maph2 in tow.
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on FlickrM3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on FlickrUnfortunately, we were halted by a broken down train at the Eurotunnel. That added around 2 hours onto our travelling time! Great! It was just what we needed as the kids had broken up for Half term! Yup, it was busy at the Chunnel alright! Eventually, we go on and pressed on to head to Liege:
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on FlickrIt doesn't look bad now I must admit! Damn, the car does get under your skin!
M3 Spa by Charlieboy, on FlickrYes, a friend of mine did turn up in a Focus ST of all things!
It was then a case of refuelling on the other side of the border, and getting to the hotel! Naturally we were quite tired once we hit the hotel at 8pm, considering we left home at 7am! Sleeping however wouldn't be easy, espeically since we were all anxious, yet full of anticipation for what awaited us the next day.
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on FlickrThe following morning, we all hit the track. The details weren't looking good however! The car was saying it was 1 degrees C outside and truth be told it was super warm outside, albeit it felt warmer than the 7 degrees we currently have over here! Strange eh? With that in mind it was time to hit this spot known as Spa Francorhamps. That will be reported on later. Why? I'm trying to overlay Harry's Laptimer onto the GoPro vidoes, which it seems is easier than done! But you folks can wait until then, right?
M3 Spa Times by Charlieboy, on FlickrBefore I give the next update, here is a taster of life around Spa-Francorchamps 
:
https://youtu.be/IeE1f3q87os
:https://youtu.be/IeE1f3q87os
Felix79 said:
Your mate bought my dad's M3! He has been utterly gutted ever since he let it go. It got worse when I got my E85 Z4M last month!
To be fair, it was a lovely M3. I wasn't kidding when I said it was one of the nicer examples I drove. I know the spec is something most PHers will vehemently hate, but it was just such a nice car to drive! It reminds me that I still have a couple of jobs to do on mine, but I've left a few of those for a while due to unit movements, and other cars coming into play.But, back to Spa
:In short, a few of you saw my talk of going down to Spa. I even put up a dull video above of me driving about! For you wanting to know what the journey was like down there, here is more of an insight into how that journey went. Yup, I did stay in that spot at the begininning of the video in the car park for what seemed an eternity, once we were told to board the train! Thankfully as you know, we made it.
Once we got out of Calais things were pretty smooth sailing too!
But enough writing. To misquote Curly from Of Mice & Men "Let the video talk":
https://youtu.be/EsSLMBSytbU
What happened in the video? In short, it showed us queuing in Folkstone, travelling across Europe, a mate having his guest appearance, me having a play and a great timewith a mate in his Focus ST (it was not like that folks!) me then following Matt around the track, before I tired and decided to see what final lap the car could do. Yes, the tyres were hot and ebbing away in grip, the brakes not far behind either! But it was now or never! Was it sad to leave the track? Definitely. The right thing after we subjected our cars to the torture, but still.
Torture I hear you say?
That was the state of the tyres from one of the cars on track. Maybe my track orientated Kumhos would have faired better! Erm....
No. OK, they were better but it didn't stop the tyre from melting onto itself like the above or not picking up tyre tread on track!
But, that really didn't matter. We had bigger fish to fry in Belgium! The debriefing!
There were no Fosters cans in sight! Only the finest of what Belgium had to offer! Many bits of the cars and tracks were discussed, as well as future ideas! After all, these trips do give you something to reflect upon. But who am I kidding? We enjoyed a drink and a good meal as well!
It was great to come back to the UK and it was great to have been part of a great weekend. What started out as an idea in the pub soon materialised into something extraordinary. Do you have trips you want to go on? Do them. You shall wonder why you left it so long before you went or returned! I certainly do!
That said, the M3 still had a few things for me to do on it.
I knew I forgot something from above! Partway through the trip, I found out that a Waze App update finally gave me Waze navigation on CarPlay. Doesn't sound like a big deal eh? Well, to be honest, Google's attempt at CarPlay Maps was crap. It didn't really offer anything over the Apple Maps and it couldn't reroute through CarPlay! Are you feeling the love? Me neither. With Waze however, that was soon to change.
WhatsApp Image 2018-10-23 at 10.03.12 by Charlieboy, on Flickr
Not only can you quickly change routes on the go, it also updates the routes if the traffic changes. Furthermore, the search function is on a par with Google, probably the biggest thing over Apple Maps. This certainly helped us escape the dreaded traffic on the way back from Spa. For me, that's now become the way to work, and without using the motorway as much! After all a 1 hour 15 minute trip is better than a 2 hour one!
As I alluded to in the Merc thread, I thought I'd sort out a bugbear of mine in both cars. Mats. In the case of this M3, it came with some 50p Wilko specials when I bought the car. Not that it mattered as it took the previous owner until I bought the car that it also had the genuine mats beneath it in great condition. Being grey, and then a daily, that was never going to last. Since the Wilko mats fitted worse than Theresa May showing her dance moves during a South African convention, they had to go.
Back then I got lucky. I got some premium quality mats from Halfords. How much were they? £70? No, try £3. They were a forlorn order for over a year. That was the good news. The bad? They were a little too big, a little like a 7-year-old walking around in his dad's shoes. The fit was better than the Wilko items but they would always come adrift. Not great:
BMW M3 Nov 18 (16 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
BMW M3 Nov 18 (17 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
But at least the rears had more coverage right? Look at the rear edge of the mats go all the way up to the edge of the seats!
BMW M3 Nov 18 (18 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
Yes, yes, yes. I hear you folks. I really am trying to justify my meagre expenditure. So what did I do? Enter Stage Left:
BMW M3 Nov 18 (25 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
Yup, I went on a bit of a spending spree. Seeing as the car tried to bleed me dry at times I figured a bit more cash wouldn't go amiss. The mats do look weird though!
BMW M3 Nov 18 (26 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
That is because these are Nicoman Spaghetti mats. I wasn't sure about these for a while and thought they were Snake oil. A few people I know in the 944 world however really rated them. The idea behind them is they stay clean, bury the dirt within the mat instead on top of the mat and then can be rinsed with a pressure washer and dry again in 5-10 minutes. Cheap I hear you ask? No, but in my defence I got a good deal at the NEC show for both the M3 and the Merc.
So, I had the old mats out. I've almost forgotten what it looks like with grey carpets or even the what the factory mats look like: My dad had a similar set, but in black in his E36 325tds back in the day!
BMW M3 Nov 18 (19 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
BMW M3 Nov 18 (22 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
I was aphrehensive about getting Grey mats but @retrowarwick twisted my arm at the show. Was he right for me to stay grey and not black or wrong?
BMW M3 Nov 18 (30 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
I reckon it was a good call. After a week or two of driving the car with them I must say the dirt resistance of them has been very surprising. Oddly, they show less dirt than the black mats ever did, and let's be honest, a clean car is a nice car. Which is why I thought I'd take the opportunity to get some snaps of it while it was relatively clean:
BMW M3 Nov 18 (14 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
OK, I lied. Have you seen the weather outside?
BMW M3 Nov 18 (9 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
Some may say the yellow foglights are a little scene but I have come to like them!
BMW M3 Nov 18 (34 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
With that in mind I ended up taking the car twice in one day to the Fabulous Caffeine & Machine in Ettington.
You may remember me showing you guys that blue M3 a while back with anthracite wheels. It was there! It was also interesting to see a track vs. fairly stock car and Topaz Blue vs Mystic. The wheels make the car in isolation seem almost as dark as Mystic Blue.
BMW M3 Nov 18 (36 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
BMW M3 Nov 18 (37 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
Why did I drive down? To meet a few folks down there I've not seen for a while. Two of which owned these beauties.
BMW M3 Nov 18 (41 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
The Clio V6 had been off the road for years, and has finally come back with a few tricks up its sleeve.
The NSX is a lovely thing indeed too! But surely there is more I hear you ask? Yes, there is and they're not always the same cars I'm glad to say:
BMW M3 Nov 18 (38 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
BMW M3 Nov 18 (39 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
The Porsche fratenity turned up
BMW M3 Nov 18 (45 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
Got to love a Norton!
BMW M3 Nov 18 (46 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
That Gold 911 seems to be different!
BMW M3 Nov 18 (52 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
BMW M3 Nov 18 (48 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
Ah, that would be why!
So I was having a great time and gelling with the M3 once again now that I could drive it with the dust settled from unit movements (people coming in and out). However, those Kumho V70as weren't the grippiest of things in the cold! Sure, they are great on the boil, but during a freezing November, driving to work at 6am, it's not fun. The DSC light coming on and off and the twitchiness no matter if you turned the DSC on or off wasn't much fun. So I bottled it. Yup, I'd refit the old wheels.
BMW M3 Nov 18 (57 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
Adios track wheels. You'll be back soon:
BMW M3 Nov 18 (58 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
Thanfully, a rattle gun (once the nuts are cracked off) and a good jack make light work of switching the wheels about.
BMW M3 Nov 18 (61 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
It's interesting to see the difference in arch filling. The 18s look a little odd as the profile of the tyres is a little off. The stock sizes are 225/45R18 and 255/40R18. Mine are 225/40R18 and 245/35R18. I'll live with these sizes for now but on the next set of tyres I'll get closer to the factory sizing.
This is an interesting one. Comparing the tyres:
BMW M3 Nov 18 (64 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
From left to right : A rear 19" Michelin Pilot Sport 4, a fron 19" Pilot Sport 4S and a front 18" Kumho. Yup, the tyre pickup was still coming off and causing some interesting noises on the dual carriageway everytime I drove to work!
BMW M3 Nov 18 (65 of 67) by Charlieboy, on Flickr
As always I inflated the tyres; Surprisingly the 19s lost a significant amount of pressure despite being stored for 2 months. Weird!
The result? Despite the 19s" having summer tyres, it's a relief having more grip again and a set of much more progressive tyres in these conditions.
It's just as well as this has now gone back to being a daily with the Merc out of action. Oddly, I've really gelled with it this time and am enjoing the moment! Hopefully it lasts!
WhatsApp Image 2018-10-23 at 10.03.12 by Charlieboy, on FlickrNot only can you quickly change routes on the go, it also updates the routes if the traffic changes. Furthermore, the search function is on a par with Google, probably the biggest thing over Apple Maps. This certainly helped us escape the dreaded traffic on the way back from Spa. For me, that's now become the way to work, and without using the motorway as much! After all a 1 hour 15 minute trip is better than a 2 hour one!
As I alluded to in the Merc thread, I thought I'd sort out a bugbear of mine in both cars. Mats. In the case of this M3, it came with some 50p Wilko specials when I bought the car. Not that it mattered as it took the previous owner until I bought the car that it also had the genuine mats beneath it in great condition. Being grey, and then a daily, that was never going to last. Since the Wilko mats fitted worse than Theresa May showing her dance moves during a South African convention, they had to go.
Back then I got lucky. I got some premium quality mats from Halfords. How much were they? £70? No, try £3. They were a forlorn order for over a year. That was the good news. The bad? They were a little too big, a little like a 7-year-old walking around in his dad's shoes. The fit was better than the Wilko items but they would always come adrift. Not great:
BMW M3 Nov 18 (16 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrBMW M3 Nov 18 (17 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrBut at least the rears had more coverage right? Look at the rear edge of the mats go all the way up to the edge of the seats!
BMW M3 Nov 18 (18 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrYes, yes, yes. I hear you folks. I really am trying to justify my meagre expenditure. So what did I do? Enter Stage Left:
BMW M3 Nov 18 (25 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrYup, I went on a bit of a spending spree. Seeing as the car tried to bleed me dry at times I figured a bit more cash wouldn't go amiss. The mats do look weird though!
BMW M3 Nov 18 (26 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrThat is because these are Nicoman Spaghetti mats. I wasn't sure about these for a while and thought they were Snake oil. A few people I know in the 944 world however really rated them. The idea behind them is they stay clean, bury the dirt within the mat instead on top of the mat and then can be rinsed with a pressure washer and dry again in 5-10 minutes. Cheap I hear you ask? No, but in my defence I got a good deal at the NEC show for both the M3 and the Merc.
So, I had the old mats out. I've almost forgotten what it looks like with grey carpets or even the what the factory mats look like: My dad had a similar set, but in black in his E36 325tds back in the day!
BMW M3 Nov 18 (19 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrBMW M3 Nov 18 (22 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrI was aphrehensive about getting Grey mats but @retrowarwick twisted my arm at the show. Was he right for me to stay grey and not black or wrong?
BMW M3 Nov 18 (30 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrI reckon it was a good call. After a week or two of driving the car with them I must say the dirt resistance of them has been very surprising. Oddly, they show less dirt than the black mats ever did, and let's be honest, a clean car is a nice car. Which is why I thought I'd take the opportunity to get some snaps of it while it was relatively clean:
BMW M3 Nov 18 (14 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrOK, I lied. Have you seen the weather outside?
BMW M3 Nov 18 (9 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrSome may say the yellow foglights are a little scene but I have come to like them!
BMW M3 Nov 18 (34 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrWith that in mind I ended up taking the car twice in one day to the Fabulous Caffeine & Machine in Ettington.
You may remember me showing you guys that blue M3 a while back with anthracite wheels. It was there! It was also interesting to see a track vs. fairly stock car and Topaz Blue vs Mystic. The wheels make the car in isolation seem almost as dark as Mystic Blue.
BMW M3 Nov 18 (36 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrBMW M3 Nov 18 (37 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrWhy did I drive down? To meet a few folks down there I've not seen for a while. Two of which owned these beauties.
BMW M3 Nov 18 (41 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrThe Clio V6 had been off the road for years, and has finally come back with a few tricks up its sleeve.
The NSX is a lovely thing indeed too! But surely there is more I hear you ask? Yes, there is and they're not always the same cars I'm glad to say:
BMW M3 Nov 18 (38 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrBMW M3 Nov 18 (39 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrThe Porsche fratenity turned up
BMW M3 Nov 18 (45 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrGot to love a Norton!
BMW M3 Nov 18 (46 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrThat Gold 911 seems to be different!
BMW M3 Nov 18 (52 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrBMW M3 Nov 18 (48 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrAh, that would be why!
So I was having a great time and gelling with the M3 once again now that I could drive it with the dust settled from unit movements (people coming in and out). However, those Kumho V70as weren't the grippiest of things in the cold! Sure, they are great on the boil, but during a freezing November, driving to work at 6am, it's not fun. The DSC light coming on and off and the twitchiness no matter if you turned the DSC on or off wasn't much fun. So I bottled it. Yup, I'd refit the old wheels.
BMW M3 Nov 18 (57 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrAdios track wheels. You'll be back soon:
BMW M3 Nov 18 (58 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrThanfully, a rattle gun (once the nuts are cracked off) and a good jack make light work of switching the wheels about.
BMW M3 Nov 18 (61 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrIt's interesting to see the difference in arch filling. The 18s look a little odd as the profile of the tyres is a little off. The stock sizes are 225/45R18 and 255/40R18. Mine are 225/40R18 and 245/35R18. I'll live with these sizes for now but on the next set of tyres I'll get closer to the factory sizing.
This is an interesting one. Comparing the tyres:
BMW M3 Nov 18 (64 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrFrom left to right : A rear 19" Michelin Pilot Sport 4, a fron 19" Pilot Sport 4S and a front 18" Kumho. Yup, the tyre pickup was still coming off and causing some interesting noises on the dual carriageway everytime I drove to work!
BMW M3 Nov 18 (65 of 67) by Charlieboy, on FlickrAs always I inflated the tyres; Surprisingly the 19s lost a significant amount of pressure despite being stored for 2 months. Weird!
The result? Despite the 19s" having summer tyres, it's a relief having more grip again and a set of much more progressive tyres in these conditions.
It's just as well as this has now gone back to being a daily with the Merc out of action. Oddly, I've really gelled with it this time and am enjoing the moment! Hopefully it lasts!
e46m3Mark said:
I ran Khumo V70A on my E30 M3 and thought they were pretty good overall. I've been really impressed with the Michelins over the past couple of weeks and they're certainly not the big drop in grip (when compared to the AR-1) I was expecting. That said, the difference may be greater once we finally have some warmer weather?
Hoping to take the E46 to Spain later this year and (hopefully) do some trackdays in mainland Europe. Mind you, I'm still getting used to the E46 and am considering losing some weight from it. I haven't been to Spa for many years and the last lap I did was in a fully laden Austin Montego Countryman!
Yup, I've never been keen on Kumhos, but those V70As really were what I wanted on track! If I can it will be interesting to do a back to back comparison between the two tyre sets.Hoping to take the E46 to Spain later this year and (hopefully) do some trackdays in mainland Europe. Mind you, I'm still getting used to the E46 and am considering losing some weight from it. I haven't been to Spa for many years and the last lap I did was in a fully laden Austin Montego Countryman!
And yes, the grip in the warmer weather will be larger ; the V70As were pretty sketchy in the cold! Going back to the PS4s was a welcome relief, even if I wasn't going so sideways!
JamesNL said:
Ahh you spotted me. SSX is mine, currently awaiting a CSL airbox and its now running 18x10's ARC-8 style.
Ah, I had a suspicion it was yourself. I sometimes saw your car at a workplace in Cov Edited by JamesNL on Wednesday 2nd January 12:26
.The ARCs look awesome!
Despite talking myself out of it for years and saying they are a waste of money (and the older folk telling me that!), I've decided that a CSL airbox may well be on the cards in the future
. But we are a way off from there!Why? My brake pads are running low and I need an MOT soon! While tyres may be discussed here is one thing I've got for my wheels.
M3 Pagid Pads by Charlieboy, on FlickrWhile I didn't find the brakes as bad as some do at tracks I always like an improvement in stopping power, and these should do the trick nicely! I was going to get RS29s just up front, but then I figured I may as well go all round. Round about then, the supplier in question convinced me to try the RST3s. I was apprehensive and thought about it for a while. So, yes, it will be interesting to see what the car is like on these!
ECG1000 said:
Read this from cover to cover. Really enjoyed it!
I've always wanted an E46 but have always shied away for fear of running/repair costs. One day hopefully...
Many thanks! Hopefully you've not found my tale too offputting! I've been through some ups and downs with this car but it somehow always manages to win me over and it has been one of my better companions as far as cars go; In the spec I have it, the car really suits itself to most occasions I like.I've always wanted an E46 but have always shied away for fear of running/repair costs. One day hopefully...
So, the 2CV has been getting alot of atention from me, with the M3 seeming almost as if it has been forgotten about! While I am driving it, this is not the case! Why? I had an MOT to get!
It passed but the tester sucked his teeth a little at the rear tyres! They around 2mm. I know I know! I'm pushing my luck! But then the car isn't driven as much as it once was, and I'll be honest, I'm in limbo as to what to do with the tyres! The way I see it, partly down to self-infliction, these are my choices:
-Fit some new 255/35R19s on the rear : At £200 a corner fo a Michelin Pilot Sport 4/4S, this does get pricey!
-Fit CSL sizes to the 19s ; they're around £160 a corner. But you do lose a little sidewall in addition to my fronts still having tons of tread 13,000 miles later.
The other choice is to get my 18s out. They're legal, but the tyres are near useless in this weather being Kumho V70a medium compounds.
What will happen? We shall see. I suspect I'll retire it out of action for a month or two and then put on/wear down the V70as. They're not quite the right size for the M3 ; the same money as the Michelins in the 19" sizes I can get Cup IIs (defying the point I know!), or Yoko AD08Rs. Goodyear Eagle F1s are almost £100 a corner, but tyre designs are getting limited without going over to track orientated designs. We shall see what I do.
Speaking of track orientated cars, I ended up splashing even more cash before the MOT! But it's the RR way right? Mods come before the necessities? I am joking there! I've fancied upgrading the brakes. They weren't bad at Spa or on 30 minute taster sessions, but it's always nice to have an improvement. I'm talking about the Big Brake Kit (BBK) conversions, but I'll digress. Given what happened to me on the Escort RS Turbo, with the Wilwood vs. Sliding Cosworth Caliper setup , I took these as lessons learned, especially with how the 'terrible' brakes on Stags weren't too bad on my car, which we found why for why they were on most other cars (That's me and Roger Keys, the next owner of the car). So, let's get started. I saw my choices as follows:
[ul type="square"]
[li]Porsche Boxster setup ; this can be either on stock discs or CSL items. From my calculations, these run a significantly smaller Effective Piston Area (EPA) than a stock M3 caliper 4535mm[sup]2[/sup] vs. the M3's 5655mm[sup]2[/sup]. Yes, they may flex less, but not enough to make up that kind of difference (what do the brake peeps reckon here?
. Many people praise this setup, but I do also wonder how many of those cars ran the correct pads and not wrong compound but cheaper 330i pads which motor factors gladly sell to owners, in addition to the condition of the fluid in addition to the discs; most owners will skimp on the latter due to costs ; they're £160+ now thanks to market forces in the correct floating format. When The Boxster setup is around £700-800 to do with discs, adaptors, pads and lines, it will make more sense for people to change the lot in one go.Some of you will say : change the master cylinder ; then I'll have to play with the rears. Boxster rears are similar to the front of a Boxster, due to a very different weight distribution etc. to the M3, so that solution will require more head scratching, and that's before you consider the DSC getting confused by things.[/li]
[li]K Sports ; Some of these run a similar or larger disc area to the stock M3 setup and EPA, but there have been quality concerns with these. Pads also get much more expensive.[/li]
[li]AP Racing/'True' Brembo setups,Stoptech. An all round conversion can come to £3k+ ; way more than I am willing to spend on a car not worth alot. I know you can't put a price on brakes, but I want a mild improvement from what I am, not something huge ; maybe I'll regret saying that...[/li]
[/ul]
So I wanted what everyone did, the moon on a stick. But I was aware that compromises would have to be made. What would I do? Enter Stage Left:
I paid more than I wished for on a set of brakes from a Z4 M. But why one of those? Simple ; they're the same brakes an M3 CSL came with. The differences?
[ul type="circle"]
[li]Larger front Disc Area : These run 345mm vs. the stock 325m. So at least the looks will improve too![/li]
[li]Larger Front Carriers : While the front calipers are the same, the carriers are larger to accomodate the front discs[/li]
[li]Larger rear piston area : these go up to 46mm vs. the factory 42mm ; There is no doubt this was done to redistribute the braking bias with the larger fronts[/li]
[/ul]
These came with nearly-new genuine discs which are in surprisingly amazing condition! These shall be kept for a rainy day! As for the fronts? They're lipped but not massively and they are still surprisingly well within tolerance. So I'll use those and replace when they finally die.
When the Z4 M came out and the M3 CS (with the CSL brakes) the braking had more praise but the braking feel was criticised, especially on the CS cars. While I am sure part of it was down to a lack of 4 pot calipers and having to stop 1600kg of car I do wonder how much was down to the slider bushes. My sister's car improved massively with new slider bushes installed. Many owners have reported good results with the Brass slider bushings for the calipers. So, after a couple of beers one night, my poor judgement got the better of me and I ended up ordering a set of these:
People say these can get dirtier due to being exposed but then the factory ones are also exposed. Furthermore, I tend to clean these anyway when the brake pads are changed, despite most people not doing this.
My plan for comparisons is to do a few stops, possibly on the track where allowed as follows
[ul type="disc"]
[li]Factory setup [/li]
[li]CSL setup with the pads it came with ; aftermarket pads, but not factory Textars[/li]
[li]The above with the Pagid RS pads[/li]
[/ul]
So, with the Pagid Racing pads and the modified CSL setup, will the brakes improve or will it be a waste of cash? Should I sell the setup and get setups that work for other people? Time will tell. But at least I'm making the car a little more different
.As I said in other threads started, I always want to do things to cars I've not owned. I'm talking of restomodding a Triumph TR6 with Jenvey ITBs, knock-off Minilites, fancy manifolds, brakes, and rebushing ; I've thought of the same on a 60s Mustang too, along with the suspension moreso.
I figured I may as well make it this one, without going too far obviously and compromising it for road use.
Mikeeb said:
Where did you order the brass sliders from?
Hack Engineering. I thought I paid over the odds, but for my sister's Saab, a slider kit all round wasn't that much lessshalmaneser said:
I did the classic boxster caliper upgrade.
Some other very good points.
Speaking from personal experience however suggests that something else is happening - my front wheels are getting much much more brake dust on them than before the swap. One would have thought there would be less brake dust on them given the front brakes are doing proportionally less of the work. So maybe something to do with the pad compound and brake pad dimensions - the Boxster pads look larger than the OEM pads:
This has been a bit of an essay but I've quite interested by this modification.
You may it sound like I mind an essay. Far from it, it's good to debate this stuff Some other very good points
.Speaking from personal experience however suggests that something else is happening - my front wheels are getting much much more brake dust on them than before the swap. One would have thought there would be less brake dust on them given the front brakes are doing proportionally less of the work. So maybe something to do with the pad compound and brake pad dimensions - the Boxster pads look larger than the OEM pads:
This has been a bit of an essay but I've quite interested by this modification.
. Some good points raised there, and TBH less piston area isn't always a bad thing.Sure, you get less 'effective' force at the piston, but you can get a firmer brake pedal and feel.
With me I guess previous things caused me to rethink things.
My Stag had the stock brakes and they have a terrible reputation. But it seems with others agreeing, mine ws fine. But good pads are near impossible to get for a Stag now ; Only TRW seem to make anything worth buying,
I think the M3 suffers the same fate. ECP once sold me a set of 330i pads with their website then listing no other option for the M3 ;they are pretty much the same bar the compound ; alot of motor factors IME sell these to cover the M3 as well IME. There is a rumour M3 pads Textar sell are different to the dealer, but I can't verify that ; I'll have to record the numbers off mine (Textar's) to truly find out and compare with another M3 owner
.On a Mondeo of mine back in 2011 ('06 V6 3.0 Estate) I know it never faded on genuine Motorcrafts but it did on "OE" Bendixs from GSF, their 'premium' brand ; my dad's 2.5T is no different here ; The Bosch pads weren't too bad neither did the Brembo pads seem terrible when we covered the miles. We stupidly thought 'the compound must have improved over these years' and well, ECP surprisingly had no pads in stock, so the Bendix pads were bought again (Ford were closed, even if I do get a discount on parts). What did Einstein say about stupidity? Not that I practice that one much :lol:!
Porsches don't seem to suffer this issue, but owners do moan profusely about brake prices, hence why the much debated EBC pads grace quite a few. or at least they did on 944 Brembos when I had one.
Did you E36 have the floating brakes or had it been retrofitted with the 1 piece discs? I know on E46s there are now kits to use these, with them being around a 1/3rd of the price of stock discs.
My have never felt that bad. Even spanking it around the Evo triangle didn't upset it. Spa did begin to get to them mind you, albeit I was trying a little harder than last time (I had experience of the track) and I was on stickier rubber, so of course, I used that grip and speed more
.I'll keep you updated. I doubt the 'grabby' feel will go away, but you never know. At least with the CSL discs I can change calipers
.Interesting about the pads areas. I was attempting to weigh up which way it was in favour of and I reckon you are right. The pads will help with cooling I suspect as in more pad can soak up the heat.
FUBMW said:
Good choice and I think the best compromise on price and braking power. I replaced my fronts for E31 Brembo's with stock discs and for the price the improvement is brilliant.
Many thanks!The E31 setup I did debate. The calipers are getting rare now though surely? Do you run spacers or do the wheels clear? Some BMW setups seem to require them, while others don't. I take it yours improved alot like shalmanesers brakes?
.Edited by SebringMan on Tuesday 29th January 17:38
Edited by SebringMan on Tuesday 29th January 19:51
FUBMW]ebringMan said:
They are. I didn't even know about the kit until someone on Cutters was selling his. Got a set of pads and skimmed discs for £300 all in - a bargain compared to K-Sport kit and Porsche brakes.
No spacers, there's plenty of clearance. I did debate going up to CSL discs, but I wasn't sure if the CSL carriers would fit the caliper so kept it as factory. The feel is certainly different, I had read of people reporting a spongey pedal, but it has plenty of bite and a notable improvment.
If you're ever in the Oxfordshire area let me know, would be good to meet another E46 M3 driver and go for a blast.
That may be alot sooner than you realise No spacers, there's plenty of clearance. I did debate going up to CSL discs, but I wasn't sure if the CSL carriers would fit the caliper so kept it as factory. The feel is certainly different, I had read of people reporting a spongey pedal, but it has plenty of bite and a notable improvment.
If you're ever in the Oxfordshire area let me know, would be good to meet another E46 M3 driver and go for a blast.
.ATM the M3 is a daily for me again. the wings are rusting which isn't helping me with taking it out. But I am really enjoying driving it again. Coming back from work in it is lovely. I know an E60 M5 would make a bad day at work seem like a good one, but this is pretty good anyway after a long day at work
.Well, there are more updates on this. This year has been a pretty busy year mind you!
This is what I wrote back at the start of the year about the M3.
Have I forgotten about this car a little? Maybe. A few things have changed with me however.
-Merc S124 E320 had gone to a mate. I was really really missing that car.
-I turned down a cheap BMW E61 535d SE Touring. It certainly shows where this M3 is 'old' but wow, what a car! I turned it out as the E6x horror stories scared me a little in addition to me wanting something cheaper after the W124. But, the old man has bought it off my mate, so it is in the family.
-I was going to buy a 2005 Audi A3 2.0 PD TDI SE DSG off the old man ; he bought it for an experiment. As accomplished as it is and frugal coming from the W124, it had one sin ; it was dull! It just didn't excite me! I almost debated making the M3 a daily again, which I'll come back to. But with the Old man buying my mate's 535d, I'll be having the old man's Mondeo 2.5T Titanium Estate. Now that is an unassuming car. It has character, and IMHO is similar on fuel cost to what the 535d is. It doesn't have the magic of the 535d, but it does have a big heart that can win you over. This month may kick off a thread in the Reader's Cars section soon.
Why was I considering the Audi? I no longer own one pricey-to-keep car ; I own two! In reality, I needed a more sensible daily driver!
Does that mean the M3 is gathering dust? Inevitably, yes. Any fault of its own? Well, the wings are in a bad way; I've come to accept that I'll have to replace them. Bar that, the car has been stellar on the reliability front!
But, it has been out and about, and driving it again reminded me why I like it so much, and the above comparison kind of made me side with the people calling it a modern classic. Sure, it's only 2 years older than the A3, and 4 years older than he 535d, but God it's so different to them! It feels older inside, but more inviting. It has a character ; when cold, it's not the smoothest thing to drive. It coughs a little and can be jerky, letting you know it demands respect. But with the right mix of modernness, it's playful yet involving. It's practical yet stylish. If I didn't care about putting more miles onto it or paying to service it (the next service will be either £800 or £400 just in parts alone!) ; it's an Inspection II next), I'd just keep on driving and driving this. But for now, I do have plans .
So, back in March, it went to the NEC Resto Show! Why didn't I update it? To put it simply, the Merc W108 280SE 4.5 I had purchased pretty much took up all of my time!
It was however, great to get back into the M3. What a great car. Despite it being a newer car on the stand, it didn't stop it garnishing alot of attention or me inadvertedly becoming an advice bearer for one of these!
Yup, the wings are terrible now! I'll to go new on theses ; to think I painted these years ago! Ah well, it's only money eh?
Still, at least it passed the 10 feet test! We have to see the silver linings in these instances!
It's fair to say that the stand hosted by a few of us including Matt certainly represented all sorts of classics, right from the established cars to the 'modern classics'
There's yours truly boring some interested parties! But they stayed! Out of politeness or interest? Who knows?
Believe it or not I had planned to do the following:
-Change the brakes to CSL items
-Wire up the handbrake cable on the head unit
-Change the coil.
What did I do in the end? Well, this is me, so it was the coil that I changed.
The car however does now run spot on, with more ooomph and is smoother. It almost seems to a shame to have it sat for a month at a mate's! Ah well. Little did I know, it would sit at my friend's house for 3 more months before I touched it again, partly down to my sister's wedding planning, and partly down to me being busy with the Merc and the ambitious plans I had for that!
This is what I wrote back at the start of the year about the M3.
Have I forgotten about this car a little? Maybe. A few things have changed with me however.
-Merc S124 E320 had gone to a mate. I was really really missing that car.
-I turned down a cheap BMW E61 535d SE Touring. It certainly shows where this M3 is 'old' but wow, what a car! I turned it out as the E6x horror stories scared me a little in addition to me wanting something cheaper after the W124. But, the old man has bought it off my mate, so it is in the family
.-I was going to buy a 2005 Audi A3 2.0 PD TDI SE DSG off the old man ; he bought it for an experiment. As accomplished as it is and frugal coming from the W124, it had one sin ; it was dull! It just didn't excite me! I almost debated making the M3 a daily again, which I'll come back to. But with the Old man buying my mate's 535d, I'll be having the old man's Mondeo 2.5T Titanium Estate. Now that is an unassuming car. It has character, and IMHO is similar on fuel cost to what the 535d is. It doesn't have the magic of the 535d, but it does have a big heart that can win you over. This month may kick off a thread in the Reader's Cars section soon
.Why was I considering the Audi? I no longer own one pricey-to-keep car ; I own two! In reality, I needed a more sensible daily driver!
Does that mean the M3 is gathering dust? Inevitably, yes. Any fault of its own? Well, the wings are in a bad way; I've come to accept that I'll have to replace them. Bar that, the car has been stellar on the reliability front!
But, it has been out and about, and driving it again reminded me why I like it so much, and the above comparison kind of made me side with the people calling it a modern classic. Sure, it's only 2 years older than the A3, and 4 years older than he 535d, but God it's so different to them! It feels older inside, but more inviting. It has a character ; when cold, it's not the smoothest thing to drive. It coughs a little and can be jerky, letting you know it demands respect. But with the right mix of modernness, it's playful yet involving. It's practical yet stylish. If I didn't care about putting more miles onto it or paying to service it (the next service will be either £800 or £400 just in parts alone!) ; it's an Inspection II next), I'd just keep on driving and driving this
. But for now, I do have plans .So, back in March, it went to the NEC Resto Show! Why didn't I update it? To put it simply, the Merc W108 280SE 4.5 I had purchased pretty much took up all of my time!
It was however, great to get back into the M3. What a great car. Despite it being a newer car on the stand, it didn't stop it garnishing alot of attention or me inadvertedly becoming an advice bearer for one of these!
Yup, the wings are terrible now! I'll to go new on theses ; to think I painted these years ago! Ah well, it's only money eh?
Still, at least it passed the 10 feet test! We have to see the silver linings in these instances!
It's fair to say that the stand hosted by a few of us including Matt certainly represented all sorts of classics, right from the established cars to the 'modern classics'
There's yours truly boring some interested parties! But they stayed! Out of politeness or interest? Who knows?
Believe it or not I had planned to do the following:
-Change the brakes to CSL items
-Wire up the handbrake cable on the head unit
-Change the coil.
What did I do in the end? Well, this is me, so it was the coil that I changed.
The car however does now run spot on, with more ooomph and is smoother
. It almost seems to a shame to have it sat for a month at a mate's! Ah well. Little did I know, it would sit at my friend's house for 3 more months before I touched it again, partly down to my sister's wedding planning, and partly down to me being busy with the Merc and the ambitious plans I had for that!Its time I provided bitesized updates, so here's the first one.
Firstly, the car has been put back into daily service. Why?
My old man has ordered himself a Love Island mobile (LIM). Sorry a Range Rover Evoque. Naturally, one car of his had to go, which of course my mum has access to. So off went our Mondeo 2.5T to a fellow RRer on here. He's pretty happy with the car, so I call that a result.
However, this left a problem. My mum needed a car to get around in for a month or two prior to the LIM arriving. Ah, that would be me.
Basically, the Mondeo 2.5T Estate I bought off my dad is now temporarily back with him until the new car arrives. So, where did that leave me? It left me with the Merc and the M3.
As much as I like the Merc, even the best will in the world can't argue that 16MPG average doesn't hurt the wallet on a 100 to 300 mile a week communit. In the case of the latter, I'm looking at £120 a week in fuel. Ouch! It's lovely in town mind you, but the MPG put that out of the question. And so it came back to the M3.
I didn't take photos, but my God, the car looked terrible at a mate's. It was filthy on the outside and it just looked forlorn or abandoned. To top matters off, the battery was truly flat! After a jump start, it fired up. 4 months of it being sat didn't do the car any favours. In short:
1) The DSC is beginning to kick in more often than it should do as time goes on, to the point I have to disable it now. It was OK when I drove it back, but it's getting worse by the day.
2) The rust on the discs is now causing a minor vibration when braking. This isn't a big issue ; I have the CSL items to fit remember.
However, despite that, the car is working well, and certainly isn't a bad way to get around, especially with it having working AC in this humid conditions! But I figured I'd treat it to a new battery as I showed above. After putting the old battery on a tester, it was clear the battery was well past it.
When it came to buying a new battery, that was interesting. I'm aware from my dad's E36 and my previous E36 that some batteries are too tall for the area ; Unipart batteries tend to be here. I don't tend to get Lion batteries as I've seen a few be unreliable and for that reason I no longer touch Bosch S5s ; I know of 5 that have failed within the warranty period, two of which came from my car. That left Exide, where I've had a good experience with them and a dealer battery.
Surprisingly, the dealer battery was about the same money as an Exide from ECP. It's fair to say that was a difficult decision to make.
I then set about putting it in. What is surprising is that the new battery has improved a few things. The main one I've noticed is the gearbox pump primes significantly quicker now. It also starts much better. For some time, the car would catch and then fire up. It's a very clean starting car now. So at least I saw some results after splashing out £100 on a battery! Yikes!
But then, there is the topper to come. That intake.
Firstly, the car has been put back into daily service. Why?
My old man has ordered himself a Love Island mobile (LIM). Sorry a Range Rover Evoque. Naturally, one car of his had to go, which of course my mum has access to. So off went our Mondeo 2.5T to a fellow RRer on here. He's pretty happy with the car, so I call that a result
.However, this left a problem. My mum needed a car to get around in for a month or two prior to the LIM arriving. Ah, that would be me.
Basically, the Mondeo 2.5T Estate I bought off my dad is now temporarily back with him until the new car arrives. So, where did that leave me? It left me with the Merc and the M3.
As much as I like the Merc, even the best will in the world can't argue that 16MPG average doesn't hurt the wallet on a 100 to 300 mile a week communit. In the case of the latter, I'm looking at £120 a week in fuel. Ouch! It's lovely in town mind you, but the MPG put that out of the question. And so it came back to the M3.
I didn't take photos, but my God, the car looked terrible at a mate's. It was filthy on the outside and it just looked forlorn or abandoned. To top matters off, the battery was truly flat! After a jump start, it fired up. 4 months of it being sat didn't do the car any favours. In short:
1) The DSC is beginning to kick in more often than it should do as time goes on, to the point I have to disable it now. It was OK when I drove it back, but it's getting worse by the day.
2) The rust on the discs is now causing a minor vibration when braking. This isn't a big issue ; I have the CSL items to fit remember
.However, despite that, the car is working well, and certainly isn't a bad way to get around, especially with it having working AC in this humid conditions! But I figured I'd treat it to a new battery as I showed above. After putting the old battery on a tester, it was clear the battery was well past it.
When it came to buying a new battery, that was interesting. I'm aware from my dad's E36 and my previous E36 that some batteries are too tall for the area ; Unipart batteries tend to be here. I don't tend to get Lion batteries as I've seen a few be unreliable and for that reason I no longer touch Bosch S5s ; I know of 5 that have failed within the warranty period, two of which came from my car. That left Exide, where I've had a good experience with them and a dealer battery.
Surprisingly, the dealer battery was about the same money as an Exide from ECP. It's fair to say that was a difficult decision to make
.I then set about putting it in. What is surprising is that the new battery has improved a few things. The main one I've noticed is the gearbox pump primes significantly quicker now. It also starts much better. For some time, the car would catch and then fire up. It's a very clean starting car now. So at least I saw some results after splashing out £100 on a battery! Yikes!
But then, there is the topper to come. That intake
.A few on this forum will know that I've really, really wanted to buy a CSL intake. I'm sure I probably speak for alot of 6-pot M3 owners here! In equal measure, I probably also speak for the same amount who are not willing to pay for one. Yes, really, to get that awesome sound, it does come at quite a price! But, speaking of that awesome sound, let's have a taster shall we?
https://youtu.be/76LnnTZDaWQ
OK, there is an exhaust in the mix of that as well, but you get the idea.
They also look pretty tasty too!:
So, how much is this goodness? Depending on how it is done and what compromises you are willing to live with (driveability vs. price basically), you are looking at £2-2.6k even if you fit the parts yourself. Ouch! For me, a 20BHP gain, the look and the sound is certainly superb but not quite that superb. What's worse is, I went in an M3 convertible with 100,000 miles less than mine with a Karbonius system fitted. While other people came out of the car with a massive smile, I didn't really. Sure, it sounded slightly louder than a stock M3 with that throttle body noise, but in reality, it wasn't that much. It didn't feel that quick either! If I wanted to spend that kind of cash, I'd want to be absolutely sure of what I was buying.
I can't really see myself buying a CSL either, as much as I'd love one. They're a little too rare and valuable for me to enjoy, when you bear in my daily driver is worth £1,000 on a good day! And I do like my creature comforts, like a sunroof, air conditioning, a decent sound system and the means of travelling hundreds of miles while feeling awake when I arrive? Do I want the moon on a stick? Pretty much!
So, the CSL airbox was out of the equation. This did however, open up a few options. One of the options is the well-renowned Eventuri cold air intake. It's a setup that has been revered by many for years. It's still not quite great value, but compared to the CSL airbox it is. What's more, there is no need to send your ECU away to accept a map sensor either as you do for a CSL airbox, unless you don't care about driveability. Why is that? The Eventuri merely replaces the airbox in the engine bay, not the entire plenum and airbox as the CSL airbox does. This does also mean almost anyone can fit it too.
So, given that I had made a promise to myself that I'd treat the car to an airbox if I managed to get through a tough patch of work (i.e redundancies, being thrown into the thick end of work with zero guidance or help), I did the stupid thing and bought an intake through CAI Automotive, who took care of me nicely here. They also sold me the Pagid race pads previously earlier on this year.
And so, the box arrived. And didn't it look great?
OK, maybe, not so great! The box within however did look superb! I think I was even sad enough to do an unboxing video at the time, so if the demand is there, I may as well put it up! So, what was in the box?
For the cash, not an awful lot!
But would I fit it then? No. A few things would come into play:
1) My friend was getting the itch to get a BMW and for some reason thought I'd be a suitable 'buyer' to take along with him.
2) Sister's wedding preparations were really beginning to kick in
3) I was pretty tired from a combination of work and the wedding prep in general
4) My back was getting bad again. Damn, I thought getting older was meant to be fun, not painful!
And so, the intake lived in my boot for a few weeks until I finally got around to fitting it, but I had a plan, and that plan would take time.
https://youtu.be/76LnnTZDaWQ
OK, there is an exhaust in the mix of that as well, but you get the idea
.They also look pretty tasty too!:
So, how much is this goodness? Depending on how it is done and what compromises you are willing to live with (driveability vs. price basically), you are looking at £2-2.6k even if you fit the parts yourself. Ouch! For me, a 20BHP gain, the look and the sound is certainly superb but not quite that superb. What's worse is, I went in an M3 convertible with 100,000 miles less than mine with a Karbonius system fitted. While other people came out of the car with a massive smile, I didn't really. Sure, it sounded slightly louder than a stock M3 with that throttle body noise, but in reality, it wasn't that much. It didn't feel that quick either! If I wanted to spend that kind of cash, I'd want to be absolutely sure of what I was buying.
I can't really see myself buying a CSL either, as much as I'd love one. They're a little too rare and valuable for me to enjoy, when you bear in my daily driver is worth £1,000 on a good day! And I do like my creature comforts, like a sunroof, air conditioning, a decent sound system and the means of travelling hundreds of miles while feeling awake when I arrive? Do I want the moon on a stick? Pretty much!
So, the CSL airbox was out of the equation. This did however, open up a few options. One of the options is the well-renowned Eventuri cold air intake. It's a setup that has been revered by many for years. It's still not quite great value, but compared to the CSL airbox it is. What's more, there is no need to send your ECU away to accept a map sensor either as you do for a CSL airbox, unless you don't care about driveability. Why is that? The Eventuri merely replaces the airbox in the engine bay, not the entire plenum and airbox as the CSL airbox does. This does also mean almost anyone can fit it too.
So, given that I had made a promise to myself that I'd treat the car to an airbox if I managed to get through a tough patch of work (i.e redundancies, being thrown into the thick end of work with zero guidance or help), I did the stupid thing and bought an intake through CAI Automotive, who took care of me nicely here. They also sold me the Pagid race pads previously earlier on this year.
And so, the box arrived. And didn't it look great?
OK, maybe, not so great! The box within however did look superb! I think I was even sad enough to do an unboxing video at the time, so if the demand is there, I may as well put it up! So, what was in the box?
For the cash, not an awful lot!
But would I fit it then? No. A few things would come into play:
1) My friend was getting the itch to get a BMW and for some reason thought I'd be a suitable 'buyer' to take along with him.
2) Sister's wedding preparations were really beginning to kick in
3) I was pretty tired from a combination of work and the wedding prep in general
4) My back was getting bad again. Damn, I thought getting older was meant to be fun, not painful!
And so, the intake lived in my boot for a few weeks until I finally got around to fitting it, but I had a plan, and that plan would take time
.Patience. I remember Take That made a crappy song about it. Something about having some. Maybe they had a point. These days, it seems to be something I severely lack!
So, I had the air intake! But, I wanted to fit it, whilst simultaneously testing it! It didn't help that I had a prospestive buyers of similar air intakes who wanted to know as well! But the way I saw it, after having the airbox for over a week.
[ul type="disc"]
[li]Fit it within 2 weeks[/li]
[li]Fit it well after my sister's wedding, so around about next month! ; I thought the Mondeo was broken, so that was more of a priority to fix[/li]
[li]Return it![/li]
[/ul]
Well, the day came, at the end of July, and so I put it onto the rollers!
And what was the result? It was 308BHP. That sounds under I admit. The dyno guy however did state that most M3s made between 290 to 320 on his dyno, obviously pending a few factors.
It was fair to say the baseline was set. And so in the carpark, on a mild, yet wet day, I proceeded to change out the parts
One part I added to the list was the Mishimoto smooth intake elbow. These elbows via another manufacturer are a popular mod over in Trump country. Would it help? Who knows!
After fitting the airbox, I only had one piece of the puzzle left to do. Remove the cold air intake off the factory airbox and then fit in the new item, made from swanky carbon fibre!
[img]http://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/chasr/b52c235ec5cf.jpg [/img]
After doing this, the only thing I could do was to stand back and admire my handiwork. The airbox to be fair is a very simple item to fit; most people could fit this I suspect and I did it in less than 20 minutes to boot!
But, I could not stand back and just admire the work, I had to see it too! I must say the car did sound a little fruitier as I was warming it up as I drove around for a short while.
I eventually put it back onto the dyno. The first thing I noticed? The noise! Wow, it sounded superb from outside, especially as the engine went beyond 4kRPM all the way to 7,500rpm! But Christ, I did feel horrible letting it go that high two times in a row!
And what was the result? A 10BHP gain! So yes, the online reports of this filter providing power are true! It may have made more, but I didn’t dare to do the 3rd run on this car with the airbox, despite doing so on the factory item.
With this done, there was nothing left to do, but to go home, put my foot down, and just listen to the roar!
It’s fair to say that with the MPG of the Merc making this car look frugal, I am enjoying it a little more! It’s a shame it’s getting a little shabby in places, and this would be the point where I’d normally sell a car, but I’ve decided to commit myself. After all, you can’t buy memories. That and the BMW E46 has officially entered the 18-30 car club, given that the first ones were made in 2000 ?.
Still, I may as well keep on enjoying it. And yes, I did put a stupid number plate onto it a few months ago.
One day, I’ll finally prioritise that bodywork. At least it looks good from the photos eh?
Oh, remember the guy who bought the Individual M3? Well, he bought another E46! A fairly rare one too! It was interesting finding a car like that! But, I'll spill more later on:
So, I had the air intake! But, I wanted to fit it, whilst simultaneously testing it! It didn't help that I had a prospestive buyers of similar air intakes who wanted to know as well! But the way I saw it, after having the airbox for over a week.
[ul type="disc"]
[li]Fit it within 2 weeks[/li]
[li]Fit it well after my sister's wedding, so around about next month! ; I thought the Mondeo was broken, so that was more of a priority to fix[/li]
[li]Return it![/li]
[/ul]
Well, the day came, at the end of July, and so I put it onto the rollers!
And what was the result? It was 308BHP. That sounds under I admit. The dyno guy however did state that most M3s made between 290 to 320 on his dyno, obviously pending a few factors.
It was fair to say the baseline was set. And so in the carpark, on a mild, yet wet day, I proceeded to change out the parts
One part I added to the list was the Mishimoto smooth intake elbow. These elbows via another manufacturer are a popular mod over in Trump country. Would it help? Who knows!
After fitting the airbox, I only had one piece of the puzzle left to do. Remove the cold air intake off the factory airbox and then fit in the new item, made from swanky carbon fibre!
[img]http://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/chasr/b52c235ec5cf.jpg [/img]
After doing this, the only thing I could do was to stand back and admire my handiwork. The airbox to be fair is a very simple item to fit; most people could fit this I suspect and I did it in less than 20 minutes to boot!
But, I could not stand back and just admire the work, I had to see it too! I must say the car did sound a little fruitier as I was warming it up as I drove around for a short while.
I eventually put it back onto the dyno. The first thing I noticed? The noise! Wow, it sounded superb from outside, especially as the engine went beyond 4kRPM all the way to 7,500rpm! But Christ, I did feel horrible letting it go that high two times in a row!
And what was the result? A 10BHP gain! So yes, the online reports of this filter providing power are true! It may have made more, but I didn’t dare to do the 3rd run on this car with the airbox, despite doing so on the factory item.
With this done, there was nothing left to do, but to go home, put my foot down, and just listen to the roar!
It’s fair to say that with the MPG of the Merc making this car look frugal, I am enjoying it a little more! It’s a shame it’s getting a little shabby in places, and this would be the point where I’d normally sell a car, but I’ve decided to commit myself. After all, you can’t buy memories
. That and the BMW E46 has officially entered the 18-30 car club, given that the first ones were made in 2000 ?.Still, I may as well keep on enjoying it. And yes, I did put a stupid number plate onto it a few months ago.
One day, I’ll finally prioritise that bodywork. At least it looks good from the photos eh?
Oh, remember the guy who bought the Individual M3? Well, he bought another E46! A fairly rare one too! It was interesting finding a car like that! But, I'll spill more later on
:Edited by SebringMan on Thursday 26th September 17:45
JakeT said:
This is a nice thread, I do like seeing the updates.
The E46 has been over 20 for a while now though, they offically started production in December 1997, with some very early saloon models being registered on an 'R' plate. My old 328ci was bult in November 1999.
Cheers!The E46 has been over 20 for a while now though, they offically started production in December 1997, with some very early saloon models being registered on an 'R' plate. My old 328ci was bult in November 1999.
I'll be honest, my car isn't as bad as Helix's 328i, but it's still not great :/. I do plan to sort that soon, albeit I am aware there will be a cost.
There have been more updates, and yes, I probably could have sorted the rust issues! But well, this is me, and logic sometimes needs a driver to get it to work again, especially if you are trying to keep your faith in the car, while it is misbehaving as your daily is being borrowed until someone's lease car arrives.
But, let's crack on!
So, what's next?
Remember my friend with an E46 M3 Individual? What you probably didn't know was that the E36 323i I alluded to earlier. That was also his, and it was a car both I and him in different areas got back up to its former glory. The Audi A6 in the Merc thread is also his, and what a great car that is.
He also had an E46 328i Touring, which the pair of us rather liked! It seems we do like a good old E46! With the M3 gone, It seems he still had that itch, but for something a little cheaper. A 330i this time?
I won’t go in depth as my post as to when I was finding an M3, but it seems even on the ‘cheap’ 330Cis it now seems to be a similar thing. Go onto this forum and Facebook, and people will say
“Yeah, I got a 330Ci for £1k off ma cuz, and it’s mint!”
“£1.5k is too much m8, You can get a twice as nice one for £500”.
OK, maybe the grammar’s not bad here, but you get the point.
I genuinely thought £2-3k would get him a really nice 330Ci as did he. His 158k, but very sorted and clean 328i went for £1.2k after all. Well, it seems it would a similar tale? How similar? Through wading through the £2k cars, all had shot and bodged interiors (blue stitching on a bolster in a black leather car anyone?), misaligned panels, probably from ram raids, rust breeding in quite a few areas like the arches, bathroom sealant holding up various seals and interior parts very obviously. That’s before I get to the generally flaky histories and iffy engines. It seemed the dealers were doing a similar thing but charging £4k for such heaps, albeit with obvious and sometimes poor paint repairs! We did come across some absolute jokers of car dealers and sellers mind you! A particular dealer in Slough as a ‘specialist’ was a very interesting character!
Were we really after too much? What on earth happened to getting a good BMW for around £2k? Did I really undersell my 323i all those years ago?
Anyway, when my friend upped the budget quite significantly, Significantly enough to put his budget into the firing line of a rare E46, the 330Ci ClubSport.
After seeing one rough one like the aforementioned cars, it seemed one good car did turn up. It was local-ish, and the owner was the type of owner you’d want to buy a car from. Maybe he knew this. Sure, the car had a few marks here and the wheels needed a refurb. But the car was decent, and so was he, detailing any time he had the car painted and why he had it painted, despite it not being obvious, and to a more hard buying buyer, ammunition to lower the price of the car!
It drove very well, didn’t have a cracked boot floor, or look terminal, and was clean and straight! The Exclusive interior it had inside, albeit rare, was the icing on the cake.
After some haggling, and a great deal for all involved, we came back in the car. And what a gem it is.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzvzVnjnWoi/?utm_sourc...
It’s a very different drive to the M3. The M54 unit is certainly more refined and smoother than the S54 lump found in the M3. For daily use, the M54 probably makes more sense, even if the fuel consumption is similar. But the S54 does have that magic about it, and a great blend of old school engineering with modern day touches just to give that great feeling about it.
Was he happy with the deal? You bet!
There is more to come. But, here’s a taster for now:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1rtTFunOR-/?utm_sourc...
So, let's discuss what I have done on the car then!
Being the RR way I thought I'd change the cosmetics a little, and probably in a way that will be quite divisive as I have found out! Basically, I wanted to change the colour of the lights. An early E46 is now a rare sight on the roads from what I've seen but I have liked the orange lights on them for some time. It's funny, I used to enjoy making cars have clear lights on a few occasions including my ford Ka, Pug 205 GTi, and my 944, but it seems in some cases I just love the colour!
With this in mind, I decided to to investigate getting gingercators
On a pre-2001 M3, this is simple bar one part. With the clip-in indicators, the fronts are easily obtainable, and the rears cam come from an early E46 Coupe. Would this be so simple with my E46? Not exactly. But, these things are sent to test us.
I knew you could get the parts from the dealer, and for a more reasonable amount than I thought, but I thought I'd check out a few other places. Here is what I found
• Front indicators ; Screw in attachment, like all post ’01 E46 Coupes, where all were clear lights
• Sides; Shared with the BMW E38
• Rears : LED only, and clear in the UK market anyway.
So, was it easy to find them away from the stealer? No chance! Here is how my search went:
• Fronts : RHS available from Poland, LHS not available anywhere, albeit listed on sites.
• Sides: LHS was available from KMS for reasonable money. RHS? No chance. Secondhand, it seems these now go for near new money as well, if you can find them.
• Rears: Hardest thing of the lot. I found one rear for sale, again in Poland, but nowhere else.
And so, given that I knew BMW were OK on price, but also carried a guarantee, there I went to get them. So, how did the transformation go? Well, I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Let's start off with the front:
A bit of a change eh?
Why don't we do the rear as well?
I'll grab more shots of the rear soon, once my ankle heals and the weather begins to play ball.
Being the RR way I thought I'd change the cosmetics a little, and probably in a way that will be quite divisive as I have found out! Basically, I wanted to change the colour of the lights. An early E46 is now a rare sight on the roads from what I've seen but I have liked the orange lights on them for some time. It's funny, I used to enjoy making cars have clear lights on a few occasions including my ford Ka, Pug 205 GTi, and my 944, but it seems in some cases I just love the colour!
With this in mind, I decided to to investigate getting gingercators
On a pre-2001 M3, this is simple bar one part. With the clip-in indicators, the fronts are easily obtainable, and the rears cam come from an early E46 Coupe. Would this be so simple with my E46? Not exactly. But, these things are sent to test us.
I knew you could get the parts from the dealer, and for a more reasonable amount than I thought, but I thought I'd check out a few other places. Here is what I found
• Front indicators ; Screw in attachment, like all post ’01 E46 Coupes, where all were clear lights
• Sides; Shared with the BMW E38
• Rears : LED only, and clear in the UK market anyway.
So, was it easy to find them away from the stealer? No chance! Here is how my search went:
• Fronts : RHS available from Poland, LHS not available anywhere, albeit listed on sites.
• Sides: LHS was available from KMS for reasonable money. RHS? No chance. Secondhand, it seems these now go for near new money as well, if you can find them.
• Rears: Hardest thing of the lot. I found one rear for sale, again in Poland, but nowhere else.
And so, given that I knew BMW were OK on price, but also carried a guarantee, there I went to get them. So, how did the transformation go? Well, I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Let's start off with the front:
A bit of a change eh?
Why don't we do the rear as well?
I'll grab more shots of the rear soon, once my ankle heals and the weather begins to play ball
.JakeT said:
The ambers look very well. I like them on the dark coloured cars, the contrast is just lovely.
This is why I didn't buy another E46 after my 328ci went. Most of them were in poor condition for the money, or wanting five grand. Most of them seemed to have knackered ball joints, worn steering racks, or rust issues. I still have a tidy 325ti that spends a lot of time on a charger in the garage, but I bought a nice E91 330i instead of another E46. They're still a great daily, but it needs to be a sorted one, or the time needs to be taken to sort one. Shame, as they feel great to drive and are a comfortable car. I've done over 100,000 miles between the three I had. Never got stranded and took them through the beast from the east, and all over Europe.
I'm surprised my friend didn't sack off the search of one. This one did come to less than £5k though This is why I didn't buy another E46 after my 328ci went. Most of them were in poor condition for the money, or wanting five grand. Most of them seemed to have knackered ball joints, worn steering racks, or rust issues. I still have a tidy 325ti that spends a lot of time on a charger in the garage, but I bought a nice E91 330i instead of another E46. They're still a great daily, but it needs to be a sorted one, or the time needs to be taken to sort one. Shame, as they feel great to drive and are a comfortable car. I've done over 100,000 miles between the three I had. Never got stranded and took them through the beast from the east, and all over Europe.
. The Individual M3 was a 5 figure car, but TBH it's a good car for SMG haters to drive (it's amazing the difference a new DMF, clutch and drivetrain components like the prop bearing etc. make to it, even the engine performance affects it), and an example IMHO of how an M3 should drive. But the last person was also a chequebook mechanic. This 330Ci is very similar in that respect. I'll have get more shots of it soon and a few more details.I think the reasons why the values have gone up are as follows:
-Drifters have moved onto these and that is still a growing scene; With more dying and getting trashed, it drives the values up. Same thing happed with S13 and S14 Nissans years ago, long before the classic car bubble came.
-E30 values have shot up well into 5 figures for good 6 pot Coupes. E36 Sports have risen, so of course, people consider the next car down
-Classic Car 'investments', Modern Classics did a very gleaming piece on these, claiming they were better than an M3 according to the journalist, and that £6k was better spent on one than an M3 (Latter point is fair)
-Modern ones are strange to drive. I like the E9x and E6x drive, even if the latter is a little understeery. I'm unsure of the F8x cars, albeit I respect the M4, and the M135i left me feeling cold the second time I drove it. Great engine and box, but the chassis was a bit meh for me; I prefer the E61 535d I hate to say!
The E46 is a lovely steer for sure, despite being very similar to its E36 brethren.
I *may* have a trip planned for the M3 again, but I need to sort a couple of things. The rust I'll leave for now, it's more the mechanical aspects of it.
Nunga said:
I’m surprised you had so much trouble finding an amber set of indicators. The sides, as you mentioned, are also E38 parts so there were plentiful options when I searched, as well as the front corners. The rears i got very lucky, as on German eBay there was a seller selling genuine facelift LED amber taillights for €59, though that was some four years ago now, so I appreciate it might be harder as you described.
Have you heard of leebmann24.de? It is a German BMW dealer and they have thus far been excellent regarding spares and upgrades for my M3; everything from a RHD windscreen cowl, said front/side indicators, new wing vent badge, gearknob and gaiter, handbrake grip and gaiter, strut top covers, various other bits of interior and exterior trim and clips, front bumper clips, probably more.
Was this perhaps some inspiration?
Indeed, times has changed. Most E38 owners I know binned their side ambers. Even in the breakers yards, the ambers on pre-amber cars weren't there. Mine being a facelift M3 with screw in indicators made the front harder. Autodoc had one side in stock with ECP and GSF proving uselss despite providing part nos. for both the genuine items and the AL nos.Have you heard of leebmann24.de? It is a German BMW dealer and they have thus far been excellent regarding spares and upgrades for my M3; everything from a RHD windscreen cowl, said front/side indicators, new wing vent badge, gearknob and gaiter, handbrake grip and gaiter, strut top covers, various other bits of interior and exterior trim and clips, front bumper clips, probably more.
Was this perhaps some inspiration?
I'll have to remember that site
. I've been lucky with Cotswold and Rybrook mind you. The ABS sensor from them was around the same money as a TRW/ATE replacement ; I'm aware Bosch stuff online is trickier to tell from being either fake, an inferior quality (Ford TDCI owners will know about that one) or the real deal, so that price can't always be taken.But yes, I've considered that look with either Gold or Bronze wheels
. Remember that I have the 18s in a bit of a tatty state too .Edited by SebringMan on Tuesday 1st October 23:43
Nunga said:
Mine is a facelift as well, and this year I had to replace my RHS front indicator due to a big stone chip in the glass. Pretty sure it came from eBay, but it’s genuine so it matches perfectly. I guess ultimately you have to be prepared to use all the resources at your disposal.
It’s funny you mention TRW as I guess a dig(?) at pattern parts. There was a lot of talk on M3cutters about E46 front LCAs from AUTODOC and whether or not the TRW sets were genuine, and the final consensus was the TRW ones are just Lemforder ie OEM, but with the Lemforder logo ground off.
The Right side was oddly the one I could still get off eBay . Indeed, it does pay to be planned.It’s funny you mention TRW as I guess a dig(?) at pattern parts. There was a lot of talk on M3cutters about E46 front LCAs from AUTODOC and whether or not the TRW sets were genuine, and the final consensus was the TRW ones are just Lemforder ie OEM, but with the Lemforder logo ground off.
I only mentioned TRW as given that BMW parts come with a 2 year warranty, it seems almost crazy to go for an ‘OE’ part from an alternative supplier. I’ve previously had Lemforder stuff fail on other cars when bought from a very well known European Car Parts motor factor, and am aware there are differing qualities, especially now I work in the automotive trade and see the engineering changes/grades of parts . But that said, I’m not an advocate of genuine always being best, as parts of this thread have alluded to .
I have a few more pics, which I will update later on today .
There’s been other progress including solving the plethora of warning lights on the dashboard .
So, it was time for the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle. The side repeaters. Eventually, they turned up! One of them looked like it had been sat on the shelf for quite some time. Naturally, I had to get the old ones off.
Why buy smoked repeaters when you can get aged ones? After 15 years, my old items were looking a little sorry for themselves.
Finally, despite the poor weather, it was time to reveal the lights on the car!
[img]http://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/chasr/8bc3e39c7645.jpg/img]
So, there it is! The car is now ambered, or Tango'd as an advert used to go!
Why buy smoked repeaters when you can get aged ones? After 15 years, my old items were looking a little sorry for themselves.
Finally, despite the poor weather, it was time to reveal the lights on the car!
[img]http://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/chasr/8bc3e39c7645.jpg/img]
So, there it is! The car is now ambered, or Tango'd as an advert used to go!
Edited by SebringMan on Friday 4th October 17:44
Many thanks for the comms!
I've been a little quiet about this car lately as I've been focusing on another!
Yup, this is my 280SE 4.5 and what a beast it is!
It's been great for getting some perspective on my fleet as well as it being so damn cool!
But the M3 hasn't gone without anything. I actually ended up taking it abroad in October! Stay tuned for more updates:
I've been a little quiet about this car lately as I've been focusing on another!
Yup, this is my 280SE 4.5 and what a beast it is!
It's been great for getting some perspective on my fleet as well as it being so damn cool!
But the M3 hasn't gone without anything. I actually ended up taking it abroad in October! Stay tuned for more updates:
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