phoenix yellow e46 m3 coupe manual

[squareflops]

well following on from

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I now have myself another m3 Picked it up yesterday, hopefully this m3 ownership experience is both sweeter and lasts a little longer than 2 weeks. I loved the VX and it didn't put a foot wrong but this m3 came up and I just had to have it. I've wanted a PY coupe since I was about 17 so I jumped in and went to get this from the east coast.

general overview is

01' coupe manual non sunroof
125k
full service history
7 former keepers
kiwi interior
HK audio
ac schnitzer exhaust
m3carbon1 remap
michelin pilot sport cup 2 tyres

The deciding factor(s) for me was that the car has been looked after for the last few years by specialists and also ETA Motorsport in Kent. They've very recently reinforced the sub frame and adjusted the tappets (putting 20 shims in) 2k ago. The engine was given a health check and all is well with it, the vanos is operating as it should and is very quiet. Also a great sign to see good tyres fitted; says a lot about a car I feel.

The buying process was great; the seller was very genuine and took me right through the car explaining all important information and going through the history of the car as he knew it before his ownership. It seems it's been predominantly an m3cutters car; at least in the last few years. Before I left he gave me a shopping crate with a full oil service kit, standard chrome bonnet grills, standard rear lights and a few other bits and bobs. Was very comfortable that the seller has looked after the car very well.

As always with me I wouldn't be happy unless there was some big looming bill so today I've ordered a clutch and dm flywheel as I suspect one of those things is on the way out; there's judder and noise coming from the clutch pedal when not in gear so going to refresh the clutch as a precaution at least. NBR in a month or so and I'd prefer for it not to start slipping et al out there. Other than that she's pretty spot on!

The drive home was arduous yesterday, I was so far east at one point I saw France; no jokes. I was elated for the first hour and couldn't stop smiling but then the miles of motorway set in with hot weather (air con was brill) and I just wanted to be home. I averaged 32.4 mpg which I was really happy with and managed 210 miles from just under half a tank.

The only other thing I want to replace is the head unit for a bluetooth unit as the business cassette deck doesn't really cut it.

The car itself to drive is superb, I've missed m3 ownership since the last one had to go back to the dealer and I can't stop grinning whenever I'm driving it. a playful rear whenever requested and devastating acceleration is so intoxicating, but I can still get in and out without dislocating my spine in 6 place ala VX.

anyway.. pictures (this one really is a keeper I feel)

before a clean



I'd washed the wheels at this point which explains the wet floor



















during its first bath





and washed, no quick dealer or wax applied























I haven't attacked the interior as yet as the kiwi leather is slightly discoloured and I'm waiting on some LTT Leathercare to arrive to give it a really thorough going over.

The only thing I'm not too fussed on is the black mirrors (some of you noticed already no doubt) I'd prefer body coloured ones but no drama with them as they are.

Well, more updates to follow no doubt

Edited by squareflops on Sunday 3rd July 21:48

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cheers guys.

I was dismayed but not surprised to see mud collected in the lip of the rear arches, it seems like a secret no one knows about to keep this are clean and clear. Therapeutic pulling about half a kilo of mud out of each inner arch though.

Just took one of the boys out who rallys an e30 318is, he's off to the classifieds now I really must keep the TC on or I'll be needing to replace the pilot sport cup 2s on the rear very shortly

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Paulr1980 said:

So the vx has gone right? Haven't you just spunked a rather sizeable amount of money on it?

Paul, It's what I do



Yea VX is gone, I'd prepped it for the nurburgring so it was pretty well sorted but - ahh .. I have no rebuttal to your well thought out argument

JakeT said:

I seem to see so many new readers cars threads from you But hopefully this one stays longer than the other E46 or the E92 did. How does it fit in the garage?

again; I'm sorry OK

If I had to guess I'm compensating for keeping the GT4 for best part of a decade, making up for lost time maybe, or maybe I just really want all this to culminate in bankruptcy haha

Yea me too bud, the e92 just wasn't sport enough, VX was too sporty, m3 is juuust right..

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minute update

got home earlier and as there were a few hours of sunshine left I decided to spruce the interior a little. I've avoided doing the interior up until now as I wasn't sure how far I was going to go (seats out etc maybe) but decided to tone it down a little and just do a normal clean with a hoover, wet vac mats, interior shampoo on all the vinyl surfaces and treat the leather. Something I noticed was the 3 rear headrests were almost hard due to neglect and baking in the sun for years. I used Dr Leather clean and 'condition' the whole interior leather, first applied with a bush to agitate any surface grime and then wipe over with a micro fibre cloth to remove. The seats came up well; and are now clean and smelling very lovely, no pictures of the before/after of the interior. Lots of pictures of mats though

Slightly annoying that I notice the fronts and rear mats don't match. Fixing that will have to wait, big few bills before I start replacing interior trim pieces

before cleaning







during (exciting stuff huh)





this ominous stain refused to remove itself



anyway. Few shots of the interior prior to being cleaned/treated



some signs of a slight carelessness by a previous owner


)




can see here really clearly how the centre console panels have worn over time. I have a new hvac relocation panel on the way (did I mention I'm putting a double din head unit in )











and a few exterior shots, just for the bants







I pretty much soaked the rear headrests in Dr Leather and they've become far more supple, a few more applications and they should be like new.

I popped down the 3 Arches Garage (garage that looked after my Impreza very well) and the boys there confirmed my suspicions that the clutch is past it's best. Euro Car Parts had a sale on clutch items ending Sunday so I've ordered a 3 piece clutch and DM flywheel by LUK as used by BMW themselves so all OE items, no interest in going uprated at this stage. I've also ordered a crank RMS from Cotswold BMW as a precaution as the box is out anyway, make sense for an extra £25 or so. Not ideal 4 weeks prior to the 'ring trip but I'd rather go out there knowing I won't (or shouldn't) have clutch issues.

Also, I checked my rear tyres again earlier and they are now on the wear bars, darn. Few too many spirited rides with the boys has left some rubber on the roundabouts in and around the local area I fear; my rear tyres are not loyal. So can see me having to replace the rears before we leave also. Will I have any money left for fuel.. hmm..

So clutch should be fitted by this time next week and hopefully the stereo (which I'm changing primarily so I don't get too bored on the drive out/back from Germany) will arrive by the weekend and I can get to fitting that. Oh, I also bought 8 mat retaining doobery whatsits from Cotswold BMW, all bar 2 had disappeared.

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cheers for all the comments

tbh I don't really have a strong opinion on the cosmetic changes either way, I do have all the original grills/vents in chrome and the original side lenses to go back to standard. My dilemma is if I replace the grills etc the rear spoiler/boot emblem and mirrors are still black so will clash. I have to do all or nothing, and it's nothing for now as there's other things higher up the list. Interesting feedback though; didn't realize people would feel so strongly!

Sebring, I read a good few threads on the LUK stuff before ordering to ensure (as much as possible) that the items were kosher. m3cutters had nothing but good things to say about LUK with numerous threads giving positive feedback (it seems BMW used both Sachs & LUK) hopefully it doesn't disintegrate too quickly! but if it does we all know it'll be on a hot lap at the 'ring; what fun that will be.

Bit of progress. The eonon head unit and hvac panel arrived so got to fitting. The central vents in the dash were a right fker to get out but released themselves eventually. The swap over was pretty simple and the new panel looks great being free from scratches etc.

SuperVM said:

I've just done a double din conversion myself. Annoyingly, when I ordered the relocation kit, I didn't realise there were two sizes of buttons.

ah yes the 16/18mm option, be aware for anyone thinking about ordering, it's a £69 part from BMW so nic eto get it eight first time!

few pics of the process









two bags come with all the accessories needed inc' wifi and gps antennas

easy enough to remove the trim pieces





and installed (cheesy pic I know but just for the novelty of it, I'll change it later)



got to say the unit itself is very impressive. Full android so I was watching full screen YouTube last night which was pretty awesome. The sound is great and comes with a full digital EQ. the touch screen is fast and responsive, I really really like it. No doubt a Dynavin would be hugely better again but for the price this is a fantastic improvement.

Happy with the new panel



for phone interface I've connected the USB output to a lightening cable and fed it into the centre console which is a handy spot



I was browsing this thread on PH about the BM whilst sat in the BM last night, what a time to be alive..

So clutch and flywheel arrived also









Car is booked in for clutch fitting next tuesday and garage check before the 'ring, I'll be checking it over myself of course but always good to have a second pair of professional eyes to check things over.

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Cheers guys!

Mr T - me too!

CW - I'll get some more pictures not doubt soon enough. The interior although surprisingly free of rips and tears and in very good condition does have some slight discolouring which I may not be able to shift but the Dr Leather cleaner does work very well.

SWE - that's strong money! I do think the outstanding examples are worth it though, if I had a lottery win that's what I'd be buying, then sending it off to Redish for a thorough going over.

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SirSquidalot said:

Very nice! An E46 M3 is looking like it will be my next car, they just seem to be everything we dont have at the minute. High revving NA engine, manual box and proper steering!

dude you have to do it. It's an incredible machine for the outlay at the moment. There's loads of stters out there so choose wisely but get a good one and you'll fall in love instantly. The S54 is a complete masterpiece

RMS received from BMW Gloucester (Cotswold) and the replacement mat clips. From (on drivers mat only)



to



on all 4 mats. Like the finer details

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tbh I don't really feel like I'm taking full advantage of the android unit as yet. It comes from not really understanding how to use the interface with my iphone properly, or at least not knowing how/what programs to download etc to get them talking to each other. At present I can easily stream all music over bluetooth but I'd ideally like full track listings to appear on screen along with artwork etc, is this possible does anyone know? It must be. I'd also like my iphone gallery to appear when the iphone is connected via the USB. It's probably simple? but I have no idea!

Any tech guys fancy dropping some eonon knowledge on me?

I'm yet to connect my wifi and GPS aerials too, but I have no nav program installed yet so no real point.

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cheers bud, appreciate that, hopefully they're a generic interface and we can get some answers



As I've said before I really can't recommend them enough, coming from the Yellow VX this colour is positively sedate, it does still seem to divide opinion but there's lots of great colours to choose from. My titan silver one looked fantastic in person where I thought it might be slightly bland in the pictures, can't really go wrong..

Slightly apprehensive about the clutch fitting tomorrow; what horrors will Dean uncover

at least he won't be telling me the carrier panel's cracked

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It seems phoenix yellow fell out of favour and was dropped in the early 2000s (although I may be misrepresenting here as I believe that's true of America not the UK) but I really love it. Parked in Sainsburys earlier and couldn't take my eyes off it. + no one was parked next to me upon my return; unbelievable scenes..

Well it's back

3 Arches had the car for two days as when the box came out a few more things were found that needed attention right away so parts had to be ordered.

I received a phone call yesterday lunch time to advise that:

input gearbox seal was leaking
shaft sleeve had deteriorated
release arm worn

There really was no point in not replacing these items of course as the box was out so advised to renew them. The input seal especially was causing issues as it was leaking oil onto the clutch assembly; not doing it any favours and I really didn't fancy putting a nice new clutch/flywheel in and it immediately being sprayed in oil. Not big money jobs any of the above so all done, cool.

few pics of the work in progress



















Interesting to see the clutch is stamped LUK

feedback was (and as we can see) everything was pretty tired / defunct so a really good job done at the right time (for the car, not my bank balance)

To say the car has been improved is an understatement. Whereas before I was getting the usual audible squelch indicative of a failing thrust bearing when in neutral and the judder through the clutch pedal synonymous with a very tired dm flywheel we now have a beautifully smooth and quiet clutch pedal with instant bite and perfect modulation. The work has had the effect of quietening down the drive train also. I had good few clonks/knocks but these have all but been removed and the transmission is butter smooth. I'm thoroughly impressed with both the car and 3 Arches work, as always Dean and everyone there have done a superb job with the car, can't speak highly enough of the garage.

Whilst in amongst it Dean also noted that the alternator belt was hanging on by hopes and dreams and would have likely snapped at any moment so a fresh belt has gone on.

The car really does feel transformed, it's great isn't it when you spend money and actually feel the difference in the car, it certainly softens the blow to the wallet.

well 3 weeks and counting to NBR, getting excited now

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busy day

set out to wash to the car from about 10am

Full exterior clean inc wheels off as I received my KKD FeRRUM. It was the first time jacking up the m3; any e46 for that matter so took my time to make sure the thing wasn't going to fall off anything half way through. Unfortunately last week my 2t Halfords jack decided to die. I did try re filling the reservoir with jack oil but all I had coming out was thick globs of brown/white gunk, looks like the thing blew a head gasket! So in the bin that went and picked up a new one.







so got to jacking up. The m is too low to allow the jack to slide under the front jacking point so had to utilise my spare scissor jack to lift one side for some clearance



The front went up no problem (new jack is much easier to operate than the old) rested that on the stands and took to the rear. Wasn't exactly sure where to place the jack but a quick search pointed to the cross member just forward of the diff casing



so half hour or so later she was in the air and the wheels were off











(so many angles of the same thing..)

My 'front' axle stands here are slightly taller than the rears, it gives the car a donward rake towards the rear of the car so next time I think I'll swap the stands around to ensure the car is more level.

I wanted to give the arches a good clean as well as the wheels as they were pretty grimy









but I'll come back to those in a sec.

The wheels were next. this was most of the line up for the cleaning duties, the iron-x says CSP but it's an old container that now holds the KKD. Not pictured is an Autoglym wheel detailing brush for the lug holes



I first attacked the wheels with the AD non acidic Very Cherry wheel cleaner to remove the worst of the grime. They weren't actually in that bad a condition so it didn't take a huge effort to get them clean. Then after a rise I used the KKD FeRRUM to remove any iron contamination of which there was an appreciable amount on all wheels, then after another rinse a good shampoo with warm water and a sponge to finish.

durring the FeRRUM, this is the front near side wheel





rear... one of the rears





this was one of the fronts before starting to give an idea of before / after









well after the wheels were all clean and left to dry I moved onto the arches. I see I have HEL braided front lines; who knew?



After degreasing the arches with a stiff brush I foamed them and left to dwell to remove any other loose debris left behind





Then hit the whole car for it's first SF stage









The arches came up OK, not brilliant I'd sat but they're now at least free from any mud/dirt









Everything in the arches looks OK, nothings loose and all pads have plenty of life in them.

So jet washed off the first application of AD Devils Blood SF and applied a second layer to use as a shampoo. To finish off I used Infinity Wax Rapid Detailer to add some protection and shine, I really rate this stuff!





QD'd an waiting to be put down again











and all done

















quick going over of Meguiars Interior Detailer and a hoover for the interior





So that was today.

In other news, the GF checked my passport today for no particular reason and... it's expired good job she checked as I would have found out at border control in Folkstone! More money no doubt that I could really do without spending 2 and half weeks before I leave (not to mention the slight panic I now have at trying to get one before everyone leaves)

Joy

But a good day never the less

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yea appointment booked for a week today with a 7 day turnaround. should arrive Monday and we go the Thursday so few days for contingency. Already paid the £128 fee

that really could have gone toward back tyres, plus the half days pay I lose. First world problems eh

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pretty awful aren't they. One of the first things I noticed about the car.

a second option for the colour



not the caliper itself but the mpsort blue. Not period correct I know but think it would work nicely with the phoenix yellow. I've decided to (in time) return the body to standard (no black tat) and go oe 18" wheels rather than the 19's.

Think that would work well.

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all ready for the nurburgring tomorrow, leaving Cardiff @ around 6pm for the tunnel @ 1am, we have an Evo coming on a trailer so leaving plenty of time to meander down more slowly than we usually might.

New rear tyres fitted earlier





would have liked to replace the front mpss also but funds don't allow, they have around 2-3mm left before the wear bars so no dramas

we have a:

new focus rs
330d
e92 m3
fd3 rx7 with some tasty aero
08' s2000gt
450hp track prepped Evo (9 I believe) being trailered over
audi rs3

maybe a few others I don't know about yet

super excited

[squareflops]

the same as your good self

I umm'd and arr'd quite a bit over choice but the Falkens seem to get ok reviews, are quite a bit cheaper than the mpss and I did just fancy trying something different. Falken also do both the front and rear sizes for the 19's which is handy as I'd like a matching set of 4 as soon as possible.

also picked this up from DT in the week, we're likely to go karting whilst out there @ the Schumacher place again (highly recommended) and didn't fancy using a communal lid



and carry bag included



cheapest helmet I could find, fits my head excellently though, it isn't fire resistant but using just on the karts should be ok.

well cars all clean and ready to go for a 7:30 set off from Cardiff. changed £200 at the post office, got 220 euros



Can't wait though!

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Good feedback on the 453s SM, won't be used much so wear shouldn't be too much of an issue, hopefully I don't curb the wheels!

Cheers for the offer Catcussed, yea if you had some 225/40/19s there I prob would have taken you up on the offer and got them fitted over there!

That kinda sucks S3, I don't feel sooo bad now ha; but still pretty poor rate. WIll no doubt be the same next month for France.

Kinda bored just hanging around now, want to get off.. Enjoying watching Dannydc2's vlog on YT though; very good watch

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well back from NBR; great trip..

The run down to Folkstone was a quick one on Thursday night, the roads were clear so didn't take too long to get to the tunnel.

The crossing is less glamorous than I'd imagined, think I've seen the EVO guys going over and romanticized it somewhat the journey is very quick though, 25 minutes and we were in France





we arrived early on Friday morning and parked up at our accomadation @ Burgstube with the Zur Nurburg restaurant just across the way as seen here



great line up of cars and some very quick boys, the rs3 and the Evo 10 setting mid 8 minute times, very impressive.

Enjoying the first beer of the trip



The TF sessions were plagued by stoppages unfortunately, we queued for 2 hours to get on for Fridays session which didn't happen at all

spent the whole time on the roundabout





while I was there I recognized the guy in a Cooper S Works in front of me; asked his mate and turns out it was Dan Prosser of EVO mag the boy I asked works for TG too, sounds like they were on a jolly, or not so jolly as the session didn't go ahead.

Sat PM TF session didn't happen either (I don't think?! - hard to remember!) I didn't get out on the circuit I know that much. We were all set for an early lap on Sunday as the TF session was from 8am to 7pm. So we got up, had breakfast, and headed down to the circuit with quite a few others having the same idea. We waited; and waited some more, then Dale Lomas announced over an FB livestream that someone had painted the track over night with emulsion paint and a clean up crew was needed to clear it all up some have no sense really, did they expect emulsion to dry on a wet track at night?

So we managed to get on at about 11am. I bought 4 laps which was 105 euros. I managed 3 laps in total before the track was shut again due to crashes etc. Quickest was a 10:09, frustrating I couldn't break to 10 min barrier but didn't get a clean lap, yellow flags and on my quickest I got held up by a polo sat in the fast lane through lauder links which didn't help.

We filled up the days with watching and going for some scenic drives, we had a professional photographer with us so there should be some great photos coming out in the next few days/weeks.

the rs3 had complete front pad failure so needed full replacements, Hawk pads were ordered and Rent 4 Ring graciously opened up and fitted them





we lined up for the necessary picture before departure on Tuesday morning before walking around the complex; which is still more or less empty. Still lots of flies in our Subway sandwiches though



whilst out there I thought we'd see lots of m3's, wasn't prepaired to see so many phoenix yellows though!









There were many others!

Think I spent about 800 euros all told, most of that went on food and petrol. 1,200 miles all told.

The BM held up well, it did feel it's age, or rather mileage whilst pushing on track. Going out in the s2000 with new coilovers and Federal RSRs felt incredibly taught and poised compared to the M3s slightly wooly feel through the corners. This should all get sorted in the next few months though.

A great trip, looking forward to getting back with a few improvements made to the M, 3rd time lucky on the sub 10 minute lap hopefully!

p.s. I may have mixed some of my days up! still pretty tired from the slightly arduous and long trip home

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cheers guys, should have literally hundreds more images soon, but not taken me ha

Yea I can see the potential in the m3, maybe I'm being too critical it felt great out there, but in the back of my mind a suspension refresh inc all bushings etc should really tighten things up and bring back that new car handling smell

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I think that's a picture 99% of us see as a 'must have' at some point great photo, still yet to find any of mine!

Yea mine had the ATE fluids and new pads all around just before I bought it.

Still a good time bud, there was huge pressure from the boys on my trip to get sub 10; and a year of banter coming for not quite getting there but you really have to be shifting to achieve it. The time comes in the faster sections I believe, I was happy to hit about 110/120mph max in the BM as this was its first proper outing and pretty much an unknown to me, next year I'll have more confidence in it.

The boy with the rs3 did an 8:48 on his first ever lap, that's seriously impressive and he was happy hitting big speeds on the faster sections where I was holding at a cruise. More to it than just that of course but think that's where I'll make the most gains next visit.

still had fun though

https://youtu.be/3BzQm667B0U

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