clarkson's e46 m3 and previous cars - lots of pics

[Swampy1982]

How have I not seen this before, great work, keep the updates coming

[clarkson22]

cheers man
did the full grab handle on drivers side this time





few more bits comming on

[clarkson22]

wasnt happy with the other side so making afullpiece instead of half
the weave also turned out alot nicer






the smaler pice is the lid for the cubby hole above the ash tray




im getting moaned at by my mother for getting carbon strands in all carpets ..women pfff


once the back door card handles are done im going to take everything off and flat and polish it all in one go , i must admit it makes it look alot better inside the car

Edited by clarkson22 on Tuesday 18th August 17:35

[clarkson22]

been doing a few things , got some more dash trims for free so skinning them in the matching carbon cloth and gave it a serious clean today,snow foam , caly bar vss swirl remover on orange hex pad meguris ultimate finishg polish on a black hex pad and a wax , and also have a small coolant leak from somewhere so will have to find that tomorrow







will update again soon , but needs a new topmounts, going to sort coolant leak , get a new radiator and elec fan and delete the viscous fan , remove the cdv valve, just ordered a verniar caliper and the weisco shims to do valve clearences as i know some are out , few other bits to do before the baby arrives in 19 weeks, so gotta spend now lol

[clarkson22]

well finished the other half the car and gave it a full wax all over with some poorboys wax it looks mint it feels like gloss glass everywhere
snow foam after 10 mins

clayed the other half yesterday and ths side today

the tools

the wax

done






did some more carbon fibreing
my roof one was broken so got this for free but its grey so.......


stuck with

epoxy

trimmed and sanded and lacquered




ashtray cover


letting some things dry and will finish everything off its alot easier skinning now ive done it a few times

[clarkson22]

just fitted the trims , getting rid of the cubby box above ashtray getting double din soon so wont be needed and its a bit st

need to neeten the edge up abit avove cd player

and the edge next to lights



well better than last time but needs some sorting still but happy

[clarkson22]

started to redo the trim above the cdplayer wasnt happy with it , but on the otherhand



well i had a blow from the secondary air pump , so seen as i coded it out with martyn software off m3cutters , got a blank and gasket and got rid of it, i decided to get 2 new struts for front , i could littrally push the piston with hardky any force when i got the springs off lol , and went to do my valve clearence' s first one i came to was just out , so went to get the magnet tool...and i have lost it so ordering a new one tommorow so hopefully can get on with them.
anway pics
gone



the sachs struts and topmounts



both sides done

i snapped the hose thats why its wraped in blue tape another thing on the list..just waiting to do the shims

weisco shims

well i got sick off the totally gutted back box so i bought a standard one of jason on here , ftted new gasket and clamps and robbed a battery holder off the 320 im breaking


that was with a whack from the hammer


just gotta get some more euro tips now, but went for a drive, no drone so quiet on normal driving ,maybe a little to quiet , i might take the wadding out but with the decat its alot more raspier on full chat still sounds great

[clarkson22]

well done a few things , did my valve clearences i knew a few were out from when i did my headgasket , i had to change 11 lol but it is so much quieter on idle , i droped the last shim on exhaust side and it landed between the valve and cylinder head, i was prepared to strip and take cams off, turned it over by hand held a magnet next to the valve and it flew out once i cranked it by hand caught the shim with the magnet thank ****!! but also changed the oil , filter and spark plugs , and had some fun polishing stuff with the new dremel


cleaning the filter housing

draining oil



polishing this



did half the vanos



new badges



got some powerflex front anti roll bar bushes to replace the ****e flo flex orange ones and the same for front wishbone lolipop

cheers for reading

[ashley95]

Some real awesome work here! excellent stuff, really really nice M3!

[helix402]

Good work, please straighten your oil filter lid then the world will be a better place.

[clarkson22]

Huh? There's no special way to put the filter lid on?its sat exactly them same as it used to......

[C70R]

I love to see people getting hands-on with the mucky bits of quite complicated cars, so hats off to you. Not everyone is so brave.

However, as someone with the same interior, that carbon looks incredibly tacky compared with the original 'carbon look', particularly on things like the cubby-hole covers. But, to each their own, of course.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 14th January 12:42

[helix402]

clarkson22 said:

Huh? There's no special way to put the filter lid on?its sat exactly them same as it used to......

Lip on the lid to the front.

Edited by helix402 on Thursday 14th January 18:46

[clarkson22]

C70R said:

I love to see people getting hands-on with the mucky bits of quite complicated cars, so hats off to you. Not everyone is so brave.

However, as someone with the same interior, that carbon looks incredibly tacky compared with the original 'carbon look', particularly on things like the cubby-hole covers. But, to each their own, of course.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 14th January 12:42

to be fair mate they were st, i have redone everysingle piece and they look hundred times better , i was just using a file and saw to trim them i now have a dremel and it makes them alot easier to trim and look neater i will upload some pics soon

[C70R]

clarkson22 said:

C70R said:

I love to see people getting hands-on with the mucky bits of quite complicated cars, so hats off to you. Not everyone is so brave.

However, as someone with the same interior, that carbon looks incredibly tacky compared with the original 'carbon look', particularly on things like the cubby-hole covers. But, to each their own, of course.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 14th January 12:42

to be fair mate they were st, i have redone everysingle piece and they look hundred times better , i was just using a file and saw to trim them i now have a dremel and it makes them alot easier to trim and look neater i will upload some pics soon

As I said, no drama at all if you like it - it's just not quite my bag. I think it's the overly shiny look, when compared with the nice matte stock stuff, combined with the odd bits here and there (like the cubby lids), that doesn't do it for me.

[Lynch91]

I actually really like the carbon, be good if you can get the bottom bit of the centre console done, the section with the buttons, will look spot on then. A big fan of the silver and red combo too

[anonymous-user]

Hi Clarkson,

Awesome job looks exquisite!! So glad you changed the wheel colour back :P

A small question, your floor mats with the M logos on. Could you give me the dimensions in relation to the mat and a picture? I have just ordered some mats and logos to put on but I'm unsure on where the correct place to put them

Looking forwarded to more updates

[biggster5000]

Fantastic work, fella! Top marks to you. Worrying to see an e46 M3 with cracks in the chassis - suggests they weren't strong enough in the first place.

I think the car is a real credit to you - amazing!

[clarkson22]

hi been doing some **** to it again, front controll arm nushes had some **** flo flex ones in they were crap i litrally pulled it out the lolipop with pliers bought ome powerlex ones but they sent me the bigger size so eurocar parts saved the day with some black series ones and fitted my front anti roll bar powerflex bushes as they aslo had ****ty flo flew:muttley:




little clean


still got to do the solid steering coupler

[clarkson22]

It was hard to open the door from outside
sometimes , sometimes couldnt and had to use passanger side, so i replaced that yesterday and what a world of difference!!
old one on left

back in place


now it was easier to remove the door lock then slide it back in one the actuator was bolted back in every video i watched they p*ssed about wrestling it in to position , this was billion times easier, bolt for door lock unbolt then slide it out

polished my tips with dremel
50/50



and a few pics after a wash









my month old boy sporting some m3 wear


going to get the steering wheel re-trimmed soon its a bit knackered...

Edited by clarkson22 on Thursday 14th April 21:00