Trying to go quickly, my E46 M3

[Kev T360]

This car is perfect! Red look ace, nice a different from black or silver. I would like it supercharged before a yank v8, but it's not my car, and even with a yank v8 in it, I would still give my left nut for it. Love it.

[johnfm]

Nice work.

But stripping it for a cage, engine change etc - a bit bonkers on a road car.

Why not buy a cheap/cat c E92 M3 and make a track car?

[BlackST]

I need to stop clicking on E46 M3 threads.
Really, really want one and seeing Imola coloured ones makes me want one more.

What's with the jar? Are you a stripper?

[Wall05]

Also loooong time lurker here,but sitting on a beach on holiday gives time to actually comment for a change. Love the work on the m3, I am slowly trying to build up courage to buy an e46 m3 as a weekend toy.

Not sure about the wheels, but also great to see someone making their own stamp on a car while taking function into account for a change! It all (mostly?)about the driving experience after all right?

Look forward to following the progress!

[ManOpener]

johnfm said:

Why not buy a cheap/cat c E92 M3 and make a track car?

S62B50s from E39 M5s are quite cheap. They'll push 450bhp pretty easily and don't weigh much more than an S54.

Fit quite nicely in an E46 too.



Personally I'd rather stay BMW than go LSx if I was looking at an engine swap, but I see the appeal in the latter.

[AshBurrows]

Wall05 said:

Also loooong time lurker here,but sitting on a beach on holiday gives time to actually comment for a change. Love the work on the m3, I am slowly trying to build up courage to buy an e46 m3 as a weekend toy.

Not sure about the wheels, but also great to see someone making their own stamp on a car while taking function into account for a change! It all (mostly?)about the driving experience after all right?

Look forward to following the progress!

It's 100% about the driving of the thing, but there's no reason it can't look different and insanely cool to me as well at the same time!

Today kind of sucked though.

I lost my current employment, problems of a contractor I guess, and then I got recovered after throwing lights and having no power



Quick scan a bit later and boom:



So HOPEFULLY it's a coilpack. I've ordered a new Bosch set and they'll arrive Friday and I fit them along with the new plugs over the weekend! Fingers crossed, no more bad news for a while please!

[AshBurrows]

ManOpener said:

S62B50s from E39 M5s are quite cheap. They'll push 450bhp pretty easily and don't weigh much more than an S54.

Fit quite nicely in an E46 too.



Personally I'd rather stay BMW than go LSx if I was looking at an engine swap, but I see the appeal in the latter.

I must admit, a BMW V8 is tempting. But they're so complex compared to their American counterparts. I have a couple of friends who've had big VANOS issues with the E39 M5s and if I'm aiming to exceed 600hp reliably, I just don't think they're the way to go. I understand the "soul" of the original car may be lost, but the overall package will be objectively better in my head

[Sf_Manta]

Loving this , I've got a 330i myself

Have you done the RTA and lolipop bushes are these are a weakness on the E36 and E46?
Would recommend doing them if not and going for Powerflex as it really tightens up the general feel of the car.

[Tc24]

Awesome car, best colour and good mods. You bd, I want it

Very nice though, bet you're chuffed with it.

[e46m3c]

bit out of character of an m3 an ls? e90 v8 sounds like a great idea though. Especially if charged! Saves weight too!

[stef1808]

I want 600 bhp from my e46 also but how do you plan on getting this?

[AshBurrows]

stef1808 said:

I want 600 bhp from my e46 also but how do you plan on getting this?

[AshBurrows]

HELLO!

A lot has happened since I last updated. I sold many things.
Got rid of the CSL boot.
Got rid of the BMW Performance seat.
Got rid of the carbon wings.
Got rid of my dreams.

BUT:
BMW sorted me out with brand new wings and wing paint under warranty for free! They also sorted out the corrosion on the sills! So body, other than bonnet stone chips is absolutely immaculate!

Here's the state of the body now:



Then the past 2 weeks it has been living at Dynotorque over in Birmingham.



Front and rear subframes were off. Exhausts were off. Fuel tank etc etc was off. Basically full chassis removables OFF.

New cupronickel hardlines on
New stainless goodridge lines on
New CSL steering rack on!
New solid engine mounts (vibratechnics) on!
Stud conversion and super cool badman jdm nuts on!!!
New poly bushes on!
New calipers, disks and pads (Pagid RS29s) on!!!!!
Steering coupler
Tie rod ends
Shifter rebush



So that's the front basically complete. Amazing.
The rear end is being done this week and consists of:

Subframe reinforcement with first cage tie in point
Solid rear subframe setup
Hardlines
Pads/Disks/Stainless Goodridge lines
Drive shafts and ABS sensors
Front and rear ARBs
Fuel filter etc etc

Unfortunately my aggressive geo has murdered my tyres so I need to put new ones on and wind off toe/camber a bit!



What a ballache!!!

Anyway I figured out my aero ideas and the reason I sold the CSL boot is because I'm gonna run THIS wing through the boot and into the chassis! (OEM Boot sold for £800, new carbon rep to cut up £400!)



Then the front setup will be from flossman over in Germany. Splitter/flat underbody/canards in proper carbon. Yay!!

[The Nur]

You're mental.

[DaveCWK]

Looks awesome but I don't understand that brake comparison chart. How can replacing calipers & discs reduce stopping distance like that, where the limiting factor is tyre grip?

Also don't those large calipers throw the brake balance off?

[TheAngryDog]

Nice car OP. I wouldn't go the LSx route myself but only because I wouldn't want to take the soul of the car away. If it was a 330i then I'd do it no bothers. It's your car though so you're free to do what you like!

BGW alert

[AshBurrows]

DaveCWK said:

Looks awesome but I don't understand that brake comparison chart. How can replacing calipers & discs reduce stopping distance like that, where the limiting factor is tyre grip?

Also don't those large calipers throw the brake balance off?

The limiting factor isn't tyre grip?
Dunno, I haven't driven it yet! I have a few friends running just large fronts with no issue though so I'm optimistic

[dom9]

Love these E46 M3 build threads and like the LSx engine idea, even if it's not for the purists!

[shalmaneser]

I may only have a lowly e36 M3 Evo but I can't really bear the thought of a yank V8 in the front. The engine adds so much to the character of the car, the way it revs, the sound, the smoothness....

I know on a kg/bhp basis the V8 wins out but it just feels wrong to me on so many levels.

Why not throw some serious money at the 3.2, carbon airbox, full exhaust manifold, CSL cams, standalone management, that would really make the most of the car.

You'll never get 600bhp but maybe I'm just a purist. I had a drag race with a CLS 55 AMG the other day and he destroyed me in the evo but there wasn't THAT much in it given the power differential.

Maybe I'm just a purist.

[sinbad666]

Not sure how far you are with the rear wing but I know a new motorsport one is being developed for the euro M3 cup with functional mounts.