2003 BMW M3 - The New Daily

2003 BMW M3 - The New Daily

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SebringMan

Original Poster:

1,773 posts

185 months

Saturday 4th June 2016
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TBH I still think I have lost my marbles buying one of these as a daily but we shall see.

With the Escort and the Clio gone I had to get a new daily. For some reason an E46 M3 fitted the bill. My spec was a strange one.

Over 100k (I'd break this limit in a low mileage car, so why bother?)
Well looked after
New brakes all round
Generally good condition with history behind it.

I ended up seeing a few cars, some with less than 100k.

The first one was a cheap manual for sale in Coventry. It was OK, but front bumper's paint was worn down to the colour of the plastic, 3 of the arches had rust, the panel fitment was questionable on the front in addition to the dash looking like a Christmas tree, but the battery was flat in its defence, very flat (which didn't bode well ; it had clearly been stood). It did have alot of history though. But it seemed a risky buy.

The second car was local to me. This was originally the priciest car for sale but the seller is now selling it for way less still. It was a Mystic Blue car with an SMG gearbox. To be fair to the car it drove well for the best part. But the interior had wear in strange places and despite the car being sold as a 'non accident' car it actually had a crack in the bumper that been painted poorly in addition to overspray. The wings up front looked look but on closer inspection they were beginning to 'pit' where they tend to rust. It also came with no history but the seller did say that he had contacted BMW for it. It also had very few receipts under his ownership of two years. It wasn't looking as good as I thought. Oh, and the brakes up front were 'OK', but not great.

Another car I saw was similar to the above but in different ways. Finally I saw this car.

While the bodywork of this car is not perfect it is better than the rest that I saw, a real honesty about the car overall. It is an SMG as well, but all of that has basically been checked and sensors etc. replaced where possible. It also had an extensive service history with newish tyres all round, even if they are Falkens (they don't grip badly to be fair!), new genuine discs all round and with everything in full working order. As a bonus it came with a sunroof as well, which I really wanted oddly enough. Everything also works inside. By the looks of it new parts have been fitted that did not make it to the extensive service history including new genuine rear dampers and a diff reseal etc.





So far I have really been enjoying the experience. As I said however, the car is not perfect wink. It requires the following:

Rust on the front wings sorting (it has not broken through and it is only a tiny part that wants doing on both but I figure it is best to catch it early on a daily - this will be a winter job smile).
Noisy engine fan
Tired rear exhaust mounts
Knock from the rear suspension - one ARB drop link has snapped.

Not a bad list I guess, but it can always be better.

First thing to attack was the engine fan - it sounded a little like a jet engine when I bought it and I used it to get some money off the sale price. With this in mind an Hella/BEHR item was fitted, same as what BMW supply or at least as far as the brand goes.

With it being a bank holiday today I figured it was time to get on with sorting the car out.


None of the fixings put a fight up against me and reassuringly everything was date stamped 2003 [smile] . However, I did remove quite a few plastics above and below the engine bay just to change the fan coupling!


However, upon removal I was a little worried. The coupling on the car was not original.




The new Hella/Behr item is on top.

The old Beru item is below.


The Hella coupling certainly looked no different to a genuine part from what I have seen but of course the Beru one didn't! They didn't feel that different either by hand. Had I really wasted £85 on a fan coupling? With the tools and copper grease in hand I pressed on.




Upon firing the car up the fan sounded no different. Great I thought, that was a nice chunk of time and money wasted. However, it is said on a few places that these couplings are a little vocal when first fired up for a couple of minutes due to a pumping action. It makes no sense to me, but it seemed to be the case. After a minute or two the fan was silent, to the extent I can barely tell it is there!


Out on the first drive it drove spot on when cold, something it has been a little grumpy about before. Maybe it is my mind but it certainly feels more responsive as well! All in all it seems like a result! [biggrin] . It's certainly removed a noise I found very annoying about the car, and making it no longer sound like a knackered 5 series!


Edited by SebringMan on Monday 21st November 18:18


Edited by SebringMan on Sunday 23 July 10:42


Edited by SebringMan on Sunday 23 July 10:43


Edited by SebringMan on Sunday 23 July 10:44


Edited by SebringMan on Friday 22 September 11:19

aspirated

2,539 posts

145 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
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Still looks lovely, I can't believe your car is 13 years old, future (current?) classic for sure

jb2410

400 posts

110 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
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Looks good. I've ran one for two years, 18 months of that as a daily and it was brilliant.

You may find catching the rust on the wings early to be no help, they tend to rub the arch liner at the back and rust from the inside out so if it's showing at all the wing may well have had it already. Mine is away for paint at the minute for the exact same thing.

bangerturner

157 posts

221 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
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Years ago I had a Granada Scorpio with a stuck viscous fan, it sounded like a turbine and the car struggled to go above 100mph so I'm not surprised it feels more responsive. The difference to the car when I changed it was night and day!

Lozrington

68 posts

117 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
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Nice looking M3! I run a 2005 vert and they're great cars. What colour is yours? It looks like Avus Blue, but it's difficult to tell from the photos..if so, then it's an Individual spec car. It also looks to have the rare and desirable extended leather option to the lower part of the dash and transmission tunnel, so you may just have found yourself something a little different!

SebringMan

Original Poster:

1,773 posts

185 months

Tuesday 7th June 2016
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Many thanks for the kind comments

jb2410 said:
Looks good. I've ran one for two years, 18 months of that as a daily and it was brilliant.

You may find catching the rust on the wings early to be no help, they tend to rub the arch liner at the back and rust from the inside out so if it's showing at all the wing may well have had it already. Mine is away for paint at the minute for the exact same thing.
I take it that the rust is almost impossible to stop in that case or have people succeeded in some ways?

bangerturner said:
Years ago I had a Granada Scorpio with a stuck viscous fan, it sounded like a turbine and the car struggled to go above 100mph so I'm not surprised it feels more responsive. The difference to the car when I changed it was night and day!
I too am surprised and mine was not seized on, just a little tight. The other differences I have noticed is that the oil temperature has actually become lower and the water temperature has crept up a touch. It was a wise move to change it.

Lozrington said:
Nice looking M3! I run a 2005 vert and they're great cars. What colour is yours? It looks like Avus Blue, but it's difficult to tell from the photos..if so, then it's an Individual spec car. It also looks to have the rare and desirable extended leather option to the lower part of the dash and transmission tunnel, so you may just have found yourself something a little different!
Many thanks fella.

I will get some better pics but I am waiting on a new camera body wink. Mine is Mystic Blue and I don't think the bottom part of the dash is leather but we shall see smile. What is rare however is the sunroof - I am glad it came with that smile.

It is certainly great.

Now to do the exhaust mounts. I suspect this may end up being a bumper off job however...

Edited by SebringMan on Wednesday 8th June 07:46

shalmaneser

5,930 posts

194 months

Tuesday 7th June 2016
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Have you checked the conidtion of the subframe mounts?

I'm tempted to swap my e36 M3 for an e46 but the subframe issue is really holding me back - it does seem like a case of when not if.

re the knock from the back, it's well worth changing the ball joints when you're back there, that caused a very unpleasant knocking in my car, although obviously the drop link needs sorting ASAP.

What sort of money did you spend if you don't mind me asking?

SebringMan

Original Poster:

1,773 posts

185 months

Tuesday 7th June 2016
quotequote all
shalmaneser said:
Have you checked the conidtion of the subframe mounts?

I'm tempted to swap my e36 M3 for an e46 but the subframe issue is really holding me back - it does seem like a case of when not if.

re the knock from the back, it's well worth changing the ball joints when you're back there, that caused a very unpleasant knocking in my car, although obviously the drop link needs sorting ASAP.

What sort of money did you spend if you don't mind me asking?
I have done a visual check and so far they look so good smile. I was worried when I heard the knock that it was the subframe mounts! Don't the E36s also suffer from it?

My car on the rear is generally in good fettle. By the looks of it the rear has been dropped off relatively recently and the rear dampers and springs look quite new. With the snapped drop link I am surprised how well it is handling TBH!

As for how much I spent I bought at the lower end of the market. Some of the car I saw were close to 10, some were around 6.5k, but this stood out as a good car despite being one of the higher milers ; as I said before I was after condition more than anything else. I have however probably put another £300 into it since buying it which includes rear exhaust mounts (M3 only unless you fancy chancing E36 items for £20), a viscous fan from ECP (Hella/BEHR brand), a pair of drop links (genuine) and a pair of HID bulbs @£55 for Osrams with a 4 year guarantee.

Yes I could have done it cheaper but after fixing cars for ages (and my RST) I have become sick of buying things twice and worse still changing them twice!

So not quite a bargain, but not bad I reckon. What do you fellas think?

I probably could have got a cheaper one but as said there was alot of ste for sale out there.


Edited by SebringMan on Thursday 4th August 09:44

shalmaneser

5,930 posts

194 months

Tuesday 7th June 2016
quotequote all
no worries with the e36 subframe mounts for some reason! Having said that I managed to snap my diff mount but that was a bolt off/bolt on job.

£7k seems reasonable TBH, relatively high for an SMG but it's a very desirable colour and if as you say the service history is good it sounds like a winner!

Escort3500

11,827 posts

144 months

Wednesday 8th June 2016
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jb2410 said:
Looks good. I've ran one for two years, 18 months of that as a daily and it was brilliant.

You may find catching the rust on the wings early to be no help, they tend to rub the arch liner at the back and rust from the inside out so if it's showing at all the wing may well have had it already. Mine is away for paint at the minute for the exact same thing.
Agree on the wings. The front ones on my non-M3 frown E46 started blistering badly at 7 years old due to the no doubt intentionally crappy design which enables the liner to chafe away at the inside lip of the arch. I took the matter up with BMW GB who,not surprisingly perhaps, said tough but told me my local dealer (who I'd bought the car from) had the discretion to replace them FOC if they felt it was justified. They didn't of course, but offered me a "very generous" discount on painting and fitting replacement wings amounting to £2100 eek My mate with a bodyshop did the job for <£600 which included genuine BMW wings. I'm going to whip the liners off shortly to see the state of the wings now they've been on for a few years. I fully expect them to be going the same way as the originals.

Back to your car OP, it looks pretty damn nice to me and in a great colour. I've always much preferred the looks of the E46 M3 to all the other versions before and since, and am still tempted to take the plunge every time I see one on the road. Coupled to a fantastic engine and great handling, it's a truly epic car IMHO. Enjoy it smile


SebringMan

Original Poster:

1,773 posts

185 months

Wednesday 8th June 2016
quotequote all
shalmaneser said:
no worries with the e36 subframe mounts for some reason! Having said that I managed to snap my diff mount but that was a bolt off/bolt on job.

£7k seems reasonable TBH, relatively high for an SMG but it's a very desirable colour and if as you say the service history is good it sounds like a winner!
I'd check the prices again wink. A couple of years ago it seems all M3s with 6 pots were cheap ; a friend of mine was offered a CSL with £10k with 100k on the clock ; I doubt that could be found now. When I was looking nothing seemed all that bargainous ; you have to love people's definition of "mint".

That said if I was in your position I'd be tempted to keep the E36 ; the values do seem strong on those for now.

SebringMan

Original Poster:

1,773 posts

185 months

Wednesday 29th June 2016
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Well, when I said I had a couple of issues, I was not kidding! One of the issues I have had was the cracked rear ARB drop link which has become two parts! After driving it around like this for a month and then leaving it on the driveway for a good chunk of time I figured it was time to resolve the matter.

First of all, let's take a look at the offending item:


I actually ended up cracking the other side as well when I attempted to remove it, but let us not get ahead of ourselves wink.

However, I had to remove the item first! For reasons I do not know I decided that I would attempted to change the broken drop link in situ. This was not one of my wisest decisions as you shall find out. Unbolting the drop link was the easy part, especially with some helpings of WD40. Removing the lower portion however would be difficult, but a balljoint splitter came to the rescue and with a bit of force the remainder of the drop link came off:



This however, would turn out to be a fatal choice. The new one would not go on with the limited room and everything else bolted up! I then decided to do a proper job and not faff around ; that was to remove the ARB, and disconnect the other ARB drop link as well.

With that in mind I went to remove the final drop link. Someone previously said you could put them into a vice and simply pull the ARB off the drop link. In my case the final drop link snapped as well. It is a good job I ordered 2 new drop links eh?

With some gear pullers like below I removed the remainder of the drop link within minutes. Now, why didn't I use this initially? If I knew I'd have told you. Laziness, probably.



With the roll bar given a quick clean it was time to fit on the new BMW drop links. Here's a top tip (in the Edd China voice...). When you put the drop links back on, put on some rubber grease. It really helps over WD40. With some of the red stuff on the drop links slipped back onto the ARB as I put down onto the drop links in around 30 seconds tops.



If you look carefully you can see some of the red rubber grease:



Within 15 minutes both sides were on and the ARB ready to be fitted back onto the car.



Clattering and clonking be gone! It's certainly heading in the right direction. As always, I copper grease the bolts I removed upon refitting them smile.

Now to tackle the exhaust mounts ; they were the first part I bought for the car as well, long before the viscous coupling!

Edited by SebringMan on Friday 22 September 11:21

Polarbert

17,923 posts

230 months

Wednesday 3rd August 2016
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Looks good! I went from a Clio 182 to Z4M Roadster so somewhat similar from your 172.

SebringMan

Original Poster:

1,773 posts

185 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
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Polarbert said:
Looks good! I went from a Clio 182 to Z4M Roadster so somewhat similar from your 172.
Many thanks! I see there does appear to be a similar trend! A friend of mine drove my M3, as he is considering either a Z4M Roadster or the Z4 35iS.

Part of me feels like telling him to go for the 35iS given how pricey these cars are to run (the tyres, brakes and servicing are probably way more than other cars with a similar power figure ; I know my now gone 944 with 300BHP looks cheap to own now!) in addition to it probably being a little more friendly everyday, but part of me is thinking maybe he should sample something with the M badge and what a car the Z4M is.

That said, I have now covered around 1300 miles since buying the car, since the Mazda MX-5 has already had around 2000 miles put onto it and rising!

That and this car is getting close to needing two new tyres and an Inspection I. That will be a cheap month, not!

Edited by SebringMan on Thursday 4th August 09:46

SebringMan

Original Poster:

1,773 posts

185 months

Wednesday 14th September 2016
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As always, the car is wanting for attention, but I have been doing my utmost to make it earn its keep. For 2k covered recently it has been doing a sterling job! But with the Inspection I approaching I figured it was time to crack on with a few of the jobs that the car needs.

The car has a knock for the rear still despite the change of the ARB links. It could be the bushes, but they appeared to be fine when I check them. I suspect it is the rear shock mounts, but when other faults are present it is silly to throw cash at things until they are resolved. I am talking about the rear exhaust mounts, a job I have been procastinating over, due to the fear of snapping the studs on the body, despite soaking them in WD40 for quite some time.

With this in mind, and the low hanging exhaust looking sorry for itself I decided that I would at least start by replacing one at a time with whatever free time I had, and take my time removing the mounts. As always, I got cocky. With the first mount coming off nicely with some care, I decided to remove the front left mount as well! Likewise that came off fine with some attention. What went from what was meant to be a 45 minute job soon became a 2 hour job! At least most of the mounts are good now however!

To say that they were shot is an understatement:

[IMG]http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a68/randhawac/Cars/BMW%20M3/September%202016/EFD0FADD-A721-43AF-A870-EDE5DCFD6D8B.jpg[~original/IMG]

While I was there I decided to give the hanger supports a spruce up. Seeing as I was too tight to buy a few bits of metal, I figured that the least I could do was to derust the support with a wire drill attachment and Bilt Hamber Deox gel, and then finally give them a coat of Stonchip, Edd China style....



In his defence the finished product does now look pretty good. However, I have just remembered that I have some galvanising spray! Ah well, what's done is done. But at least they look nice and should last longer:



Finally, another new vs. old shot:



The mounts removed were the original ones for the car going by the date stamps.

As an extra precaution all of the nuts were copper greased to aid removal in the future smile.

I suspect the last mount will need the diffuser to come off at least but I may end up just removing the rear bumper to make life easier, it looks almost innacessible with the bumper present!

Now to tackle the Inspection I ; I have the gaskets and have the tools and supplies bar the shims. Now to find the time...

Edited by SebringMan on Friday 22 September 11:22

darreni

3,759 posts

269 months

Wednesday 14th September 2016
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The mounts are easy enough without removing the bumper or diffuser, I use 3/8 drive deep sockets & a decent extension.

Make sure your wear goggles, loads of dried ste hidden behind the bumper will fall into your eyes.

SebringMan

Original Poster:

1,773 posts

185 months

Thursday 15th September 2016
quotequote all
darreni said:
The mounts are easy enough without removing the bumper or diffuser, I use 3/8 drive deep sockets & a decent extension.

Make sure your wear goggles, loads of dried ste hidden behind the bumper will fall into your eyes.
You're not kidding about the dust! I did wear safety specs and did end up with dirt all over me! However, the nuts came off the studs relatively easily, but I was very careful, always winding them back and forth. It was not as dirty underneath as I was expecting truth be told.

Did you change your mounts with a stock exhaust system or with an aftermarket 'box? I ask as the final mount left to change, the nearside rear, looks very innacessible with the bumper in place ; don't the aftermarket systems tend to use 2 of the 3 rear mounts, with all being far more accessible? The last thing I want to do is to snap the studs from sideways leverage, which of course would leave me with a bigger problem smile.

As for now I've just ordered up some new copper nuts to replace some of the iffy ones on there.

darreni

3,759 posts

269 months

Thursday 15th September 2016
quotequote all
SebringMan said:
You're not kidding about the dust! I did wear safety specs and did end up with dirt all over me! However, the nuts came off the studs relatively easily, but I was very careful, always winding them back and forth. It was not as dirty underneath as I was expecting truth be told.

Did you change your mounts with a stock exhaust system or with an aftermarket 'box? I ask as the final mount left to change, the nearside rear, looks very innacessible with the bumper in place ; don't the aftermarket systems tend to use 2 of the 3 rear mounts, with all being far more accessible? The last thing I want to do is to snap the studs from sideways leverage, which of course would leave me with a bigger problem smile.

As for now I've just ordered up some new copper nuts to replace some of the iffy ones on there.
I've changed the mounts a number of times, I run the standard system on my CSL (but have renewed the mounts anyway) & on my previous M3 cab I changed them when fitting a full milltek system, (which I think used all 3 rear mounts IIRC).

If you have a flexible joint & some extension bars, you can remove all 3 mounts without removing any bodywork, plenty of plusgas is the key, but it will depend on how rusty the studs/nuts are.

SebringMan

Original Poster:

1,773 posts

185 months

Thursday 15th September 2016
quotequote all
darreni said:
I've changed the mounts a number of times, I run the standard system on my CSL (but have renewed the mounts anyway) & on my previous M3 cab I changed them when fitting a full milltek system, (which I think used all 3 rear mounts IIRC).

If you have a flexible joint & some extension bars, you can remove all 3 mounts without removing any bodywork, plenty of plusgas is the key, but it will depend on how rusty the studs/nuts are.
Well, that post certainly contained words of encouragement!

Anyway, with the dealer down the road and some of my nuts and bolts being iffy I ordered some more bits. Surprisingly they were not that dear at all:



Taking Darreni's advice certainly could have gone two ways! In the end I thought "let's give it a go". Armed with a long reach socket, a 1/2" UJ as well as an extension bar I attached it onto my rattle gun. Risky, but I was also concerned about the sideways force I would exert if I used a ratchet ; yes I have been there before! With trepidition I gently starting removing the nut with the rattle gun, going back and forth with the nuts. Much to my surprise they came out fine! Maybe the lashings of WD40 and penetrating spray did their bit.

After all of that I ended up with all three mounts on the car. Happy days:


Yup, you can tell which mount I changed today ; it's a little cleaner!

Pics of the exhaust height against the bumper will arrive soon but the car desperately needs a polish!

Anyway, there is certainly far less knocking from the rear! But there is still some! It tends to be going over cobbled bricks or uneven surfaces. I couldn't find any in the RTABs or balljoints previously but the latter are under tension from the springs however which may skew things. I tried wiggling about the dampers with no play appearing to be present from the dampers ; that was with the wheels on the floor as well! More investigation is required for sure!

But it is a nicer place inside and the exhaust is located in a far more superior manner so we are getting there.

BUT, there is a fly in the ointment. I sometimes wonder if I should get a manual from the posts everywhere and mainly the value of manuals. After reading enough posts I almost believe I should sell my car!

The issue? I jump in, try it in both auto and manual and love the package of the car overall. I remember what I don't like about BMW manuals and just get on with the task in hand ; driving the car and enjoying it! If I wanted a manual car there are several with a far far slicker change than the E46 M3, including the MX-5 or Integra Type R, both great cars in other ways too!

What the hell am I going to do? Sometimes, just sometimes I am my own worst enemy! The car does pretty much everything I want as well!


Edited by SebringMan on Friday 22 September 11:23

darreni

3,759 posts

269 months

Thursday 15th September 2016
quotequote all
Nice job!
The E46 is a great car for tinkerers, most stuff is accessible & easyish to work on.

Re the rear knock, have you checked the rear shock top mounts?, these go often & are peanuts £30-40) to replace, go rogue engineering replacements for a fit & forget option at 100 quid