phoenix yellow e46 m3 coupe manual
Discussion
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
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
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 
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 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 But hopefully this one stays longer than the other E46 or the E92 did. How does it fit in the garage?
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 hahaYea me too bud, the e92 just wasn't sport enough, VX was too sporty, m3 is juuust right..
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.
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.
Good to see one back in the M3 fold . It looks like a lovely example . I'm not massively keen on the dark lights but there does seem to be a following for them .
However, are you sure that BMW use LUK? I thought they used Sachs? I say this as a Porsche specialist I know of in Brum refuses to fit an LUK clutch and if he does he will not honour the warranty. On my old Mondeo V6 3.0 where the original clutch did 205k the LUK clutch lasted 300 yards before the centre plate spider broke itself to pieces, rendering the car undrivable. Thankufully, I let the garage source the parts and I was covered, but I was still without a car for 2 weeks when previously for the same job it has been a few days tops.
Just my 2p.
. It looks like a lovely example . I'm not massively keen on the dark lights but there does seem to be a following for them .However, are you sure that BMW use LUK? I thought they used Sachs? I say this as a Porsche specialist I know of in Brum refuses to fit an LUK clutch and if he does he will not honour the warranty. On my old Mondeo V6 3.0 where the original clutch did 205k the LUK clutch lasted 300 yards before the centre plate spider broke itself to pieces, rendering the car undrivable. Thankufully, I let the garage source the parts and I was covered, but I was still without a car for 2 weeks when previously for the same job it has been a few days tops.
Just my 2p
.Very nice. Great colour, Phoenix.
That said, nobody will ever convince me that black kidney grills/surrounds, black wing vents and bloody Depo bloody indicator lenses look anything other than utter cack. Really cheapens the look. The standard stuff looks a million times better.
Other than that, good stuff.
That said, nobody will ever convince me that black kidney grills/surrounds, black wing vents and bloody Depo bloody indicator lenses look anything other than utter cack. Really cheapens the look. The standard stuff looks a million times better.
Other than that, good stuff.
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 f
ker to get out but released themselves eventually. The swap over was pretty simple and the new panel looks great being free from scratches etc.
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.
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 f
ker 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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