BMW E46 M3 Thread

[kerryt5r]

Hi All,

Just thought that I would post up a few pics of the latest addition to my fleet - my E46 M3. I have been looking at these on and off for years and finally bit the bullet in early August 2015 when a fairly local one came up in a desirable (to me) colour combination. Anyway, pictures speak 1000 words:

Here it is once home, and after I had spent the whole of Sunday from 6am - 6pm cleaning out the interior and giving it a thorough wash:













Fitted some new plates/surrounds:



And then gave the car a good polish the next weekend:

Edited by kerryt5r on Thursday 10th August 13:16

[kerryt5r]

After getting myself acquainted properly with the car, I had a 2,000 mile road trip planned towards the end of September 2015 so decided to get a few bits done for piece of mind. This included an oil service, new exhaust brackets and all new front and rear discs, pads and wear sensors. Ouch - over £1K down already..

Front discs:





Rear discs:

Edited by kerryt5r on Monday 14th August 17:52

[kerryt5r]

95 fiesta si said:

Very nice

cheers

jb2410 said:

Lovely car in arguably one of the best colour combos, not keen on a csl plate on a normal m3 though.

Thanks very much. Know what you mean, I thought the same originally but as the car was registered from new with that personal plate I'm now thinking that I will leave it on there

[kerryt5r]

Thanks all. The tints weren't my choice - came with the car and were done back in 2003 as I understand. Easy enough to remove though if I choose to, been too busy driving it since I bought it to worry too much about the cosmetics.

Did do this minor modification:

Bought a late CD player with the "MODE" button



And a cable from fruitycarcables



Replaced my tape player!



And can now plug my iphone in via this:



Works well and get to keep full functionality of cd player, stack system and aux/mode along with steering wheel volume control. Pretty pleased overall

Edited by kerryt5r on Monday 14th August 17:53

[kerryt5r]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had a 2,000 mile European road trip planned for late September 2015, and after getting the car serviced, new discs, pads, wear sensors, handbrake shoes, exhaust brackets etc etc I was ready to go and happy that the car was in the best possible mechanical condition for the trip.

European Road Trip PART 1

Me and my girlfriend set off after work on Friday 18th September at around 4.30pm for a 7.30pm crossing



English weather meant that the car was already filthy before getting to the terminal! Oh well..



First stop was one night in Gent so as to get a chunk of the mileage done early on and leave us with more time at our destination the following day. Team Lotto pro cycling team stayed in the same hotel as us and one of the team members was up bright and early to wash all of the bikes and team cars



Here we are on the way through Belgium





And here we are at our first planned destination – Nurburgring in Germany







Did a lap cautiously in the wet – didn’t want to take any risks due to the fact that we had a lot of miles left to cover and all accommodation booked.. After my lap we went to get some dinner at the half way point in Adenau – parked next to another UK M3. Not sure if they are members on here or not?:



Next planned stop was Luxembourg city. Very nice, and we stayed in a great hotel with a nice view off towards the city

Edited by kerryt5r on Monday 14th August 17:53

[kerryt5r]

European Road Trip PART 2

The next part of our trip was a fairly long slog from Luxembourg via Switzerland to Stresa in Italy on lake Maggiore. Here are a few pics from along the way:

Services in France, not too far from the Swiss border



Stopped at the swiss border in order to purchase the annual motorway vignette



And then stopped again near to the Italian border - starting to get very scenic by this point





And this is the view from our apartment in Italy:



nice view to the right as well





We had the best part of a week in Italy which was very enjoyable and we checked out a few of the nice locations along the lake. One such location was Feriolo which had an old ice cream shop that had been open to the public for around 150 years (not in shot)



We thoroughly enjoyed our time in and around Stresa and will be going back some time. Still a few more places booked, so were still looking forward to the rest of the trip. More to follow

Edited by kerryt5r on Monday 14th August 17:54

[kerryt5r]

tozerman said:

Do like your car there mate, very good choice. Me and the Mrs drive to lake garda every year, great road trip I always look forward to it.

Cheers.....Tony..

Thanks Tony, I'm certainly very pleased with it so far. We have probably been on some of the same roads there then - what car do you take on your trip?

jaacck said:

lovely, arguably the best in its price range and what a colour combo.

Thanks very much for saying so. I do agree with that and before I decided on getting an M3 I couldn't think of much else that I would have for the money

[kerryt5r]

European Road Trip FINAL PART

By now we were 1,000 miles into our 2,000 mile trip. Our next destination was Annecy in South East France, but we had a few planned stops along the way, the first of those being Monte Bianco/Mont Blanc on the Italian/French border. We stopped on the Italian side as there is a new 360 degree panoramic cable car.

View on the way up:



Fantastic views from the top:



Thought it would be rude not to take a few photos of the car at the bottom:





And this is the view from outside the apartment we rented just outside of Annecy



Annecy itself was beautiful - we had a few days here so had a good chance to check out some of the local sights





Drove up a local mountain "col de la Forclaz" 1,157M above sea level which had a great view down over the lake we were staying on



After our time in Annecy, we then headed back to the hotel that we had previously stayed at in Luxembourg which book ended the trip quite nicely. Did a fair amount of walking and exploring in the city this time as we were there for a bit longer.

typical scenery just outside of the city:



And that was it, next day after our time in Luxembourg we headed back to the UK. Car was faultless, covered just over 2,100 miles averaging 53mph and 27.6 mpg. Another thing that surprised me about the car was how effortlessly it covered long distances. Just put the cruise control on when on motorways, and then the car can transform completely when you get to a twisty mountain pass. I didn't once feel tired on the road and the seats were surprisingly comfortable for long periods of time despite being in the car for nearly 9 hours on one of the days. Very impressed with the car 3 months in. Certainly been enjoying the car since I have been back, even more so because it is not my daily drive. Here is a pic of my car next to my younger brothers when we went out to a country pub a few weeks back



Will post up more pics as and when I do anything to the car or take it anywhere interesting

Edited by kerryt5r on Monday 14th August 17:55

[kerryt5r]

Hi all, have been enjoying the car most weekends since my last update, and last Saturday I treated the car to some new wheels and some CSL sized (235/35/19) Continental Sport Contact 5's on the front:









Impressed with the tyres so far, but the Continental M3's that they replaced were several years old and likely past their best, so not really a fair comparison. That's all for now until MOT time in a few weeks

Edited by kerryt5r on Monday 14th August 17:57

[kerryt5r]

mwstewart said:

Nice car and thread. The road trip look good

Thanks very much indeed - I have been following your threads with great interest over the last few years, and I saw that you also went on a very nice road trip last year

mattyc69 said:

Loving the car, but ditch the plates it's not a CSL you would probably get a few quid for them and would look so much better.

Thanks very much. I am very much in two minds about the plates - when I saw the initial ad, I planned to remove them if I ended up buying the car, but as it was registered from new with them I feel inclined to leave them. Plus I am fussy with car history etc. and like the fact that the plate on the car matches all of the paperwork.. Plan to keep the car long term, so will think about it some more in the future

[kerryt5r]

SirSamuelBuca said:

love the m3 also love the volvo lol

Thanks very much - I guess that you are talking about the T-5R and not my daily S40 D! Haha. Should have a few updates this year for the T-5R all being well..

e21Mark said:

Looks great.

Came with plate from new, so why remove it? You're not misleading anyone. (unless you want to sell to a CSL owner of course?)

I think the wheels look great also.

Thanks very much for saying so - been a long time follower of your various BMW threads. Absolutely love your e21

jayemm89 said:

^^^ What he said. A CSL owner will no doubt tap you on the shoulder one day and offer you enough money to sacrifice this bit of originality

The colour combo looks great to my eyes, and CSL wheels I think do look brilliant. I am not one for changing wheels on a car, but I really don't like the stock M3 ones.

Thanks very much - I must admit that the standard wheels do look particularly bad when in need of a refurb.. Yeah if a CSL owner offered me a decent sum for the plate it would make it a much easier decision for me! Haha

[kerryt5r]

DasChin said:

nice car. lose the plate though. a CSL it is not.

Thanks. As nice as a CSL is, I am not looking to replicate one. Plate came on the car and has been discussed in detail above.

[kerryt5r]

leglessAlex said:

Love the new wheels. I don't dislike the original wheels but it looks like the past owner/owners weren't kind to them! Did you keep them or sell them on to find the new ones?

Thanks very much. The originals were a bit curbed and they also had some lacquer peel - certainly not in the best shape. I kept them in the end (stacked in the garage) as they just don't seem to fetch enough to make them worth selling..

[kerryt5r]

kel176506 said:

Lovely to see the car used as intended! I had an E46 M3 and did a few european roads trips in it and was always so impressed by it's abilities. The price point of these M3's makes them ridiculously good value for money. Love the CSL wheels as well and that was the first modification i did to mine.

I'm planning on a similar road trip to Italy and was wondering how long were you gone for?

Thanks very much - they certainly are good value for money now and seem to be holding their value well as an added bonus.

I was gone for 10 days in total:

Night 1 was a stopover in Gent, Belgium just so that we could munch through some miles on the first evening
Night 2 was in Luxembourg City. Stopped at the Nurburgring on the way for essentially a whole day. Luxembourg City is only around 1 1/2 hours away so no bother.
Night 3 - 7 was in Stressa, Lake Maggiore, Italy (took 9 hrs or so to get here from Luxembourg)
Night 8 - 9 was in Annecy, Lake Annecy, France. Stopped at the Skyway at Monte Bianco/Mont Blanc for the afternoon on the way to Annecy which is a must see!
Night 10 was in Luxembourg City on the way back home

We made the most of our time and did everything that we wanted to, but on reflection a few more days would have been nice.

[kerryt5r]

5potTurbo said:

Just read your thread.... very nice road trip!
Judging by the 1st Luxembourg city view, I'm guessing you stayed at the Melia in Kirchberg?


(Ssshhhhh.... don't tell everyone how nice it is here. It's a well kept secret. )



....Luxembourg resident!

Thanks very much - yes you are quite right about the hotel! Agree that Luxembourg is a lovely place, been there several times now and will certainly return in the near future

[kerryt5r]

Haven't done too much with the car recently except drive and enjoy it. It breezed it's MOT at the end of Feb with only one advisory on the rear tyres - down to 2.2mm. All I have to say at the moment is that e46 M3's really are fantastic cars and I have very much enjoyed my ownership over the first 10 months. Here is a pic of how it currently sits from a few weeks ago whilst stopping for a spot of lunch near the river Cuckmere :



Spent a while deciding which tyres to go for, but settled in the end for 265/30/19 Continental Sport Contact 6's (to pair with my recently purchased 235/35/19 Continental Sport Contact 5P's on the front)



Look forward to getting them fitted - should be night and day vs. the old Continental M3's currently fitted which squirm around quite a lot when it's damp!

Edited by kerryt5r on Monday 14th August 17:57

[kerryt5r]

p1stonhead said:

I really cant work out what the tread of that tyre is doing!

Know what you mean - strange looking tread pattern! They do grip very well though - night and day vs. the old Sport Contact M3's that they replaced

[kerryt5r]

Mini update

I have nearly owned the car for a year now and it has been absolutely fantastic. Still enjoying it as much now as when I picked it up and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that its not my daily, so each drive feels like more of an occasion. The Continental Sport Contact 5P's (front) & 6's (rear) are by far the best tyres that I have used on the road. Very grippy in the dry, decent enough in the wet and fairly quiet - certainly a decent upgrade from the Sport Contact M3's if anyone is considering doing the same.

Went away for the weekend earlier in June and covered 500+ miles with ease. Here are a few pics with my dads yellow T-5R from the trip:

Before setting off:







These ones were taken at the Banks brewery in Wolverhampton. Luckily my o/h was driving back to the hotel so I got to have a couple of beers. Best pint that I've ever had actually.





And here we are outside the Black Country museum in Dudley :

Edited by kerryt5r on Monday 14th August 18:02

[kerryt5r]

TheLordJohn said:

Great thread, lovely motor.
Really like all your cars and your house is nice, too

Thanks for saying so - can't take credit for the house though as it's my parents. I live around a mile away from them so quite handy for parking an old Volvo 850 and swapping an engine over for example

[kerryt5r]

Haven't updated this for ages! I have been enjoying the car almost every weekend for the last year and have only had one or two annoying niggles. Had to replace a parking sensor which was fairly easy to do with the help of my brother - only have the one action shot:



And then the blower stopped working. For a "small job" replacing the hedgehog resistor took a massive amount of time. I hope it never goes wrong again! The retaining screws are almost impossibly hard to get to and had I not seen the various forum guides/YouTube videos then I doubt that I would have attempted it.. Here is a picture of new vs. old:



The car passed its MOT with almost a clean sheet in February 2017 - fuel cap was an advisory as it had started to perish. Got a new one from BMW the next day. In March my wife and I got married - the M3 made an excellent wedding car. Don't have a good action shot yet but here are a couple of after photos from the next morning:





Had an Inspection 1 service carried out in April 2017. Also decided to replace the thermostat, coolant and diff oil/friction modifier in addition to the service items. The diff had been making a vibrating noise when making a tight turn (parking etc) so pleased to report that the new oil and friction modifier has silenced that.

I also attended the very rainy BMW Performance track evening at Brands Hatch on 27th April as a spectator - good to meet some of the like minded M3 cutters and parked up next to this lot:





I have noticed while putting this post together that I don't have any decent photos taken within the last year , so apologies for that! Almost 2 years in and I still like this car as much as when I first got it, so I certainly plan to do some enjoyable miles this summer. I will hopefully get a few good photo opportunities along the way - thanks for reading

Edited by kerryt5r on Monday 14th August 18:02