2003 BMW M3 - The New Daily
Discussion
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
. 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
).
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 [] . 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! [
] . It's certainly removed a noise I found very annoying about the car, and making it no longer sound like a knackered 5 series!
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
. 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
).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 [
] . 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! [
] . 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
Many thanks for the kind comments
I will get some better pics but I am waiting on a new camera body. Mine is Mystic Blue and I don't think the bottom part of the dash is leather but we shall see . What is rare however is the sunroof - I am glad it came with that .
It is certainly great.
Now to do the exhaust mounts. I suspect this may end up being a bumper off job however...
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?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 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
. Mine is Mystic Blue and I don't think the bottom part of the dash is leather but we shall see . What is rare however is the sunroof - I am glad it came with that .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 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 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 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 s
te for sale out there.Edited by SebringMan on Thursday 4th August 09:44
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 £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!
. 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.
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.
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.
Now to tackle the exhaust mounts ; they were the first part I bought for the car as well, long before the viscous coupling!
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
.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
.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 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
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.
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...
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
.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 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.Make sure your wear goggles, loads of dried s
te hidden behind the bumper will fall into your eyes. 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
.As for now I've just ordered up some new copper nuts to replace some of the iffy ones on there.
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!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.
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 said:
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
Cheers! I agree about the working on part. So far it has put up less of a fight than my E36 323i did!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
Regarding the top mounts, how would you check them? I attempted moving the damper about sideways and up and down by hand, albeit it was all bolted up but all seemed OK.
darreni said:
Cheers for the link. We shall see what happens .The temptation is very strong for me to upgrade bits on this car but I am tempted to keep it stock for the best part. I almost forgot what it was like to own a car not on the floor for once! We shall see.
I did see the Rogue mounts and I like the idea behind them. If I don't get them I planned on getting the following:
Genuine mounts (but they are ££££ ; OTOH they have lasted a while...)
Meyle HD mounts ; there seems to be alot of good things said about these.
shalmaneser said:
I'm 99% sure it's the ball joints. As you say the spring tensions everything even when jacked up, when you pop them out you'll probably be shocked at their condition.
It's really not too bad of a job if you have a rattle gun, get some correct size spacers (probably sockets) and a good bit of threaded rod and you're away.
The ball joints themselves are pretty cheap too.
That is my plan It's really not too bad of a job if you have a rattle gun, get some correct size spacers (probably sockets) and a good bit of threaded rod and you're away.
The ball joints themselves are pretty cheap too.
.I reckon the balljoints are fine. Compared to my last E36 on new suspension everywhere (dampers, bushes, arms etc.) this handles spot on and was one of the better M3s I drove out of the 5 I saw
. But with the dampers off it should be easier to tell with less spring resistance on them . I take it the movement if there is any will be in all planes of the suspension and not just the camber?It is surprising how much nicer to drive this is than my old E36 despite being a similar car under the skin. Here's my old E36, as good a car as it was. I'm not saying that car was free of faults either
.http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
It's time for another update.
For some odd reason a mate of mine decided it would be a good idea to go down to the Southampton Boat Show. With the promise of beer and Michelle Keegan being around it didn't take alot of convincing for me to go down.
It was a good weekend out in all honesty. The boats were great to look at both inside and out. Man, I need to mix in the right circles!
That was not to say the humble M3 was forgotten about. Going to and from Southampton, the car was a joy for three of us to go up there in and back as a package. It chewed up the motorways without a hitch and me not nodding off, overtaking in it was an effortless affair and man that engine can sing! Even in town the car was fine, with me generally getting about very nicely.
The car saw its own little milestone as well:
Now, why would I show this? The last service this car had was at 114k which should have been a normal 'oil service' according to the schedule. According to the receipts it had all of the filters and bits and bobs done for what should have been the car's "full service". I knew that the air filter had been changed then as I checked that before. The price however, even with using Purflux parts did seem a little cheap. I was skeptical to say the least!
With this in mind I decided to give the car its oilchange around 4k ahead of schedule.
A sort-of before photo that is actually a during photo! I decided to go with BMW for the filter after reading up a bit about the filter and seeing that getting the M spec filter from Mahle actually costs more from Amazon! Most sell the normal 3 series filter for these.
Going by the date on the filter it ties up for when the car last had an oil change, going by how old the stock tends to be at GSF when I go to buy bits:
And during:
The car doesn't seem to burn oil, but Christ alot of oil came out! I may have to use the larger, but hard to clean oil pan next time!
Being the skeptic I decided to pull out one of the plugs to see what state they were in, and give myself a taste of what part of the valve clearance job will entail:
The electrode looked fine but a little dirtier than expected, but not 30k dirty either (when the last Inspection II was and the ceramic looks surprisingly clean. We shall see if I get another set for when I do the clearances.
Now to source a micrometer and to do the clereances next week. I checked under the car last week and this week with the oil change, with it all looking OK for now.
I was surprised at how simple it was to do the oilchange on this car though. I was expecting it to be hard in all honesty!
Edited by SebringMan on Friday 22 September 22:27
I need to take the bottom damper nut off to check that! There is movement between the two cups on both sides but the bush looks OK in the mount itself. I will take a look one day.
In other news today was the day that I started to finish off the Inspection I, or rather the last process I have been procrastinating over. The valve clearances.
Maybe I procrastinated over it because it's a job I wasn't looking forward to. It may also have been down to me not wanting to pay a fortune to BMW or a specialist either! But I have been a busy boy, with attending weddings of some great folks. I also somehow ended up going to the Nurburgring, and trying my hand at this little machine of goodness!
What's more, I ended up enjoying the delights of a place which is popular for some reason in the town of Nurburg. I have no idea why! You cook your own steak on a stone and there is so much writing on the walls! Ah well, it was a good time:
So it was fair to say that procrastination was treating me well! But then it was time to get stuck in.
Well, that was if my sister's replacement car didn't arrive via a mate buying a new car and then me offering to buy his! The Mondeo with starship mileage (325,000 for those wondering) could finally go on to somebody else as she could enjoy her new car:
With a service being due since my friend was going to part-ex it anyway It got treated to:
-A full service including plugs, filters and all of those wonderful things.
-Parking sensors ; cosnidering she is a newish driver and a 9-3 'vert is hardly an easy thing to see out of they got fitted. For a cheap kit they work well!
Yes, I am well versed in procrastination!
Anyway, I did eventually get stuck into doing the clearances. Here is a 'final' shot before I really took more of the car to bits just to check the clearances:
I would have taken more, but I was taking my time.
What did I learn?
-I can see why BMW charge £700 for an Inspection I and £1492 for a Inspection II. As if an £8 discount off the Inspection II makes a difference!
-It's a good idea to blank off any oilways and holes with loose shims being about.
-Specialists do like to lie ; read on.
I rang a couple of local specialists that were recommended and their advice did not fly with me to be honest! I was told that the clearances didn't need doing on almost all M3s despite it being required every 30,000 miles or 4 years for the Inspections (Is and IIs). It seemed they really didn't want to do the job or maybe they were telling the truth?
With the gaskets ready I cracked on with the job.
Anyway, I cracked on. 3 are out of spec, but not by a lot. BMW specify a 0.05mm tolerance for the gaps; pretty tight really! Judging by how easily the bolts came out complete with witness marks and how consistent the clearances are they do seem to have been done before which is always good!
As a bonus I thought I would check the exhaust tabs on the exhaust cam hub going onto the VANOS. Thankfully mine is fine here [] .
Now to order the shims, but I can reuse one of them already [;)] . So, the clearances never need doing eh?
In other news today was the day that I started to finish off the Inspection I, or rather the last process I have been procrastinating over. The valve clearances.
Maybe I procrastinated over it because it's a job I wasn't looking forward to. It may also have been down to me not wanting to pay a fortune to BMW or a specialist either! But I have been a busy boy, with attending weddings of some great folks. I also somehow ended up going to the Nurburgring, and trying my hand at this little machine of goodness!
What's more, I ended up enjoying the delights of a place which is popular for some reason in the town of Nurburg. I have no idea why! You cook your own steak on a stone and there is so much writing on the walls! Ah well, it was a good time:
So it was fair to say that procrastination was treating me well! But then it was time to get stuck in.
Well, that was if my sister's replacement car didn't arrive via a mate buying a new car and then me offering to buy his! The Mondeo with starship mileage (325,000 for those wondering) could finally go on to somebody else as she could enjoy her new car:
With a service being due since my friend was going to part-ex it anyway It got treated to:
-A full service including plugs, filters and all of those wonderful things.
-Parking sensors ; cosnidering she is a newish driver and a 9-3 'vert is hardly an easy thing to see out of they got fitted. For a cheap kit they work well!
Yes, I am well versed in procrastination!
Anyway, I did eventually get stuck into doing the clearances. Here is a 'final' shot before I really took more of the car to bits just to check the clearances:
I would have taken more, but I was taking my time.
What did I learn?
-I can see why BMW charge £700 for an Inspection I and £1492 for a Inspection II. As if an £8 discount off the Inspection II makes a difference!
-It's a good idea to blank off any oilways and holes with loose shims being about.
-Specialists do like to lie ; read on.
I rang a couple of local specialists that were recommended and their advice did not fly with me to be honest! I was told that the clearances didn't need doing on almost all M3s despite it being required every 30,000 miles or 4 years for the Inspections (Is and IIs). It seemed they really didn't want to do the job or maybe they were telling the truth?
With the gaskets ready I cracked on with the job.
Anyway, I cracked on. 3 are out of spec, but not by a lot. BMW specify a 0.05mm tolerance for the gaps; pretty tight really! Judging by how easily the bolts came out complete with witness marks and how consistent the clearances are they do seem to have been done before which is always good!
As a bonus I thought I would check the exhaust tabs on the exhaust cam hub going onto the VANOS. Thankfully mine is fine here [
] .Now to order the shims, but I can reuse one of them already [;)] . So, the clearances never need doing eh?
Edited by SebringMan on Saturday 23 September 06:54
helix402 said:
Re top mounts, Meyle don't last. These are gen M3 ones:
You will also need the modified washers, only available from BMW.
Cheers for the headsup!You will also need the modified washers, only available from BMW.
The Meyles not lasting I knew about. Some told me it was 'the internet' but after seeing the design of them it makes alot of sense! How on Earth can they honour the two year warranty?
I was going to get the genuine BMW items on the basis that these ones seem to have lasted, but if these have been used by others over quite a mileage with good results I may well use them ;this car is my daily most of the time ; it's the first time it has been off the road in my ownership for more than a few days.
I need to take off the bottom damper mount to check the damper and top mount fully, but I suspect it is the top mounts. A friend who works in a dealership reckons they are the two most likely culprits.
helix402 said:
These are gen BMW, with the BMW badge ground off.
Now that does swing my opinion! Cheers for letting me know .In other news:
Balls!
It seems I need two shims of a certain size, and BMW don't have any in the country at the moment ; I am looking at 7-10 working days with the car being booked for the PH Sunday Service at Silverstone! The alternative Wiseco shim kit is not available in this country either!
I'm potentially looking at not having a car for a week. Ah well. At this point, I do wonder if I shouldn't have been so tight and bought the BMW shim kit!
Any have around 3 2.28mm shims? I really don't want to pull my name off the list but it is potentially looking that way.
Edited by SebringMan on Wednesday 12th October 14:42
Huskyman said:
I know it sounds a bit daft but why don't you get some bigger shims and get a local engineering company to grind them down to spec? Could save you a bit of time here.
Considering I have a few large ones that is not out of the question. Reducing the surface hardening is one of my concerns but a few peeps reckon it should be OK.shalmaneser said:
Have you asked in M3 Cutters? Normally some floating about.
I have indeed and have put a Wanted ad up. It does sound like I am begging for them mind you!Thanks to a fellow PHer it seems I may be in luck .
They are Wiseco shims. I was hoping to use the BMW items but the former do look to be proven with quite a few outfits like ECS Tuning etc. selling them. It will also save the car sitting on the driveway for potentially a week.
In other news, while waiting for the shims and sourcing them I have been busy elsewhere. Not massively, but every little helps. More to come soon.
.They are Wiseco shims. I was hoping to use the BMW items but the former do look to be proven with quite a few outfits like ECS Tuning etc. selling them. It will also save the car sitting on the driveway for potentially a week
.In other news, while waiting for the shims and sourcing them I have been busy elsewhere. Not massively, but every little helps. More to come soon
.It's about time I updated this thread! Anyway, there has been progress and I wouldn't want you thinking no news is good news [;)] .
After getting stuck in I did end up with an engine bay in quite a state for most of the week. The spark plugs were in for this shot!:
Yup, the fan cowling, blower ducting and other bits were all removed, just to allow me to the turn the engine over easily!
While a fellow Pistonhead came to the rescue with the Wiseco shims I figured I would check the rest of the engine bay. For quite some time I have had a very minor and faint continous squeal coming from the front of the engine, almost unoticable! When I took all of the fan bits off the cause was revealed:
Yup, the belts were not the best!
How do you like your crack sir? Would you like it filed down more?
It is fair to say that the belts were shot despite being intact! After looking at them I noticed that they were geniune BMW belts with ContiTech being the OE supplier for them. And so off I went to get more spares. How heavy is that hydraulic tensioner to rotate in order to release it?
While searching and waiting for vital parts the arrive (the shims basically) I decided to make a start on the engine seals that I would be renewing. This would include:
-Rocker Cover Gasket
-Spark Plug gaskets
Rocker cover nut gaskets
-Copper O rings for one of the oil return pipes
-Clean things up along the way.
By the end of the day I ended up with a finished car, honest*
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEZIt17wd5Q
OK, sorry for the poor video [:P] .
In short it's all put back together now. I wanted to ensure there were no leaks present [] .
I have to say that it may be psychological but it does seem slightly perkier in the midrange. It's good to back in it!
It's not the easiest of jobs to do TBH but if I was doing it again I'd definitely get the shim set beforehand!
The Wiseco shims seem to do the job quite well, but they are different in appearance to the BMW items. The genuine parts have more of a grey coating on them, not far off what you get on new camshafts or followers. Whether it will make a difference only time will tell, but it is running a little nicer in my mind.
Now to sort out the other couple of niggles now that it is back in daily service.
After getting stuck in I did end up with an engine bay in quite a state for most of the week. The spark plugs were in for this shot!:
Yup, the fan cowling, blower ducting and other bits were all removed, just to allow me to the turn the engine over easily!
While a fellow Pistonhead came to the rescue with the Wiseco shims I figured I would check the rest of the engine bay. For quite some time I have had a very minor and faint continous squeal coming from the front of the engine, almost unoticable! When I took all of the fan bits off the cause was revealed:
Yup, the belts were not the best!
How do you like your crack sir? Would you like it filed down more?
It is fair to say that the belts were shot despite being intact! After looking at them I noticed that they were geniune BMW belts with ContiTech being the OE supplier for them. And so off I went to get more spares. How heavy is that hydraulic tensioner to rotate in order to release it?
While searching and waiting for vital parts the arrive (the shims basically) I decided to make a start on the engine seals that I would be renewing. This would include:
-Rocker Cover Gasket
-Spark Plug gaskets
Rocker cover nut gaskets
-Copper O rings for one of the oil return pipes
-Clean things up along the way.
By the end of the day I ended up with a finished car, honest*
- I wish! That was last Friday!
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEZIt17wd5Q
OK, sorry for the poor video [:P] .
In short it's all put back together now. I wanted to ensure there were no leaks present [
] .I have to say that it may be psychological but it does seem slightly perkier in the midrange. It's good to back in it!
It's not the easiest of jobs to do TBH but if I was doing it again I'd definitely get the shim set beforehand!
The Wiseco shims seem to do the job quite well, but they are different in appearance to the BMW items. The genuine parts have more of a grey coating on them, not far off what you get on new camshafts or followers. Whether it will make a difference only time will tell, but it is running a little nicer in my mind
.Now to sort out the other couple of niggles now that it is back in daily service.
Edited by SebringMan on Tuesday 18th October 08:49
Edited by SebringMan on Monday 21st November 18:44
Edited by SebringMan on Friday 22 September 22:31
helix402 said:
Good job, glad the shims did the job.
Cheers as always, they did the job a treat . Next time I do this I'll most likely buy the shims! If I had them the car could have easily have had the clearances done in a day!mattwhite709 said:
I've always liked the E46 M3 ever since it first came out and It looks like you have a great car there.I have one on my bucket list waiting to be crossed off. I've been looking at yellow ones (The best colour) for a weekend toy.
Many thanks fella.Mine's not perfect but it's not that bad at all it seems. I've done over 3,000 miles since May and it is generally pretty good
. Certainly consider one, but depending on the cars you have owned before I'd do your homework. Before this I thought my modded 944 Turbo was expensive to own! If I am honest this comes close! In some areas it is cheaper to maintain, while in others it is pricier. But such is life .As always it's time for yet another update. This one is less of a mechanical update and more about cleaning and driving .
After the valve clearance saga I have wasted no time in MULT : Making Up Lost Time, or in my case mileage.
Seeing as I have not taken good pics of the car I figured I best give it a clay, polish & wax. With the clay mitt, the job didn't take too long! IMO they are probably not as effective as a bar but they certainly make the job far far faster!
While it is not mega shiny it's an improvement on before with less swirls. After a dose of Collinite over the body it should be easier to keep clean too.
Even the Grey Nappa Leather hated by many came up a treat:
Now that the engine is back together I figured I'd take a shot of it complete:
With this done it was time to hit Silverstone for the Sunday Service. With quite a bit of trepidation I went onto the track. After all, I am used to hot hatches on a track and not a 300+BHP car!
In truth I needn't have worried. The Falkens, while struggling for grip did hang on for the best part and I was quite surprised at how composed the car was. OK, the DSC was on but I wasn't going to ruin some peoples' day over a bit of willy waving!
The time I got was OK too. I managed a 1:15. Not brilliant, but not horrific. Hopefully that can improve with some new rubber:
So, I had fun! As a bonus unlike the Escort last year, the M3 didn't take a wee on track! Always a bonus.
What was not so good? I managed to make the rear brakes smoke when coming back into the pits! That was initially a heart in the mouth moment until I saw where the smoke was coming from. Also, the tyres didn't take too kindly to being thrashed around. Despite the tyres having done 40 miles from me leaving the track day they still don't look too hot:
So all in, the weekend was pretty good.
As for mechanical work, I ended up adjusting the handbrake prior to the event. For months the handbrake has only worked on the driver's side, strange when the car has had new discs, pads and shoes fitted by a specialist 10,000 miles ago and 2 years ago. Initially I thought something had broken. Taking the rear disc off revealed that all was well, but that the passenger side was miles out of adjustment.
With me loosening off the handbrake cables, adjusting the drums to be even, and then adjusting the handbrake cable to get the travel and balance right I now have a great handbrake. Maybe I am being hasty but I do wonder if it was adjusted correctly before! But then it did pass an MOT...
.After the valve clearance saga I have wasted no time in MULT : Making Up Lost Time, or in my case mileage.
Seeing as I have not taken good pics of the car I figured I best give it a clay, polish & wax. With the clay mitt, the job didn't take too long! IMO they are probably not as effective as a bar but they certainly make the job far far faster!
While it is not mega shiny it's an improvement on before with less swirls. After a dose of Collinite over the body it should be easier to keep clean too.
Even the Grey Nappa Leather hated by many came up a treat:
Now that the engine is back together I figured I'd take a shot of it complete:
With this done it was time to hit Silverstone for the Sunday Service. With quite a bit of trepidation I went onto the track. After all, I am used to hot hatches on a track and not a 300+BHP car!
In truth I needn't have worried. The Falkens, while struggling for grip did hang on for the best part and I was quite surprised at how composed the car was. OK, the DSC was on but I wasn't going to ruin some peoples' day over a bit of willy waving!
The time I got was OK too. I managed a 1:15. Not brilliant, but not horrific. Hopefully that can improve with some new rubber:
So, I had fun! As a bonus unlike the Escort last year, the M3 didn't take a wee on track! Always a bonus.
What was not so good? I managed to make the rear brakes smoke when coming back into the pits! That was initially a heart in the mouth moment until I saw where the smoke was coming from. Also, the tyres didn't take too kindly to being thrashed around. Despite the tyres having done 40 miles from me leaving the track day they still don't look too hot:
So all in, the weekend was pretty good.
As for mechanical work, I ended up adjusting the handbrake prior to the event. For months the handbrake has only worked on the driver's side, strange when the car has had new discs, pads and shoes fitted by a specialist 10,000 miles ago and 2 years ago. Initially I thought something had broken. Taking the rear disc off revealed that all was well, but that the passenger side was miles out of adjustment.
With me loosening off the handbrake cables, adjusting the drums to be even, and then adjusting the handbrake cable to get the travel and balance right I now have a great handbrake. Maybe I am being hasty but I do wonder if it was adjusted correctly before! But then it did pass an MOT...
Edited by SebringMan on Tuesday 25th October 13:42
Edited by SebringMan on Friday 22 September 22:34
Well it seems the luck of the drawer has been handy for me here! The car has made it to the review post on Pistonheads! Happy days
:http://www.pistonheads.com/news/general-pistonhead...
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