Another BMW E46 M3...
Discussion
There seems to be quite a few of these threads on here about the E46 M3. Inspired by the 'Moon Mileage M3 thread' and more recently Barry from BMR's early FY M3 thread, I thought I'd add this one to the mix as-well, in between Christmas pudding and the cheese board...
I won't wax lyrical, but anyone of a certain age (I'm 32), probably fantasied about owning or at least driving one of these whilst growing up. Previously to this I've had a 2.7 986 Boxster in speed yellow, which also fell into this childhood lust. As time goes on, the E46 I think has aged remarkably well, there is in my option, little else on the road that has their road presence. There is nothing in the modern era - expect maybe my mates M2 Comp or a 911 GTS, that really does it for me (both of those cars are way bryond my means).
Previously I drove a E91 325i manual touring. Whilst the N52 was excellent, super smooth and sounded ok over 4k rpm, it was pretty boring. Being at a point in my life with no children and the ICE coming under fire (I live just on the ULEZ boundary) - time to change, variety is the spice of live right?
Before I bought the 986 (early 2017), I saw quite a tidy M3 CS (it was advertised on here), but at the time thought it was a little strong at £14k! How times have changed....I was amazed how thin on the ground manual non-sunroof M3's were, for under £20k and with no mods...
Anyway, I managed to find this...its a late July 2005 model, non-sunroof manual coupe in Silver Grey. I brought it from a very nice chap on M3Cutters - Stax, who kept a very detailed journal of his own here: https://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/threads/new-car-intro.40875/ Having owned it for 10 years, its been treated to regular oil, filter and coolant changes which is backed up by a stack of receipts aswell as a fully body respray in 2019. He was the second owner, originally it was from and registered in Northern Ireland to a keeper in Ballymena, the first owner.
Plans are to keep it OEM, rust prevention, servicing, rust prevention, cleaning and more rust prevention.
It's had a clean MOT history since its first, so I am very keen to keep it all green for the next one. The first thing on the list is Rod bearings, engine mounts and an oil/filter change. The rod bearings are on the original, the car has just turned over to 128k so down to BMR we go...more on that later.
I have a terrible tendency to change my mind quickly and move things on (cars, bikes, bicycles) so I want to keep this as an on going journal and give me some accountability to keep the car long term. Hopefully peer pressure will prevail.
Here's a few snaps...
Obligatory station snap on the way back from collecting it. Very friendly with my local shell garage right now...
I may have sold the E91, but these split fold seats are super practical.
Few from an early morning drive out to Box Hill a few weeks back;
Silver Grey is really quite lovely;
And my best shot yet;
I won't wax lyrical, but anyone of a certain age (I'm 32), probably fantasied about owning or at least driving one of these whilst growing up. Previously to this I've had a 2.7 986 Boxster in speed yellow, which also fell into this childhood lust. As time goes on, the E46 I think has aged remarkably well, there is in my option, little else on the road that has their road presence. There is nothing in the modern era - expect maybe my mates M2 Comp or a 911 GTS, that really does it for me (both of those cars are way bryond my means).
Previously I drove a E91 325i manual touring. Whilst the N52 was excellent, super smooth and sounded ok over 4k rpm, it was pretty boring. Being at a point in my life with no children and the ICE coming under fire (I live just on the ULEZ boundary) - time to change, variety is the spice of live right?
Before I bought the 986 (early 2017), I saw quite a tidy M3 CS (it was advertised on here), but at the time thought it was a little strong at £14k! How times have changed....I was amazed how thin on the ground manual non-sunroof M3's were, for under £20k and with no mods...
Anyway, I managed to find this...its a late July 2005 model, non-sunroof manual coupe in Silver Grey. I brought it from a very nice chap on M3Cutters - Stax, who kept a very detailed journal of his own here: https://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/threads/new-car-intro.40875/ Having owned it for 10 years, its been treated to regular oil, filter and coolant changes which is backed up by a stack of receipts aswell as a fully body respray in 2019. He was the second owner, originally it was from and registered in Northern Ireland to a keeper in Ballymena, the first owner.
Plans are to keep it OEM, rust prevention, servicing, rust prevention, cleaning and more rust prevention.
It's had a clean MOT history since its first, so I am very keen to keep it all green for the next one. The first thing on the list is Rod bearings, engine mounts and an oil/filter change. The rod bearings are on the original, the car has just turned over to 128k so down to BMR we go...more on that later.
I have a terrible tendency to change my mind quickly and move things on (cars, bikes, bicycles) so I want to keep this as an on going journal and give me some accountability to keep the car long term. Hopefully peer pressure will prevail.
Here's a few snaps...
Obligatory station snap on the way back from collecting it. Very friendly with my local shell garage right now...
I may have sold the E91, but these split fold seats are super practical.
Few from an early morning drive out to Box Hill a few weeks back;
Silver Grey is really quite lovely;
And my best shot yet;
Edited by Matt_E91 on Monday 27th December 21:48
Edited by Matt_E91 on Monday 27th December 21:48
That's a great looking M3. 
2 years ago I treated myself to a Z4M Coupe in Silver Grey with Imola Red leather and the S54 engine is just fantastic! My daily is currently an E90 330i that replaced an E91 325i.
I see BMR are in Crawley. If it would be helpful I got my bearing shells and engine mounts replaced and an Inspection 2 service at RBM Hampshire in Hook as Ross worked at Sytner for 15 years before he set up on his own in late 2019.
Anyway keep enjoying satisfying it's thirst for Superplus!
2 years ago I treated myself to a Z4M Coupe in Silver Grey with Imola Red leather and the S54 engine is just fantastic! My daily is currently an E90 330i that replaced an E91 325i.
I see BMR are in Crawley. If it would be helpful I got my bearing shells and engine mounts replaced and an Inspection 2 service at RBM Hampshire in Hook as Ross worked at Sytner for 15 years before he set up on his own in late 2019.
Anyway keep enjoying satisfying it's thirst for Superplus!
Mr Tidy said:
That's a great looking M3.
2 years ago I treated myself to a Z4M Coupe in Silver Grey with Imola Red leather and the S54 engine is just fantastic! My daily is currently an E90 330i that replaced an E91 325i.
I see BMR are in Crawley. If it would be helpful I got my bearing shells and engine mounts replaced and an Inspection 2 service at RBM Hampshire in Hook as Ross worked at Sytner for 15 years before he set up on his own in late 2019.
Anyway keep enjoying satisfying it's thirst for Superplus!
Thanks! I have heard very good things about RBM, but they are much further West than BMR - who are also ideally located very close to my parents.2 years ago I treated myself to a Z4M Coupe in Silver Grey with Imola Red leather and the S54 engine is just fantastic! My daily is currently an E90 330i that replaced an E91 325i.
I see BMR are in Crawley. If it would be helpful I got my bearing shells and engine mounts replaced and an Inspection 2 service at RBM Hampshire in Hook as Ross worked at Sytner for 15 years before he set up on his own in late 2019.
Anyway keep enjoying satisfying it's thirst for Superplus!
So prior to purchasing the car, I was aware that the rod bearings were on the original set. Being a 2005 car I was unsure if these had been recalled and replaced early in their lift as I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, these were only done on pre-facelift cars.
I was told to budget approx. £1k for this, along with new engine mounts, I also decided to get valve clearances checked. I've seen shells on cars under 80k which are showing down to the copper and others which look pretty good at over 100k. The previous owner did oil changes every 5-6k with Castrol 10w60 and was told the car had never been driven hard from cold. Either way for piece of mind, I'd get these changed. Better to spend a grand now than £5k on an engine rebuild I was also very intruiged to see the wear on a 16 year old, 128k car. Could regular servicing really prevent damage?
I had spoken to Barry at BMR and decided to let them do the work. Car was dropped off just before Christmas at Turners Hill and picked up a few days later, the results were very interesting....
Here are the old, original shells;
Pretty bloody clean. Testament to the previous owners maintenance. Replaced with ACL bearings and ARP bolts, hopefully these will be good for another 80k.
I also asked the guys to get a few snaps of the underside of the car as I'd not seen it before, which they very kindly obliged.
You tell me, but aside from a new chassis brace I think it looks pretty tidy. To my knowledge the underside has never been touched, its been a daily driver for the previous in all weathers.
The only advisories from BMR were a heavy clutch, its original, and carbon build up on camshaft and head - the head gasket is original. So lets see how long these go for, I've read of cars with 10-15k more mileage on both original items. Time will tell...
I was told to budget approx. £1k for this, along with new engine mounts, I also decided to get valve clearances checked. I've seen shells on cars under 80k which are showing down to the copper and others which look pretty good at over 100k. The previous owner did oil changes every 5-6k with Castrol 10w60 and was told the car had never been driven hard from cold. Either way for piece of mind, I'd get these changed. Better to spend a grand now than £5k on an engine rebuild I was also very intruiged to see the wear on a 16 year old, 128k car. Could regular servicing really prevent damage?
I had spoken to Barry at BMR and decided to let them do the work. Car was dropped off just before Christmas at Turners Hill and picked up a few days later, the results were very interesting....
Here are the old, original shells;
Pretty bloody clean. Testament to the previous owners maintenance. Replaced with ACL bearings and ARP bolts, hopefully these will be good for another 80k.
I also asked the guys to get a few snaps of the underside of the car as I'd not seen it before, which they very kindly obliged.
You tell me, but aside from a new chassis brace I think it looks pretty tidy. To my knowledge the underside has never been touched, its been a daily driver for the previous in all weathers.
The only advisories from BMR were a heavy clutch, its original, and carbon build up on camshaft and head - the head gasket is original. So lets see how long these go for, I've read of cars with 10-15k more mileage on both original items. Time will tell...
Those bearing shells look really good for 128K miles!
I know there was supposed to be some sort of upgrade for them during the life of the E46 M3 but it wasn't a complete success given that my Z4M was built in 2006.
I think it was still very dependent on how the car was driven before the engine was up to temperature.
Anyway my Z4M had 7 previous keepers and the first was BMW UK so I reckoned at least one may have been less than sympathetic and got new bearing shells fitted last year at 78K miles.
When I saw the the old ones I knew I had made the right call!
I had ACL shells fitted and new engine mounts while it was in bits!
But given the potential cost if a shell span it just makes sense to get them replaced.
Enjoy S54 motoring.
I know there was supposed to be some sort of upgrade for them during the life of the E46 M3 but it wasn't a complete success given that my Z4M was built in 2006.
I think it was still very dependent on how the car was driven before the engine was up to temperature.
Anyway my Z4M had 7 previous keepers and the first was BMW UK so I reckoned at least one may have been less than sympathetic and got new bearing shells fitted last year at 78K miles.
When I saw the the old ones I knew I had made the right call!
I had ACL shells fitted and new engine mounts while it was in bits!
But given the potential cost if a shell span it just makes sense to get them replaced.
Enjoy S54 motoring.
Apart from the car really needing a clean inside an out, and another stress free 500 odd miles over the Christmas and NY break, I lucked upon a set of original 18" OEM Style 67 rims.
I got these put on and got a Hunter wheel alignment done. It's a much more compliant ride around town and the alignment has sorted the tracking issue out. I've yet to test it out on decent B roads but think this will be the preferred setup. Also equally excited to see what the Unisport Rainsport 3's are like in the wet! Much prefer the look of the 18's over the 19" CSL reps.
I got these put on and got a Hunter wheel alignment done. It's a much more compliant ride around town and the alignment has sorted the tracking issue out. I've yet to test it out on decent B roads but think this will be the preferred setup. Also equally excited to see what the Unisport Rainsport 3's are like in the wet! Much prefer the look of the 18's over the 19" CSL reps.
Mr Tidy said:
Those bearing shells look really good for 128K miles!
I know there was supposed to be some sort of upgrade for them during the life of the E46 M3 but it wasn't a complete success given that my Z4M was built in 2006.
I think it was still very dependent on how the car was driven before the engine was up to temperature.
Anyway my Z4M had 7 previous keepers and the first was BMW UK so I reckoned at least one may have been less than sympathetic and got new bearing shells fitted last year at 78K miles.
When I saw the the old ones I knew I had made the right call!
I had ACL shells fitted and new engine mounts while it was in bits!
But given the potential cost if a shell span it just makes sense to get them replaced.
Enjoy S54 motoring.
Thanks for posting that, it's really crazy the difference a sympatric warm up protocol and early oil changes make. FWIW this is a 2 previous keeper car, with the last owner of 10 years being quite fastidious over its care and keeping an eye on the oil temp before opening it up. This has done a few track days under his ownership too. I know there was supposed to be some sort of upgrade for them during the life of the E46 M3 but it wasn't a complete success given that my Z4M was built in 2006.
I think it was still very dependent on how the car was driven before the engine was up to temperature.
Anyway my Z4M had 7 previous keepers and the first was BMW UK so I reckoned at least one may have been less than sympathetic and got new bearing shells fitted last year at 78K miles.
When I saw the the old ones I knew I had made the right call!
I had ACL shells fitted and new engine mounts while it was in bits!
But given the potential cost if a shell span it just makes sense to get them replaced.
Enjoy S54 motoring.
Looks miles better on the 18s imo. In the best colour too.
I’ve had two, great to look at, but neither of mine were particularly enthralling ownership experiences.
Glad to see your not going down the lowered, BBK, square wheel set up that most of these seem to get these days. They look best as they are meant to be imo
I’ve had two, great to look at, but neither of mine were particularly enthralling ownership experiences.
Glad to see your not going down the lowered, BBK, square wheel set up that most of these seem to get these days. They look best as they are meant to be imo
That’s lovely.
I’m a big fan of the E46 M3 and regret not jumping in when a good one was £12-14k. Prices are nuts now. I love the noise and think they’re so well proportioned and I miss the subtlety of the older designs.
Those bearings looked in pretty good shape; it’s clearly been well looked after.
The CSL wheels have been done to death, but there’s reason why; they look so right on these. I’m clearly a heathen because I prefer these on the bigger wheels (but it’s not my car, so my opinion counts for nowt ).
I’m a big fan of the E46 M3 and regret not jumping in when a good one was £12-14k. Prices are nuts now. I love the noise and think they’re so well proportioned and I miss the subtlety of the older designs.
Those bearings looked in pretty good shape; it’s clearly been well looked after.
The CSL wheels have been done to death, but there’s reason why; they look so right on these. I’m clearly a heathen because I prefer these on the bigger wheels (but it’s not my car, so my opinion counts for nowt
).village24 said:
Great cars, I miss mine especially on weekends when the weathers nice. They can be a labour of love but they're a rewarding drive.
Looks like you bought a lovely example OP. Those bearings looked pretty good, keep the changes to 6k and youll easily surpass 100k on them.
That's a very nice E46, Estroil Blue? Post up some more pictures of that, probably my favourite colour for an M3, after Imola Red. Looks like you bought a lovely example OP. Those bearings looked pretty good, keep the changes to 6k and youll easily surpass 100k on them.
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