E92 M3 Competition Pack

[RS Grant]

MAB85 said:

Nice car and pictures, the exhaust sounds perfect too.

I'm surprised there are many (any?) E9* M3 left without modified exhausts, haha.. It's a bit of a no-brainer modification and really releases the V8 noise to whatever degree you fancy given there are different levels of OEM mod/noise you can go for depending on how much is changed within the backbox.

[RS Grant]

RS Grant said:

Back to the E92; I've actually been writing an advert for it, deleting it, writing it etc for the past few days!!

I'm going through a stage where I decided to have a bit of a shake up of the cars I've got and the cars I actually need. It was prompted by a property purchase and started with 'I'll stick a couple up for sale' and then escalated to the point where I thought that maybe throwing everything up for sale would be the correct way to go; so it might be time to wave goodbye to the big V8.... if I can get to the point of actually writing the advert that is.

As I mentioned above, I had been considering the possibility of moving the M3 onto pastures new... this is going to be another wordy one I'm afraid!!

It was prompted by a couple of people contacting me out of the blue and asking if I would consider selling the car, with one bloke in particular sounding very keen indeed. It also coincided with be being in the final stages of buying a property which will require some work post-purchase and the fact that things have got a wee bit out of control with the number of cars I've got at the moment. I thought that thinning down the 'fleet' (hate that term..) was a sensible way to go and taking the paths of least resistance and choosing the cars that will be easiest to sell would be the way to go and least hassle for me.

My initial plan was to sell off a few vehicles and buy something quick, new/nearly new and warranty'd up to remove any car related stress if any issues should arise while I'm concentrating on getting the house sorted out.

I had a bit of an issue being a manual diehard because most newer performance stuff is off the table for me since it's almost exclusively PDK, DSG, DCT, ZF equipped automatic cars which are specified from new... that's even if manual gearboxes were an option in the first place!! However I found a lovely 2018 M3 Competition Pack at a dealership local to myself which had a good specification, was a nice colour and had the all important manual gearbox.. so I went for a look/drive of it.. and subsequently left a deposit on it.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

...the aim was to have the mortgage stuff all done and dusted in plenty of time, so I could then get the car stuff sorted out and have plenty of time to relax and plan the move/post purchase work at my leisure. Well fast forward over 6 weeks and I'm due to collect the keys on Wednesday and due to many annoying factors outwith my control; I don't yet have the mortgage tied up. Therefore I pulled out of the deal because I didn't feel right having the dealership holding on for an unspecified length of time (which was completely out of my control) and to be honest, I had more important things to concentrate on too.

I have thought about it and while I'm a bit disappointed, I'm not unhappy at the thought of keeping the E92 at all. I've done some great upgrades to it so far and have reached a wee bit of a cross roads with the car. I mentioned in a post earlier today that there have been different options which I am considering, so I'll list them for anyone who is still following this journey.


Option 1: Primary Decat, Carbon Fibre Intake and Remap at Evolve plus KW Clubsport Coilovers: £991 Stage 2 Package ( Click For Details/Graphs) + £799 Carbon Intake ( Click For Details) + £549.60 Carbon Airbox Lid ( Click For Details) + £2100 KW Clubsport Coilovers ( Click For Details)

Option 2: Primary Decat, Carbon Fibre Plenum, Carbon Fibre Intake and Remap at Evolve plus KW Clubsport Coilovers: £991 Stage 2 Package ( Click For Details/Graphs) + £1650 Plenum ( Plenum Details) + £799 Carbon Intake ( Click For Details) + £549.60 Carbon Airbox Lid ( Click For Details) + £2100 KW Clubsport Coilovers ( Click For Details)

Option 3: KW Clubsport Coilovers, BMW Motorsport 4.1 Final Drive and Wavetrac LSD: £TBC (initial research suggests £3500-£4000) + £2100 KW Clubsport Coilovers ( Click For Details)

Option 4: ESS Supercharger Conversion, Rod Bearings and KW Clubsport Coilovers at AReeve Performance: £10100 ESS Kit & Bearings ( Click For Details/Graphs) + £2100 KW Clubsport Coilovers ( Click For Details)

Option 5: KW Clubsport Coilovers and BMW Comprehensive Warranty: £2100 KW Clubsport Coilovers ( Click For Details) + £1450 for first year warranty, with a c20% reduction to c£1160 for year 2, year 3, etc.


As you can see, there are plenty of ideas rattling around in my head!!

Options 1-3 would require an additional cost of a Rod Bearing upgrade which would be in the region of £1400 because once modified past that point, even if I put a BMW Warranty on the car then performance tuning would render that policy pretty much void and waste my money.

Option 1 would make some difference to the way the car drove, but enough to notice it on the road, I'm unsure.. the increase in headline figures aren't massive, however I know it's more about the entire rev range rather than peak power so maybe I'm being unfair. I'm also not sure about increasing the level of volume withe decatting the exhaust (secondaries are still in place and apparently fine for an MOT pass) will make... I don't want to ruin the experience and create a crazy loud car.

I have the same concerns for Option 2, however, the increase of induction noise generated by the Carbon Fibre Plenum is apparently quite something. I'm in a Whatsapp group chat with Ryan who owns the car in this video below and he has helped develop this plenum and said that the noise difference is amazing... along the lines of an E46 CSL-esque howl from the V8, which is something I could definitely get on board with!! I'll throw up a couple of pictures of the plenum and stick a link to the video that Evolve made: YouTube E92 'CSL' Vibes.

carbon by Grant F, on Flickr
40728581313_5956b4f06a_h by Grant F, on Flickr
40728580913_c22906469e_h by Grant F, on Flickr

I've got an EP3 Type R just now which has a shorter final drive, which is what led me to start looking into Option 3. There have been a few threads that I've managed to find regarding E46 M3 which have switched to a shorter final drive, with all owners reporting a real difference in urgency and increase in acceleration. It's not that I find the E92 M3 slow; but the manual gear ratios seem to be really quite long, motorway speed limit at the top of 2nd gear and into 3 figures at the limiter in 3rd gear... so I was wondering if reducing that may be a nice way to keep the car behaving how I like it, but with a little extra zing. The estimated costs include a replacement diff (I'd want to keep my original part OEM) and I included a replacement LSD in the cost because it makes (man math-ish) sense to get that switched out at the same time that I did the FD.

The big issue with Option 4 is obviously the eye watering expense that it brings with it!! I'd worry about using it hard for an extended period given it's running ~200bhp more than it was designed to use, because getting stung for an engine rebuild post-supercharging would really stretch my man maths and temper. I'm not totally sure that I'd want the car having c600-620bhp either, it sounds like a BIG jump from the currently power level to me and I wouldn't want to ruin the way that the car behaves or drives... on the flip side, I wouldn't want to spend all that money and not feel a big difference, so I'm kinda snookered either way!!

Obviously the easiest path to take would be Option 5 and I'm led to believe that BMW are quite sensible (although would 100% double check/get confirmation in writing) and wouldn't reject a claim for an issue which wasn't directly related to my current modifications to brakes and seats and planned suspension kit. Therefore I would be covering myself for any future throttle actuator issues, rod bearing failures etc and continue to enjoy the car as-is. The slight downside with a BMW Warranty for me is the fact that they won't replace the rod bearings as a preventative measure, instead waiting until they've failed and quite possibly requiring an entirely brand new engine.

I'd be keen to hear from anyone who has considered/waded into any of these options and can give me some feedback about how their car is, how they feel about value for money and any downsides they might see?

Anyway, there we have it... lots of words and very few pictures but hopefully a decent update to bring us up to present day after a quiet winter hibernation!!

[st33ly]

Lovely! M3 Comp Manual. However, I'm relieved to see you pulled out and have kept the E92. Loving the continued modding plans. They look fantastic.

[Court_S]

That M3 Comp did look stunning in that colour. I think they look great but they sound horrible to my ears.

Your current M3 looks stunning and has a stonking engine that they’ll never build again.

[Zarco]

I like the bit in that Evolve vid where they demonstrate how the new LSD makes the car so controllable by oversteering it into the verge.

[RS Grant]

st33ly said:

Lovely! M3 Comp Manual. However, I'm relieved to see you pulled out and have kept the E92. Loving the continued modding plans. They look fantastic.

Yeah it's quite a rare beast, apparently only ~40 F80 M3 Competitions were built... although not quite as exclusive as the 22 manual E92 M3 Competition Pack cars.

I'm looking forward to taking the E92 a wee bit further and depending on how I get on with the new place and if I can make my mind up about which way to go, then I would ideally like it done prior to this years Ring/Spa trip in September/October... but we'll see how it goes.

[RS Grant]

Court_S said:

That M3 Comp did look stunning in that colour. I think they look great but they sound horrible to my ears.

Your current M3 looks stunning and has a stonking engine that they’ll never build again.

Definitely agree on the sounds, the F80 (standard or Competition) sound broken on cold start.. and pretty average when driving. Although on the inside (with a bit of electronic/speaker trickery) they sound great, so it's just the people you're driving past who are offended.

I agree, the E92 is a 'last of the..' car with it's dirty, high emission, high revving N/A V8 engine.

[RS Grant]

Zarco said:

I like the bit in that Evolve vid where they demonstrate how the new LSD makes the car so controllable by oversteering it into the verge.

Hahaha, loved that bit too.. I assume that it was the lethal combination of cold Cup 2s and the excitement of being filmed.

Here is a shortcut for anyone who doesn't have the time to watch the entire video: Click Here

[cerb4.5lee]

RS Grant said:

Zarco said:

I like the bit in that Evolve vid where they demonstrate how the new LSD makes the car so controllable by oversteering it into the verge.

Hahaha, loved that bit too.. I assume that it was the lethal combination of cold Cup 2s and the excitement of being filmed.

Here is a shortcut for anyone who doesn't have the time to watch the entire video: Click Here

Thanks for linking that and I did want to watch it after it was mentioned but I couldn't find it.

[MikeGoodwin]

Drove my mates F30 comp this weekend. DCT, H&Rs and a geo, aftermarket exhaust, lots of carbon.

Fast and big numbers when I was looking at the hud as I was hammering it down some Yorkshire b-roads, but fk me it lacks that top end fizz the S65 has (and even the K20 my Integra DC5). But I was surprised and pleased with how well the turn in felt and the overall dynamics of the car. Not what I expected at all and actually much better than the E92

Dont know how you can even consider an F30 when you have that V8 though, not joking either, I can only assume its a status or looks thing. Also whats with MDM in the comp it was so restrictive.

The E92s need some modification I think, Id have another but base spec model with:

Full Bushing refresh
Carbon Intake
Primary Cats removed
Recaro Pole Positions (to replace the heavy seats)
Removal of unnecessary interior leather and rear seats
Some nice Bilsteins (Adjustable damping)
18's - the M perf wheels with some non premium tyres that allowed the wallet to utilise MDM for many smiles

Mind you... driving the F30 and then getting back into the Integra reminded me why I want a lotus so much.

Glad you're putting money into the E92 and keeping it. Buy a st car to run about in if you get bored, a week in a Ford Fiesta will soon make you realise how good it is

[RS Grant]

MikeGoodwin said:

Drove my mates F30 comp this weekend. DCT, H&Rs and a geo, aftermarket exhaust, lots of carbon.

Fast and big numbers when I was looking at the hud as I was hammering it down some Yorkshire b-roads, but fk me it lacks that top end fizz the S65 has (and even the K20 my Integra DC5). But I was surprised and pleased with how well the turn in felt and the overall dynamics of the car. Not what I expected at all and actually much better than the E92

Dont know how you can even consider an F30 when you have that V8 though, not joking either, I can only assume its a status or looks thing. Also whats with MDM in the comp it was so restrictive.

The E92s need some modification I think, Id have another but base spec model with:

Full Bushing refresh
Carbon Intake
Primary Cats removed
Recaro Pole Positions (to replace the heavy seats)
Removal of unnecessary interior leather and rear seats
Some nice Bilsteins (Adjustable damping)
18's - the M perf wheels with some non premium tyres that allowed the wallet to utilise MDM for many smiles

Mind you... driving the F30 and then getting back into the Integra reminded me why I want a lotus so much.

Glad you're putting money into the E92 and keeping it. Buy a st car to run about in if you get bored, a week in a Ford Fiesta will soon make you realise how good it is

Yeah, you won't hear me disagree with the top end NA fizz of an S65 vs the boosty torquey power delivery of the S55.. I actually think that the S65 makes the better B-road car because you've got to work harder to get the best from it and the power delivery is nice and linear. My mums F80 LCI (manual too) is without doubt the faster car, but it's almost too quick/easy to access the power and therefore I find it more difficult to make fast and smooth progress. I'm sure that given time you could get used to the slightly spikey F80 power delivery (fixed with a BMW software update I believe) and be almost as smooth as the E92, but the E92 is easier to drive quickly I think.

Haha I wouldn't say it was a status thing... I don't give a toss about things like that really and will bounce around in anything that takes my fancy; to give you an example of this, I didn't go to a car auction at the weekend there because there was a very real chance that I'd have come away with a Vauxhall Omega Estate which was due to go through.

I do love the looks of the F80 M3 though, I think they look fantastic and far more impressive/pumped up than the F82 M4 do.

That's a good list of modifications to an E92 and would transform the way the car drove, performed and handled. I'm unsure about whether to go with the KW Clubsport or possibly go for Ohlins Road & Track or Bilstein B16 which could be a slightly milder compromise given the car spends >90-95% of its life on the road, but I'll do some reading and ask some more questions to try and reach a decision.

[g3org3y]

Great reader's car thread, very enjoyable from start to finish.

Absolute stunner of a car btw.

[RhysH]

Good thread, I too have a E92 comp pack car. Its a total garage queen and nearly had a wobble like you the other day. I though about selling it along with my 320CDI Mercedes and buying a F3x M3 comp and use every day.

However the thought of losing the V8.. The BMW salesman even said think about what your doing as they won't make any V8 NA M3's any more and because mine is low mileage do I really want to sell.

Think it is a thing when don't use them much.


Loving the option you have on mods. the Eventuri intake does look very cool, and would be good to hear the sound. But they are not cheap.

[stevec33]

Im an e9x m3 owner and thought I would offer a opinion on some of the modifications you have suggested, I haven’t read the whole thread so not 100% what you use the car for mostly.
Firstly regarding the suspension I would recommend leaving it the hell alone! Ive used bilstien and ohlins coilovers and just found them both a total pain tbh, had lots of issues with various noises theyve made which have been a total pain to diagnose, also they ride a fair bit firmer than std which does spoil the car a bit for normal road use. If you only use the car to hoon or for trackdays then they do definitely drive better in terms of eliminating roll and just generally improving handling, but very much at the expense of normal comfort. If its just for fast road the std suspension is totally fine imo, handles v well when going fast and comfortable when going slow.
The carbon airboxes sound mental and I would highly recommend one, it totally changes the character of the car, the arma airbox is worth a look too if you dont want to spend out for an eventuri.
The evolve map and decat does definitely help a bit, especially low down in the revs, not a night and day difference but a good upgrade. One slight negative i found was that it seems to really sharpen up the throttle response which i dont like at all and specifically asked for it to be left alone, just makes it difficult to drive smoothly at low speed.

[custardkid]

Ive got eibach springs with standard edc dampers on my car, and it feels great on track and road
Although only done bedford so far so a track with more weight transfer may be different, but the upside is it controls its self and doesnt crash about on a B road

[RS Grant]

I’m unsure why I didn’t get the thread notifications again, but I appreciate the comments.

By way of an update, the M3 is a couple of hundred miles shy of turning 40k miles and was in for a service, removal of the M Performance steering wheel and general inspection/health check at BMW last week. I dropped it off today at the specialist I use for the AP brakes and Recaro CS’ to be removed too.



The reason for this being that I’ve ordered a new M2 Competition which will be due within the next few weeks, so the E92 will be going up for sale in the very near future.

I’ll be doing an advert over the weekend but if you, or anyone you know may be interested then feel free to fire me a PM to discuss further... I really valued the modifications I made to the car so they will be offered to the buyer of the car first before they’re offered on their own.

[custardkid]

Hi Grant
The M2 is popular at the moment, but may be worth waiting for the CS ?

If the buyer doesnt have the APs, drop me a note as looking for a set for my E92

Thanks
Paul

PS if anyone needs a set of E46 APs... I know where there are some...

[MikeGoodwin]

Look forward to reading the M2 comparison to this. I am guessing the size of the M2 is what drew you to it from the M3?

Shame to see it sell, enjoyed the thread.

[fido]

That’s a good looking E92. Shame it has to go but an M2 Competition would get me out of my coupe - good choice. I have recently run in a new S65 engine and getting some fun out of it before deciding what to do after winter.

[RS Grant]

custardkid said:

Hi Grant
The M2 is popular at the moment, but may be worth waiting for the CS ?

If the buyer doesnt have the APs, drop me a note as looking for a set for my E92

Thanks
Paul

PS if anyone needs a set of E46 APs... I know where there are some...

I did think about waiting for a CS (even more so after seeing the ‘leaked’ images today!) rather than going for a Competition model... however, given the CS is likely to cost over £70k (judging by the crazy F80/82 CS pricing) it’s going to be a whole heap of change more than the M2C is costing to buy and I can’t justify/comfortably afford buying into anything at that level.. otherwise a Cayman GT4 would probably be where I’d be aiming.

Re: the brakes, I’ll give you a shout regarding the APs should the buyer of the car not want them.