Yes it is yet another E46 M3 Track Car Project, zzzZZZZZ
Discussion
Hi there
So last August I purchased this:-
Its a 2002 E46 M3 with 93,000 miles which was a weekend/track toy for the previous owner. The specification was:-
Most of the suspension is poly bushed such as rear radius arms, trailing arms replaced, power steering replaced with rigid hoses to prevent failure, suspension arms too, main crank oil seal replaced as was weeping, gearbox, diff, brake fluid all changed last year and oil/filter changes every other trackday. Plus as can be seen from pictures interior is partially stripped, bucket seats, harnesses, track wheels with Federal RSR track rubber, 255 front and 265 rear, wheel spacers, allignment done, performance friction disc and pads front along with new rear BMW disc rear. Tein lower suspension, rather damn firm but not crashy, imagine great on track and OK on decent roads, had to be done as when interior was removed the gaps in the arches was huge, particular at rear. Catback exhaust system, K&N intake system along with private plate M3 XSV and a few spare tyres.
So I did a track day in it at Donnington and it was so so, running about 1:28-1:30 lap times, car did not feel so great. So over the last year I've done the following, updates in replies.
So last August I purchased this:-
Its a 2002 E46 M3 with 93,000 miles which was a weekend/track toy for the previous owner. The specification was:-
Most of the suspension is poly bushed such as rear radius arms, trailing arms replaced, power steering replaced with rigid hoses to prevent failure, suspension arms too, main crank oil seal replaced as was weeping, gearbox, diff, brake fluid all changed last year and oil/filter changes every other trackday. Plus as can be seen from pictures interior is partially stripped, bucket seats, harnesses, track wheels with Federal RSR track rubber, 255 front and 265 rear, wheel spacers, allignment done, performance friction disc and pads front along with new rear BMW disc rear. Tein lower suspension, rather damn firm but not crashy, imagine great on track and OK on decent roads, had to be done as when interior was removed the gaps in the arches was huge, particular at rear. Catback exhaust system, K&N intake system along with private plate M3 XSV and a few spare tyres.
So I did a track day in it at Donnington and it was so so, running about 1:28-1:30 lap times, car did not feel so great. So over the last year I've done the following, updates in replies.
I then fitted new plugs, yep the correct ones and also performed an engine compression test which came back with 180-190psi across all cylinders so as good as new there.
Also flash the CSL SMG firmware to the car, gear changes are actually smoother and in S6 completely crazy, love it!
An update:-
1. M3 XSV Plates arrived - £20 as reg was included in sale
2. Changed Vanos oil filter - £5, took 2 minutes.
3. All roof lining removed, trim, interior lights etc. - £0
4. CSL SMG firmware loaded onto SMG module. - £0
Also flash the CSL SMG firmware to the car, gear changes are actually smoother and in S6 completely crazy, love it!
An update:-
1. M3 XSV Plates arrived - £20 as reg was included in sale
2. Changed Vanos oil filter - £5, took 2 minutes.
3. All roof lining removed, trim, interior lights etc. - £0
4. CSL SMG firmware loaded onto SMG module. - £0
A little update:-
Since having the car I've removed:-
- All airbags, except drivers, about 10kg worth, including airbag computer module.
- All trim, door panels etc. about 15kg worth.
- All speakers, stereo etc, about 10kg.
- Roof lining, and any other un-used bolts, brackets etc. etc.
- Glove box and everything gone.
Some pictures of interior:-
Things to do now regarding weight saving:-
1. Remove stereo, airbag wiring from within the car, about 4-6kg worth of wires.
2. Look at potentially removing front carpet / sound deadening, but I think its sub 5kg so might not be worth doing for the comfort it gives.
3. Ordered a copy CSL boot which weighs in at 4.5kg, about 10kg saving.
4. Maybe change battery to a braile lightweight one, about 10kg saving.
5. Remove secondary airpump and remap car, about 4kg saving and circa 20BHP more.
6. Look at maybe a copy CSL bumper and GTR bonnet, about 10-15kg saving.
7. Get interior panels trimmed up with lightweight plastic/carbon parts and other are as blanked off, just make it look a little neater.
8. Maybe look at some CSL or Eibach front/rear anti-roll bars.
9. Try to get a CSL pollen filter housing unit orone fabricated - 2-3kg saving.
Had these arrive too:-
Looking forward to getting them fitted, the ride height set low, all corner weighted up, they are KW Clubsports, so ideal for track use, they come with from top mounts with camber adjustment upto -4.00 degrees, going to setup with around -2.3 for the road. Also got strengthened rear top mounts too and will eventually get new rear lower adjustable arms so I can dial about -1.75 degrees on the rear too. Once the tyres are worn down I shall try some of the Kumho V70 medium compounds.
Since having the car I've removed:-
- All airbags, except drivers, about 10kg worth, including airbag computer module.
- All trim, door panels etc. about 15kg worth.
- All speakers, stereo etc, about 10kg.
- Roof lining, and any other un-used bolts, brackets etc. etc.
- Glove box and everything gone.
Some pictures of interior:-
Things to do now regarding weight saving:-
1. Remove stereo, airbag wiring from within the car, about 4-6kg worth of wires.
2. Look at potentially removing front carpet / sound deadening, but I think its sub 5kg so might not be worth doing for the comfort it gives.
3. Ordered a copy CSL boot which weighs in at 4.5kg, about 10kg saving.
4. Maybe change battery to a braile lightweight one, about 10kg saving.
5. Remove secondary airpump and remap car, about 4kg saving and circa 20BHP more.
6. Look at maybe a copy CSL bumper and GTR bonnet, about 10-15kg saving.
7. Get interior panels trimmed up with lightweight plastic/carbon parts and other are as blanked off, just make it look a little neater.
8. Maybe look at some CSL or Eibach front/rear anti-roll bars.
9. Try to get a CSL pollen filter housing unit orone fabricated - 2-3kg saving.
Had these arrive too:-
Looking forward to getting them fitted, the ride height set low, all corner weighted up, they are KW Clubsports, so ideal for track use, they come with from top mounts with camber adjustment upto -4.00 degrees, going to setup with around -2.3 for the road. Also got strengthened rear top mounts too and will eventually get new rear lower adjustable arms so I can dial about -1.75 degrees on the rear too. Once the tyres are worn down I shall try some of the Kumho V70 medium compounds.
A little update:-
- Most of tar removed from interior, so far about 8-10kg removed, the rest being left in for now as its stuff on transmission tunnel so probably prevents quite a bit of noise.
- Door straps fitted to can now actually close doors without having to wind windows down.
- A good wash done and ride heights roughly set to 345mm front and 340mm rear, not perfect but that shall be perfected once car is corner weighted.
Some pictures:-
Not sure if I mentioned it, had an oil leak, was just a bolt behind thermostat housing come loose, needed tightening up, just an absolute ass to get too.
Apart from that car is driving superb, the KW suspension is unreal, absolutely superb and the dampening fantastic, car seems to simply have more grip now too. Can't wait for how it feels once it is setup as am gonna go for following setup:-
-2.5 front negative camber with 0.01 toe in either side.
-1.75 rear negative camber with 0.10 toe in either side.
Then using the top mounts I can slide the adjust fully in at the track, this will give -3.5 front negative camber with some marginal toe out, should be incredible.
My CSL Boot and CSL front bumper should arrive in next week or so, a further 20-30kg in weight saving.
Then the corner weighting and allignment shall be done, at which point we shall finally know what it weighs. I am going to take a stab at 1330kg!
Then enjoy it! Next year I'll probably fit some 100 cel cats, remove the secondary air pump and get it remapped to map that out and get some extra horses.
- Most of tar removed from interior, so far about 8-10kg removed, the rest being left in for now as its stuff on transmission tunnel so probably prevents quite a bit of noise.
- Door straps fitted to can now actually close doors without having to wind windows down.
- A good wash done and ride heights roughly set to 345mm front and 340mm rear, not perfect but that shall be perfected once car is corner weighted.
Some pictures:-
Not sure if I mentioned it, had an oil leak, was just a bolt behind thermostat housing come loose, needed tightening up, just an absolute ass to get too.
Apart from that car is driving superb, the KW suspension is unreal, absolutely superb and the dampening fantastic, car seems to simply have more grip now too. Can't wait for how it feels once it is setup as am gonna go for following setup:-
-2.5 front negative camber with 0.01 toe in either side.
-1.75 rear negative camber with 0.10 toe in either side.
Then using the top mounts I can slide the adjust fully in at the track, this will give -3.5 front negative camber with some marginal toe out, should be incredible.
My CSL Boot and CSL front bumper should arrive in next week or so, a further 20-30kg in weight saving.
Then the corner weighting and allignment shall be done, at which point we shall finally know what it weighs. I am going to take a stab at 1330kg!
Then enjoy it! Next year I'll probably fit some 100 cel cats, remove the secondary air pump and get it remapped to map that out and get some extra horses.
Further updates are:-
CSL pollen filter housing fitted, 2-3kg saving in front.
12mm front spacers fitted, widening front track 24mm.
Rear Performance Friction disc fitted.
New Performance Friction 08 pads fitted.
CSL front bumper arrived, 5kg saving, not yet fitted.
Rear CSL boot still not arrived and no response from seller.
So to do is fit front bumper and paint plus chase up CSL boot and fit. Then corner weight and align.
An update.
Car had an Inspection 2 service couple of weeks ago along with all vanos bolts replaced as preventative maintenance, so as long as nothing breaks all set for next year and 2-3 track days and then just need to changle the oil.
Removed the seat adjuster, so seat sits a little lower, about a further 2kg loss as well. Seat far more stable now, no movement in it, mucher better.
Also bagged some Milltek 100 cel cats for £175, got them fitted today, very impressed with them, car is no louder inside but the tone is a little deeper but still with an M3 rasp, infact I love the noise now. Ok still maybe too loud inside as my car also has an uprated mid-pipe and lightweight back box too which add further volume, but I like the noise.
The milltek cats were also much lighter, felt like a good 5kg or so lighter, the stock ones were so heavy.
Drive wise car is more responsive, a little better drivability and it pulls harder from 3500rpm all the way upto 8000rpm, rather impressed.
CSL bumper gets fitted Monday, about 5kg saving and hopefully CSL boot will arrive sometime next month, seller being in touch, just delays with production, that should save 15kg and hopefully be fitted in time for RR.
Then corner weighting and alignment session.
That then just leaves secondary air pump delete and maybe remap from Evolve as their map seems proven with great low-end improvements and a good 20BHP up top.
That just leaves little bits then like door cards etc. Wear the Federal 595RSR tyres out and maybe give the Federal FZ-201 a try as they seem very highly rated as a full semi slick.
Just can't wait for next year now and get back on track, even without the corner weighting done it's a lot of fun on the road and very capable.
CSL pollen filter housing fitted, 2-3kg saving in front.
12mm front spacers fitted, widening front track 24mm.
Rear Performance Friction disc fitted.
New Performance Friction 08 pads fitted.
CSL front bumper arrived, 5kg saving, not yet fitted.
Rear CSL boot still not arrived and no response from seller.
So to do is fit front bumper and paint plus chase up CSL boot and fit. Then corner weight and align.
An update.
Car had an Inspection 2 service couple of weeks ago along with all vanos bolts replaced as preventative maintenance, so as long as nothing breaks all set for next year and 2-3 track days and then just need to changle the oil.
Removed the seat adjuster, so seat sits a little lower, about a further 2kg loss as well. Seat far more stable now, no movement in it, mucher better.
Also bagged some Milltek 100 cel cats for £175, got them fitted today, very impressed with them, car is no louder inside but the tone is a little deeper but still with an M3 rasp, infact I love the noise now. Ok still maybe too loud inside as my car also has an uprated mid-pipe and lightweight back box too which add further volume, but I like the noise.
The milltek cats were also much lighter, felt like a good 5kg or so lighter, the stock ones were so heavy.
Drive wise car is more responsive, a little better drivability and it pulls harder from 3500rpm all the way upto 8000rpm, rather impressed.
CSL bumper gets fitted Monday, about 5kg saving and hopefully CSL boot will arrive sometime next month, seller being in touch, just delays with production, that should save 15kg and hopefully be fitted in time for RR.
Then corner weighting and alignment session.
That then just leaves secondary air pump delete and maybe remap from Evolve as their map seems proven with great low-end improvements and a good 20BHP up top.
That just leaves little bits then like door cards etc. Wear the Federal 595RSR tyres out and maybe give the Federal FZ-201 a try as they seem very highly rated as a full semi slick.
Just can't wait for next year now and get back on track, even without the corner weighting done it's a lot of fun on the road and very capable.
Car getting bumper fitted and front-end re-spray, for bargain price of £300, here she is stripped down:-
Went to bodyshop to pick my car up today.
First thing I noticed was bumper did not lineup and the arch liners did not fit properly, not the fault of the guys, just the bumper not being OEM and a copy did not fit great.
The guy though did admit he fitted it up in the air and did not think to actually see if it looked right. Anyway 2hr's later we made the bumper line up and a heat gun on the arch line persuaded it into place, so excellent service there.
The actualy paint work is spot on, just the bumper is not the best quality and supposedly this is one of the better copies, I'd hate to image how bad the poor ones must be. Still the bumper cost me £400, a CSL original is well over 1k.
Here are some pictures, car was not that clean so not the usual shine you see my cars in:-
You can see that next to the OEM bumper it looks fine, even the OEM bumper flares out to the sides making it not look like a good fit, just seems to be how M3's are, bit barry boy.
Still paint job is very good, the bumper now looks OK its straight, however things to do:-
1. Bodyshop sprayed the mesh blue, as I said paint everything bar the fake carbon splitter, OOOOOPS.
Still nothing plastidip can't sort.
2. Need to get the CSL OEM mesh for the cold air intake on the bumper, to just neaten it off, emailed BMW, hopefully its £5 and not £50.
I am a bit of a perfectionist, so to me its not perfect, but at the same time I've paid less than £800 fitted including the parts, the total cost to fit and paint was £340 and he even sorted the bubbling/rust which was starting to show itself on front wings. The bumper aint 100% to my liking, but its fitted pretty securely and will do the job.
Now just for my goddam boot to turn up so I can get this goddam thing corner weighted.
Went to bodyshop to pick my car up today.
First thing I noticed was bumper did not lineup and the arch liners did not fit properly, not the fault of the guys, just the bumper not being OEM and a copy did not fit great.
The guy though did admit he fitted it up in the air and did not think to actually see if it looked right. Anyway 2hr's later we made the bumper line up and a heat gun on the arch line persuaded it into place, so excellent service there.
The actualy paint work is spot on, just the bumper is not the best quality and supposedly this is one of the better copies, I'd hate to image how bad the poor ones must be. Still the bumper cost me £400, a CSL original is well over 1k.
Here are some pictures, car was not that clean so not the usual shine you see my cars in:-
You can see that next to the OEM bumper it looks fine, even the OEM bumper flares out to the sides making it not look like a good fit, just seems to be how M3's are, bit barry boy.
Still paint job is very good, the bumper now looks OK its straight, however things to do:-
1. Bodyshop sprayed the mesh blue, as I said paint everything bar the fake carbon splitter, OOOOOPS.
Still nothing plastidip can't sort.
2. Need to get the CSL OEM mesh for the cold air intake on the bumper, to just neaten it off, emailed BMW, hopefully its £5 and not £50.
I am a bit of a perfectionist, so to me its not perfect, but at the same time I've paid less than £800 fitted including the parts, the total cost to fit and paint was £340 and he even sorted the bubbling/rust which was starting to show itself on front wings. The bumper aint 100% to my liking, but its fitted pretty securely and will do the job.
Now just for my goddam boot to turn up so I can get this goddam thing corner weighted.
Removed the secondary air pump today as weather was nice:-
Gonna get local garage to cut the un-used part of the bracket off to neaten things up and save a little more weight. About another 4kg saved from the front-end.
Also connected a hose from CSL bumper directly to the air intake along with fitting the Evolve IAT re-location kit. Car feels quicker now for sure.
Gonna get local garage to cut the un-used part of the bracket off to neaten things up and save a little more weight. About another 4kg saved from the front-end.
Also connected a hose from CSL bumper directly to the air intake along with fitting the Evolve IAT re-location kit. Car feels quicker now for sure.
As I've got some simple breathing modifications on the car and as its a track car I really wanted rev matching for the SMG, something CSL SMG only does when your on the throttle, so when braking it won't rev match, making it a bit jerky and more stressful on transmission.
Also removing secondary air pump and fitting high-flow cats means engine check lights, so disabled the sensors after the cats to stop triggering engine light.
So I spoke with the guys at Evolve and as my car is not hugely modified, like turbo's or superchargers, they said their Evolve-R tune would be perfect for my needs and I'd see no benefit to visit them at their dyno and they could simply sell me the cable/software and email me the tune. They also gave me a discount too, so I went with the tune along with SAP delete, Rev matching, top speed limiter removed, emissions light removed, raised rev limit of 8300rpm, sport button memory and mapped for Shell Vpower 99.
Here is what you get:-
So last night I used their very easy to install software, and read my stock ECU file off and emailed it to them, very very easy to do and took approx 2 minutes to complete.
Now fast forward to late this afternoon and Evolve have emailed me two tunes, one is a Stage 2 tune for my car, unsure why I am not stage 1, maybe my high-flow cats and exhaust take me too stage 2 level. They also sent me my stock tune but modified so I can run on a dyno without issue (the 6000rpm issue), so I can do a comparison.
Tonight I flashed the car to the stage 2, again extremely easy process and it took less than 5 minutes.
Started the car up and turned off to just check sport button memory was working to prove the car had taken the remap, it had.
Now let the fun commence!
So driving impressions:-
The car is a lot more perkier in the 2000-3500rpm range, feels like it has a lot more torque as it is far more urgent to pick up, this is very noticable. 3500-4500rpm it pulls a little harder, 4500-6000rpm feels about the same as before. But 6000 it is pulling noticably harder and where before it felt like power levelled off around 7400rpm, it now does not have this feeling at all, infact it pulls like crazy in the last 1000rpm right upto the 8300rpm limiter.
In short the butt-dyno is feeling a great change, I'd say if I was to take a guess on it, 10-20BHP / 10-20lb/ft more sub 2000-3500rpm range and around 15-20BHP more at the top-end, whatever it is, I can tell you now it is certainly noticable, more so than the high-flow cats were by quite a lot.
The rev matching works very well, in S6 its an aggressive blip that is loud and makes changing down gears so much smoother on the transmission, even 2nd down to 1st is completely smooth. Slow the change down, say S4 for instance and the blip is softer and not so loud, so works well on that side.
Might have to attent a VMAX day at somepoint or try to find somewhere to do a top speed run, be interesting to see what speed it would top out around, am thinking 175-185mph maybe.
In short car is without a doubt faster, improved drivability and a lot smoother, it feels more like a 400BHP car with all the weight reduction. Based on the fact these cars tend to make 320-330BHP on dyno's it shall be interesting to see what the car makes on the OcUK Dyno day at Powerstation this Saturday, as plan is to run the car on the dyno when I get there, then load the stock map to the car with dyno ability, drive for a few miles for any adaptions to take place and then run again. Then compare to the two runs.
Car also feels quicker than my 911, but it always has a little due to have stripped out it is, but the 911 has both more power and torque, for comparison on vbox the stats were:-
M3 30-70mph - 3.9s
M3 CSL 30-70mph - 3.9s
911 C2S 30-70mph - 3.5s
Mustang 30-70mph - 2.75s
EVO X FQ-360 @ 400 - 3.6s
M3 60-100mph - 5.9s
M3 CSL 60-100mph - 5.9s
911 C2S 60-100mph - 5.5s
Mustang 60-100mph - 4.2s
EVO X FQ-360 @ 400 - 5.6s
Its as quick as my CSL was, I need to re-run now its got the high-flow milltek cats on and the remap, should be a little quicker in theory.
Irrelevent of results I won't be using the 10 day money back option, I am happy with the results and how its improved the car.
So now all that is left is CSL bootlid, corner weighting and maybe a braille lightweight battery, then car is done and ready for plenty of track days next year. Can't wait to get to Donnington to see what kind of laptime the car can do and Oulton Park.
Also removing secondary air pump and fitting high-flow cats means engine check lights, so disabled the sensors after the cats to stop triggering engine light.
So I spoke with the guys at Evolve and as my car is not hugely modified, like turbo's or superchargers, they said their Evolve-R tune would be perfect for my needs and I'd see no benefit to visit them at their dyno and they could simply sell me the cable/software and email me the tune. They also gave me a discount too, so I went with the tune along with SAP delete, Rev matching, top speed limiter removed, emissions light removed, raised rev limit of 8300rpm, sport button memory and mapped for Shell Vpower 99.
Here is what you get:-
So last night I used their very easy to install software, and read my stock ECU file off and emailed it to them, very very easy to do and took approx 2 minutes to complete.
Now fast forward to late this afternoon and Evolve have emailed me two tunes, one is a Stage 2 tune for my car, unsure why I am not stage 1, maybe my high-flow cats and exhaust take me too stage 2 level. They also sent me my stock tune but modified so I can run on a dyno without issue (the 6000rpm issue), so I can do a comparison.
Tonight I flashed the car to the stage 2, again extremely easy process and it took less than 5 minutes.
Started the car up and turned off to just check sport button memory was working to prove the car had taken the remap, it had.
Now let the fun commence!
So driving impressions:-
The car is a lot more perkier in the 2000-3500rpm range, feels like it has a lot more torque as it is far more urgent to pick up, this is very noticable. 3500-4500rpm it pulls a little harder, 4500-6000rpm feels about the same as before. But 6000 it is pulling noticably harder and where before it felt like power levelled off around 7400rpm, it now does not have this feeling at all, infact it pulls like crazy in the last 1000rpm right upto the 8300rpm limiter.
In short the butt-dyno is feeling a great change, I'd say if I was to take a guess on it, 10-20BHP / 10-20lb/ft more sub 2000-3500rpm range and around 15-20BHP more at the top-end, whatever it is, I can tell you now it is certainly noticable, more so than the high-flow cats were by quite a lot.
The rev matching works very well, in S6 its an aggressive blip that is loud and makes changing down gears so much smoother on the transmission, even 2nd down to 1st is completely smooth. Slow the change down, say S4 for instance and the blip is softer and not so loud, so works well on that side.
Might have to attent a VMAX day at somepoint or try to find somewhere to do a top speed run, be interesting to see what speed it would top out around, am thinking 175-185mph maybe.
In short car is without a doubt faster, improved drivability and a lot smoother, it feels more like a 400BHP car with all the weight reduction. Based on the fact these cars tend to make 320-330BHP on dyno's it shall be interesting to see what the car makes on the OcUK Dyno day at Powerstation this Saturday, as plan is to run the car on the dyno when I get there, then load the stock map to the car with dyno ability, drive for a few miles for any adaptions to take place and then run again. Then compare to the two runs.
Car also feels quicker than my 911, but it always has a little due to have stripped out it is, but the 911 has both more power and torque, for comparison on vbox the stats were:-
M3 30-70mph - 3.9s
M3 CSL 30-70mph - 3.9s
911 C2S 30-70mph - 3.5s
Mustang 30-70mph - 2.75s
EVO X FQ-360 @ 400 - 3.6s
M3 60-100mph - 5.9s
M3 CSL 60-100mph - 5.9s
911 C2S 60-100mph - 5.5s
Mustang 60-100mph - 4.2s
EVO X FQ-360 @ 400 - 5.6s
Its as quick as my CSL was, I need to re-run now its got the high-flow milltek cats on and the remap, should be a little quicker in theory.
Irrelevent of results I won't be using the 10 day money back option, I am happy with the results and how its improved the car.
So now all that is left is CSL bootlid, corner weighting and maybe a braille lightweight battery, then car is done and ready for plenty of track days next year. Can't wait to get to Donnington to see what kind of laptime the car can do and Oulton Park.
Updates:-
1. Remap done with rev match and SAP/CEL delete, very noticable and a dyno proven 31BHP, now upto 367BHP from 336BHP it made with just breathing mods.
2. Rear boot carpeted, about 2-3kg re-added but car is now far quieter inside as it's stopped most exhaust noise/drone.
3. Bracket cut and neatened off under front bonnet.
4. IAT relocation kit fitted, ensures full power always as the air temp sensor is built into the maf and known to heatsoak, this cures that problem by relocating to airbox as on the CSL.
5. Near 10kg saved, battery swap to Brailles most powerful battery, the 3121, could of gone couple grades lower but went for the more powerful unit.
Some pictures:-
Saturday:-
1. Corner weighting and alignment - FINALLY
2. Fit CPV valve, engine has an oil weeping from this valve, common issue as is located at back of engine, cost £3 and I'm a perfectionist so want car spot on.
3. Hope my CSL boot at some point turns up, nearly six months now.
More will depend on the cars weight come Saturday, I know the CSL boot will save me an additional 15-20kg.
1. Remap done with rev match and SAP/CEL delete, very noticable and a dyno proven 31BHP, now upto 367BHP from 336BHP it made with just breathing mods.
2. Rear boot carpeted, about 2-3kg re-added but car is now far quieter inside as it's stopped most exhaust noise/drone.
3. Bracket cut and neatened off under front bonnet.
4. IAT relocation kit fitted, ensures full power always as the air temp sensor is built into the maf and known to heatsoak, this cures that problem by relocating to airbox as on the CSL.
5. Near 10kg saved, battery swap to Brailles most powerful battery, the 3121, could of gone couple grades lower but went for the more powerful unit.
Some pictures:-
Saturday:-
1. Corner weighting and alignment - FINALLY
2. Fit CPV valve, engine has an oil weeping from this valve, common issue as is located at back of engine, cost £3 and I'm a perfectionist so want car spot on.
3. Hope my CSL boot at some point turns up, nearly six months now.
More will depend on the cars weight come Saturday, I know the CSL boot will save me an additional 15-20kg.
Changed rocker cover gasket on M3 as it was source of rear engine oil leak, fingers crossed car is now completely leak free with fresh oil throughout.
Then treated the car to some more lowering treatment, turned each adjuster 8 full turns which in theory should keep the corner weighting close, but shall get the car back on scales once new lighter boot lid is fitted.
Pictures of new ride height:-
Very impressed with ride height and it's very close to Al's settings who built an M3 road / track car, think car looks pretty awesome, not slammed and not on stilts, just spot on, Clarkey will be proud.
More surprisingly at this lower ride height the car seems to have more lateral grip and rides even better, win win situation.
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Had a go today at getting ride heights more accurate today, change from to:
Front driver was 630mm/325mm, it's now 640mm/335mm after some adjustment.
Front passenger was 637mm/330mm, it's now 640mm/334mm after no adjustment.
Rear driver was 632mm/319mm, it's now 638mm/328mm after some adjustment.
Rear passenger was 638mm/324mm, it's now 640mm/329mm after no adjustment.
That was with no driver and 1/4 tank of fuel.
Gonna give it couple days re-settle and then re-measure and try to get a little closer to 325mm on rear and 330mm on front measured from wheel centre but am within 5mm now.
Rear suspension arms still have plenty of droop so could go much lower, to low in fact. Front arms are parallel with ground or very close so going lower is not advisable in order to retain the suspension full range of movement. As go beyond parallel you create bump steer, understeer etc. Nearly there now and then to get re-corner weighted.
Also removed the audio wiring loom from car, wow so many wires and nearly 3kg in weight. Fingers crossed CSL boot lid be here in January too, should be closer to 1330kg then.
Then treated the car to some more lowering treatment, turned each adjuster 8 full turns which in theory should keep the corner weighting close, but shall get the car back on scales once new lighter boot lid is fitted.
Pictures of new ride height:-
Very impressed with ride height and it's very close to Al's settings who built an M3 road / track car, think car looks pretty awesome, not slammed and not on stilts, just spot on, Clarkey will be proud.
More surprisingly at this lower ride height the car seems to have more lateral grip and rides even better, win win situation.
#
Had a go today at getting ride heights more accurate today, change from to:
Front driver was 630mm/325mm, it's now 640mm/335mm after some adjustment.
Front passenger was 637mm/330mm, it's now 640mm/334mm after no adjustment.
Rear driver was 632mm/319mm, it's now 638mm/328mm after some adjustment.
Rear passenger was 638mm/324mm, it's now 640mm/329mm after no adjustment.
That was with no driver and 1/4 tank of fuel.
Gonna give it couple days re-settle and then re-measure and try to get a little closer to 325mm on rear and 330mm on front measured from wheel centre but am within 5mm now.
Rear suspension arms still have plenty of droop so could go much lower, to low in fact. Front arms are parallel with ground or very close so going lower is not advisable in order to retain the suspension full range of movement. As go beyond parallel you create bump steer, understeer etc. Nearly there now and then to get re-corner weighted.
Also removed the audio wiring loom from car, wow so many wires and nearly 3kg in weight. Fingers crossed CSL boot lid be here in January too, should be closer to 1330kg then.
Just double checked ride heights:-
Front Driver: 332mm (330mm target)
Front Passenger: 331mm (330mm target)
Rear Driver: 325mm (325mm target)
Rear Passenger: 324mm (325mm target)
Within 1mm of optimal ride heights for handling and function. Good enough for me. When it is re-corner weighted I shall tell them to make the adjustments if required to aim for the targets.
The handling with these ride heights is literally night and day, impressive considering current slippy road conditions, the rear has so much more traction now with far greater corner speeds, to the point, the car pushes at first which is actually nice understeer as turning it to oversteer is controlled via throttle input.
Very happy!
Front Driver: 332mm (330mm target)
Front Passenger: 331mm (330mm target)
Rear Driver: 325mm (325mm target)
Rear Passenger: 324mm (325mm target)
Within 1mm of optimal ride heights for handling and function. Good enough for me. When it is re-corner weighted I shall tell them to make the adjustments if required to aim for the targets.
The handling with these ride heights is literally night and day, impressive considering current slippy road conditions, the rear has so much more traction now with far greater corner speeds, to the point, the car pushes at first which is actually nice understeer as turning it to oversteer is controlled via throttle input.
Very happy!
Emailed BMW a few days ago to check all re-calls had being done. Appears my engine had quite some work done it:-
[I]Morning Andrew and Happy New Year to you.
Checked the history this morning for you and the car has had a number of campaigns carried out on it.
•27/05/2003 it had a fair bit done with the replacement of the big end bearing, replacement of the oil pump, replacement of the hose clamp on the gearbox, replacement of a bonnet trim, replacement of the the O/S window regulator and last but not least the O/S seatbelt tensioner was replaced.
•21/06/2004 it had both outer weatherstrips that run from the wing mirror along the glass line to the rear quarter window replaced.
•10/08/2004 it had the SMG relay and the bootlid handle replaced.
•28/07/2005 it had the conrod bearing shells replaced and the SMG control unit recoded.
Also I have noticed there is an outstanding recall for the drivers airbag module that the car is still due so you might want to contact your local dealer about having that done if you still have the original steering wheel etc in the car.[/I]
Good to know and I don't think I need to worry about the drivers airbag, considering its no longer there.
[I]Morning Andrew and Happy New Year to you.
Checked the history this morning for you and the car has had a number of campaigns carried out on it.
•27/05/2003 it had a fair bit done with the replacement of the big end bearing, replacement of the oil pump, replacement of the hose clamp on the gearbox, replacement of a bonnet trim, replacement of the the O/S window regulator and last but not least the O/S seatbelt tensioner was replaced.
•21/06/2004 it had both outer weatherstrips that run from the wing mirror along the glass line to the rear quarter window replaced.
•10/08/2004 it had the SMG relay and the bootlid handle replaced.
•28/07/2005 it had the conrod bearing shells replaced and the SMG control unit recoded.
Also I have noticed there is an outstanding recall for the drivers airbag module that the car is still due so you might want to contact your local dealer about having that done if you still have the original steering wheel etc in the car.[/I]
Good to know and I don't think I need to worry about the drivers airbag, considering its no longer there.
Well car setup wise is now finished.
Anyone out there with an E46 M3 these are my allignment, ride height settings etc:-
Front:
-3 negative camber either side (shall reduce to circa -2.80 area with eccentric bush)
6:42 caster either side (going to increase this with Z4M/CSL eccentric bush, take it too about 7:15 caster)
Toe: neutral, shall keep this at neutral
Rear:-
-2 negative camber either side
Toe: 14 minutes toe in across the axle.
Ride heights:-
Aim for 580mm front from bottom of wheel lip or 330mm measured from centre
Aim for 570mm rear from bottom of wheel lip or 325mm measured from centre
Corner weights:-
Was 79kg out on cross axle, this is now reduced to just 4kg.
Car weight with half tank fuel 1370kg
All above settings made with driver in the car!!
Damper test and settings:-
KW Clubsports
Test: 0% out between axles, dampers are perfect.
Changed to wet settings:-
Front rebound 9 clicks
Front compression: 6 clicks (1 turn)
Rear rebound: 12 clicks
Rear compression: 1 turn
Track dry settings:-
Front rebound 6 clicks
Front compression: 4 clicks (0.75 turn)
Rear rebound: 9 clicks
Rear compression: 0.5 turn
All suspension waxed!
Front right anti roll bar drop link repaired.
They recommended changing following for road and track use:-
Eccentric bushes for lower arms, stock fitment for Z4M and CSL, about £40 each from BMW and 20 minutes per side to fix. They give more caster and more camber during a turn. Effect on front geo will be less front camber, upto 15 minutes less but more camber preserved during turn, more caster of upto 30-45 minutes. All that will need adjusting is toe back to neutral. For now they said leave as is, do couple of track days and then change to see/feel difference.
Fitting lighter boot lid they commented won't upset corner weighting as no different than having a full tank or empty tank of fuel
Tyres:-
They said Michelins are far better tyres, both road and track compared to Federals and advices cups if track times are important or SuperSports as best all round tyre. Only issue is SuperSports only come in 40 wall profile, I need 35 wall profile ideally on 18" in 255/265 width. They also said AD08 is a very good wet tyre too, but better tyres will give a dramatic improvement on road or in wet conditions, with minor better dry performance.
Wheels and tyres weighed 23.5kg each, so not the lightest wheels, gonna weigh a spare tyre I have and work out wheel weight. If heavy of course lighter wheels give quite an improvement. What we did notice is the fronts are 8" wide and rears 9" wide, so the tyres are a little two wide for the width of the wheel, ideal would be 245 width front and 255 width rear, so another reason to buy new wheels and go 9" front and 9.5" rear.
Gonna risk it and book February 15th at Donnington I think, even if it's wet I can get a good feel for how the car is now, though new tyres are at the top of the next job list.
In short after all above, car just feels creamy on the road and the ride quality on the wet settings, very impressive indeed. Of course still harnesses, door cards and rear carpet to sort.
Anyone out there with an E46 M3 these are my allignment, ride height settings etc:-
Front:
-3 negative camber either side (shall reduce to circa -2.80 area with eccentric bush)
6:42 caster either side (going to increase this with Z4M/CSL eccentric bush, take it too about 7:15 caster)
Toe: neutral, shall keep this at neutral
Rear:-
-2 negative camber either side
Toe: 14 minutes toe in across the axle.
Ride heights:-
Aim for 580mm front from bottom of wheel lip or 330mm measured from centre
Aim for 570mm rear from bottom of wheel lip or 325mm measured from centre
Corner weights:-
Was 79kg out on cross axle, this is now reduced to just 4kg.
Car weight with half tank fuel 1370kg
All above settings made with driver in the car!!
Damper test and settings:-
KW Clubsports
Test: 0% out between axles, dampers are perfect.
Changed to wet settings:-
Front rebound 9 clicks
Front compression: 6 clicks (1 turn)
Rear rebound: 12 clicks
Rear compression: 1 turn
Track dry settings:-
Front rebound 6 clicks
Front compression: 4 clicks (0.75 turn)
Rear rebound: 9 clicks
Rear compression: 0.5 turn
All suspension waxed!
Front right anti roll bar drop link repaired.
They recommended changing following for road and track use:-
Eccentric bushes for lower arms, stock fitment for Z4M and CSL, about £40 each from BMW and 20 minutes per side to fix. They give more caster and more camber during a turn. Effect on front geo will be less front camber, upto 15 minutes less but more camber preserved during turn, more caster of upto 30-45 minutes. All that will need adjusting is toe back to neutral. For now they said leave as is, do couple of track days and then change to see/feel difference.
Fitting lighter boot lid they commented won't upset corner weighting as no different than having a full tank or empty tank of fuel
Tyres:-
They said Michelins are far better tyres, both road and track compared to Federals and advices cups if track times are important or SuperSports as best all round tyre. Only issue is SuperSports only come in 40 wall profile, I need 35 wall profile ideally on 18" in 255/265 width. They also said AD08 is a very good wet tyre too, but better tyres will give a dramatic improvement on road or in wet conditions, with minor better dry performance.
Wheels and tyres weighed 23.5kg each, so not the lightest wheels, gonna weigh a spare tyre I have and work out wheel weight. If heavy of course lighter wheels give quite an improvement. What we did notice is the fronts are 8" wide and rears 9" wide, so the tyres are a little two wide for the width of the wheel, ideal would be 245 width front and 255 width rear, so another reason to buy new wheels and go 9" front and 9.5" rear.
Gonna risk it and book February 15th at Donnington I think, even if it's wet I can get a good feel for how the car is now, though new tyres are at the top of the next job list.
In short after all above, car just feels creamy on the road and the ride quality on the wet settings, very impressive indeed. Of course still harnesses, door cards and rear carpet to sort.
Just changed rear offside tyre for a spare one I had as it was barely legal and had a screw in it.
So thought good time to weigh the wheel, discover two downsides:-
Wheel - 11-12kg
Tyre - 11-12kg
So I've got lead for wheels and the tyres are also heavier than usual.
Can easily save 5kg per corner, that would in short make a huge difference, best add a set of wheels to the shopping list, which could mean find some genuine 19" CSL wheels and fit with the SuperSports I so want, something to do mid-end year though, gonna do a track day or two and finish the Federals off first.
So thought good time to weigh the wheel, discover two downsides:-
Wheel - 11-12kg
Tyre - 11-12kg
So I've got lead for wheels and the tyres are also heavier than usual.
Can easily save 5kg per corner, that would in short make a huge difference, best add a set of wheels to the shopping list, which could mean find some genuine 19" CSL wheels and fit with the SuperSports I so want, something to do mid-end year though, gonna do a track day or two and finish the Federals off first.
Yesterdays track day was another wet one.
Then today its bright, sunny and bone dry, typical!
Still it does mean I was able to compare the car to before which was also wet though not quite as wet or cold.
In short I was certainly faster, simply by comparing previous corner speeds. I remember last time holding around 80mph through craners in the wet, now 90-95mph was possible and when a dry line did develop for a couple of laps I was pushing around 100mph with relative ease, but was being very easy as the old hairpin was like driving on grease.
I was also overtaking cars once got all the little heat I could in the 595 RSR's, I have to say they are really such a terrible tyre, I mean come on its a track day, I was out for 40 minutes and afterwards they were only luke warm. The 911 in such conditions, well even my drive to work gets more heat into them, on track your hand sticks to them.
That was the problem, the Federals give absolutely zero feedback in the wet and to be frank are not much better in the dry, making it not confident inspiring at all to push to the limits.
Also being out in another E46 M3 which is stock, it sounds so much better inside, due to being able to hear the engine and not just exhaust. So I am now looking for a CSL mid-pipe and backbox, so won't sound quite as good from outside but much better inside.
So the car has got faster even when conditions were slightly worse, but its vague and lacking confidence, I know its not a 911 in terms of feedback but it does seem simply down to the tyres.
So jobs to do before next track day:-
Fit Apex wheels and Michelin cup tyres - 4kg per corner lighter.
Fit eccentric bushes to give more caster
Buy and fit CSL exhaust system
Fit CSL Bootlid, should arrive very soon, fingers crossed!
Fit door cards
Get carpet made up for rear just to neaten things up.
Prey for dry weather.
After this then I might shift the focus onto getting 50/50 weight distribution, easier way to achieve that will be to fit a rear cage no doubt.
Then today its bright, sunny and bone dry, typical!
Still it does mean I was able to compare the car to before which was also wet though not quite as wet or cold.
In short I was certainly faster, simply by comparing previous corner speeds. I remember last time holding around 80mph through craners in the wet, now 90-95mph was possible and when a dry line did develop for a couple of laps I was pushing around 100mph with relative ease, but was being very easy as the old hairpin was like driving on grease.
I was also overtaking cars once got all the little heat I could in the 595 RSR's, I have to say they are really such a terrible tyre, I mean come on its a track day, I was out for 40 minutes and afterwards they were only luke warm. The 911 in such conditions, well even my drive to work gets more heat into them, on track your hand sticks to them.
That was the problem, the Federals give absolutely zero feedback in the wet and to be frank are not much better in the dry, making it not confident inspiring at all to push to the limits.
Also being out in another E46 M3 which is stock, it sounds so much better inside, due to being able to hear the engine and not just exhaust. So I am now looking for a CSL mid-pipe and backbox, so won't sound quite as good from outside but much better inside.
So the car has got faster even when conditions were slightly worse, but its vague and lacking confidence, I know its not a 911 in terms of feedback but it does seem simply down to the tyres.
So jobs to do before next track day:-
Fit Apex wheels and Michelin cup tyres - 4kg per corner lighter.
Fit eccentric bushes to give more caster
Buy and fit CSL exhaust system
Fit CSL Bootlid, should arrive very soon, fingers crossed!
Fit door cards
Get carpet made up for rear just to neaten things up.
Prey for dry weather.
After this then I might shift the focus onto getting 50/50 weight distribution, easier way to achieve that will be to fit a rear cage no doubt.
Today I had local garage remove the bushes from front lower wishbones and replaced them for some Z4M bushes. The stock M3 bushes are centred whereas the Z4M ones are eccentric and as such make the front wheels sit slightly more forwards.
I believe turner motorsport do some after market ones as well, but they tend to be quite expensive and your just buying the bush so much harder to fit.
I just got the entire Z4M units from BMW for £100 for the pair.
Part numbers are:-
B31.10.7.836.862
B31.10.7.836.863
They fit fine and the first thing you notice is more weight to the steering with more on centre feel, a welcome addition to the M3's vague on centre steering feel normally. So improved weight and feedback.
I shall get the alignment re-checked and redone tomorrow but these should give more castor so I should be over 7+ now, definitely a worthwhile modification from initial drive and low cost for improved feel and weight to steering, plus they are about 1hr work for a garage to fit.
Wow those bushes which have made the car feel so totally awesome, no wonder.
The caster has gone from around 6:45 upto around 7:40ish, for £100 one of the best modifications I have made, really transforms the steering weight and feedback, all owners of E46 should do this, seriously what an improvement. Literally takes 1hr to fit and something you can do yourself.
My new alignment settings:-
Very very happy, gonna get the wheels fitted over next week or so and hopefully full CSL exhaust system.
P.S. Before measurements are with bushes fitted, you can see fitting them caused 20 minutes of toe-in either side, so only adjustment required was to set toe neutral, so a quick alignment only costing £58 at XJK specialist.
I believe turner motorsport do some after market ones as well, but they tend to be quite expensive and your just buying the bush so much harder to fit.
I just got the entire Z4M units from BMW for £100 for the pair.
Part numbers are:-
B31.10.7.836.862
B31.10.7.836.863
They fit fine and the first thing you notice is more weight to the steering with more on centre feel, a welcome addition to the M3's vague on centre steering feel normally. So improved weight and feedback.
I shall get the alignment re-checked and redone tomorrow but these should give more castor so I should be over 7+ now, definitely a worthwhile modification from initial drive and low cost for improved feel and weight to steering, plus they are about 1hr work for a garage to fit.
Wow those bushes which have made the car feel so totally awesome, no wonder.
The caster has gone from around 6:45 upto around 7:40ish, for £100 one of the best modifications I have made, really transforms the steering weight and feedback, all owners of E46 should do this, seriously what an improvement. Literally takes 1hr to fit and something you can do yourself.
My new alignment settings:-
Very very happy, gonna get the wheels fitted over next week or so and hopefully full CSL exhaust system.
P.S. Before measurements are with bushes fitted, you can see fitting them caused 20 minutes of toe-in either side, so only adjustment required was to set toe neutral, so a quick alignment only costing £58 at XJK specialist.
OK its only taken six months, but the bootlid has finally arrived, it weighs absolutely nothing, gotta be circa 5kg, so a good 15kg or so lighter than the stock metal version as this is GRP Plastic/fibe/carbon mix of some kind.
Also starting to get cups fitted to new wheels which I hope to have fitted in next week or so and CSL exhaust system is paid for and will hopefully be here anyday.
Bootlid is booked in with bodyshop for March 3rd who will paint, install and blend it all in for £140, same body shop who fitted front bumper and did a great job of painting the car. His details are:-
Car Body Repairs
Wayne Dunning
[email]cbrcarbodyrepairs@hotmail.co.uk[/email]
Unit 11A,
Longport Enterprise Park
Scott Lidgett Road,
Longpor
ST6 4NQ
Very impressed with his work and his pricing is very fair.
Also starting to get cups fitted to new wheels which I hope to have fitted in next week or so and CSL exhaust system is paid for and will hopefully be here anyday.
Bootlid is booked in with bodyshop for March 3rd who will paint, install and blend it all in for £140, same body shop who fitted front bumper and did a great job of painting the car. His details are:-
Car Body Repairs
Wayne Dunning
[email]cbrcarbodyrepairs@hotmail.co.uk[/email]
Unit 11A,
Longport Enterprise Park
Scott Lidgett Road,
Longpor
ST6 4NQ
Very impressed with his work and his pricing is very fair.
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