E46 M3 daily driver
Discussion
After owning 5 non M BMWs from e46s to an M52 swapped extremely stripped E30 then an E92 335i, I realised I had made a mistake In opting for the 335i over the M3 I always wanted...
So after checking a couple out I picked up a facelift imola red manual coupe with black interior. It had to be that of Laguna seca blue but at the time the Smurf skin blue interior just didn’t quite do it for me.
Day one
As soon as I pulled into the street I decided this was the one for me after the heart ache from the N54 reliability and my lack of love for turbocharged power delivery I felt a relief as I stepped into what felt like a familiar interior. (Some May see that as a bad thing as it was very similar to the non M models). One thing I did notice is the seating position felt a little higher which I would like to do something about but can’t decide what...
The noise is certainly subjective but I enjoyed the raw mechanical sounds the car makes. It was a little on the quiet side so I got an agency power axle back
I then got a couple of tarty CF parts just because
The next thing on the list was wheels. The OEM 19 are a little blingy for my liking and I wanted to go for some lighter 18s with a square setup! The combination between that and PS4 tyres made the car feel great! It already felt good as it was poly bushed right across the rear and the eibach spring rates are nice for the road!
I took the car into the bodyshop to rectify the rust spots on the rear arch. The boot floor had been replaced by BMW along with the front wings and I figured do it now before it gets out of hand... too late
The outside was great but the inside was a different story! The rear lips collect dirt and hold water! It turned out to be a lot more work than anticipated but it had to be done. We attempted to redesign the lip to not hold dirt and seal it in to future proof it!
TBC
So after checking a couple out I picked up a facelift imola red manual coupe with black interior. It had to be that of Laguna seca blue but at the time the Smurf skin blue interior just didn’t quite do it for me.
Day one
As soon as I pulled into the street I decided this was the one for me after the heart ache from the N54 reliability and my lack of love for turbocharged power delivery I felt a relief as I stepped into what felt like a familiar interior. (Some May see that as a bad thing as it was very similar to the non M models). One thing I did notice is the seating position felt a little higher which I would like to do something about but can’t decide what...
The noise is certainly subjective but I enjoyed the raw mechanical sounds the car makes. It was a little on the quiet side so I got an agency power axle back
I then got a couple of tarty CF parts just because
The next thing on the list was wheels. The OEM 19 are a little blingy for my liking and I wanted to go for some lighter 18s with a square setup! The combination between that and PS4 tyres made the car feel great! It already felt good as it was poly bushed right across the rear and the eibach spring rates are nice for the road!
I took the car into the bodyshop to rectify the rust spots on the rear arch. The boot floor had been replaced by BMW along with the front wings and I figured do it now before it gets out of hand... too late
The outside was great but the inside was a different story! The rear lips collect dirt and hold water! It turned out to be a lot more work than anticipated but it had to be done. We attempted to redesign the lip to not hold dirt and seal it in to future proof it!
TBC
Edited by AdamTDSC on Thursday 5th July 13:39
I decided to stop getting distracted modifying the daily driver and try to focus on the project car... not easy when the daily gives you so much joy!
So the next thing was brakes. I opted for K sport. Yes they are not AP but so far they have been great combined with the m1144, goodridge lines and ATE TYP200
The next expensive thing on the list was an engine refresh from Mr Vanos after noticing a very faint pinking no passenger could hear. Sometimes you just know your own car and when it’s not right even if the power is there.
A quick compression test showed slightly lower compression on the 2 cylinders at the back of the bay.. combination of issues could be the reason this happens but the fact that a highly strung high revving Engine can go 100k with no issues I find that impressive and not problematic! Time to do it right!
Top end and Vanos refresh
Cometic MLS head gasket
ARP hardware
King race shells
Updated oil pump
Many M3s out there haven’t had this but to me if I intend to keep it it’s okay to invest the money into keeping it right!
And I couldn’t resist a retrim from Royal
And a ceramic coating to make keeping it clean a little easier
So the next thing was brakes. I opted for K sport. Yes they are not AP but so far they have been great combined with the m1144, goodridge lines and ATE TYP200
The next expensive thing on the list was an engine refresh from Mr Vanos after noticing a very faint pinking no passenger could hear. Sometimes you just know your own car and when it’s not right even if the power is there.
A quick compression test showed slightly lower compression on the 2 cylinders at the back of the bay.. combination of issues could be the reason this happens but the fact that a highly strung high revving Engine can go 100k with no issues I find that impressive and not problematic! Time to do it right!
Top end and Vanos refresh
Cometic MLS head gasket
ARP hardware
King race shells
Updated oil pump
Many M3s out there haven’t had this but to me if I intend to keep it it’s okay to invest the money into keeping it right!
And I couldn’t resist a retrim from Royal
And a ceramic coating to make keeping it clean a little easier
Edited by AdamTDSC on Thursday 5th July 13:33
That's a very handsome car. You might be interested in this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ONud_4n0A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ONud_4n0A
lockhart flawse said:
That's a very handsome car. You might be interested in this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ONud_4n0A
Thanks! Some valid points in there I certainly agree on the sport button comments. Although I’d have to say often the reliabilty issues are from neglect or poor maintenance because there’s a lot of them out there that are fine. To me it’s more a case of maintaining parts that may not be touched on other cars. Any high revving highly strung NA Engine requires extra attention and if you look at some engines with similar and even less HP/CC NA these are damn reliable and cheap to maintain in comparison! Although they are not cheap to maintain at all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ONud_4n0A
Considering an e46 m3 cabs as a toy slash potential to increase in value with very little mileage. I love e46 shape, when i first made a few quid i got a 325i with the m sport kit on it.
Currently running a 640d as a daily but finding myself looking at these a lot lately !!!
Hows it been reliability wise?
Currently running a 640d as a daily but finding myself looking at these a lot lately !!!
Hows it been reliability wise?
Thanks for the nice comments lads!
I haven’t really had any reliability issues but I have spent a fair amount of money on maintenance to try and prevent that. But I’ve done 20k miles over the time I’ve owned it and loved every minute of it!
I do have some plans on a few more mods though it’s a never ending thing
I haven’t really had any reliability issues but I have spent a fair amount of money on maintenance to try and prevent that. But I’ve done 20k miles over the time I’ve owned it and loved every minute of it!
I do have some plans on a few more mods though it’s a never ending thing
I’m contemplating doing the purple tag rack next with a solid steering coupler. I ran one on my E30 and it felt great.
Has anyone here done it? I read something about coding having to be changed for traction control to avoid it cutting in sooner. I believe you can change it to CSL rack which is a similar ratio?
Has anyone here done it? I read something about coding having to be changed for traction control to avoid it cutting in sooner. I believe you can change it to CSL rack which is a similar ratio?
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