04.2003 Mystic Blue E46 M3... enhanced or ruined?
Discussion
A simple copy/paste from a thread I started on M3cutters, but like many people I have gained a lot from reading other threads (and wasted a LOT of time) so I thought I would return the favour, as some people might be interested in knowing what it is like owning a performance car that is half your age and with a notorious (and a little unjust) reputation for being unreliable.
So, to the cut&paste bit.
This might be a TLDR post, so if so too bad, as I enjoy writing. It will get less wordy and more modificationy and picturey with subsequent posts.
2015
1. Pre-purchase
I never really coveted an E46 M3, as while I lived in Australia it just seemed like such an unobtainable and impossible car for me; I always thought a Z33 350Z would be the peak of my motoring nirvana. Scroll to 2012 and I had moved to Germany and I spent the next couple of years umming and ahhing about what car to buy. In the meantime I was a member of a car-sharing service (and I still am, seven years later).
I don't know why I decided on an E46 M3; budget played a part I guess, as in 2015 E92s were still quite expensive, especially here in Germany, but E46 M3s in the UK were at a good price point. I spent a lot of time on PistonHeads looking at cars that were manual, had no sunroof, and low miles and, as luck would have it, I found such a car in London and viewed it while there for a birthday weekend. But it is RHD; are you mad? Probably yes, but I envisaged moving back to Australia at some point, so it had to be RHD if I was to ever register and drive it there. But here I am in Germany after seven years, and coming up to four years with the car I eventually bought.
I called the small dealer selling the car and explained I would be in London for a few days, but I was very keen on this Mystic Blue example they had. It turns out that the seller had bought the car off them the year before and wanted to move it on again (should I have heard warning bells?) but I figured if the car was an out and out dog, they would have avoided it with a barge pole. I went and viewed the car and took it for a blast for about 15 minutes, and I was in awe. I had driven an SMG CS a few times before but it still took my breath away, and I was pretty smitten. After checking the paperwork they had I was satisfied it wasn't a total dog.
Here are the only two photos I took of it after the test drive. I had gotten the VIN and ran a few checks to see if it was a Cat C or D car, so I wasn't a complete novice, but I admit I would do things differently next time, as outlined below a bit.
In fairness, I did everything you should not do when looking to buy a car: fall in love with it, look at no others, and thus buy the first one you see and drive. I know it isn't perfect, this humble car of mine, and years of owning a car means unearthing little niggles, but I am still pleased I bought it as it is a dream car and I love it.
So, what is it? A pretty pov-spec, Northern Ireland-delivered, three-owner manual M3 with 37,000 miles on the clock. It had black Nappa leather and the M67 19" wheels with reasonable Conti M3 tyres. Before the dealer sold it the year before an Inspection II was carried out, along with a rebuilt VANOS unit courtesy of MR VANOS and at great expense. BMW Parklane also checked the RACP (allegedly) to find it was all OK. It also had an OEM-looking Android unit with reversing camera installed (more on this tit-bit later) and aftermarket Xenons as well (as I said, poverty-pack from factory).
I still went back home without making an offer, simply to think about it and a week later after my girlfriend asked me, do you really want to buy this car, I said yes, rang, made an offer, and it was accepted and I left a deposit before eventually transferring the money and picking it up a few weeks later.
2. Delivery
I needed to get the car to Germany. I looked at transporters but in the end settled on flying there cheaply (Ryanair from Baden Baden to Stansted for less than €30!) and getting a German vehicle border insurance (Grenzversicherung), which covered 3rd party damage but nothing of the car (more on that later as well). With a date set (after a day of drinking too much beer in Stuttgart), a very hungover flight to Stansted followed by a very spicy lamb vindaloo, the Monday morning saw me collect the M3. And about 15 minutes of getting lost trying to find the M25 so I could get to Dover, I went down a residential street with one of these stupid bloody narrow exits and kerbed a wheel. I was pretty peeved but soldiered on and enjoyed my drive to Dover.
Here it is waiting for the DFDS ferry back to the (car's) mother (and enemy) country.
Back in Europe, and driving a RHD car was proving no real issue at all. That would come when trying to pay for fuel in Luxembourg as the drive-thru is set up on the left, obviously... Brussels was a nightmare but otherwise the run back to Karlsruhe, Germany was easy and uneventful. The Android GPS unit was misbehaving though, and even now it frustrates no end. I also got a massive crack in the windscreen going through roadworks near Saarbrucken, which would cost me dearly later on as the insurance correctly did not cover such damage. Still hurt.
I got the car back home and drove it for a few days, regaling in the noise with a girlfriend who hated the thing, and soaking up the sheer pleasure of being behind the wheel of something with good power. In 2014 I was part of a BMW M driver's day and drove the new M4 (and M5 and M6) and they were great cars but I didn't think the E46 was worse, just not as fast. It felt good to drive and this circa-38,000 mile car didn't feel bad at all.
3. Roadworthy and registration
Getting the TÜV was a real pain. The front discs needed replacing, as did obviously the front windscreen. The front tyres were not the correct 225/40 size, so a pair of front tyres. The Xenons were not factory, and as the car came with halogens I needed to source LHD halogen headlights too. This was not a cheap bill. Even with a discount and me sourcing the headlights I was up to about €2,000. I will edit in the actual amount later. It was eye-watering stuff, but after that it was registration and insurance, then fun and games for about three days before the modifying bug bit.
The day I picked it up after it finally got the TÜV and registration
I will edit in some photos and continue with the next months and years ownership experience.
So, to the cut&paste bit.
This might be a TLDR post, so if so too bad, as I enjoy writing. It will get less wordy and more modificationy and picturey with subsequent posts.
2015
1. Pre-purchase
I never really coveted an E46 M3, as while I lived in Australia it just seemed like such an unobtainable and impossible car for me; I always thought a Z33 350Z would be the peak of my motoring nirvana. Scroll to 2012 and I had moved to Germany and I spent the next couple of years umming and ahhing about what car to buy. In the meantime I was a member of a car-sharing service (and I still am, seven years later).
I don't know why I decided on an E46 M3; budget played a part I guess, as in 2015 E92s were still quite expensive, especially here in Germany, but E46 M3s in the UK were at a good price point. I spent a lot of time on PistonHeads looking at cars that were manual, had no sunroof, and low miles and, as luck would have it, I found such a car in London and viewed it while there for a birthday weekend. But it is RHD; are you mad? Probably yes, but I envisaged moving back to Australia at some point, so it had to be RHD if I was to ever register and drive it there. But here I am in Germany after seven years, and coming up to four years with the car I eventually bought.
I called the small dealer selling the car and explained I would be in London for a few days, but I was very keen on this Mystic Blue example they had. It turns out that the seller had bought the car off them the year before and wanted to move it on again (should I have heard warning bells?) but I figured if the car was an out and out dog, they would have avoided it with a barge pole. I went and viewed the car and took it for a blast for about 15 minutes, and I was in awe. I had driven an SMG CS a few times before but it still took my breath away, and I was pretty smitten. After checking the paperwork they had I was satisfied it wasn't a total dog.
Here are the only two photos I took of it after the test drive. I had gotten the VIN and ran a few checks to see if it was a Cat C or D car, so I wasn't a complete novice, but I admit I would do things differently next time, as outlined below a bit.
In fairness, I did everything you should not do when looking to buy a car: fall in love with it, look at no others, and thus buy the first one you see and drive. I know it isn't perfect, this humble car of mine, and years of owning a car means unearthing little niggles, but I am still pleased I bought it as it is a dream car and I love it.
So, what is it? A pretty pov-spec, Northern Ireland-delivered, three-owner manual M3 with 37,000 miles on the clock. It had black Nappa leather and the M67 19" wheels with reasonable Conti M3 tyres. Before the dealer sold it the year before an Inspection II was carried out, along with a rebuilt VANOS unit courtesy of MR VANOS and at great expense. BMW Parklane also checked the RACP (allegedly) to find it was all OK. It also had an OEM-looking Android unit with reversing camera installed (more on this tit-bit later) and aftermarket Xenons as well (as I said, poverty-pack from factory).
I still went back home without making an offer, simply to think about it and a week later after my girlfriend asked me, do you really want to buy this car, I said yes, rang, made an offer, and it was accepted and I left a deposit before eventually transferring the money and picking it up a few weeks later.
2. Delivery
I needed to get the car to Germany. I looked at transporters but in the end settled on flying there cheaply (Ryanair from Baden Baden to Stansted for less than €30!) and getting a German vehicle border insurance (Grenzversicherung), which covered 3rd party damage but nothing of the car (more on that later as well). With a date set (after a day of drinking too much beer in Stuttgart), a very hungover flight to Stansted followed by a very spicy lamb vindaloo, the Monday morning saw me collect the M3. And about 15 minutes of getting lost trying to find the M25 so I could get to Dover, I went down a residential street with one of these stupid bloody narrow exits and kerbed a wheel. I was pretty peeved but soldiered on and enjoyed my drive to Dover.
Here it is waiting for the DFDS ferry back to the (car's) mother (and enemy) country.
Back in Europe, and driving a RHD car was proving no real issue at all. That would come when trying to pay for fuel in Luxembourg as the drive-thru is set up on the left, obviously... Brussels was a nightmare but otherwise the run back to Karlsruhe, Germany was easy and uneventful. The Android GPS unit was misbehaving though, and even now it frustrates no end. I also got a massive crack in the windscreen going through roadworks near Saarbrucken, which would cost me dearly later on as the insurance correctly did not cover such damage. Still hurt.
I got the car back home and drove it for a few days, regaling in the noise with a girlfriend who hated the thing, and soaking up the sheer pleasure of being behind the wheel of something with good power. In 2014 I was part of a BMW M driver's day and drove the new M4 (and M5 and M6) and they were great cars but I didn't think the E46 was worse, just not as fast. It felt good to drive and this circa-38,000 mile car didn't feel bad at all.
3. Roadworthy and registration
Getting the TÜV was a real pain. The front discs needed replacing, as did obviously the front windscreen. The front tyres were not the correct 225/40 size, so a pair of front tyres. The Xenons were not factory, and as the car came with halogens I needed to source LHD halogen headlights too. This was not a cheap bill. Even with a discount and me sourcing the headlights I was up to about €2,000. I will edit in the actual amount later. It was eye-watering stuff, but after that it was registration and insurance, then fun and games for about three days before the modifying bug bit.
The day I picked it up after it finally got the TÜV and registration
I will edit in some photos and continue with the next months and years ownership experience.
Edited by Nunga on Sunday 9th June 19:42
Some time in 2015...
I hate non-tinted windows, so early on I got the windows tinted. Funny country, Germany; you can get a tint as dark as 90 or 95%, and yet you cannot tint the front side glass... In Australia 35% is the darkest legal (har har!) but at least you can tint the front side glass as well.
I got the darkest tint I could find, and then proceeded to quiver with fear every time I tried parking the car at night.
The English would say, chavvy tint.
I love the colour. I had a Mk 6.5 Fiesta ST in Performance Blue but I don't really like blue cars, and this I bought more on spec (lack of?) and (what I thought was good) condition. But I was already on the look out for new wheels, tyres, as well as visual enhancements in the vein of CSL parts.
I hate non-tinted windows, so early on I got the windows tinted. Funny country, Germany; you can get a tint as dark as 90 or 95%, and yet you cannot tint the front side glass... In Australia 35% is the darkest legal (har har!) but at least you can tint the front side glass as well.
I got the darkest tint I could find, and then proceeded to quiver with fear every time I tried parking the car at night.
The English would say, chavvy tint.
I love the colour. I had a Mk 6.5 Fiesta ST in Performance Blue but I don't really like blue cars, and this I bought more on spec (lack of?) and (what I thought was good) condition. But I was already on the look out for new wheels, tyres, as well as visual enhancements in the vein of CSL parts.
2015 and the first mods
M3Cutters is an excellent resource; I went from wanting to turn my car into a sort-of CSL-lite to pretty much a fully-blown trackday monster. That didn’t happen overnight, but I remember researching things like CSL wheels, shocks, and ARBs and thinking, well this is quite a bit of money. But it went down the alternative path when in June 2015 I found a set of BBS RS745 wheels; 18x9.5+25, with ridiculous skinny rubber from when it was on some sort of stanced and airbagged E46 wagon. They were made for BMW as the Styling 42, and this pretty aggressive size is a rear wheel option for the E38 7er.
They’re gold (badly peeling) faced with a polished (and badly kerbed) lip and I still think they’re the cat’s miaow. This pretty much confirmed the path the car has since taken; build it as I’m sure BMW’s engineer would’ve preferred to built it (or not). Popular consensus suggested 9.5” is wide enough for a square setup, and running a 265/35 18 was also plenty aggressive enough too. More on tyres later, because another great thing about Germany is you must gain an approval or apply for an engineer’s certificate for pretty much any non-standard change you make to the car, i.e. aftermarket everything. So I wrote to BMW with the wheels (Styling42, not RS745 remember) and also the tyres I had in mind and for a letter saying yes, the wheels would be ok with these tyre sizes in mind (m-forum.de helped with some info here).
In the meantime I didn’t fit the wheels due to I guess money (none) and time, though I still managed in August to order the CSL cabin filter housings, though unfortunately the larger 64317895939 part was NLA, only the small low-density 937 piece was. The lower part was about €75.
I also eventually ordered a genuine CSL bootlid, but it took about two or three months to arrive. I was glad it did eventually! It cost €670 or so back in August 2015.
M3Cutters is an excellent resource; I went from wanting to turn my car into a sort-of CSL-lite to pretty much a fully-blown trackday monster. That didn’t happen overnight, but I remember researching things like CSL wheels, shocks, and ARBs and thinking, well this is quite a bit of money. But it went down the alternative path when in June 2015 I found a set of BBS RS745 wheels; 18x9.5+25, with ridiculous skinny rubber from when it was on some sort of stanced and airbagged E46 wagon. They were made for BMW as the Styling 42, and this pretty aggressive size is a rear wheel option for the E38 7er.
They’re gold (badly peeling) faced with a polished (and badly kerbed) lip and I still think they’re the cat’s miaow. This pretty much confirmed the path the car has since taken; build it as I’m sure BMW’s engineer would’ve preferred to built it (or not). Popular consensus suggested 9.5” is wide enough for a square setup, and running a 265/35 18 was also plenty aggressive enough too. More on tyres later, because another great thing about Germany is you must gain an approval or apply for an engineer’s certificate for pretty much any non-standard change you make to the car, i.e. aftermarket everything. So I wrote to BMW with the wheels (Styling42, not RS745 remember) and also the tyres I had in mind and for a letter saying yes, the wheels would be ok with these tyre sizes in mind (m-forum.de helped with some info here).
In the meantime I didn’t fit the wheels due to I guess money (none) and time, though I still managed in August to order the CSL cabin filter housings, though unfortunately the larger 64317895939 part was NLA, only the small low-density 937 piece was. The lower part was about €75.
I also eventually ordered a genuine CSL bootlid, but it took about two or three months to arrive. I was glad it did eventually! It cost €670 or so back in August 2015.
End of 2015
I was enjoying the car massively, and in September or October I opted to get an oil change done as it was getting on over a year since the last one. Otherwise the car was running faultlessly, crap Android head unit aside. I bought an F10 M Performance alcantara gearknob and matching gaiter, but all I had was trouble fitting it as the gaiter was so much shorter than what an E46 requires. Huge pain in the arse and in the end I just left it. I dealt with the gear knob later.
I got the car ceramic coated in September 2015, after a slight parking accident... the improvement in finish was amazing, though it also served to highlight some 12 years worth of stone chips on the front.
Shortly afterwards, so towards November or December the CSL bottled was painted and fitted.
Look at how high it is! Mad. I thought it had such a nice stance when standard, but I look at it now and think it is way too high.
Here is the parts list for the number plate light loom; cost of wires and plugs was about €18 plus a pair of E92 LED number plate lights. I lost the rear camera doing this, but one day I will reinstall it with a new camera.
Two LEDs in the right rear light assembly had gone bust, so I was on the lookout for some new taillights and for some time I had thought about going down the amber path. It helped when on eBay.de a seller had genuine LED amber taillights for €59 or €69. Delivered. Mental. So I bought them in December and it was plug 'n' play; remove some trim, three nuts, clean out around where the gasket sits and install new lights. Happy days.
I was really really impressed with the factory look of AWRON's vent-installed digital gauge, and contacted them directly about a RHD one for the E46. About €700 and a few weeks later, I took delivery of a central dash unit with the gauge installed, as well as a direct-fitting OBD plug; good for idiots like me. Installed around the end of 2015.
I am actually onto my second gauge, as the first one got stuck on a constant screen-cycling loop that could not be stopped. Since then, three years later I can report absolutely no issues with this second one. Awron replaced it with no complaints seeing as the first was just a few months old.
I was enjoying the car massively, and in September or October I opted to get an oil change done as it was getting on over a year since the last one. Otherwise the car was running faultlessly, crap Android head unit aside. I bought an F10 M Performance alcantara gearknob and matching gaiter, but all I had was trouble fitting it as the gaiter was so much shorter than what an E46 requires. Huge pain in the arse and in the end I just left it. I dealt with the gear knob later.
I got the car ceramic coated in September 2015, after a slight parking accident... the improvement in finish was amazing, though it also served to highlight some 12 years worth of stone chips on the front.
Shortly afterwards, so towards November or December the CSL bottled was painted and fitted.
Look at how high it is! Mad. I thought it had such a nice stance when standard, but I look at it now and think it is way too high.
Here is the parts list for the number plate light loom; cost of wires and plugs was about €18 plus a pair of E92 LED number plate lights. I lost the rear camera doing this, but one day I will reinstall it with a new camera.
Two LEDs in the right rear light assembly had gone bust, so I was on the lookout for some new taillights and for some time I had thought about going down the amber path. It helped when on eBay.de a seller had genuine LED amber taillights for €59 or €69. Delivered. Mental. So I bought them in December and it was plug 'n' play; remove some trim, three nuts, clean out around where the gasket sits and install new lights. Happy days.
I was really really impressed with the factory look of AWRON's vent-installed digital gauge, and contacted them directly about a RHD one for the E46. About €700 and a few weeks later, I took delivery of a central dash unit with the gauge installed, as well as a direct-fitting OBD plug; good for idiots like me. Installed around the end of 2015.
I am actually onto my second gauge, as the first one got stuck on a constant screen-cycling loop that could not be stopped. Since then, three years later I can report absolutely no issues with this second one. Awron replaced it with no complaints seeing as the first was just a few months old.
Edited by Nunga on Wednesday 23 January 08:03
Early 2016
So the car is far from a garage queen (though it spends most of its nights in a garage) but I wasn’t terribly put off driving it in winter. Well I was, so I would make sure it was given a good wash after driving to try to keep the salt at bay.
In March 2016 I went on a family reunion trip to the USA west coast, and before I went I had been looking at a Total M Cars (now defunct) stud conversion Group Buy from a company called MRG Race Co. I missed out on the GB but getting the 75mm with tuner-style lugs worked out to be a lot cheaper to have them delivered to my Las Vegas hotel, at $260 including $10 shipping. They look very very good, and when I find photos I will upload them.
June 2016
In April or so I went to Mork Fahrzeug Technik (now MW Performance) on the recommendation of a German member from M3Cutters, as I was trying to find a garage that did the RACP plating. While there, I organised an appointment for the plating to be done along with the installation of KW V3 coilers, Superpro poly bushes (for rear suspension arms and diff/suspension cradle, bought at cost price as a good friend works manages a store in Oz) and a purple-tag (667) steering rack (the rack cost something like €70 off eBayde, very cheap).
I will add photos later on of the under side of the car but pleasingly there were no cracks or popped welds, just a little bit of surface rust which was treated prior to the rear end being reassembled.
It was expensive work, costing in the vicinity of €3,500 but it is incredibly labour intensive, included the KW V3s, included the installation of the steering rack with new PS fluid and a flush, and also a CSL-spec alignment.
It was very, very low to be sure, and would drag on the exhaust over particularly bad angles. It transformed the car though, and I mean in a massive way. Around Christmas 2015 I was in the hills near the Main River (still on summer tyres but temperatures were around 10 degrees and it was dry) and a fairly hotted-up Mk VI GTI totally wiped the floor with me; I was understeering everywhere, mid-corner floatiness, and it was terrible on the limit with some snap oversteer at times if I was really ham-fisted. I couldn't get close to this Golf at all. The coilovers have changed the car in a huge way and the steering rack gave a small improvement in feel and being able to place the car better, too. I know there is always a lot of discussion around what is best for handling, ride etc and while I could never suggest my M3 is pillowy soft, it doesn't buck over bumps like it did on standard suspension and the control over roll and just the vastly improved handling makes this a no-brainer.
So the car is far from a garage queen (though it spends most of its nights in a garage) but I wasn’t terribly put off driving it in winter. Well I was, so I would make sure it was given a good wash after driving to try to keep the salt at bay.
In March 2016 I went on a family reunion trip to the USA west coast, and before I went I had been looking at a Total M Cars (now defunct) stud conversion Group Buy from a company called MRG Race Co. I missed out on the GB but getting the 75mm with tuner-style lugs worked out to be a lot cheaper to have them delivered to my Las Vegas hotel, at $260 including $10 shipping. They look very very good, and when I find photos I will upload them.
June 2016
In April or so I went to Mork Fahrzeug Technik (now MW Performance) on the recommendation of a German member from M3Cutters, as I was trying to find a garage that did the RACP plating. While there, I organised an appointment for the plating to be done along with the installation of KW V3 coilers, Superpro poly bushes (for rear suspension arms and diff/suspension cradle, bought at cost price as a good friend works manages a store in Oz) and a purple-tag (667) steering rack (the rack cost something like €70 off eBayde, very cheap).
I will add photos later on of the under side of the car but pleasingly there were no cracks or popped welds, just a little bit of surface rust which was treated prior to the rear end being reassembled.
It was expensive work, costing in the vicinity of €3,500 but it is incredibly labour intensive, included the KW V3s, included the installation of the steering rack with new PS fluid and a flush, and also a CSL-spec alignment.
It was very, very low to be sure, and would drag on the exhaust over particularly bad angles. It transformed the car though, and I mean in a massive way. Around Christmas 2015 I was in the hills near the Main River (still on summer tyres but temperatures were around 10 degrees and it was dry) and a fairly hotted-up Mk VI GTI totally wiped the floor with me; I was understeering everywhere, mid-corner floatiness, and it was terrible on the limit with some snap oversteer at times if I was really ham-fisted. I couldn't get close to this Golf at all. The coilovers have changed the car in a huge way and the steering rack gave a small improvement in feel and being able to place the car better, too. I know there is always a lot of discussion around what is best for handling, ride etc and while I could never suggest my M3 is pillowy soft, it doesn't buck over bumps like it did on standard suspension and the control over roll and just the vastly improved handling makes this a no-brainer.
Edited by Nunga on Wednesday 23 January 07:58
Miscellaneous 2016
In June 2016 I orders a BavSound Stage 1 speaker upgrade, for a very fair $497 including shipping and a toolkit, handy for removing interior trim, speakers etc. It took a while to clear customs and I had to pay a not-so-reasonable amount of money to actually get my hands on it.
BavSound have a lot of good guides and videos to assist with the installation, ranging from how to remove door trims and little tips about what needs to be left alone, adjusted, glued and so on. I did the front doors first in a couple of hours and went back to do the rear tweeters and parcel shelf a few days later. The kit comes with some glue for gluing the rear tweeters to the OEM tweeter housing, as the design is slightly different. Very easy though. Improvement in sound quality was immense, to be sure, and the fact it is plug 'n' play again makes it very easy to recommend. 13-year-old OEM speakers are always worth replacing. No pictures, but there wasn't much to be seen that would assist. What I do recommend is buying a bagful of trim clips for the door as I broke a few; they get brittle with age.
M3POWERBOY from M3Cutters sold me an LED interior lighting kit which I installed, along with LED parking lights and LED foglight. They look terrific and make a huge difference to the way the interior is lit. The foglights are really impressive, I must admit.
I also had LED indicators but the ones for the corners didn't fit, so they were a waste of money. The side indicator LEDs were no problem. I do find however two years on that my LH parking light is always illuminated; an issue with the LED itself, or it might be tied to a faulty LH-corner indicator. Have not investigated but need to...
You may notice I also went full-amber the whole way around the car; this is due to the fact I wanted to match the taillights but also because I lost a corner indicator on the autobahn after installing the LEDs... The corners were cheap at the end of 2016, at €25 each or so, but I have a crack in one now and to replace with OEM it will be about €40, so thats a fair old increase in two-odd years. Thinking about trying an aftermarket unit but then I would have to buy a pair so they definitely match. What I think I will do is buy OEM again but use a thick PPF to provide a bit of protection against stones and debris. Any recommendations appreciated.
I think the amber lights on Mystic Blue looks really really good; I remember when I was a youngster back in Australia it was all the rage to have clear everything, and not just indicators but taillights too (Lexus-style garbage and so on). Funny how what was old is new again, and so forth. Just to be clear, I was never looking for A07 Mystic Blue but it is a colour that has grown on me. It can look very similar to Topaz and Interlagos Blues in certain lighting, but had I found this car in any other colour I would have almost certainly bought it regardless (except perhaps Phoenix Yellow...)
In June 2016 I orders a BavSound Stage 1 speaker upgrade, for a very fair $497 including shipping and a toolkit, handy for removing interior trim, speakers etc. It took a while to clear customs and I had to pay a not-so-reasonable amount of money to actually get my hands on it.
BavSound have a lot of good guides and videos to assist with the installation, ranging from how to remove door trims and little tips about what needs to be left alone, adjusted, glued and so on. I did the front doors first in a couple of hours and went back to do the rear tweeters and parcel shelf a few days later. The kit comes with some glue for gluing the rear tweeters to the OEM tweeter housing, as the design is slightly different. Very easy though. Improvement in sound quality was immense, to be sure, and the fact it is plug 'n' play again makes it very easy to recommend. 13-year-old OEM speakers are always worth replacing. No pictures, but there wasn't much to be seen that would assist. What I do recommend is buying a bagful of trim clips for the door as I broke a few; they get brittle with age.
M3POWERBOY from M3Cutters sold me an LED interior lighting kit which I installed, along with LED parking lights and LED foglight. They look terrific and make a huge difference to the way the interior is lit. The foglights are really impressive, I must admit.
I also had LED indicators but the ones for the corners didn't fit, so they were a waste of money. The side indicator LEDs were no problem. I do find however two years on that my LH parking light is always illuminated; an issue with the LED itself, or it might be tied to a faulty LH-corner indicator. Have not investigated but need to...
You may notice I also went full-amber the whole way around the car; this is due to the fact I wanted to match the taillights but also because I lost a corner indicator on the autobahn after installing the LEDs... The corners were cheap at the end of 2016, at €25 each or so, but I have a crack in one now and to replace with OEM it will be about €40, so thats a fair old increase in two-odd years. Thinking about trying an aftermarket unit but then I would have to buy a pair so they definitely match. What I think I will do is buy OEM again but use a thick PPF to provide a bit of protection against stones and debris. Any recommendations appreciated.
I think the amber lights on Mystic Blue looks really really good; I remember when I was a youngster back in Australia it was all the rage to have clear everything, and not just indicators but taillights too (Lexus-style garbage and so on). Funny how what was old is new again, and so forth. Just to be clear, I was never looking for A07 Mystic Blue but it is a colour that has grown on me. It can look very similar to Topaz and Interlagos Blues in certain lighting, but had I found this car in any other colour I would have almost certainly bought it regardless (except perhaps Phoenix Yellow...)
After a surprisingly snowy drive to Bad Herrenalb, about 450m AMSL and getting stuck behind a gritting truck... 28 December 2017.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/51iRXKlRdm92WhAq...
Its natural habitat after winter driving:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/51iRXKlRdm92WhAq...
Its natural habitat after winter driving:
Mid-2017
I pulled my finger out and finally ordered my summer tyres. I settled on Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 3 in 265/35 R18 all-round, mainly because the latest Michelin Pilot Sports had not been released and I think at the time (still now perhaps) Continental Sport Contact 6 wasn't available in 18". For that matter, the PS4S isn't either.
I got the car up on stands to install the studs as well, and I had bought at some stage H&R 5mm spacers which I installed but cannot remember exactly when... it might have been for the 19s because of the slight rubbing issue I mentioned earlier.
I think the RS745 looks fantastic; again, I didn’t covet these wheels, nor was I looking for gold. I was chasing the size and, at 18x9.5+25 all-round they are almost as big as you can fit. I’m going to try 18x10s this year if money allows though.
I pulled my finger out and finally ordered my summer tyres. I settled on Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 3 in 265/35 R18 all-round, mainly because the latest Michelin Pilot Sports had not been released and I think at the time (still now perhaps) Continental Sport Contact 6 wasn't available in 18". For that matter, the PS4S isn't either.
I got the car up on stands to install the studs as well, and I had bought at some stage H&R 5mm spacers which I installed but cannot remember exactly when... it might have been for the 19s because of the slight rubbing issue I mentioned earlier.
I think the RS745 looks fantastic; again, I didn’t covet these wheels, nor was I looking for gold. I was chasing the size and, at 18x9.5+25 all-round they are almost as big as you can fit. I’m going to try 18x10s this year if money allows though.
1Toomanycars said:
Whilst I never rated our E46 M3 (manual cabrio), I can appreciate your mods.
The ambers look great (I've currently got an early E39 because I specifically wanted period ambers) and the CSL/Ducktail boot spoiler is something I've wanted to do for 4 years but I'd want to get a whole bootlid to do it to to preserve the originality of my paintwork.
What happened to the gold wheels, they would've looked great against the blue?
A lot of people really rave on about how good the E46 convertible is but I just can't think it anything but a floppy noodle. Try a coupe, it'll change your mind completely. I thought it was awesome before I started to play around with it, but now it is simply heroic; controllable, hooligan-like, pointy, drifty, responsive, fun, it is the works.The ambers look great (I've currently got an early E39 because I specifically wanted period ambers) and the CSL/Ducktail boot spoiler is something I've wanted to do for 4 years but I'd want to get a whole bootlid to do it to to preserve the originality of my paintwork.
What happened to the gold wheels, they would've looked great against the blue?
Glad you folk like the ambers. Happy accident but happy for it, too. The CSL bottled was a non-negotiable for me, especially for the €650 or €700 I paid for it, plus paint. I wouldn't mind a BGW if I ever go OTT, but the way the CSL bottled is so integrated with the rest of the body lines, it just screams "factory R&D". Cant fault the fitment or the guaranteed downforce performance gains.
Edited by Nunga on Friday 1st February 17:22
Edited by Nunga on Friday 1st February 17:23
I appreciated differences of opinion, and as I said before I was chasing the dimensions; not the style. How boring would it be though if all E46 M3s had M163 CSL wheels? I’m happy to be different for the time being.
I’d like to get a full set of 18x10+25 RC301s eventually but they are big money.
I’d like to get a full set of 18x10+25 RC301s eventually but they are big money.
This is from a drift day I took part in at Hockenheim with Drift-Schule; some people here might know Florian as the man behind limited-slip.de; he runs the Drift School as well. Afterwards I got the car realigned as I needed new track rod ends; here it was -2 degrees camber or so.
This is from the Brenner Pass, on the Italian side in Spring 2017. Epic drive; I got up at 6am and was on the road from Seefeld, just before Innsbruck, at 0630. The old road that flows along and under the new pass (with the Europa Bridge) is an amazing piece of road.
The Europa Bridge in the background. It’s a very, very busy thoroughfare, taking a lot of traffic through the Alps between Austria and Italy.
This is the route: take the B182 more or less and head to Italy. SS12 on the other side is equally amazing but I headed back north before seeing too much of it.
The M3 seats are very hit and miss; some people love them and find them comfortable, and others hate them. I was on the fence, because while I found them comfortable, they’re too big for me and I found I slid around on the leather a lot. Plus, it is very uncomfortable in summer and thus I must prefer cloth. I had been looking for some time at various trim options that were a straight swap until I was ready to commit to a more focused seat (Recaro PP, CS et al) and the M Paket in G7AT Laser Anthrazit was, in my mind, the go-to option. The seats are virtually identical aside from the shape around the shoulders, and I was able to find a set that came with manual adjustment, thus less weight and in my honest opinion they adjust a little bit lower than the electric seats.
Swap was a very simple process; disconnect battery first, then undo four nuts in each front seat frame. Tip seat back, unclip loom, carefully remove. Rear seat is easy once you know there is a torx screw that secures a fixing between the two rear seat backs. The wings on each side of the rear seats have clips that tend to break, and also some plastic hooks that on my new interior had broken off. Not really the end of the world, but it might upset the pedantic.
I like the dark tones, as it still ties in with the black leather door trims. Excuse the dog drool on the backrest.
Better seat photo. I ended up purchasing a RHD passenger seat from the UK as it had the airbag occupant sensor mat and was a cheap and easy plug ‘n’ play solution for avoiding an airbag fault light by installing a LHD driver’s seat. Spare seat is utilised for Gran Turismo.
A few years ago member Graham sold me a non-armrest centre console, and I took to reconditioning it a bit by sanding it back completely, cleaning it off, and using Plastidip to repaint it. It came up a treat, though some 18 months later it has scratched in a couple of places so I will need to redo it again (or not). I also fitted an alloy and alcantara handbrake cover and gaiter, and eventually an alloy and alcantara gear knob. It is probably the most I will do to beautify the interior, as I don’t get too many kicks from it.
I like the alcantara and alloy, and it should wear well.
Sanded off the old and then keyed it up.
Much better. Also fitted a dual-cup holder, to replace the stupid tray I had to deal with for two and a half years. That brings me up to the end of 2017 or there abouts.
Edited by Nunga on Sunday 9th June 19:39
Living in southern Germany grants me access to some pretty good roads, most notably the Black Forest. It’s no passing comment to say the roads are sensational, having driven some nice roads across the continent and Wales. To have access so readily is something I take for granted but, when out alone or with mates, it always has me grinning ear to ear. A good mate of mine has had an E46 M3 CS SMG, a B7 RS4 Avant, a 996 4S and now a 997 2S, so I’ve been lucky to drive some fast machinery around here. Near or far, it doesn’t really matter as anywhere between Freiburg and Karlsruhe the roads off the well-beaten track are anything but boring.
Some of the exotic metal my colleagues own, plus my shït box. The C63 makes the dirtiest sound, though I’d never call it a sports car. Certainly more of a muscle car, it’s a complete animal. The 996 4S has to be one of the most underrated Porkers out there, too. Terrific car.
The above was a great drive between Freiburg and Titisee, not so far from Feldberg which is the Schwarzwald’s highest mountain, as well as a nice little ski area. It gets a lot of snow in the winter, and I have driven the same roads in both above-freezing and below-freezing conditions.
Somewhat naively in the week between Christmas an New Year, I took a friend up to Bad Herrenalb along a loop I often do south-east of a Karlsruhe. It had been pissing down all day in Karlsruhe but hovering around 2 or 3 degrees. Of course, going up 400m in elevation meant the temperature dropped comfortably below 0 so these white conditions greeted us. Keeps you on your toes, but I have winter tyres on my M67 19s so they make a difference. As you can see, the old girl gets used, and I’d be lying if I said it was only driven to church on sunny Sundays. I do actually avoid driving during some periods of really wet or snowy weather, but oftentimes it is unavoidable so I try to wash it frequently and get a jet wash underneath as often as I can. That said, after just being underneath it to replace my exhaust, I can attest to the fact that bolts will still rust.
2018 was a big year for me, if not such a big year for the car. Fresh with a puppy and a baby on the way, there was a fair old bit going on indeed. Still, the old M3 still found plenty of my bank balance whilst being put into fairly regular service. Ordinarily I will drive it on and off over a period of a few weeks, sometimes pressing into daily duties, but then it might be off the road for weeks if not a month while I mess about with it (or have it in my lock-up and can't be arsed to walk and get it).
It must’ve been late 2017 when I replaced the rubber pedals for some M Performance items. Small touch, but it lifts the interior immensely and surprisingly they do grip better underfoot while being a bee’s willy lighter to boot. Well, the brake and clutch are at least, as the accelerator is simply screwed onto the standard plastic item.
Here you can still see the alcantara retrimming I did. That disappeared around this time for brushed aluminium.
Which you can see here, although this photo is a little out of sync as it shows already my re-trimmed wheel (which I will go into a little more detail later, along with photos that hopefully outline the installation process).
This was while I was parked up in Stuttgart for an AFL team meeting. I cannot get over how big cars have gotten these days. The M2 just isn’t small at all. Granted, my car is quite low, but the difference is staggering over some 20 years between generations.
Before taking the car over to the UK for Goodwood FoS and Snowdonia, I got an oil change and the E60 545i shifter installed, along with a new shifter locator cup. I have commented before in various threads about the swap and whether or not it is worth the hassle. Short answer yes, with an if, long answer no, with a but. The manual is a pretty sloppy old box to start with, and honestly people who say theirs is as tight as a nun’s hoohoo must have a remarkable Wednesday car, but it has made the shift incredibly notchy when the oil is cold. Sure, it maintains the car’s fairly uncompromising character which I do love, given you need to give it some respect and let it (the car) loosen up in the mornings, so while I like the shorter shift I think if you are going to bother going to the effort, find an extra €650 and go down the CAE path. I would like to do that eventually.
Some of the exotic metal my colleagues own, plus my shït box. The C63 makes the dirtiest sound, though I’d never call it a sports car. Certainly more of a muscle car, it’s a complete animal. The 996 4S has to be one of the most underrated Porkers out there, too. Terrific car.
The above was a great drive between Freiburg and Titisee, not so far from Feldberg which is the Schwarzwald’s highest mountain, as well as a nice little ski area. It gets a lot of snow in the winter, and I have driven the same roads in both above-freezing and below-freezing conditions.
Somewhat naively in the week between Christmas an New Year, I took a friend up to Bad Herrenalb along a loop I often do south-east of a Karlsruhe. It had been pissing down all day in Karlsruhe but hovering around 2 or 3 degrees. Of course, going up 400m in elevation meant the temperature dropped comfortably below 0 so these white conditions greeted us. Keeps you on your toes, but I have winter tyres on my M67 19s so they make a difference. As you can see, the old girl gets used, and I’d be lying if I said it was only driven to church on sunny Sundays. I do actually avoid driving during some periods of really wet or snowy weather, but oftentimes it is unavoidable so I try to wash it frequently and get a jet wash underneath as often as I can. That said, after just being underneath it to replace my exhaust, I can attest to the fact that bolts will still rust.
2018 was a big year for me, if not such a big year for the car. Fresh with a puppy and a baby on the way, there was a fair old bit going on indeed. Still, the old M3 still found plenty of my bank balance whilst being put into fairly regular service. Ordinarily I will drive it on and off over a period of a few weeks, sometimes pressing into daily duties, but then it might be off the road for weeks if not a month while I mess about with it (or have it in my lock-up and can't be arsed to walk and get it).
It must’ve been late 2017 when I replaced the rubber pedals for some M Performance items. Small touch, but it lifts the interior immensely and surprisingly they do grip better underfoot while being a bee’s willy lighter to boot. Well, the brake and clutch are at least, as the accelerator is simply screwed onto the standard plastic item.
Here you can still see the alcantara retrimming I did. That disappeared around this time for brushed aluminium.
Which you can see here, although this photo is a little out of sync as it shows already my re-trimmed wheel (which I will go into a little more detail later, along with photos that hopefully outline the installation process).
This was while I was parked up in Stuttgart for an AFL team meeting. I cannot get over how big cars have gotten these days. The M2 just isn’t small at all. Granted, my car is quite low, but the difference is staggering over some 20 years between generations.
Before taking the car over to the UK for Goodwood FoS and Snowdonia, I got an oil change and the E60 545i shifter installed, along with a new shifter locator cup. I have commented before in various threads about the swap and whether or not it is worth the hassle. Short answer yes, with an if, long answer no, with a but. The manual is a pretty sloppy old box to start with, and honestly people who say theirs is as tight as a nun’s hoohoo must have a remarkable Wednesday car, but it has made the shift incredibly notchy when the oil is cold. Sure, it maintains the car’s fairly uncompromising character which I do love, given you need to give it some respect and let it (the car) loosen up in the mornings, so while I like the shorter shift I think if you are going to bother going to the effort, find an extra €650 and go down the CAE path. I would like to do that eventually.
Edited by Nunga on Monday 10th June 07:56
Edited by Nunga on Monday 10th June 07:58
The drive to Portsmouth, where we stayed while going to Goodwood, was easy and uneventful. The ferry crossing, when the weather is fine at least, is relaxing, comfortable and memorable. I’ve done it once in each direction, the first time when collecting my car. It was a great base, as jumping on the train to Chichester the. Shuttle bus to Goodwood was as easy as one could imagine. We did all four days of the FoS and I’d highly recommend it to petrolheads and non-petrolheads alike.
Waiting in port at Dunkirk. Some pretty interesting metal there, from a bunch of Civics coming back from the ‘Ring, to a few others on their way to FoS.
Like these beauties from Switzerland.
This view must make even the coldest Brit just a little patriotic.
And the old bus on display, it was sponsored by Cartier I think this entire exhibit. Impressive old stuff.
Waiting in port at Dunkirk. Some pretty interesting metal there, from a bunch of Civics coming back from the ‘Ring, to a few others on their way to FoS.
Like these beauties from Switzerland.
This view must make even the coldest Brit just a little patriotic.
And the old bus on display, it was sponsored by Cartier I think this entire exhibit. Impressive old stuff.
July 2017
While I was in the UK for Goodwood and a Snowdonia trip, I had gotten in contact with Darragh Doyle, who works in his spare time on M3s (through his business Everything M3s). Quite a lot of members have had work done, mainly diffs. He works with another business who refinished the standard clutch packs in the E46 M3 diffs, the end result being a diff as good (or better?) than new. We talked about a plan involving a diff rebuild with a 4.1 CWP and while I was on the way back to Germany, he’d install it along with a new front diff bush. Easy peasy.
Due to some factors out of his control, though, he wasn’t able to get a clutch pack to rebuild for me, and he was busy down in Goodwood with some of the cars there, so he thought of another decision which I man-maths into agreeing with. Result being, rebuilt E36 M3 Evo mechanical LSD with a 4.1 CWP.
Darragh is resourceful and professional, and he methodically went about dropping my old diff, which he kept as part of the work, pulling out the old bush, and installing the new diff. My driveshafts were still pretty good so they were left well alone.
Here’s the magician at work!
(Having some trouble uploading the next images so will post in a new... post).
While I was in the UK for Goodwood and a Snowdonia trip, I had gotten in contact with Darragh Doyle, who works in his spare time on M3s (through his business Everything M3s). Quite a lot of members have had work done, mainly diffs. He works with another business who refinished the standard clutch packs in the E46 M3 diffs, the end result being a diff as good (or better?) than new. We talked about a plan involving a diff rebuild with a 4.1 CWP and while I was on the way back to Germany, he’d install it along with a new front diff bush. Easy peasy.
Due to some factors out of his control, though, he wasn’t able to get a clutch pack to rebuild for me, and he was busy down in Goodwood with some of the cars there, so he thought of another decision which I man-maths into agreeing with. Result being, rebuilt E36 M3 Evo mechanical LSD with a 4.1 CWP.
Darragh is resourceful and professional, and he methodically went about dropping my old diff, which he kept as part of the work, pulling out the old bush, and installing the new diff. My driveshafts were still pretty good so they were left well alone.
Here’s the magician at work!
(Having some trouble uploading the next images so will post in a new... post).
Edited by Nunga on Monday 17th June 18:51
Pretty shagged bush, and more than likely causing most of the infamous M3 rear clunk.
So, what does a 4.1 final drive feel like to drive? In a word, awesome. In several words, close to how the M3 should’ve come from the factory. It seems obvious now the longer 3.62 final drive is to help with economy on a cruise and perhaps less so, for top speed on autobahn driving. That said, the 4.1 still runs into the limiter, it just hits it sooner and harder.
Economy is likely a fair bit worse, though this is also possibly due to the car simply being more fun to drive. It pulls in every gear and it pulls HARD. Sometimes I think the 3.91 might’ve been better since I live in Germany with unrestricted autobahns, but most of the time I think the 4.1 is optimal for every other situation. I wonder if on the Nordschleife it will hit limiter at the end of the lap? Will find out this summer.
Next update will be steering wheel installation and H&R ARB swap.
Edited by Nunga on Wednesday 19th June 09:05
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