The E46 M3 track car turns into a full restoration nearly
Discussion
Hi there
So as I sup at a glass of Ka Va Lan's finest 56% whisky I thought I'd make a new thread about my M3 which I purchased back in July 2013 with 93,000 miles on the clock for the sum of £6,900 with the intention of it being a cheap track toy to save me money and no longer throwing thousands at my 911 C2S on track days. Lets just say man maths was in full swing at its finest, this car did not save me money, I ended up spending thousands upon thousands over the last few years and I have still not stopped.
So though pictures from time of getting the car are sparse, here is one getting its first fill of Vpower99:
The previous owner purchased it as a track project for him and his father, they've done 8-9 track days in it, being to the Ring, Spa and some other international circuits too and not had any incidents. 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. (Private plate in image belongs to original owner).
So the car soon visited Donnington with not much at all done to it since purchasing, to really just get an idea for how it handled and how quick it could lap the national circuit, in short it handled a bit crap to be honest compared to my 911. Living with the car more on the road and the suspension was indeed harsh/crashy just having Tein lowering springs fitted and on track the balance was not there, was quite snappy and lethal in the wet, span it at a couple of times on a wet track day. My dry time around Donnington was 1:28 which was considerably slower than my 1:24 in my 911 C2S, I am not a pro driver, not even closer but as I add more to this thread I improved car and my driving ability.
Next on the hit list was the aweful whistling K&N intake, thankfully the stock intake system was included with purchase of the car:
Getting rid of this for stock made the car sound better and drive nicer, so if you have an M3, avoid at all cost, stay with stock or a CSL style box.
So as the car was already partially stripped, I properly stripped it further, air bags, SAP, infotainment, sound deadening, tar, SRS ECU, anything not needed went, but I did leave carpets, dash, doorcards in the front, heaters so the car was a nice place to be and could be used daily:
I also got the CSL pollen filter housing, saves near 5kg over the stock items:
As my other major issue was balance and handling, the crap Tein lowering springs were next to be pulled from the car:
In their place went a set of KW Clubsports with top mounts, what a revelation, ride comfort superb in comparison and the car had loads more grip and balance. Plus the car sat much better:
Another re-visit to Donnington, still on the 595 RSR tyres and the car was now 911 quick, doing 1:24 laps, though the uprated pads and disc that came with the car though capable were simply nowhere near the same league as the ceramics on the 911.
That was it for now, had the car given a full inspection II and compression check, all was great.
More will come soon, well in 2018.......
So as I sup at a glass of Ka Va Lan's finest 56% whisky I thought I'd make a new thread about my M3 which I purchased back in July 2013 with 93,000 miles on the clock for the sum of £6,900 with the intention of it being a cheap track toy to save me money and no longer throwing thousands at my 911 C2S on track days. Lets just say man maths was in full swing at its finest, this car did not save me money, I ended up spending thousands upon thousands over the last few years and I have still not stopped.
So though pictures from time of getting the car are sparse, here is one getting its first fill of Vpower99:
The previous owner purchased it as a track project for him and his father, they've done 8-9 track days in it, being to the Ring, Spa and some other international circuits too and not had any incidents. 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. (Private plate in image belongs to original owner).
So the car soon visited Donnington with not much at all done to it since purchasing, to really just get an idea for how it handled and how quick it could lap the national circuit, in short it handled a bit crap to be honest compared to my 911. Living with the car more on the road and the suspension was indeed harsh/crashy just having Tein lowering springs fitted and on track the balance was not there, was quite snappy and lethal in the wet, span it at a couple of times on a wet track day. My dry time around Donnington was 1:28 which was considerably slower than my 1:24 in my 911 C2S, I am not a pro driver, not even closer but as I add more to this thread I improved car and my driving ability.
Next on the hit list was the aweful whistling K&N intake, thankfully the stock intake system was included with purchase of the car:
Getting rid of this for stock made the car sound better and drive nicer, so if you have an M3, avoid at all cost, stay with stock or a CSL style box.
So as the car was already partially stripped, I properly stripped it further, air bags, SAP, infotainment, sound deadening, tar, SRS ECU, anything not needed went, but I did leave carpets, dash, doorcards in the front, heaters so the car was a nice place to be and could be used daily:
I also got the CSL pollen filter housing, saves near 5kg over the stock items:
As my other major issue was balance and handling, the crap Tein lowering springs were next to be pulled from the car:
In their place went a set of KW Clubsports with top mounts, what a revelation, ride comfort superb in comparison and the car had loads more grip and balance. Plus the car sat much better:
Another re-visit to Donnington, still on the 595 RSR tyres and the car was now 911 quick, doing 1:24 laps, though the uprated pads and disc that came with the car though capable were simply nowhere near the same league as the ceramics on the 911.
That was it for now, had the car given a full inspection II and compression check, all was great.
More will come soon, well in 2018.......
Synchromesh said:
Looking good. Got any vids from on track?
Here is one, a few more on my channel 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&...
Another little free modification I did to the car was to flash the SMG ECU with the CSL firmware which is something every SMG owner should do as it really makes the shifts faster but also smoother. It has no downsides though does take around 15-20 minutes to do the flash using WinKFP software so make sure the car is hooked upto consistent power to prevent any fluctuation as last thing you want to do is brick the ECU.
I also changed the Vanos filter as its something that goes un-missed and only cost a few quid and takes less than 5 minutes to do, something to definetely do.
Also the car came with a private plate "M3 XSV" included which is now on the car.
Also as the car was stripped, behind the drivers seats was just bare metal and an opening in the boot, so it looked pretty raw and the noise from the exhaust was so boomy as the car came with some cheap catback exhaust system which was horrendously loud and with no interior near deafening.
As such I got some basic carpet and re-carpeted the rear and made a partition to separate the boot off:
A big improvement, less noise but still too loud, but looks much better, added around 5kg back in but well worth it as I do drive the car regular on the road.
I also changed the Vanos filter as its something that goes un-missed and only cost a few quid and takes less than 5 minutes to do, something to definetely do.
Also the car came with a private plate "M3 XSV" included which is now on the car.
Also as the car was stripped, behind the drivers seats was just bare metal and an opening in the boot, so it looked pretty raw and the noise from the exhaust was so boomy as the car came with some cheap catback exhaust system which was horrendously loud and with no interior near deafening.
As such I got some basic carpet and re-carpeted the rear and made a partition to separate the boot off:
A big improvement, less noise but still too loud, but looks much better, added around 5kg back in but well worth it as I do drive the car regular on the road.
Edited by Gibbo205 on Monday 1st January 00:28
Fine tuned the suspension ride height as the KW Clubsport being coilovers are ride height adjustable, as many CSL owners have these fitted to their cars I mirrored their recommended right height settings:
Suspension is set to ring dry settings height measured from hub to arch are 345mm front and 340mm rear which is 5mm lower than CSL all round and recommended by CSL owners:-
Handles superb!
Suspension is set to ring dry settings height measured from hub to arch are 345mm front and 340mm rear which is 5mm lower than CSL all round and recommended by CSL owners:-
Handles superb!
So as the exhaust system the car came fitted with was just loud it simply had to go:
In it place went an original CSL mid-pipe and back box, the rasp is back and the car has zero drone inside, much happier.
Also as an added bonus the car feels way way stronger around 2500rpm, a really big improvement in power and torque down low.
Also further weight removed from front-end:
Removed viscous fan, fitted lightweight pulleys, removed all the cowling and installed an electric fan operated on a manual switch inside the dash.
A bit more weight of the front, a CSL style bumper around 5kg lighter than stock with real CSL carbon splitters and intake hole for a CSL air box when one gets fitted.
Also took the car to centre gravity as he is an artist and he damper tested the KW's for me:
A clean bill of health, told me they are perfect, car rides superb, he of course worked his magic on the alignment as well:
This is track settings for Michelin cups, for road I undo the 3 bolts on strut and just push all the way back with brings camber to -2 front and a little toe in making it handle nice on the road.
In it place went an original CSL mid-pipe and back box, the rasp is back and the car has zero drone inside, much happier.
Also as an added bonus the car feels way way stronger around 2500rpm, a really big improvement in power and torque down low.
Also further weight removed from front-end:
Removed viscous fan, fitted lightweight pulleys, removed all the cowling and installed an electric fan operated on a manual switch inside the dash.
A bit more weight of the front, a CSL style bumper around 5kg lighter than stock with real CSL carbon splitters and intake hole for a CSL air box when one gets fitted.
Also took the car to centre gravity as he is an artist and he damper tested the KW's for me:
A clean bill of health, told me they are perfect, car rides superb, he of course worked his magic on the alignment as well:
This is track settings for Michelin cups, for road I undo the 3 bolts on strut and just push all the way back with brings camber to -2 front and a little toe in making it handle nice on the road.
1. Remap done with rev match and SAP/CEL delete, very noticeable and a dyno proven 31BHP, now upto 367BHP from 336BHP it made with just breathing mods. Dyno'd on maha same day, feel reading a little high, but a solid gain and can definitely be felt on the road, pulls harder above 6000rpm.
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 for SAP delete.
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:-
Also spotted a minor oil leak, turned out to be CPV valve so new one fitted, still leaking, in the end was rocker cover gasket, so clearly not fitted correctly when inspection 2 and new vanos bolts, hub and exhaust and everything was over hauled as preventive maintenance, all fixed now.
Also got a CSL boot lid for the car, shaves a good 15kg plus from the rear-end and looks way better than the cheap stuck on thing the car came with:
Also corner weighted the car, it came in at 1373kg, so a good chunk of weight lost.
Did another Donnington track day, it was wet.
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.
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 the balance is much better in the wet, but the feedback and grip is still poor, I dislike these Federals for wet conditions and I also dislike the black wheels, so they do need to go I am afraid for something silver and much lighter.
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 for SAP delete.
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:-
Also spotted a minor oil leak, turned out to be CPV valve so new one fitted, still leaking, in the end was rocker cover gasket, so clearly not fitted correctly when inspection 2 and new vanos bolts, hub and exhaust and everything was over hauled as preventive maintenance, all fixed now.
Also got a CSL boot lid for the car, shaves a good 15kg plus from the rear-end and looks way better than the cheap stuck on thing the car came with:
Also corner weighted the car, it came in at 1373kg, so a good chunk of weight lost.
Did another Donnington track day, it was wet.
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.
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 the balance is much better in the wet, but the feedback and grip is still poor, I dislike these Federals for wet conditions and I also dislike the black wheels, so they do need to go I am afraid for something silver and much lighter.
Gibbo205 said:
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.
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 the balance is much better in the wet, but the feedback and grip is still poor, I dislike these Federals for wet conditions and I also dislike the black wheels, so they do need to go I am afraid for something silver and much lighter.
Not sure what your beef is with the RSR's.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.
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 the balance is much better in the wet, but the feedback and grip is still poor, I dislike these Federals for wet conditions and I also dislike the black wheels, so they do need to go I am afraid for something silver and much lighter.
I've used them on several cars on track, both wet and dry. In the dry I would say they are faster than AD08R's and in the wet, they are as capable as any track orientated tyre.
At a very, very wet track day at Anglesey, my car on the Federals was as fast or faster than any other car there on the day, until the weather dried up in the afternoon at which point I was lacking in power. Also a friend of mine runs them on track, on his 450bhp Noble, which seems to go well. The only real criticisms that I have, are that they have very soft sidewalls so need high pressures to stop them rolling over onto the sidewalls, and they often seem to develop a 'crack' across the whole width of the tread a few mm deep, which seems to be just superficial.
Anyhow, love the car! Agree that some silver wheels would look good. It would be nice to see something other than the common CSL wheels!
I quite like these Enkei NT03+ reps, I think Rota make them.
Edited by DanGPR on Monday 1st January 20:15
So CSL boot lid clone (much lighter) painted and fitted, I also fitted a carbon diffuser and decided not to paint it:
Then maybe I did a thing with the brakes, yep I found a proper CSL Cup (Alcon) brake kit which a CSL owner did me a great price on:
They are Apex wheels, 18x9.5" and super light, I think about 7kg each. Also wrapped with Michelin cup tyres, 265/35/18 all round.
I had to change wheels as the Alcon disc are larger than those found in AP kits and as such very few 18" wheels can clear them, though the Apex clear fine.
The rear wheels looked a little lost as the offset was not perfect, so I got some Eibach 12mm spacers with longer bolts:
Before:
After:
Looks much better, good stance!
I then did some more track days, the cups are simply leagues ahead of the Federal 595 RSR tyres, in both dry and wet conditions, no doubt helped by them being brand new also. Anyway I went Anglesey and Donnington, car felt much better and the brakes are hugely powerful a lot more confident inspiring with best lap time in the 1:23 region.
I then decided to do another thing, I could not resist any more, so I fitted a CSL (geoff steel) air box, still kept it Alpha tuned with Evolve and re-bushed with OEM the entire rear-end of the car along with front end, so all brand new OEM suspension bushes throughout just keeping turner limiter kit on the rear and some rogue reinforcement plates for the rear and rear eibach lightweight camber arms:
I also sourced a stock OEM strut brace as the after market one looked rubbish and I went ducting from the CSL bumper intake hole straight to the carbon ducting for the CSL air box to force cold air down its throat and put the IAT sensor just before the CSL air filter to stop any heat soaking issues. The sound was simply glorious and the on Evolves dyno made a very impressive 370HP with cats running their Alpha N tune and 310 at the wheels:
Sal the guy dyno my car at Evolve said it was very strong result, stronger than most and asked what fuel was in it, I said I only ever run the car on Vpower99, no idea if it helps but result speaks for itself, especially as car still had cats.
So I did another trackday at Donnington, it was dry and sunny and the car was driving fantastic the balance, handling and the power just felt incredible, to the point I was clocking 1:21-1:22 laps when not held up in traffic, as the day went on the gearbox was feeling a touch harsher than usual, but I dismissed it and carried on:
Last session of the day and gears felt very harsh, but more a crunch harsh not the usual slam from the diff you get in S6 so it was past 4pm and the day was nearly over, so I parked in my garage and a horrible noise came from car and smoked pooring from under bonnet. Lifted to see smoke bellowing from back of engine. So shut it off and it stopped, let it cool and re-started noise came back and it was struggling to get gears and smoked emitting from clutch area, put it in the car park and got the car recovered to mates garage.
Seems after about 100,000 miles and 30 track days the clutch bearing had decided no more as such the car got a big pampering:
- New clutch kit
- New flywheel
- New engine mounts
- New gearbox mounts
- Full inspection service
- Coolant change
- all gearbox components refreshed
- gearbox oil change
- diff oil change
- anything that came apart, got replaced with brand new original
This now meant every single bush within the car was now brand new OEM original or uprated part apart from the rear subframe bushes, but all suspension, gearbox, engine mounts were fresh. Everything on the SMG was fresh!
Oh my god I had gotten so use to SMG being a bit clunky and dramatic, but not it was tight but smooth and insanely fast, no slur, no clunks, just solid shifts and the whole car felt so tight, totally blown away by how good it is to drive. I owned a CSL years ago and now this car drove superior to that in everyway, also felt quicker too.
I have more plans and updates soon.
Then maybe I did a thing with the brakes, yep I found a proper CSL Cup (Alcon) brake kit which a CSL owner did me a great price on:
They are Apex wheels, 18x9.5" and super light, I think about 7kg each. Also wrapped with Michelin cup tyres, 265/35/18 all round.
I had to change wheels as the Alcon disc are larger than those found in AP kits and as such very few 18" wheels can clear them, though the Apex clear fine.
The rear wheels looked a little lost as the offset was not perfect, so I got some Eibach 12mm spacers with longer bolts:
Before:
After:
Looks much better, good stance!
I then did some more track days, the cups are simply leagues ahead of the Federal 595 RSR tyres, in both dry and wet conditions, no doubt helped by them being brand new also. Anyway I went Anglesey and Donnington, car felt much better and the brakes are hugely powerful a lot more confident inspiring with best lap time in the 1:23 region.
I then decided to do another thing, I could not resist any more, so I fitted a CSL (geoff steel) air box, still kept it Alpha tuned with Evolve and re-bushed with OEM the entire rear-end of the car along with front end, so all brand new OEM suspension bushes throughout just keeping turner limiter kit on the rear and some rogue reinforcement plates for the rear and rear eibach lightweight camber arms:
I also sourced a stock OEM strut brace as the after market one looked rubbish and I went ducting from the CSL bumper intake hole straight to the carbon ducting for the CSL air box to force cold air down its throat and put the IAT sensor just before the CSL air filter to stop any heat soaking issues. The sound was simply glorious and the on Evolves dyno made a very impressive 370HP with cats running their Alpha N tune and 310 at the wheels:
Sal the guy dyno my car at Evolve said it was very strong result, stronger than most and asked what fuel was in it, I said I only ever run the car on Vpower99, no idea if it helps but result speaks for itself, especially as car still had cats.
So I did another trackday at Donnington, it was dry and sunny and the car was driving fantastic the balance, handling and the power just felt incredible, to the point I was clocking 1:21-1:22 laps when not held up in traffic, as the day went on the gearbox was feeling a touch harsher than usual, but I dismissed it and carried on:
Last session of the day and gears felt very harsh, but more a crunch harsh not the usual slam from the diff you get in S6 so it was past 4pm and the day was nearly over, so I parked in my garage and a horrible noise came from car and smoked pooring from under bonnet. Lifted to see smoke bellowing from back of engine. So shut it off and it stopped, let it cool and re-started noise came back and it was struggling to get gears and smoked emitting from clutch area, put it in the car park and got the car recovered to mates garage.
Seems after about 100,000 miles and 30 track days the clutch bearing had decided no more as such the car got a big pampering:
- New clutch kit
- New flywheel
- New engine mounts
- New gearbox mounts
- Full inspection service
- Coolant change
- all gearbox components refreshed
- gearbox oil change
- diff oil change
- anything that came apart, got replaced with brand new original
This now meant every single bush within the car was now brand new OEM original or uprated part apart from the rear subframe bushes, but all suspension, gearbox, engine mounts were fresh. Everything on the SMG was fresh!
Oh my god I had gotten so use to SMG being a bit clunky and dramatic, but not it was tight but smooth and insanely fast, no slur, no clunks, just solid shifts and the whole car felt so tight, totally blown away by how good it is to drive. I owned a CSL years ago and now this car drove superior to that in everyway, also felt quicker too.
I have more plans and updates soon.
Edited by Gibbo205 on Tuesday 2nd January 23:56
Edited by Gibbo205 on Tuesday 2nd January 23:58
Edited by Gibbo205 on Thursday 4th January 21:56
Shot of the car in action, still on the stock anti-roll bars and staying pretty flat in the corner, but think I shall get some genuine CSL anti-roll bars for the car.
Got some genuine BMW M3 CSL anti-roll bars and powder coated them naughty green to keep them protected:
Some more track footage, car is now in the 1:21-22 region though I cocked up tyre pressures and KW damper settings so it felt a bit off, so can improve further for sure. This video is from before when I had fitted the CSL air box:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMCzAyaZo3o
Here is a video with the CSL air box running Alpha-N
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&...
Sounds glorious.
Some more carbon bits:
Got some genuine BMW M3 CSL anti-roll bars and powder coated them naughty green to keep them protected:
Some more track footage, car is now in the 1:21-22 region though I cocked up tyre pressures and KW damper settings so it felt a bit off, so can improve further for sure. This video is from before when I had fitted the CSL air box:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMCzAyaZo3o
Here is a video with the CSL air box running Alpha-N
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&...
Sounds glorious.
Some more carbon bits:
So we all know E46 M3's love to destroy their boot floors and I knew mine had a couple of very minor cracks and as such it was time to address these before they became anything too large or more difficult to repair:
First of all how the car looks with the entire rear removed from the car:-
THE CRACKS!
The first image is the rear passenger side bush and it is common that they crack along where the body angles and as can be seen my car has a small crack there. It is easy to see this without removing the entire rear subframe and was the reason for this job being done.
The second picture is far more worrying that is the front drivers side mounting and it is severely cracked, that was a ticking time bomb as the spotweld had clearly exploded and cracked in all directions and also where the bolts goes into the body work was cracking around it too.
Needless to say this repair was needed, they have seen far worse to the point where boot floors are more or less hanging out the car as this is a design floor in the E46 chassis, yes all E46 suffer from this, but more so M3's due to more stress being put on the chassis. You boys with superchargers and turbo's on your E46 are even more prone to this damage. Get the floor re-inforced!
The cracks are repaired by drilling them at the ends to prevent them going further and then welding them back up. They are then plated with re-inforced plates and bonded and welded into place which help to spread the stress more evenly and of course are re-inforced to prevent it from happening again.
Pictures of the plates and install:-
Then painted the whole underside of the car in BMW OEM Mushroom paint, to remain factory look and of course the underseal protection it gives to prevent rush etc.
Then all new subframe bushes, bolts and mounts are installed, I decided to stick with BMW OEM as I enjoy driving the car on the road so I don't want it to have loads of NVH or harshness. Pictures of bushes and subfram back on.
A nice picture of the whole rear end showing of the Eibach rear camber arms.
Then final procedure is to inject the rear end just as BMW would do with Resin to further strengthen the chassis, this stuff literally has no weight but is unbelievable strong.
They re-installed and set the GEO to the same measurements they took before they dismantled everything.
Now every single bush in my car is brand new BMW OEM or uprated, every suspension component has being refreshed with OEM or after market up rated and let me tell you I can now finally experience what a brand new M3 or M3 CSL would of being like to drive with just like 100 miles on the clock. The car is super tight.
Next area to address will be the differential as there is some backlash present, a bit too much for my liking and I am thinking of putting a BMW motorsport shorter ratio in as well, probably a 3.91
I am also finding the Alpha N map a little not so smooth at the lower RPM's so am contemplating a full CSL conversion, CSL ECU, CSL map sensor, the whole lot.
First of all how the car looks with the entire rear removed from the car:-
THE CRACKS!
The first image is the rear passenger side bush and it is common that they crack along where the body angles and as can be seen my car has a small crack there. It is easy to see this without removing the entire rear subframe and was the reason for this job being done.
The second picture is far more worrying that is the front drivers side mounting and it is severely cracked, that was a ticking time bomb as the spotweld had clearly exploded and cracked in all directions and also where the bolts goes into the body work was cracking around it too.
Needless to say this repair was needed, they have seen far worse to the point where boot floors are more or less hanging out the car as this is a design floor in the E46 chassis, yes all E46 suffer from this, but more so M3's due to more stress being put on the chassis. You boys with superchargers and turbo's on your E46 are even more prone to this damage. Get the floor re-inforced!
The cracks are repaired by drilling them at the ends to prevent them going further and then welding them back up. They are then plated with re-inforced plates and bonded and welded into place which help to spread the stress more evenly and of course are re-inforced to prevent it from happening again.
Pictures of the plates and install:-
Then painted the whole underside of the car in BMW OEM Mushroom paint, to remain factory look and of course the underseal protection it gives to prevent rush etc.
Then all new subframe bushes, bolts and mounts are installed, I decided to stick with BMW OEM as I enjoy driving the car on the road so I don't want it to have loads of NVH or harshness. Pictures of bushes and subfram back on.
A nice picture of the whole rear end showing of the Eibach rear camber arms.
Then final procedure is to inject the rear end just as BMW would do with Resin to further strengthen the chassis, this stuff literally has no weight but is unbelievable strong.
They re-installed and set the GEO to the same measurements they took before they dismantled everything.
Now every single bush in my car is brand new BMW OEM or uprated, every suspension component has being refreshed with OEM or after market up rated and let me tell you I can now finally experience what a brand new M3 or M3 CSL would of being like to drive with just like 100 miles on the clock. The car is super tight.
Next area to address will be the differential as there is some backlash present, a bit too much for my liking and I am thinking of putting a BMW motorsport shorter ratio in as well, probably a 3.91
I am also finding the Alpha N map a little not so smooth at the lower RPM's so am contemplating a full CSL conversion, CSL ECU, CSL map sensor, the whole lot.
I recently added silenced de-cats, a noticeable improvement at the top-end and no apparent torque loss. Maybe another 3-5BHP, feels good anyway and more weight savings of about 5kg.
Also got these items:
For those wondering what on earth, what you are seeing is a M3 CSL ECU, new differential and new BMW motorsport polished 3.91 gear set. They shall be installed into the new differential which shall get a full bearing/seal refresh so be like brand new. I went with 3.91 as I got a good deal (£450) and 4.10's are not in stock at BMW and would of cost over £1000 after polishing procedure. These will give a nice improvement in acceleration and are perfect ratio for both road and track. Hope to have installed by March.
The CSL ECU, Map sensor and tune to match will improve drivability, power/torque improvements unknown but the car will be less likely to rob itself of power, so a worthwhile mod.
I went with TTFS for tuning as they have the most experience with CSL ECU and map sensor setups, whereas Evolve at the time did not fill me with confidence. TTFS tune / map kit in the post today, took about 3-4 days to come from US and no VAT/Duty was charged which is great but end of the day it is just a USB cable and some wire/hose and a sensor.
Here is a picture of everything you got (excluding CSl IAT sensor):
I've gone down this route to improve drivability and adaptability and should I ever add cams the CSL map/ECU has far higher resolution maps. TTFS offer to convert old ECU's (MSS54HP) to full CSL spec if you mail them your ECU. I did not need this as I so happened to have a genuine CSL ECU.
So my difficulty has being ok now I have the parts but what on earth do I do with them, well I scoured the internet but not found a concrete easy to follow guide, but again TTFS emailed me a document which goes into some detail, I shall post the important steps as hopefully it will help others who don't want to run Alpha-N or wish to move away from Alpha-N type setups:
Here is screenshots of the guide TTFS emailed me so all thanks goes to them:
With this guide I am now quite happy to tackle this, to summaries.
Cut into brake booster line, place vacuum T (was included part of kit) and position map sensor facing downwards. This is better than OEM design due to the sensor not getting baked by the engine.
Then run the small wire supplied with pin from the white (sensor output) from the map sensor into the blank space on the DME connector, nice and easy to do.
Then remember the colour of the two wires from the DME connector and splice into the relevant ones, shall get a local garage to solder these in for me as not confident about cutting in harness and soldering, I know its easy but will let someone do it who is comfortable with soldering.
The other mission is to find a solution for mounting the CSL IAT sensor as it does not use a nut/thread like the typical sensor included in IAT relocation kits but have seen a few ideas for this such as below from searching the web of what other users have done with air boxes such as the Geoff steel:
So I can either use some modified washers it seems to lock it in place or actually take the sensor down and add a thread to it, a job for a garage for sure as will need some tools.
Once this is done and installed I shall take some pictures and of course I shall comment on how the car feels to drive and how the tune feels. I shall be getting another dyno run done to see how the power curve and power compares to Evolves Alpha-N tune.
The negative side of this is I kind of really wasted my money with the Alpha-N but at the time I was not aware of the map sensor option and the CSL tuning and experience TTFS have.
Managed to secure it to a bracket already in place, it is very secure hardly any movement and is actually very hard to see, once wires are plumbed into the DME box which it is next to then to most they would never spot it:
The car to drive on the map sensor tune (base tune) already feels vastly better, the car is now as smooth if not smoother than it was on the stock air box and the car has power anywhere, even from as little as 1500rpm, it is silky smooth to drive and pulls just as hard as it did on the Evolve tune, I shall be getting the car live tuned on the dyno by TTFS remotely in coming weeks to perfect timing, fuelling etc.
Also got these items:
For those wondering what on earth, what you are seeing is a M3 CSL ECU, new differential and new BMW motorsport polished 3.91 gear set. They shall be installed into the new differential which shall get a full bearing/seal refresh so be like brand new. I went with 3.91 as I got a good deal (£450) and 4.10's are not in stock at BMW and would of cost over £1000 after polishing procedure. These will give a nice improvement in acceleration and are perfect ratio for both road and track. Hope to have installed by March.
The CSL ECU, Map sensor and tune to match will improve drivability, power/torque improvements unknown but the car will be less likely to rob itself of power, so a worthwhile mod.
I went with TTFS for tuning as they have the most experience with CSL ECU and map sensor setups, whereas Evolve at the time did not fill me with confidence. TTFS tune / map kit in the post today, took about 3-4 days to come from US and no VAT/Duty was charged which is great but end of the day it is just a USB cable and some wire/hose and a sensor.
Here is a picture of everything you got (excluding CSl IAT sensor):
I've gone down this route to improve drivability and adaptability and should I ever add cams the CSL map/ECU has far higher resolution maps. TTFS offer to convert old ECU's (MSS54HP) to full CSL spec if you mail them your ECU. I did not need this as I so happened to have a genuine CSL ECU.
So my difficulty has being ok now I have the parts but what on earth do I do with them, well I scoured the internet but not found a concrete easy to follow guide, but again TTFS emailed me a document which goes into some detail, I shall post the important steps as hopefully it will help others who don't want to run Alpha-N or wish to move away from Alpha-N type setups:
Here is screenshots of the guide TTFS emailed me so all thanks goes to them:
With this guide I am now quite happy to tackle this, to summaries.
Cut into brake booster line, place vacuum T (was included part of kit) and position map sensor facing downwards. This is better than OEM design due to the sensor not getting baked by the engine.
Then run the small wire supplied with pin from the white (sensor output) from the map sensor into the blank space on the DME connector, nice and easy to do.
Then remember the colour of the two wires from the DME connector and splice into the relevant ones, shall get a local garage to solder these in for me as not confident about cutting in harness and soldering, I know its easy but will let someone do it who is comfortable with soldering.
The other mission is to find a solution for mounting the CSL IAT sensor as it does not use a nut/thread like the typical sensor included in IAT relocation kits but have seen a few ideas for this such as below from searching the web of what other users have done with air boxes such as the Geoff steel:
So I can either use some modified washers it seems to lock it in place or actually take the sensor down and add a thread to it, a job for a garage for sure as will need some tools.
Once this is done and installed I shall take some pictures and of course I shall comment on how the car feels to drive and how the tune feels. I shall be getting another dyno run done to see how the power curve and power compares to Evolves Alpha-N tune.
The negative side of this is I kind of really wasted my money with the Alpha-N but at the time I was not aware of the map sensor option and the CSL tuning and experience TTFS have.
Managed to secure it to a bracket already in place, it is very secure hardly any movement and is actually very hard to see, once wires are plumbed into the DME box which it is next to then to most they would never spot it:
The car to drive on the map sensor tune (base tune) already feels vastly better, the car is now as smooth if not smoother than it was on the stock air box and the car has power anywhere, even from as little as 1500rpm, it is silky smooth to drive and pulls just as hard as it did on the Evolve tune, I shall be getting the car live tuned on the dyno by TTFS remotely in coming weeks to perfect timing, fuelling etc.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff