Harper

16 minutes ago, m325i said:

Like what?

Just a few bits that bother me. The cheap angel eyes need to go, will rip them out when I get some new lenses for the headlights and go OEM. Status gruppe diffuser, rubbish fit. The SSK is preference I suppose. The actual shift lever looks to be decent quality, but just way too short of a throw imo. 

25 minutes ago, APT said:

Odd question, do you live in Beachlands ? 

Sure do.

1 hour ago, Sammo said:

Love how focused this build is - no faff and bling, just quality bits to make the car better 😎

That's the plan. Still a few leftover meh quality aftermarket parts that I will hopefully slowly phase out. The nice thing is I have all of the original parts to return the car to completely stock (aside from the subframe reinforcement) so a few dodgy parts here and there are not a worry. 

Not much to post in here while I'm waiting on parts for the next month. So the seats definitely deserve another few photos on this thread before they go in. I'd be lying if I said they didn't come out every couple of days just to stare at them...

Wish I was better with a camera for these. Photos don't do them justice at all. Light effects the way the alcantara top layer looks a lot. 

Something I did have a go at pre-lockdown was refinishing some trim pieces. Didn't expect it to go as well as it did so unfortunately I didn't take any before shots. My car has a mismatch of interior trim bits, all in various states of awful. The dash trim and front door handles are silver (I think known as titan 2?). These are in bad shape. The handles are peeling and scratched, brings the whole interior down. Annoyingly the finish on these is different to other types. The silver is some kind of aluminum layer on top of the plastic and really difficult to strip off.

the rears are even stranger, they are a (very poorly executed) single piece black plastic mold. They are covered in dimples and imperfections in the plastic and are essentially total junk. Probably done by whoever did the leather retrim...

I really just wanted a clean set in the OEM titanshadow finish. Unfortunately that proved incredibly difficult to source. Thought I had a couple times but to no avail. Eventually, a wrecked coupe came up at a wrecker yard near me so I went and grabbed the handles. They were in BAD shape. I wish I had taken photos because I really was not hopeful. The finish on the top and bottom of the handles was completely wrecked on all four. But they were $8 each so I grabbed them. Spent a few evenings stripping them down and painting them. They came up way better than I anticipated. 

Sanding them was a total nightmare and took hours. I found I had to go as low as 180 grit dry sanding to get the bottom sections all the way back to plastic, then slowly stepping up the grit until they were smooth. I think I finished with 600 wet. For the black sections, I just used a basic rustoleum flat black paint and primer. The nozzles on their cans seem pretty good and the colour is a good match for the other blacks in the interior. I did lose the 'soft touch' that is on the OEM pieces. No big loss imo. Just about everywhere that 'soft touch' finish is on the interior has not stood the test of time, it just gets sticky and starts to peel away.  

The top sections are trickier. No one quite knows what the paint code of the original titanshadow trim is. A friend was able to tell me that GM8573 is a pretty good match, so that's what I went with. 

It seems to be a pretty good match, but I don't have any new OEM pieces to compare it to atm so I will report back. Really stoked on how well these came out and will be a big upgrade when they replace the old stuff. I didn't get the dash trim out of the wrecked car because someone had replaced it with some fake carbon rubbish, but fortunately all the dash trim pieces and the gear selector surround are all available for super cheap from schmiedmann. They are ordered but probably a few weeks out. I'm just hoping the paint match on the handles is close enough that it won't be too obvious, not sure what plan B will be if they are way off. 

In the meantime the car is looking better than ever, but the to-do list is ever growing. There is definitely something sexy about an E46 M3 on square 18s...

@displayname Definitely looking forward to the seats going in. Unfortunately the breykrause brackets are delayed until about mid september, so waiting on those. Once they're in Ill get some glamour shots of the interior almost looking put together. 

Purple tag rack is a lower ratio and a higher rack rate than the stock rack. 3 turns lock to lock compared to 3.2 IIRC on the stock rack. Actual driving difference is negligible imo, but I was able to get the rack for about $200 so thought I would give it a shot. 

Finally have some time to make a thread for my M3. I won't backdate the stuff I've already done on here because there is too much and not all of it is very well documented (list is below though), but I might as well make a thread to put all the dumb stuff I waste away my weekends doing. Bought the M3 in July 2019, never intended to get as carried away with it as I did but that's what happens I suppose. 

I was always a huge fan of the M-Texture interior prior to owning my M3 but I was not very involved in the M3 market, and assumed that there were none or very few in NZ. I purchased my car not knowing it was actually a factory F2AT car that had been retrimmed to black leather, and when I found out I became a little obsessive over returning it to that spec. That has been the most consuming project of this car, with the engine rebuild being a close second. 

Main list of things that have been done to the car is below:

Engine:

• Fully rebuilt by Kayne Barrie to OE Spec
• New OE piston rings/hone/main bearings/rod bearings/injectors/rebuilt head/all gaskets replaced/bunch of other ancillary stuff done at the same time
• Vanos rebuilt with complete Beisan kit - seals/anti-rattle kit/oil pump disc/timing chain tensioner
• Rogue Engineering updated high pressure vanos line
• CSL style carbon airbox - running off OE CSL engine management with Kassel MAP Sensor

Suspension/Steering/Trans:

• Ohlins road & track coilovers
• Ground Control street camber plates
• Eibach rear control arms
• Purple tag steering rack
• CMP solid steering coupler
• Fresh OE clutch/flywheel/bushings/etc

Body/Chassis:

• Status Gruppe CSL bootlid - Really good fitment, as close to OE as I've seen
• Status Gruppe CSL diffuser - The opposite of good fitment. Rubbish. Waiting for a karbonius/Mile End diffuser to become available
• Complete CMP topside subframe kit with front mount extension and underside plates. 
• OEM facelift tail light conversion
• IR>RF conversion - Much better range remote key

Wheels:

• Style 260M square set (18x9.5 ET23)
• Michelin PS4S 255/40/18 square
• TMS 75mm stud kit 

Interior:

• Factory spec M-texture interior
• Recaro Pole Position ABE's debadged and trimmed in M-texture
• Brey Krause brackets on factory E46 manual sliders
• Alcantara shifter+boot/e-brake+boot
• MirrorJohn redesigned mirror glass (Doesn't crack and leak)

Part# is 36136781150 according to realoem. 

Genuine BMW part:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-lug-bolt-36131126191-36131126192

Rein OE Part:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-lug-bolt-36131126191

7 hours ago, m325i said:

That oxford green on cinnamon... hnnggg thats a nice spec. Wish we had one in this colour in NZ. 

Newest acquisition: 

Recaro Pole Position ABE's de-badged and trimmed in M texture to match. These will do nicely... Breykrause brackets on their way to mount to a set of OEM manual sliders.

Might just be good luck, but I have multiple times ordered stuff over $1000 and have yet to be stung for import duties once...

@godmars_snakly311 This was linked earlier in the thread. You'd be really hard pressed the find an E46 M3 without a small repair somewhere on it. Depends how obvious it is. Mine definitely has it's fair share of battle scars. 

Will be interesting to see where these 2 end up in NZ. 

Unfortunately these are somewhat desirable because they can be retrofit to prefacelift cars and are not the same on sedans/wagons/verts. Best bet is probably to buy new if they are needed for a wof unfortunately or you might be looking for a while. 

They do come up in the states for sale but half the time sellers don't want to ship internationally and when they do it ends up costing 3/4 of a new set anyway. ymmv

Depends what you want done. Had my RACP done with the complete topmount CMP subframe kit at @HELLBM recently and super happy, underside plates done there too but a few years ago. Might be a few shops around the place that do underside plates but Ray's guys have done a decent chunk of the M3's running around NZ and I think Sam is getting sick of doing them!

Can't speak for where to go for other maintenance as I do everything else myself. 

Still looking for a trim set for an E46 Coupe/M3 if anyone has any lying around. This includes dash trim + front and rear armrests,  though I will consider just the armrests. Not too worried about condition or colour as I will likely repaint them. 

19 hours ago, leichtbau said:

Might I suggest colour matching the shells to the colour of the car, ala various Porsche RS Pole Positions?

Don't give me any more expensive ideas, I have enough of those 🙄... 

Oh yeah, this thing is good... Fixed the alignment a little so pretty close to no rubbing. Probably still needs to be slightly higher front and rear. Waiting on some strut spacers for the Ohlins so I don't have to preload the spring quite so much on the front before I get a proper alignment. For now I've just gotta hope the driveway measured camber and toe will suffice. 

I also accidentally ordered a set or recaro pole position ABE's which I've decided will get trimmed in m-texture to match as well. Oops, man I really need to take a break from spending on this thing.

14 minutes ago, M3AN said:

I can't imagine a real world situation where any of that is relevant on the street. If you've spec'd for the track and that's where you'll spend your time then perhaps.

Better turn in grip not a perk on the street? News to me. As with anything, comes down to personal preference and what kind of driving experience you are looking for. These days, this is a weekend car that gets smashed around every time I drive it, so I want something that's a bit more involved and fun. If I was doing a daily commute in this, then yes a larger front section tyre would be a poor choice probably. Added benefit of being able to swap the tyres front to rear is nice for a road car as well. 

14 minutes ago, M3AN said:

I didn't realise that was a thing for the e46 M3... interesting. Does that mean the even tighter Z3 rack is also an option?

As far as I know, yes. 

13 minutes ago, M3AN said:

I'm not sure a ~330hp car that weighs less than 1600kg's justifies a 255 up front, I think that will end up being a compromise on handling.

Potentially. 255 square is actually on the smaller end for what is common. M3's that see track use have even been known to run 285 square. 265 being the most common square setup tyre. 

There is definitely tradeoffs for running the larger tyre in the front such as reduced steering feel and increased tramlining. Steering feel is offset somewhat by running a purple tag rack and a solid steering coupler in my case. The tramlining felt no different driving around today than my stock 235 tyres on my style 67s. Upside of the larger tyre is way more turn in and pushing the grip balance of the car forward for a bit more oversteer bias. Swings and roundabouts. 

As for whether it is a compromise or not. That is subjective, hence why I thought I'd try it out. Happy to report back 😁

17 minutes ago, leichtbau said:

@Harper does this mean there's a set of x8.5" fronts floating about?

Unfortunately not. Bought four rears brand new via ECS, when they were on a silly clearance from BMW and cost me peanuts. Kicking myself for not just grabbing 2 fronts as well for the option of a staggered setup though...

3 minutes ago, M3AN said:

What took you in that direction? 🤔

Tyre shortage meant 265/35/18 was ~6 months out for PS4S, 255/40/18 is the OE rear size, thought the taller sidewall would be nice, bit less camber required on the front. Lots of reasons really. Downside is that it's maybe a little small in the rear. But the car only sees street use so its hardly under gripped for that use case. 

Wheels on. Car is filthy and camera lens is broken on my phone so the photos are a bit shite but you get the idea.

Square set of brand new Style 260M's in reflex silver. Michelin PS4S's 255/40/18 all round. Photos don't quite do it justice, looks mega. Need to dial the alignment in a little more, still getting a slight rub under compression on the front right so probably going to raise it + a little more camber. Been a really rough few weeks so this has definitely put a smile on my face

15 hours ago, Ghost Chip said:

Never knew I’d fall in love with a door card

Yep its a real special interior. Probably my favourite thing about the car and I'm quite obsessive about it. Finding out production numbers/hunting down what remains of the original m tex cars in NZ etc. Mine was one of the few factory specced but was retrimmed (poorly) in black leather shortly after being imported to NZ. I have no idea why anyone would do such a thing. But when I discovered I committed to spending far too much money restoring it to original. Only thing I have yet to source is the rear seat.

32 minutes ago, Simca said:

I have read through all the replies and googled my heart out can someone please explain what M tex means?

short for M-Texture Alcantara Interior. Rare interior option available for E46 M3 coupes. Also was an option for E46 clubsport but only on the seats I believe. It is just a neat perforated alcantara layered fabric that was an option in place of the leather on the door cards and the leather inserts on the seats. Photo of my M texture door cards for reference:

Fitted, nothing better than fresh M-texture. In desperate need of some trim to replace my silver junk now though...

Ordered an exciting package out of Germany over the weekend which should be here in 3 weeks, pilot sport 4S's arriving this week or early next, this car might finally start to actually take shape soon.

7 minutes ago, Gaz said:

Na its the same one

Doesn't appear to be. Different wheels, different rear valence, different model year, different nav system, different japanese plate.