Harper

My M3 was factory specced with the F2AT M-Texture interior, however as far back in the ownership of the car as I can see it has had black leather installed. I always suspected it was retrimmed due to small inconsistencies (I can't imagine what moron would retrim such a rare interior rather than just replace it with a black leather set and keep the original??). Sadly today my suspicions were confirmed. I took the door handle off the door card just to clean it and the leather had literally just been stuck overtop the original m texture fabric. After seeing this I decided to take the whole door card off and take a closer look. There were loads of signs that it had the insert removed before to be retrimmed. There were a few stickers with October 2007 dated on them which is when I assume this was done. As I plan on retrimming the whole interior back to it's original M texture anyway (already bought ~2800NZD worth of fabric) I decided to look a bit deeper and see if the entire insert still had it's original fabric. Sure enough... There was quite a lot of some kind of contact adhesive holding all the leather on so I carefully pulled away at it and eventually got the entire panel free Sadly the original material is ruined. Completely gunked up with the leftover contact adhesive. Tried everything I had to clean it up but there was no saving it. I don't know exactly how many of these were brought into NZ but I don't imagine many, such a shame to ruin a really unique and rare interior especially given the areas that weren't touched by the adhesive appeared to be in mint condition. Would have been cheaper and better looking to buy a good condition black set, not to mention saving one of <10(?) original M-tex interiors in NZ. Oh well...

@paulo Thats a good point about the reserve, will be interesting seeing what it goes for then!

@zero not any hard evidence necessarily but there is anecdotal evidence of people still getting cracking after epoxy foam and underside plates. The issue is that it does not solve the problem and just redirects the load path to the wheel arches where there are spot welds that start to pop and separate the RACP from the chassis. The biggest dissuader for me is that the epoxy foam makes it incredibly difficult to weld any cracks or solve the issue properly because it catches fire when welding and creates toxic fumes. However, it's hard to recommend a full top mount kit on a non-m when the cost of the kit + installation could eclipse the value of the car. CMP has a chassis rail plate which works quite well as a midrange option (https://cmpautoengineering.com/collections/all/products/e46-subframe-racp-to-chassis-rail-plates) in addition to underside plates.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2975843282?bof=2VsdqIap

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/m3/listing/2933188536?bof=xMbcAq70 Not something you see everyday...

This is not really true, there have been cases of 2005 M3s spinning bearings despite no signs of abuse and all of them at least show some wear at around this mileage regardless of MY. Regarding subframe, if this car has any reinforcement it will only be underside plates which has been shown to only worsen the issue as it doesn't correct the load paths and just pushes the cracking further outboard to the wheel arches. This M3 is easily 5 or 6k (realistically more) from being a preventatively maintained at which point its definitely not worth the asking.

Currently having my S54 rebuilt by Kayne Barrie. Would recommend him if he does those earlier engines. He's definitely an authority when it comes to race engines.

Best way imo is through fcpeuro, shipping is fast, price is good, lifetime warranty if you ever need to send anything back.

Missing the M3, can't wait to get it back on the road again.

Yep, was actually my dad's plate. Had it on his series 1 E-type in the 90s but held onto the plate when he sold it.

A mate of mine was the one who bought it, has loved every second with it so far. Thought the plate was a good addition considering how absurdly loud that thing is ?

@M3AN Pretty sure it's this: https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-558783-turner-e46-m3-adjustable-short-shift-kit/?pdk=AQQH. So not particularly expensive or desirable. Just another ugly junk dildo shifter.

Pulled the motor from the M3 this week preparing for a full rebuild. Was a driveway job, never pulled a motor before either so was definitely a learning experience. Tried to take as many photos as I went, but in hindsight still not enough. Generally the process was look at what's hanging on, take a photo, rip it out, bag and tag. Struggled with fitting the headers past the transmission bellhousing when lifting the motor for about 20 minutes before I realized I could just take the headers off lol. Came out no problem after that. Overall, easier than I thought. Looking forward to having a freshened up engine. Tempted to go all in and get some bigger Schrick cams while its all being done, would go well with the CSL airbox... but then again maybe my eyes are too big for my wallet.

@Cement Maybe try Ray from HellBM first? Might have some of those bits.

@leichtbau Not entirely sure whether mine was swapped or retrimmed, I can see either being true. Owned the car for about a year and only noticed the interior code a few months ago when I had a closer look at the factory options that were selected. My guess is it was probably a swap or a retrim done very early on as there is a reasonable amount of wear on the interior.

@Sammo yep been in touch with Ray, he's not interested in selling it at the moment.

Apologies if this has been done in a different thread already. For a while I've had the intention of doing a bit of an interior overhaul on my M3. Found out not long ago that my M3 was originally specced with the M-texture alcantara option, which has been discussed a lot on this forum recently, and some fool along the line of ownership replaced it with leather. I have always loved that interior before even owning my M3, and since finding that out have been motivated to do the overhaul and return it to a refurbished stock look. That fabric is available although not cheap, and it's possible the job would be more cost and more of a headache than its worth, but I'd like to get an idea of who is likely to take it on and see if I can get some quotes. Any ideas where to start?

Looks good in the photos. Interested to see what the wear on the inside is like. Very interested to see what it will go for given the mileage of these creeping up, mine included.

@Matth5 Yep, I noticed how close they were as well, just wasn't sure what to make of it. I think you're probably right. Not sure how to get those amended though.

My M3 shows an inconsistent odometer twice on carjam before my ownership. Plate is "96oohp" if anyone wants to have a look. I don't believe it is anything too sinister and happened during the previous owners time with the car, who I'm still somewhat in touch with. I don't believe the odometer has been tampered with, car is in about the right condition for its mileage and the cluster is clear. Worst case I could always talk to the previous owner about what it's from. Is it a cause for concern? Is it possible to get it corrected?

Exactly what I was looking for thanks for your help. A few of those were done when the UUC short shifter kit was put in relatively recently so I won't do them all. Hadn't thought of getting replacement gaskets and whatnot for the exhaust and replacing the transmission mounts. Appreciate it.

I'll add it to the list cheers.

The clutch in my E46 M3 is on it's way out and has been for a little while (no slipping just the bite point gradually shifting up over time.) Been budgeting and planning on replacing it since I bought the car as it's on it's original clutch at about 165,000kms. More and more I'm thinking I might do the replacement on my own just to save on costs a little (still undecided). Looking at replacing both the clutch and flywheel. I've got a small list of parts pulled together that I'm looking at replacing when I do the swap pretty soon such as, a bronze pivot pin, pilot bearing, clutch release bearing is included in clutch kit, replacement fly wheel bolts and guibo maybe? Is there anything else I should look at replacing while I've got the transmission out? Any tips or things to look out for from someone who has done it before?

All good if you're not looking to split it down further, but are you willing to sell the fuel rail separately?

Love the wheels. I'd kill for a set of gold lms on my M3 but they seem ridiculously expensive to get here. Had a company quote me 2500 per wheel.