Harper's M-Texture E46 M3

[Harper 464]

Pulled apart the whole power steering system last weekend to see what the damage was. The power steering reservoir had a bunch of plastic from the cap in the filter and when I pulled the pump out there was bits of plastic inside the pump, as well as pretty obvious scoring on a lot of the rotating surfaces. I think it's fair to say the pump is shot. I thought maybe the reservoir might not have been OEM hence why it melted but it is the OE ZF piece so it's very strange.

 

 

 

Fortunately there was an S54 power steering pump on trade me for $125 which was pretty lucky so I grabbed that and it appears to be pretty much perfect inside. I was worried I would have to bite the bullet on a new PS pump from which was looking closer to $600. I did order a full set of new lines since mine were already weeping and it's something I've been meaning to do for a long time but put off since they aren't cheap. All in I was at just under 800 dollars for all the replacement high pressure lines, hoses and reservoir, not including the second hand pump. Ouch. 

As far as I can tell there is nothing that 'failed' that would have caused the fluid to boil. No blockages in the cooling line, none of the high pressure lines had collapsed or failed. Really seems like the fluid just got too hot which seems bizarre. There doesn't seem to be any obvious upgrade options for the cooler line which seems like the most obvious solution. It seems like the E9X cars have a beefed up cooler with more fins but they are a totally different design so fitting one to the existing would require some custom mounting. Doable but not very elegant. If anyone knows of something to upgrade there let me know. 

 

In other news unrelated to the M3, I picked up something pretty cool for my 'daily driver' alfa 156 2.5 V6.

The 3.0L V6 from an alfa 166 is pretty much plug and play with the 156 since they are essentially the exact same engine just bored out and are a nice upgrade for them. They run off the same ECU and map, all that swaps over is the bigger injectors from the 3.0L and that's about it. A 3.0L 166 came up at a scrap yard so I thought I'd go check it out. That weekend I was pulling it lol. Unfortunately someone had already snagged the larger intake runners so I'll have to use the 2.5 ones which will choke the motor a bit but I'll just have to keep an eye out for a set. I hadn't really intended on taking the engine because it's meant to be a daily driver car but when I saw the window sticker on the car saying it had done 75,000km as of mid 2020 I figured I would just grab it.

Couple hours later I now have an engine sitting in my garage. I can't believe how good the condition of the engine is. It looks brand new. 

The internals are perfect as well. The original honing on the bores looks untouched which is hard to get a photo of but the crosshatching is perfect.

 

 

I will do a full gasket set, replace the rod bearings and a few other parts that are easy to get to since I have it all apart already and they aren't so expensive. But I'm pretty blown away with the condition since it cost me less than 300 dollars. Love it when a daily driver turns into another project... But it should be pretty cool when it's swapped over.

Edited June 18, 2022 by Harper

[M3AN 4015]

That PS situation is quite astonishing. If there's nothing wrong with the system then it might simply be a consequence of track time plus your aggressive camber and (effective) offsets, that's a lot of extra steering load.

Steal on the pump, good score!

[Kees 581]

Saw that 166 at Zebra this week, that 3.0L V6 is a great score! Will be awesome once its in the 156. 

[Harper 464]

2 hours ago, M3AN said:

That PS situation is quite astonishing. If there's nothing wrong with the system then it might simply be a consequence of track time plus your aggressive camber and (effective) offsets, that's a lot of extra steering load.

Steal on the pump, good score!

There's no doubt those things increase load on the power steering system, but it's also not an uncommon setup for a dual duty e46. If anything most run square 265 or larger instead of the 255s that I'm running. 

Not sure whether to attempt to upgrade the cooling loop or just put it back together as is with new parts and hope for the best. It might just have been that the last few turns at Taupo before the corner that it failed on were too tight/low speed but you'd think failures would be more common doing things like autocross if that were the case. 

[Cement 782]

No input of value from me ... just high five to my V6 brother on Bimmersport 🖐️

Also looks like your kitchen backs onto your garage !! Much support.

[Harper 464]

Put the car back together a couple weeks ago with all new power steering parts. New high pressure lines, reservoir, fluid etc. Also pulled the second hand pump that I got off trademe for cheap apart and it was perfect inside. Got very lucky with that being for sale at exactly the same time as my car decided to fry one.

Checked all the internals

Also decided that while I had the pump apart I would modify the pressure regulator by stacking the old shim with the new one and reduce the power steering assistance by an additional 12.5% according to forums. Supposedly this would also help to keep temps slightly lower, whether or not that is true I have no idea.

Reassembled pressure regulator with the stacked shims:

Fully re-assembled pump, looked like brand new:

 

I didn't take any photos of all the refreshed power steering lines but it is nice to have all those finally replaced. They had been weeping since I had bought the car and probably long before. 

Decided I would re-dye the parcel shelf as a saw a few others do on this forum since mine was that typical faded purple that all E46's seem to get. I totally forgot to take before photos but the after is infinitely better than before. Very happy.

Everything back together:

 

Also decided I would buy the m-texture door cards Tom has had for sale for a while now. I really didn't need them but I couldn't resist. I was prepared to get some really beat up manky door cards but they were in much better condition than I initially thought and couldn't believe how well they cleaned up. Considering they were $100 for the full set front and rear I'm stoked. 

Once I cleaned the alcantara part of the door card up they were in super good condition. Best $100 dollars I've spent in recent memory, even though these are pretty much just going to go into storage. The vinyl on them is pretty beat up so eventually I'll either have it repaired or swap the inserts into a cleaner set of vinyl cards.

Couple close-up shots comparing the reproduction fabric from my bucket seats to OEM:

 

 

Not sure what it is about the fabric but I just have an obsession for it. Has to be one of BMW's coolest interior options imo.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Harper

[M3AN 4015]

Good luck and work on the pump, well done on all accounts.

A hundy is very reasonable for those door cards, I recall the original offer was some way off that so good score!

[Sammo 2476]

Definitely  one of BMWs best ever fabric 

[Harper 464]

Mostly boring stuff recently. But might as well add it to the log. Previously the car had a UUC evo3 short shifter. I hated it 90% of the time because the shift effort was way too high and made the gearbox feel like a pig to drive especially when cold. But admittedly it was super nice when driving the car closer to the limit since a lot of the resistance between gears disappears and you get a nice tactile short throw. Ultimately I opted to return to a fully OEM setup. I thought about going with the AS SSK with a OEM throw and just use their redesigned linkage but that would have cost something like $700 once shipped and everything and OEM was less than half that via Schmiedmann.

At the same time replaced every bushing and wear part in the linkage. What a huge upgrade. The throw feels like a perfect length, shift effort is perfect. Everyone who complains that these shifters are sloppy are wrong, the bushings are probably just knackered. The gear change is super tactile and I have zero complaints, other than the fact that the install is a nightmare and took me something ridiculous like 5-6 hours. 

Other job I finally crossed off the list was getting a second key. Since getting the car I have only had a single manual key. First tried through BMW but apparently they no longer stock remote keys for the E46 so I went via ebay and got a shell incl transponder and chip for $20. Once it got here I quickly realised that it wouldn't work since my car is a jap import with the dreaded IR key. I remember the IR on my old E46 sedan was horrible so I wasn't going to have that on this car and decided I would convert it to RF.

Picked up a 433mhz FZV antenna from a scrap car for 10 dollars with the connector needed and bought some additional wire to run to the GM5/fuse box.

Old Unit:

New unit:

Ran the new wire through to the GM5 and fusebox and tapped into the relevant lines. Wiring isn't really my thing but I tried to make it as tidy as possible and run it with all the existing loom. Photo below was just how I had it set up while I was testing to make sure I had the right wires, I did tidy it up after.

I did get stuck here for a couple hours when I couldn't get the key to pair but realised after banging my head against the wall that I had put one of the fuses in the wrong place so none of the central locking system was working at all. As soon as I put that fuse back it paired up no problem and the key was remotely locking/unlocking. Had the key cut locally and had Tom code it to the EWS. 

All in, I realised the car was IR on Saturday and by Monday I had a fully functional key so it is a pretty easy conversion and well worth it. Not to mention the key itself was $20 from ebay, AFZ antenna $10, wiring $10, and key cutting was $40. Grand total of $80 when the original quote from BMW that I got a year ago was $5XX or so. 

 

That last thing I've been doing recently is swapping the cheap mtexture door cards onto a clean set of vinyls. The originals were in rough condition with rips and scuffs all over them. They were probably repairable but I don't have a vinyl person I trust to do them properly and coupe doorcards are still relatively available. Found a good condition set from Brent at BM World which I'm using as donors. 

First OEM insert removed:

And here it is in place on the new donor vinyl section:

Super time consuming drilling out the plastic welds and fixing the panel in place but easy enough and I'm happy with the results. These are in good enough condition that I'll probably end up using them instead of the ones in my car. 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Harper

[Harper 464]

Christmas came early

Already have a CSL airbox on my car but its the old V1 Geoff Steel box, so decided to bite the bullet and get the karbonius. The newer Geoff Steel box is okay and fine functionally but I wanted the best which seems to be karb by a long shot, snorkel piece is still on the way, won't arrive until next year. Cannot believe the quality of this thing. Everyone says they are perfect but photos don't do them justice, they are insane. Can't find a single imperfection in the weave or clear coat. Feels like it doesn't even belong on my old M3, looks like it belongs on a Ferrari with the quality of the carbon. Not a cheap exercise though... Ouch. 

Car got a much needed wash today too, still cleans up okay.

 

Plans for the car next year as of now are:

Brake upgrade - leaning towards 996 brakes all round, mostly cause I will enjoy the project of rebuilding them/painting them etc

Diff rebuild - Racing diffs has an interesting option which replaces the clutches and has a preload bevel washer to make the diff behave more like a mechanical diff and I've never rebuilt a diff so I think it would be fun.

Solid subframe bushings - I'd do this as the same time while the rear subframe is down. CMP auto engineering out of Aus have nicely made solid bushings that correct the roll center from the car being lower, at the same time would do a bit of a rear end bushing refresh, replace all ball joints and rubber. Considering getting a set of CMP's monoball RTA bushes as well. 

MK60 ABS conversion - This is pretty unlikely to happen since it's a big job and perhaps beyond my skillset with the amount of wiring involved but it's something I'd like to eventually tackle.

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by Harper

[Harper 464]

One of them has got to go... Who wants a manual 130i?

Will probably be on trademe in the coming weeks. 

[M3AN 4015]

@Danch - you were looking for a manual 130, this is a good one IMO.

[Harper 464]

The M3 has been a bit neglected on account of needing a set of tyres and with my compact project eating up all my spare cash. Square set of 265/35 Michelin PS5s on order but I couldn't wait that long and was itching to drive it again. Took the long weekend as an opportunity to stretch it's legs and swapped my spare stock wheels with old track tires on, and took it for a blast to the coromandal for a night. 

Desperately needs an alignment, but 8k rpm with a carbon airbox does do wonders for the mental health.

Edited October 23, 2023 by Harper

[Neil McCauley 240]

When we were in 4th year at uni and needed to clear our heads, me and the flatties would do what we called "the hot lap."  Auckland - loop of the coromandel - Auckland. It was an awesome way to waste some fuel (when 96 was $1.60) and spend 8hrs listening to music with the windows down.

We're older and wiser now, and the hill from Coro airport to Matarangi is now fully sealed, but I still love blasting those roads to get to the beach house.

Is there a better colour than silver that shows just how pumped the quarters on an E46 M3 really are? None of the darker or pastel colours can match imho, and yours looks so bloody good with the 18x9.5's.

Edited October 23, 2023 by Neil McCauley

[Harper 464]

11 hours ago, Neil McCauley said:

Is there a better colour than silver that shows just how pumped the quarters on an E46 M3 really are? None of the darker or pastel colours can match imho, and yours looks so bloody good with the 18x9.5's.

I used to be a little meh on the colour, didn't dislike it but didn't love it either. But the longer I own the car the more I can't imagine any colour I'd rather have it in. It just looks right in silver, nothing else shows off the shape as well.

[Karter16 323]

On 10/23/2023 at 9:24 PM, Harper said:

and took it for a blast to the coromandal for a night. 

The Coromandel coast road is a great drive when there's not too much traffic. I like to pair it with Kawakawa Bay to Miranda road if I have time - that road really suits the E46 M3.

[Harper 464]

11 minutes ago, Karter16 said:

The Coromandel coast road is a great drive when there's not too much traffic. I like to pair it with Kawakawa Bay to Miranda road if I have time - that road really suits the E46 M3.

That's the best way for me to go anyway being out in Beachlands. The dodgy alignment and old tires meant I didn't peg it through the straights in Miranda as I usually would but the perfectly sealed twisty road through Kawakawa is what the E46 is made for. I had such a good time I'll probably go again in a few weeks with fresh tyres and alignment. 

[Karter16 323]

23 minutes ago, Harper said:

That's the best way for me to go anyway being out in Beachlands. The dodgy alignment and old tires meant I didn't peg it through the straights in Miranda as I usually would but the perfectly sealed twisty road through Kawakawa is what the E46 is made for. I had such a good time I'll probably go again in a few weeks with fresh tyres and alignment. 

ah lucky you! right on your doorstep!