My E46 M3 coupe. SOLD! :-( 18/7/14

[bss325i]

Its about time i started a thread about my current daily car so here it is but before i move on to how and why i came to purchase this particular M3, here is a link to my introduction to this forum to give you a bit of an insight into my previous cars and why i decided to buy an E46 M3.

http://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/showthread.php?t=64615

The car it self was a bit of a compromise as i was intent on getting an Individual car and being quite strict on what spec i wanted was making my choice of cars restricted so when this manual coupe with all the options i wanted in a satisfactory condition turned up all be it in a non individual colour combo of carbon black with kiwi i decided to go with it.

I ended up travelling quite far but it was the right car an the deal was right.

Here is a pic from the advert,



Now, as the car wasn't an individual what also appealed in its favour was the CSL alloy wheels as this was one of the things i would have put on the car if it didnt have them!



After closer inspection it became obvious that they were sadly replicas and this wouldnt do! I managed to negotiate them being changed for a set of freshly refurbished OEM 19's with virtually new M3 contisports.

The day i picked it up, just before the 330 odd mile drive home!



So, a bit more about the car!

BMW spec list,

Option order
302 ALARM SYSTEM
313 EXTERIOR MIRROR PACKAGE
428 WARNING TRIANGLE
441 SMOKERS PACKAGE
473 ARMREST, FRONT
490 SEAT BACK WIDTH ADJUSTMENT
494 SEAT HEATING F DRIVER/FRONT PASSENGER
495 3. HEADREST REAR CENTRE
502 HEADLIGHT WASHER SYSTEM
508 PARK DISTANCE CONTROL (PDC)
521 RAIN SENSOR
522 XENON LIGHT
601 TV FUNCTION
609 NAVIGATION SYSTEM PROFESSIONAL
644 PREP. FOR. MOB. PH. BLUET. INTERF.
650 CD PLAYER
674 HIFI LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM HARMAN KARDON
692 CD CHANGER I-BUS PREPARATION
792 M LT/ALY WHEELS DOUBLE SPOKE 67, 19"
812 ENGLAND VERSION
850 ADD FUEL TANK FILLING FOR EXPORT
863 EUROPE/DEALER DIRECTORY
877 DELETION CROSS-OVER OPERATION
880 ENGLISH / ON-BOARD DOCUMENTATION
8SM VIN, VISIBLE FROM OUTSIDE
8SP COP CONTROL
946 CONSIDERATION OF PRICE DEPENDENCY
9AA EXTERNAL SKIN PROTECTION

Option standard
210 DYNAMIC STABILITY CONTROL (DSC)
249 MULTI-FUNCTION FOR STEERING WHEEL
431 INTERIOR RR VW MIRROR W AUT ANTI-D
459 SEAT ADJUSTM., ELECTR. W. MEMORY
520 FOGLIGHTS
534 AUTOMATIC AIR CONDITIONING
550 ON-BOARD COMPUTER
710 M LEATHER STEERING WHEEL
775 INDIVIDUAL ROOF-LINING ANTHRACITE
785 WHITE DIRECTION INDICATOR LIGHTS
853 LANGUAGE VERSION ENGLISH

Its a 3 owner car originally sold new by Harry Fairbain in Glasgow and only remained up there for a year thankfully before ending up at the other end of the country in the Exeter area with its second owner.
I think it was sold as an AUC by Westerly Exeter and it still wears a pair of Westerly plates.
The third owner came from the Chelmsford area of Essex and its with this owner it received some changes.

The car sits on eibach springs (bonus!) its been remapped by Evolve (double bonus!) and had the CSL reps all done by the Essex owner.

The car also has plenty of history with all the old MOT's, lots of bills and it had mostly BMWSH apart from the last two services done by a BMW specialist in Essex (more on that later!).

Interestingly, when it was with its second owner down in Exeter it had the differential and the front wheel bearings replaced under manufacturers warranty within a short space of time.
I can only assume that there was a bearing noise complaint and they replaced the front wheel bearings first (through poor diagnosis) and then the differential next to cure the noise. Either that or they both genuinely failed but regardless of what happened, it had brand new ones of those parts fitted at approx 24k so another bonus.

Pretty much a week after i picked up the car, i spotted a set of genuine CSL wheels (not CS) on ebay for a bargain price so one friday straight after work i made the treck up to Leicester from London which was fun with some friday peak time dramas on the M1 but it was worth it as the wheels were uncracked and buckle free upon inspection.
I was taking no chances as ive been bitten in the past with second hand wheels so a jacked my car up and removed one of the front wheels to check all four of the CSL's. the deal was done and off i went.

Monday after work they were fitted along with some 235/35/19 Conti's on the front to work with the wider rims.

Much better!



More to follow!:)

[jimbom30cab]

Subscribed m3 daily, some people get all the luck! Very nice too.

[bss325i]

Ok, for some strange reason the car was fitted with some aftermarket bluetooth device that didnt work very well but what made it strange is that the car has factory bluetooth which works perfectly!







As you can see, a load of unnecessary wiring mess that was removed and launched in the bin!:)

At the same time an Intravee II and KCA 420i was added after wining them on ebay for a bargain price. Also unexpectedly as there was no mention of it in the ebay ad was an Intravee switch which will be used later on down the line with some other Alpine Ai net units like a DAB tuner and possibly a PXA H100 DSP unit.

Next up was an Inspection 2 service!

Please excuse the minging engine bay, it looked like it had never been cleaned!



Now as mentioned earlier on, the last two services done on my car were an inspection 2 and then an oil service by these guys,

http://www.smoothtune.co.uk/

So according to the service book, the valve clearances were last done at approx 49000 miles and at the time i did the inspection 2 back in February the car had covered approx 78000 miles and when i check pretty much all were out of spec one of them by 0.07mm!

What was more concerning was this!





Nice! Did an independent BMW specialist really use a Halfords filter?!

After the inspection 2 using all Genuine BMW parts and the correct Castrol oils, i reset the adaptions and with the valve clearances set correct, new plugs and filters it ran so much smother, especially lower down the revs.

[Nobby_N]

Now thats a nice m3

[bss325i]

Is the BT controller part of a Parrot system?

It was from this company,

http://www.my-io.com/

Now thats a nice m3

Thank you.

[bss325i]

Forgot to add, during the inspection 2 i replaced the Vanos filter as i doubt thats ever been done!





One of those O-rings was £5! Bloody rip off considering O-rings can be had for pence but for peace of mind on a critical part like the vanos i didnt bother to chance it.

[bss325i]

Time for another update.

Not long after i bought the car, i bought a gear shift surround trim panel from fellow cutter Nexus66 as my original titanium one has a weird looking reaction around the window switches.



Much better although a new gear knob is on the cards, the non illuminated clubsport one that was in the car is letting the side down a bit so i think an OEM illuminated one is on the cards.




Now on to a more important matter!

E46's are now getting to that age where corrosion can start, especially in a few common places that dont get cleaned often enough.

On my car, there were only two places that had started, one obvious visible place and one not so obvious or visible (yet!) place.

The first is an area that's beginning to be quite common on E46's with age now and that the very front of the sill and the bottom of the front wing.

Here,



and here,



And this is the cause! A build up of mud/crap behind the wheel arch splash shield.



The other place is another area i'm beginning to see a lot of but an area that rarely gets checked and cleaned if at all!
Behind black plastic covers for the door catch is another place dirt and grime can build up and as its not completely washed away it can start to corrode the area between the catch and panel and if left to long will actually perforate the metal.
Regular cleaning of this area is a must, so pop those covers off!





Now as my car was built and registered in april 2005, it has the 12 year anti corrosion warranty and conveniently we have a very good bodyshop under the same roof as the service department that i work in.
Pictures were taken, the claim submitted and authorised so work could begin!
I did the strip myself during its time in the workshop for the inspection 2 i did and then sent it over to the bodyshop for the removal of the rust and repainting.
I also had the front bumper painted at the same time as i stupidly caught the bottom of it on a high kerb when parking.

Front end stripped.



And over in the body shop.



Sill ends repaired.





And primed.



I forgot to get any pictures with the repairs completed but they are now as new and both the labels, tyre pressure and passenger airbag warning, were replaced with new.

Both outer and inner wings were thoroughly cleaned and waxoiled and the the splash gaurds were also cleaned up before the whole front end was built up.

More to follow!

[bss325i]

Some pics of how it is now.









Need to do something with these but im undecided as what to do, clean them up and keep them or replace with the bigger tips that some people have done. The jury's out on that one.



The paint is in desperate need of correction.



And some more Kiwi goodness!

[darren_mk]

Nice car!

Great spec, just missing a sunroof and rear blind?

[bss325i]

Nice car!

Great spec, just missing a sunroof and rear blind?

Thank you! I purposely didnt want a car with a sun roof, as for the rear blind..........

[bss325i]

Another small update.

Last weekend i sold my E39 540i M sport saloon that the mrs uses to ferry the kids about in and i managed to convince her to have a touring after much protest about not driving an estate car with them being "too long" and "old man'ish"!:bh:

Well a very nice E46 330i M sport touring was bought and now she loves it! Go figure?!

Anyway, what relevance does this have i hear you say?! The touring had recently had quite a bit of money spent on it on various common wear and tear items and general up keep but one thing that had been done was something i was going to get done quite soon for the M3, and that was a retrimmed steering wheel by Royal steering wheels with perforated sides! Bonus!:D

This was swiftly swapped over into the M3 and my original wheel into the touring which to be fair was in very good nick for one which has done over 80k.

But, you cant beat fresh nappa leather!



Now, as previously mentioned my M3 had a club sport gear knob fitted which was quite worn and letting the side down. Now with a fresh steering wheel it was even more of a pressing matter to get it replaced and i had mentioned replacing it with a brand new OEM M3 gear knob but i kind of like the feel of the weighted club sport one and it was not masking a worn gear linkage as the shift knuckle and nylon bush replaced by previous owner.

I noticed on the forum that an F10 M5 uses the same weighted club sport style knob but also had the benefit of an all in one gaiter and is also illuminated like the OEM one. Win win!



The illumination also has the benefit of being an sharper light and a better colour match the the dash lighting than the OEM one IMO.



Nothing beats the tactile feel of fresh leather which helps to make the car feel that bit fresher, younger.

[bss325i]

Time for another update.

Anyone that knows me will know i have a penchant for highly optioned cars and if they don't have the options i want, i fit them!

My M3 had most of the options spec'd when new that i wanted and as per my first post on this thread, i was quite specific in what i wanted in an E46 M3 when looking.
Now, as with a lot of things compromise has to be made, part of which the car not being an individual car and also not having a must have option for me, a rear blind!

I new that this was an easy retro fit unlike other options i wanted, Nav for example so it was not the end of the world if the car didn't have the blind.
After searching ebay for about 6 months one was found for a reasonable price so a deal was done and it was mine.



As can be seen it had faded to purple like most E46 parcel shelves do with age so some black dye was ordered and the resulting application was satisfactory enough not to order a new shelf.

Stripped and dyed.



And tested all ok!



Upon removal of my existing shelf i was greeted with this! Yes tennis balls!



Obviously the previous owner must have pushed the HK to its limits listening to some "banging tunes init" so used the balls to stop the shelf vibrating to the "sick bass":roflmao:

So, with the shelf installed it was time to hit the other end of the operation, ie the switch. HVAC panel and centre console with arm rest all stripped out for the wiring to be run.



It doesn't get any simpler really as there are only two wires as can be seen in the diagram bellow.



So wiring routed with the body loom along the sill up the transmission tunnel to the plug behind the switch panel. I had a spare new twisted pair of wires in the correct gauge and with the correct pins on each end to terminate them in their respective locations. The wiring was shortened as it came in a set length so cut section out, solder and heat shrink, job jobbed.
As you can see in the pic they are orange wires one with a yellow tracer. Those of you who can read BMW wiring diagrams will realise that the factory wires for the blind are yellow and white so i allocated the orange with yellow tracer wire to the pins that were meant to be yellow.



As mentioned, correct pins.



Terminated!



Its a well known issue that the interior plastics on E46's are susceptible to scratches on the rubberish like coating they have and mine like many others was plagued with this issue in the common places, see below!







I was also in need of a fully populated switch pack just for one bloody button, the blind button! Fruitless searches on here and ebay meant nothing was found so, along with the scractch business, a very expensive pile of boxes full of plastic was ordered!



Mmmmmmm! Fresh plastic!



And the result was this, new centre console, new cup holder and coin holder retro fit, new fully populated switch pack and new ashtray and HVAC panel support.





Much better!

[darren_mk]

Class!

I love when there 'fully populated'

[leeparkes]

I like it not sure on the colour of the leather though.

Welcome back btw.

[pacerpete]

Paedotastic ! I bet Soni, is stuck to his sheets !


PS ; It would make a good breaker !

[SteSE]

You dog

[retroboyo]

Nice looking car

[ImysE30]

Nice M3

Juts needs some tints and angle eyes now

[bss325i]

Thanks guys.

Lee, the interior is very much a marmite colour and is quite rare but i like it!

Imy, you know me better than that!

[pony]

Best thread on here.

I got questions.

So to regularly prevent rust behind the black plastic covers by the door catches just pop these off and clean periodically ? What about the metal catch behind the covers do they need removing ? How often should these plastic covers be popped off and cleaned ?

I speed read the whole thread so will read properly later but did u have 2 new front wings ?

Why did they use filler on the front sills ? Was there no alternative option ? Does using filler devalue the car ? Was there no other replacement options via BMW ?

How long did your take for you to get your warranty claim approved ?

Btw once your warranty claim is approved by BMW UK can u take it to any BMW Dealer of your choosing (WITHOUT having to submit another claim and waiting process) or just the one where u originally took it ?

Also with all that paintwork does it make the interior dusty or filthy even though they have done their best to cover it up?

Sorry about the list of questions and going slightly off topic.

[Fal_325i]

Very nice Barry, is this one of SJ Specialists cars?, they seem to have a number of M3's in stock at any given time, not to mention some other serious motors.

[bss325i]

Thanks Fal, yes I bought it from SJ.

Pony you must be seeing things as there is no filler or pics of it.

And no I did not replace the wings.

[capri_rob]

Superb work baz as always

I bet thats the only time you've ever had a Halfords air filter in your hands

[mcbonio]

Lovely chariot Baz.!

[DanThe]

Was that nearly 30k miles without an airfilter change?
Rob, at least halfrauds air filters come in a box

Looks like its in good order Barry

Nice cup holders btw

[Andyboy]

That's a really nice car. It's well worth putting time and effort into these now, because they're mostly turning into the typical E46 shitbox. I'd be surprised if it isn't worth the same as you paid in another 5 years.
A mate has a perfect CSL with just 4000 miles on the clock. He paid 35 bags for it in 2008, he's been offered 45 for it already and he's not the type to brag - he does regret selling his perfect, concours Sport Evo for 20 grand to pay for it though!

[bss325i]

Why thank you Mr E46 hater!

Agreed a lot of them are on a downward spiral ending up with cheap tyres, cheap coiloverz and on the register. There are still owners out there looking after them though and on the gutterz forum is certainly a mixed bag of people some of which spend the money required to keep them nice, people that modify them to a high standard using quality parts and people with Nagkangs, BC coiloverz and anal eyes.

I doubt that mine will be worth what i paid for it in 5 years time as the miles on mine is going up steadily and as mine is a long term proposition it will be quite high come 5 years.
I would like to see if i can hit 200k with out any major issues, i know of one with that sort of mileage and another with about 180k still going strong.

[bss325i]

For those of you who have followed this thread from the start, you may know that when bought the car it came with a freshly refurbished set of OEM 19's and virtually new Continental M3 tyres and you will also know that they were soon replaced with a genuine set of CSL's.
As most of you will know the CSL rears are the same size as the OEM 19's at 9.5J and the fronts are half inch wider at 8.5J as opposed to the OEM 19's at 8J.
This lead me to think that the existing 255 rear tyres could be reused on the CSL's and although the existing 225's would have stretched to fit the 8.5J's i didn't want to do this so some 235's were needed for the front.
I decided that as the existing rears had partly worn and that you cant get Continental M3's in 235, a pair of part worn 235's were the best route to take as they should reach the wear limits at around the same time and it would also give me a chance to sample a choice of tyre (on the front at least) i was contemplating buying as a full set when the existing rears and soon to be purchased part worn fronts had worn out.

That tyre happened to be the Continental Sport contact 5P.

I tried many types and brands of tyres on my own cars and customers cars and rate Continental very highly.
The E30, a car which is very tyre sensitive due to its camber changing semi trailing arm rear suspension, of which a couple of mine (including the S50 powered one) have been run on Sport contact 2's for some time which have included wet and dry road use, Ring trips and the odd track day in the UK. I cant rate these tyres highly enough for them!

I have also used their successor, the Sport contact 3's on various other cars of mine, E46's 330's, E34 Alpina B10 and a couple of E39's and again have nothing but praise for them wet or dry.

So that leads us to the Sport contact 5P.

http://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/www/ ... ct-5p.html

I sourced a pair of part worn 235/35/19 5P's to try on the front and as with the others, i was impressed enough to go with a set of four when the existing Continental M3's on the rear and 5P's on the front were toast.



Forgot to take pic of rears!:(

Obviously when ordering the set of four new ones, CSL sizes were spec'd for the front again as well as the rear this time so we now have the correct 235/35/19 and 265/30/19 on the car and a thousand or so miles in, i'm as happy as a pig in sh*t!:)

[leeparkes]

Im a fan of Continentals, im running the sport contact 2's on the E30 now and im well pleased with them.
Good choice.

[pony]

When these wear out go and get a brand new set of Michelin Pilot Super Sports all round. I have heard nothing but great reviews about them. Also you can use that BMW Car Club GB offer to save yourself money. I will also be hopefully getting these tyres when mine (eventually) wear out

[bss325i]

Soni, i like my contis.

I also dont need to use the BMWCC discount as i would get them even cheaper as i have a contact for tyres.

I only paid £500 for all four of the contis above. Go price them up new!

[TPS]

This is a great thread, worth following

[Speedtouch]

bss325i wrote:

So according to the service book, the valve clearances were last done at approx 49000 miles and at the time i did the inspection 2 back in February the car had covered approx 78000 miles and when i check pretty much all were out of spec one of them by 0.07mm!

OMG!!! Not 2.755 thou out of spec.! Despicable!!

[bss325i]

bss325i wrote:

So according to the service book, the valve clearances were last done at approx 49000 miles and at the time i did the inspection 2 back in February the car had covered approx 78000 miles and when i check pretty much all were out of spec one of them by 0.07mm!

OMG!!! Not 2.755 thou out of spec.! Despicable!!

It bloody was when they run .18-.23mm inlet and exhaust .28-.33mm!

Its also scary how many BMW specialists say "they dont ever need doing"