I'm debating the notion of selling our M3 wagon. Pointing out the the negative first, it's currently at 204,000 miles, and that is still increasing.
The chassis was a CA car from 04 to 2016. It is rust free. It is also 50 state legal (including CA BAR legal). It was pretty fully optioned-- xenons, premium pack, cold weather pack, PDC, HK, etc.
I have a build journal for the car here, if you want to see my play by play:
https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...black-m3-wagon
This starts after the swap, as the swap was done by Kaiv in CA-- who has done a bunch of M3 conversions. The swap was done over 50,000 miles ago, so it's very much proven out at this point-- no teething issues/etc (this is not a project car-- it's one of our DDs that has been reasonably untouched other than maintenance). The car is dry underneath-- no oil leaks, trans fluid leaks, diff fluid leaks, etc.
Basics of the car. It's a 2004 Japan red wagon that has been 100% mechanically converted to be an M3:
-M3 engine/trans/diff
-M3 front subframe, control arms, thrust plate, etc
-M3 rear subframe, control arms, etc
-M3 MK60 DSC (with M track mode coded on)
-M3 front seats (with <20,000 total miles on them), steering wheel, cluster, ECU
-Euro OE BMW headers, euro OE BMW catted section 1, OE e46 M3 section 2 welded to e36 M3 muffler (e36 M3 muffler came with up to 321hp from BMW, so should flow plenty well, it gives the car and OE level of exhaust sound refinement, and it allows me to retain the spare tire.
-OE BMW M sport bumper-- which works perfectly with the M3 rad ducting, oil cooler ducting, intake ducting, etc.
The flip side of that specific mileage is that, as anyone who has read my e46 M3 maintenance thread knows, everything has recently been replaced. It also recently had an inspection 2:
-Cooling system was replaced 4000 miles ago (every component, all OE BMW parts)
-Belts/tensioners/idlers were replaced 4000 miles ago
-Spark plugs, TPSs, and CPSs were replaced 4000 miles ago
-diff, trans, and power steering fluid fluid were replaced 2000 miles ago (OE BMW fluids)
-valve adjustment was done 2000 miles ago (new OE BMW gaskets were used at that time)
-Fuel, engine air and cabin air filters were replaced 2000 miles ago
-clutch/flywheel/throw out bearing/pilot bearing/rear main seal were all replaced with new OE parts during the M3 conversion process-- so they all have <60,000 mileson them
-The front and rear brakes were also replaced in the last 10,000 miles-- OE pads and rotors were used for both.
-The fuel pump was replaced 20,000 miles ago.
-The alternator was replaced 20,000 miles ago.
-The engine mounts and steering guibo were replaced 10,000 miles ago
Big 3:
-Full suite of Beisan VANOS lockdown products are installed, so vanos should never fail
-The rod bearings were replaced 10,000 miles ago. All OE parts were used (bearings, bolts, gaskets).
-Subframe has BMW structural foam injected and shows no tears.
Interior:
-M3 steering wheel
-M3 shift knob
-M3 black leather seats with every option (width, lumbar), with <20,000 miles on them. Truly immaculate.
-ZHP black cube trim
-ZHP door cards
-Antracite pillars/headliner/etc
-Black carpet, dash, truck, etc
Modifications (vs a stock M3 coupe):
-OE BMW M sport bumper
-Euro e46 M3 headers/cats/tune
-17" BBS RG-Rs (17 lbs each, 8000 ton forged) with 225 front, 245 rear Michelin PS4S (about 80% of life remaining)
-Dinan stage 1 suspension (Dinan springs (have flat ride) with Koni yellows set to Dinan's settings), corner balanced using OE BMW spring pads
-Eibach sway bars with preload dialed out (adjustable end link up front, shims in the rear)
-Avin Avant 4 with wireless carplay module
-Induktiv Qi charger center console (which IMO pairs perfectly with a wireless carplay head unit)
-weathertech trunk mat
-OE BMW roof rack delete. This looks better, is quieter, lowers the COG, and lets you run the cross bars from the sedan/coupe-- which is a FAR more functional roof rack than the bars that come on the wagon in the USA. The roof rack delete kit is also NLA from BMW.
-Brey Krause R-9232 washer tank relocation kit (lets you have a washer tank on swapped cars), with OE BMW e36 washer tank.
-Morimoto Projectors-- looks stock, but vastly better light output.
Extras:
-I have e46 m3 mirrors (including new OE glass), painted Japan red, that I have have been too busy to install.
-I can include the stock wheels that came with the car, if you want them
Coding:
Everything works as if the car came from the factory with the swap. The back door sensors show up on the M3 cluster, the M track mode lights up in the cluster when you're in M track mode, etc etc. In terms of changes from "stock":
-euro tune (to go with the euro headers and cats)
-CSL warmup light values (more conservative)
-SMG shift lights (plus strobe at redline)
-M track mode enabled
-halogen highs with xenon highs, fog lights stay on with high beams
-brighter/more brake lights (that wagon brake lights kind of suck, stock-- this enables 4 rear bulbs (instead of 2) with standard braking, and strobes the brake lights for brake force display (instead of more lights)
-strobing brake force display enabled (strobes the brake lights on ABS stops so you don't get rear ended).
Issues:
-The exterior mirrors do not power adjust-- that is part of the reason I have the OE e46 M3 mirrors mentioned above (besides them looking amazing). This is a common issue on non M e46 sedans and wagons-- the ribbon cable they used on non coupes was failure prone and can't be repaired or easily replaced.
-The drivers door woofer has stopped working. This will be replaced as soon as the dust settles around here (currently selling our house, so it's madness), so it may not be an issue by the time/if someone buys this car.
-the remote functionality only works on one of the two keys
I'm thinking $38,000. I'm not sure there will be any takers at that price, as 204,000 is a lot miles for "normal" people (plus, it's not like there's a market rate I can look to). That said, it's extremely solid-- with everything recently replaced, I don't expect to do any significantly work on it till ~300,000 miles. I'm not sure I actually want to sell it... so if there's no takers at that price, I'll just keep it
I don't have any pictures specific for this thread, as while we're moving I'm storing it in my parents garage. If someone is interested, I can get pictures of anything they want to see. In the interim, some pics from my library:
IMG-1704.jpg
IMG-1699.jpg
Phone in the Qi charger:
image_22862.jpg
The chassis was a CA car from 04 to 2016. It is rust free. It is also 50 state legal (including CA BAR legal). It was pretty fully optioned-- xenons, premium pack, cold weather pack, PDC, HK, etc.
I have a build journal for the car here, if you want to see my play by play:
https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...black-m3-wagon
This starts after the swap, as the swap was done by Kaiv in CA-- who has done a bunch of M3 conversions. The swap was done over 50,000 miles ago, so it's very much proven out at this point-- no teething issues/etc (this is not a project car-- it's one of our DDs that has been reasonably untouched other than maintenance). The car is dry underneath-- no oil leaks, trans fluid leaks, diff fluid leaks, etc.
Basics of the car. It's a 2004 Japan red wagon that has been 100% mechanically converted to be an M3:
-M3 engine/trans/diff
-M3 front subframe, control arms, thrust plate, etc
-M3 rear subframe, control arms, etc
-M3 MK60 DSC (with M track mode coded on)
-M3 front seats (with <20,000 total miles on them), steering wheel, cluster, ECU
-Euro OE BMW headers, euro OE BMW catted section 1, OE e46 M3 section 2 welded to e36 M3 muffler (e36 M3 muffler came with up to 321hp from BMW, so should flow plenty well, it gives the car and OE level of exhaust sound refinement, and it allows me to retain the spare tire.
-OE BMW M sport bumper-- which works perfectly with the M3 rad ducting, oil cooler ducting, intake ducting, etc.
The flip side of that specific mileage is that, as anyone who has read my e46 M3 maintenance thread knows, everything has recently been replaced. It also recently had an inspection 2:
-Cooling system was replaced 4000 miles ago (every component, all OE BMW parts)
-Belts/tensioners/idlers were replaced 4000 miles ago
-Spark plugs, TPSs, and CPSs were replaced 4000 miles ago
-diff, trans, and power steering fluid fluid were replaced 2000 miles ago (OE BMW fluids)
-valve adjustment was done 2000 miles ago (new OE BMW gaskets were used at that time)
-Fuel, engine air and cabin air filters were replaced 2000 miles ago
-clutch/flywheel/throw out bearing/pilot bearing/rear main seal were all replaced with new OE parts during the M3 conversion process-- so they all have <60,000 mileson them
-The front and rear brakes were also replaced in the last 10,000 miles-- OE pads and rotors were used for both.
-The fuel pump was replaced 20,000 miles ago.
-The alternator was replaced 20,000 miles ago.
-The engine mounts and steering guibo were replaced 10,000 miles ago
Big 3:
-Full suite of Beisan VANOS lockdown products are installed, so vanos should never fail
-The rod bearings were replaced 10,000 miles ago. All OE parts were used (bearings, bolts, gaskets).
-Subframe has BMW structural foam injected and shows no tears.
Interior:
-M3 steering wheel
-M3 shift knob
-M3 black leather seats with every option (width, lumbar), with <20,000 miles on them. Truly immaculate.
-ZHP black cube trim
-ZHP door cards
-Antracite pillars/headliner/etc
-Black carpet, dash, truck, etc
Modifications (vs a stock M3 coupe):
-OE BMW M sport bumper
-Euro e46 M3 headers/cats/tune
-17" BBS RG-Rs (17 lbs each, 8000 ton forged) with 225 front, 245 rear Michelin PS4S (about 80% of life remaining)
-Dinan stage 1 suspension (Dinan springs (have flat ride) with Koni yellows set to Dinan's settings), corner balanced using OE BMW spring pads
-Eibach sway bars with preload dialed out (adjustable end link up front, shims in the rear)
-Avin Avant 4 with wireless carplay module
-Induktiv Qi charger center console (which IMO pairs perfectly with a wireless carplay head unit)
-weathertech trunk mat
-OE BMW roof rack delete. This looks better, is quieter, lowers the COG, and lets you run the cross bars from the sedan/coupe-- which is a FAR more functional roof rack than the bars that come on the wagon in the USA. The roof rack delete kit is also NLA from BMW.
-Brey Krause R-9232 washer tank relocation kit (lets you have a washer tank on swapped cars), with OE BMW e36 washer tank.
-Morimoto Projectors-- looks stock, but vastly better light output.
Extras:
-I have e46 m3 mirrors (including new OE glass), painted Japan red, that I have have been too busy to install.
-I can include the stock wheels that came with the car, if you want them
Coding:
Everything works as if the car came from the factory with the swap. The back door sensors show up on the M3 cluster, the M track mode lights up in the cluster when you're in M track mode, etc etc. In terms of changes from "stock":
-euro tune (to go with the euro headers and cats)
-CSL warmup light values (more conservative)
-SMG shift lights (plus strobe at redline)
-M track mode enabled
-halogen highs with xenon highs, fog lights stay on with high beams
-brighter/more brake lights (that wagon brake lights kind of suck, stock-- this enables 4 rear bulbs (instead of 2) with standard braking, and strobes the brake lights for brake force display (instead of more lights)
-strobing brake force display enabled (strobes the brake lights on ABS stops so you don't get rear ended).
Issues:
-The exterior mirrors do not power adjust-- that is part of the reason I have the OE e46 M3 mirrors mentioned above (besides them looking amazing). This is a common issue on non M e46 sedans and wagons-- the ribbon cable they used on non coupes was failure prone and can't be repaired or easily replaced.
-The drivers door woofer has stopped working. This will be replaced as soon as the dust settles around here (currently selling our house, so it's madness), so it may not be an issue by the time/if someone buys this car.
-the remote functionality only works on one of the two keys
I'm thinking $38,000. I'm not sure there will be any takers at that price, as 204,000 is a lot miles for "normal" people (plus, it's not like there's a market rate I can look to). That said, it's extremely solid-- with everything recently replaced, I don't expect to do any significantly work on it till ~300,000 miles. I'm not sure I actually want to sell it... so if there's no takers at that price, I'll just keep it
I don't have any pictures specific for this thread, as while we're moving I'm storing it in my parents garage. If someone is interested, I can get pictures of anything they want to see. In the interim, some pics from my library:
IMG-1704.jpg
IMG-1699.jpg
Phone in the Qi charger:
image_22862.jpg
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