The Start of the M-Folio w/ Too Many Pictures

[simonnim]

Another 'why did I get poly' vote here... the day I went back to OE rubber, the car felt reborn. I do understand people who want to 'try new things' but being arrogant and choosing to challenge the wealth of knowledge from people who know this 20 year old platform inside out - that's not bravery or ingenuity IMO, it's ignorance. Oh well - to each his own. I do like white cars tho...

It's not ignorance. It's different priorities.

[usdmej]

personally i like alternative builds just to see something different, 19s look best on an E46 M3 although there are lighter more track focused options at 17/18" for example


looking forward to what this build has to offer, although it does belong in the member builds forum

[Nate047]

My car came with ECS poly diff mounts, I am keeping them. I like the whine and a little bit of clunk. I can see why not everyone likes them though.

I also have the VBT DB9 kit, or rather, I have it in my garage and it will be going on my car as I put it all back together lol.

Not gonna lie, I was stubborn and went through kind of a lot to get it. I bought the calipers on eBay, and I had VBT ship the bracket, hardware and line kit to my friend in Germany, who then sent it to me. The reason they don't want to ship to the USA anymore is because of export and import tax changes after Brexit. It's more complicated and expensive for them, so there's no point for a small sale here and there. I had to pay about $50 duty and I think $100-$120 or so for shipping, total amount from the UK to Germany and then on to USA.

I went with these over the more common 996 retrofit because my car is MK20, so on paper, the bias should be marginally better with the larger piston sizes in the DB9 calipers. I also decided against the Megane RS route because of the symmetrical piston sizes and potential tapered pad wear that can come along with that. But I'm sure in the real world, any of the 3 options would be "fine" with minimal noticeable differences. At the end of the day, anyone who is a realist knows these are an improvement over stock, but not a "real" BBK.

Car looks good!

[jet_dogg]

Cool thread, shouldn't this be in the member builds subforum?

[discoelk]

Poly diff and poly subframe were fine in my ZHP from an NVH perspective. Certainly better than a loud exhaust. Solid subframe and OE are in my current M3 and are even better. There is increased NVH though.

Any reason this thread isn't in the builds area?

[DMW_Evan]

Another 'why did I get poly' vote here... the day I went back to OE rubber, the car felt reborn. I do understand people who want to 'try new things' but being arrogant and choosing to challenge the wealth of knowledge from people who know this 20 year old platform inside out - that's not bravery or ingenuity IMO, it's ignorance. Oh well - to each his own. I do like white cars tho...

I'm not being arrogant here, but unfortunately, we're typing back and forth- so please don't take it as such. Number 1, which I'll state again, is that this is my 4th E46. I've built 3 different versions of this chassis already. Yes, there is a wealth of knowledge here, but please don't mistake my "forum rating," for ignorance or that I'm new to this. I'm not, and I rarely utilize forums because of this type of assumption.

Transparently: I own a group of very reputable shops in Cleveland. I work on M cars, AMG, Audi R/RS, Lamborghini, McLaren, Ferrari, etc. I could be like every other successful business owner and go blow gobs of money on an R8 and pretend I'm too good for BMW owners, but I am an enthusiast of the brand and this chassis, and I do love the community, even though you all want to tell me my car is entirely modified incorrectly. When my old man passed away about 10 years ago, we were building an E36 and always discussed doing an E46 together. We never got that chance, so I'm making it my goal to do all the things to this car I never got to do when I was young and broke.

I have been building and racing BMWs since I was allowed to. This car is simply an experiment of enjoyment. It will see several different versions, updates, adjustments, and changes. I very well may LOATHE this supercharger kit as I've owned a turbo'd E46, stroker E46, and bone stock, (and driven other SC'd E46s). It's just something different that I plan on putting information out on. If what I chose to do based on MY wealth of experience isn't what you like, that's okay- it's not my daily, it's not a track car, it's an experiment to make the best E46 I can FOR ME.

I'm not challenging your wealth of knowledge- but you assume I have none. It's not my first rodeo, either. I've had the solid bushings in different places with rubber here and solid there, blah blah blah. But, I've been lucky enough to have these shops and if I don't like my setup when I'm done...I'll drop it off and ask the boys to swap them out for something else. I have a lot of vendors that release new products- I'll try those, too, just to see if they suck and I'll give them feedback. Just had a monoball FCAB explode on me- that's feedback I'll give the R&D guys at that company.

BUT, there's another thread on this forum with somebody asking for help on a CMP kit because it is a DAUNTING task. Surprise, I just did my first one- now I can say I've used them all and can compare them and help folks.

Just enjoy the ride dude- you can scoff and my excessive spending along the way if you need to, but the car is sentimental to me and I wanna play with it. 😂

[DMW_Evan]

Cool thread, shouldn't this be in the member builds subforum?

Yes, it should. I'm an idiot- I don't forum very well. It's been a minute. An admin will hopefully catch it and move it 😂

[DMW_Evan]

personally i like alternative builds just to see something different, 19s look best on an E46 M3 although there are lighter more track focused options at 17/18" for example


looking forward to what this build has to offer, although it does belong in the member builds forum

I should have taken a picture, but the 19" Signatures that it will wear for the Cleveland Auto Show weigh jusy shy of 20lbs? Not bad for a 19.

[DMW_Evan]

My car came with ECS poly diff mounts, I am keeping them. I like the whine and a little bit of clunk. I can see why not everyone likes them though.

I also have the VBT DB9 kit, or rather, I have it in my garage and it will be going on my car as I put it all back together lol.

Not gonna lie, I was stubborn and went through kind of a lot to get it. I bought the calipers on eBay, and I had VBT ship the bracket, hardware and line kit to my friend in Germany, who then sent it to me. The reason they don't want to ship to the USA anymore is because of export and import tax changes after Brexit. It's more complicated and expensive for them, so there's no point for a small sale here and there. I had to pay about $50 duty and I think $100-$120 or so for shipping, total amount from the UK to Germany and then on to USA.

I went with these over the more common 996 retrofit because my car is MK20, so on paper, the bias should be marginally better with the larger piston sizes in the DB9 calipers. I also decided against the Megane RS route because of the symmetrical piston sizes and potential tapered pad wear that can come along with that. But I'm sure in the real world, any of the 3 options would be "fine" with minimal noticeable differences. At the end of the day, anyone who is a realist knows these are an improvement over stock, but not a "real" BBK.

Car looks good!

Yeahhhh, they educated me on what's going on. It's a shame. The kit I DID get approved for shipping got lost by Royal Mail lol. In the meantime, I've 3D printed a bracket at one of my shops and after a few more adjustments, I think we'll make our own version of the bracket if people want to utilize the swap. I'm with you, I'm not sure it's a huge improvement, but it sure is cool. The car might see 3k-5k miles a year because I have other things to drive (and a toddler to pick up at daycare...). So I did it because it's something I hadn't done yet. The car will see a few tracks this year on separate rallies, we'll see how they hold up.

[Nate047]

Yeahhhh, they educated me on what's going on. It's a shame. The kit I DID get approved for shipping got lost by Royal Mail lol. In the meantime, I've 3D printed a bracket at one of my shops and after a few more adjustments, I think we'll make our own version of the bracket if people want to utilize the swap. I'm with you, I'm not sure it's a huge improvement, but it sure is cool. The car might see 3k-5k miles a year because I have other things to drive (and a toddler to pick up at daycare...). So I did it because it's something I hadn't done yet. The car will see a few tracks this year on separate rallies, we'll see how they hold up.

If you can make a 1-piece bracket for the 345mm rotors, I might buy and use that over the two piece "spacer" setup they provide. Also if you could create a bracket to use 360mm E9X rotors, that might be a thing.

[DMW_Evan]

If you can make a 1-piece bracket for the 345mm rotors, I might buy and use that over the two piece "spacer" setup they provide. Also if you could create a bracket to use 360mm E9X rotors, that might be a thing.

Well, the last rendering is coming out of the 3D printer as we speak. I'm hoping everything bolts up alright- it did on the first one, just had a hole-spacing issue that offset the caliper a little funky.

I don't like the spacer idea, either. The idea with ours is two separate brackets- I have the 345s on right now and we're trying to make it a single piece. Hopefully this is the last time before finalizing!

[rickybobby]

Anything but OE rubber in the diff is a PITA in the long run (from NVH perspective)

[DMW_Evan]

Anything but OE rubber in the diff is a PITA in the long run (from NVH perspective)

I know that's right- if it were my daily or even my backup, I would have gone a different route. Nothing about this car is quiet 😂