2003 Titan Silver 335k kms - newbie

[alexsol]

New to this forum. Had my e46m3 for about 7 years now.
I got the subframe reinforcement done. Vanos I did myself. Swapped out a fresh S54, bought from a guy who had already done rod bearings and refreshed head from dealer. Swapped out the HIDs for LEDs (cut wires and respliced). Bought a complete rear end from transmission back to hubs - with 200,000kms less than my stock original.

[alexsol]

On the rear end swap I've done:

trailing arms : new inner upper bush, inner lower bush, RTAB, rear wheel bearing

next: diff bushes, rear carrier bushes

From original car I've:

dropped the rear subframe, fuel tank and scraped off the rust with a grinder with sandpaper flap wheel and wire wheel
spray three coats of rust converter (pretty bad underneath)

planning:

run new rear hard brake lines from abs unit all the way back (or is there a natural break in the middle?)

after rust converter, prime and cover with rubberized rocker guard to protect from stone chips etc, then a few good coats of the amber rustproofing

re-install fuel tank

then new parking brake lines

then rear subframe and trailing arms, control arms, CV axle, etc.

bought a cheapie chassis mounted shifter and looking at DSSR.

Any other suggestions?

[alexsol]

stripped the rear hard lines from the abs pump.

to get there: remove harness cover and harness (tuck it near the motor), remove intake to the manifold (I have a K&N so quick removal), remove the plastic cover that protects the ABS pump area, 11mm flare nut to ease out the hard line.

I found the hard line already repaired in two places and lots of corrosion so replacing entire run with the copper/nickel lines with bubble flare. (did this job to the E46 Touring last year). Quick measurement shows about 16 feet of brake line to the passenger side rear brake line connection to the soft line

[Turboixxi]

How are the LED’s compared to HID? Brightness, beam pattern and cutoff?

[alexsol]

How are the LED’s compared to HID? Brightness, beam pattern and cutoff?

I like the LEDs over my HIDs... could be i did not have oem HIDs so they were bright but not as bright as the leds... beam pattern and cutoff appear same to me. I need someone to drive behind me or look more carefully from the front but like the LEDs better and no more warning on the dash... plus the passenger side would die, then come back to life constantly... like i'm winking at people while driving down the road... didn't know how to fix... new ballasts at $200 each?

[alexsol]

super rusty rear end... muffler support looks terrible (any one local got 2 for sale?).

made bubble flares for the brake lines. $25 worth of copper/nickel brake pipe. 3/16" and reused the oem nipples or whatever those m10x1.0 ends are called... ran underneath the car and will finish the connections later this week...

rust proof done, then spray and epoxy primer, then rubberized rocker guard, then finish off the brake lines, fuel tank up and ready to install the 'new' diff carrier / trailing arm assembly... good times.. so far!

[M3llowM3]

I like the LEDs over my HIDs... could be i did not have oem HIDs so they were bright but not as bright as the leds... beam pattern and cutoff appear same to me. I need someone to drive behind me or look more carefully from the front but like the LEDs better and no more warning on the dash... plus the passenger side would die, then come back to life constantly... like i'm winking at people while driving down the road... didn't know how to fix... new ballasts at $200 each?

that could have been a ballast or ignitor issue, i would start at ballast as that is easier to get at

[FFWD]

muffler support looks terrible (any one local got 2 for sale?).

That looks a little better than the ones on my car. I was just going to soak them in rust remover and see what's left (I have both Evaporust as well as Crud Kutter, but also recently saw this video on Citric acid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVYZmeReKKY

I use Citric acid to clean my coffee machine and kettle. It works so much better and faster than vinegar to dissolve the calcium. While I was watching the caldium bubble up and dissolve, I started wondering what it would do to rust and found that video. I threw a couple of old bolts I didn't care about into the leftover Citric acid solution (with the dissolved calcium in it). It converted the rust on them within 15-30 minutes. Probably the fastest I've ever seen a rust converter bath work.

[alexsol]

wow, a month goes by fast.

after the brake line job, i scrubbed all the rust off the underside of the rear end as much as possible. sprayed the rust converter (I haven't gotten my hands on any citric acid three coats in three hours per the instructions. left for 48 hours, came back with this expensive epoxy primer, then finished off with the rocker guard black sticky spray. There was some suggestion to use pick up truck bed liner.

After that, I started the reassembly. fuel tank, rear subframe / diff carrier, trailing arms (bushes and bearings were done earlier), lower control arms (note: install the lower control arms before installing the diff), diff, half axles / CV axles, struggled with the bearing side for some reason wouldn't easily slide in,

I bought new abs sensors, so installed rears

hand brake lines - new

replaced calipers - have new rubber brake lines to install

then started to prep the front for engine out...

I bought a cheapie chassis mounted shifter and tried it out, really stiff and direct feeling shifts... not sure I love it but... we'll see and can always swap in the original, which I don't love..

[alexsol]

Next: Jumped to the front of the M. Fluids emptied - oil, power steering, coolant, A/C compressor already empty , and prepped for engine out. So front bumper, lights, all the panels/braces/anti sway bar and other stuff from underneath, disconnected the power steering lines to the cooler, removed rad fan, rad, front carrier that holds the hood release mechanism.

On Mon Aug 11, I did the front subframe drop with the help of a buddy and wish i given myself more space in the garage. only moved the M back in the garage about 4 feet and could have used 8 feet clear in the front. put on jack stands and disconnected front calipers, shocks on top |(3x 13mm nuts), harnesses except forgot the leveller connection (stretched that a little), and used a motorcycle lift under the engine/trans and connected the engine lift with chain and hook on top

backed off the 4X 18mm head bolts and lowered the engine/trans/subframe together. removed the two engine mount nuts and the front subframe could slip through and out of the way of the engine picker. and struggled to get split the engine/trans due to the space constraints. Finally got it done... struggled an extra 1/2 hour or more I'd say

With the trans split, I could move the engine out, trans out, re-installed the front subframe, front calipers, front wheels. Pushed the car back into the garage because it was sticking out about 3 feet. This whole operation took 4 hours from start to finish .