What did you do for your M3 today?

[zzyzx85]

finally. I had to idle that bish for like 5 minutes this morning lol. time to go to the smog check place.

[SteelGreyM]

Found out about this spot for oem wheel lock key

And removed multiple dead bees from the back

[sasha]

I will be disassembling for a steering wheel rewrap and center console refinish!

[M3fanatic580]

Had a second key cut as I only had one.

[SteelGreyM]

Swapped stainless steel lines for oem BMW. And did a full brake rebuild on 3 corners. Waiting for fellow forum member to try saving my last rear caliper 🤞


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[SteelGreyM]

I will be disassembling for a steering wheel rewrap and center console refinish!

How are you refinishing?

I’ve just ordered a new center console but ordered the armrest delete one by accident. The non armrest delete is almost $300. Still would look so factory fresh…

Didn’t know the oem finish was hard and tough.. scratched my fingernail in an inconspicuous spot and couldn’t remove the finish. Mind blowing lol

[zzyzx85]

Swapped stainless steel lines for oem BMW. And did a full brake rebuild on 3 corners. Waiting for fellow forum member to try saving my last rear caliper 🤞


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Curious why you went back to OEM lines.

[SteelGreyM]

Curious why you went back to OEM lines.

The fitment on stoptech lines was not the best. Especially in the rear where they didn't even properly clip into the holder on the RTA. On the front I had to cut the OEM grommet off the stock lines so that it could sit nicely in the shock clip (which worked). In the rear I noticed that it had started to rub on the axle boot causing wear to both the brake line and axle boot.

I don't want to play around with brakes and after doing some research the stock lines are more than good enough for track use.

[SteelGreyM]

I'm on a roll with this car getting something checked off every day!

Few years ago my csl wheels got destroyed with brake dust from track use and I was never able to really get them fully clean even with iron removal chemicals.

Until recently someone recommended I try the carpro brand. At $26 a bottle I was a little hesitant but figured it's worth a shot. I love my wheels. I also decided to clay it at the same time using the carpro ironx as a lubricant for the clay. This method and this brand of iron remover specifically was by far the best out of all I tried.

First wash the wheels normally. Then spray on the carpro iron x. You can watch it turn purple as it reacts with and breaks down the brake dust. After letting the chemical work for about 3 minutes I then went it and gave it another quick spritz of iron x so my clay bar would have some lubrication and also to prevent it from drying. Don't forget to clay the barrels. Letting this chemical dry up on the wheel can have some bad effects so try your best not to let it dry however in my experience in the past I have let it dry accidently for a few minutes without damage.

Finally after claying thoroughly I would give it yet another bath in carpro , wait 3 minutes, and clay again before finally rinsing with water and the whole process starts over again until all the brake dust is gone. It took a lot of work. The two front wheels took 3/4 of the bottle and probably 10 rounds of claying! You'll know you're done when you spray the ironx chemical and you see nothing turn purple. I have to say I'm quite thrilled with the results. They aren't perfect there's still some spots but I am out of car pro and will order another bottle to finish attacking the spots that are left.


Before

Carpro turning purple as it reacts to the baked in dust.


Finally after. Going to coat them with ceramic coating this time to help them fight off dust.

The stuff I used. Fair warning this stuff stinks. That’s how you know it’s good lol.

[SteelGreyM]

Time to drain and flush Thermocure. 5 days, car smelled like a sewer/wet dog. Couldn't park it in the garage 😂

Total of 9 flushes before coolant refill. First couple were dirt black, I guess it's iron phosphate with a bunch of sand like and bigger chunks flushing out. Pretty wild to be honest.

Wow.. how long had it been since you changed it?

Did you use hose water or distilled water to flush?

[6speedS54]

Wow.. how long had it been since you changed it?

Did you use hose water or distilled water to flush?

I got this car Sep 2024 (2006 vert) after an accident with my previous, been slowly bringing it up on maintenance (it currently has 124K miles on it). I changed coolant roughly 6 months ago and then water pump early summer. That's when I discovered rust in the heater core return pipe, water pump mating surface, and some scale in the thermostat manifold. I assume they mixed tap water with coolant.

After I drained it the first time, it was all black, I left the block open and ran hose water thru it to try to flush anything loose. I had 2 5 gallon jugs of tap water that's been sitting for a while, so any minerals/chlorine likely weren't there anymore, so I ran that thru mixed with distilled, and then last 5 runs or so were distilled, every time with heat on low, max heat temperature to cycle it thru for 10 min. Even my last drain still had yellowish/orangish tint to it but 99% clear, almost no flakes. After refilling I've looked in the expansion tank and I still see some minor black flakes.

I probably need to replace the radiator as I imagine there is scale in it and possibly some of these flakes clogging it somewhere.

[SteelGreyM]

I got this car Sep 2024 (2006 vert) after an accident with my previous, been slowly bringing it up on maintenance (it currently has 124K miles on it). I changed coolant roughly 6 months ago and then water pump early summer. That's when I discovered rust in the heater core return pipe, water pump mating surface, and some scale in the thermostat manifold. I assume they mixed tap water with coolant.

After I drained it the first time, it was all black, I left the block open and ran hose water thru it to try to flush anything loose. I had 2 5 gallon jugs of tap water that's been sitting for a while, so any minerals/chlorine likely weren't there anymore, so I ran that thru mixed with distilled, and then last 5 runs or so were distilled, every time with heat on low, max heat temperature to cycle it thru for 10 min. Even my last drain still had yellowish/orangish tint to it but 99% clear, almost no flakes. After refilling I've looked in the expansion tank and I still see some minor black flakes.

I probably need to replace the radiator as I imagine there is scale in it and possibly some of these flakes clogging it somewhere.

Incredible looks like that coolant was original lol. Hope not.

Looks significantly better now than before. I wouldn't worry about anything else in your cooling system unless temps are an issue. If it stays cool then keep running it. Nice work

[6speedS54]

Incredible looks like that coolant was original lol. Hope not.

Looks significantly better now than before. I wouldn't worry about anything else in your cooling system unless temps are an issue. If it stays cool then keep running it. Nice work

Before I ran Thermocure thru, it was 100+ in LA and with AC on temperature was creeping up. I thought flushing it with the stuff would help it, but even after it still creeps up, in some instances even at lower temp now. It probably dislodged stuff and possibly clogged the radiator. The radiator is original for sure, its either remove it and flush it or buy a new one and replace.

[0-60motorsports]

Before I ran Thermocure thru, it was 100+ in LA and with AC on temperature was creeping up. I thought flushing it with the stuff would help it, but even after it still creeps up, in some instances even at lower temp now. It probably dislodged stuff and possibly clogged the radiator. The radiator is original for sure, its either remove it and flush it or buy a new one and replace.

Flush everything out properly and then only install the new radiator

[0-60motorsports]

F it, Just ordered CSL knuckles and will add new wheel bearings to them when i install them. I'll be doing the ST60/ST40 calipers refurb and color change from faded black to probably silver or light gold powdercoat for a more OE+ look.

Any recommendations on wheel bearings? FAG?