What did you do for your M3 today?

[Altaran]

Installed excentric rear axle bushings last weekend. Anxious to see what those will improve on the track. Since I had to drop the entire trailing arm, I renewed the e-brake lines as well.

If anyone wants to do this: you need access to a hydraulic press to get those in, spindle type tools will not work due to the offset of the bearing

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[Altaran]

Continuing on my eccentric rear axle bushings. With these set screws are needed to guarantee that these will not start rotating under heavy load.

Drilled from the outside, tapped a thread, and put the set screws in with locktite. The m6 set screws were supplied with the bushings.

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[PSUEng]

Just a typical oil and filter change, 2yrs old/3500 miles and man this oil was nasty. Got to use my new AST funnel kit and wow, what a great tool!






BUT--the plot thickens...

I pull the lower plastic belly tray to do a visual inspection of everything and I discover a bolt in the tray; but not any bolt. An oil pan bolt! Now, I've owned this car since 2007 from around 25,000 miles and I have never done any work to the oil pan, nor paid any shop to do any work requiring removal of the oil pan. But here is this bolt...laying in the tray and I find the empty hole where it belongs. The last time I had this tray off was in 2023 when I did the power steering hoses...no bolt back then. The next time this tray was off was in 2024 when my local indy shop installed my rebuilt 712 rack and overhauled the front suspension. Today is the first time this tray has been removed since that rack/suspension job in 2024. So WTH?

Anyway, I reinstalled the bolt where it belonged and torqued to 80 in-lbs (spec is 89 in-lbs according to my Bentley) thinking that since the engine was still warm, best to "under tighten" a bit; I then buttoned it all up and then scratch my head in wonder...how did this happen? All I can think of is [1] many years ago before I owned the car, the rod bearings were done at the dealer and this bolt was loose--then finally worked it's way out, or [2] my local shop made some complete dumbass mistake and loosened an oil pan bolt (?) which I really have a hard time believing. What do you guys think?

[Slideways]

Just a typical oil and filter change, 2yrs old/3500 miles and man this oil was nasty. Got to use my new AST funnel kit and wow, what a great tool!






BUT--the plot thickens...

I pull the lower plastic belly tray to do a visual inspection of everything and I discover a bolt in the tray; but not any bolt. An oil pan bolt! Now, I've owned this car since 2007 from around 25,000 miles and I have never done any work to the oil pan, nor paid any shop to do any work requiring removal of the oil pan. But here is this bolt...laying in the tray and I find the empty whole where it belongs. The last time I had this tray off was in 2023 when I did the power steering hoses...no bolt back then. The next time this tray was off was in 2024 when my local indy shop installed my rebuilt 712 rack and overhauled the front suspension. Today is the first time this tray has been removed since that rack/suspension job in 2024. So WTH?

Anyway, I reinstalled the bolt where it belonged and torqued to 80 in-lbs (spec is 89 in-lbs according to my Bentley) thinking that since the engine was still warm, best to "under tighten" a bit; I then buttoned it all up and then scratch my head in wonder...how did this happen? All I can think of is [1] many years ago before I owned the car, the rod bearings were done at the dealer and this bolt was loose--then finally worked it's way out, or [2] my local shop made some complete dumbass mistake and loosened an oil pan bolt (?) which I really have a hard time believing. What do you guys think?

If you have a pre-04 car, it most likely had the recall and the dealership tech might have forgotten to torque one down as there are many oil pan bolts. From what I have heard, dealership techs would rip through these recalls as they did many of them. Sometimes, you'll also find slightly stripped heads on the hex bolts securing the oil pump or on the M10 torx rod bolts

[PSUEng]

If you have a pre-04 car, it most likely had the recall and the dealership tech might have forgotten to torque one down as there are many oil pan bolts. From what I have heard, dealership techs would rip through these recalls as they did many of them. Sometimes, you'll also find slightly stripped heads on the hex bolts securing the oil pump or on the M10 torx rod bolts

I thought the same thing, since the car is a 2003 and I know for a fact it had the recall done at the dealer prior to my ownership. Maybe that’s been the cause of a rattle I’ve been hearing for the last year or so!

[0-60motorsports]

I thought the same thing, since the car is a 2003 and I know for a fact it had the recall done at the dealer prior to my ownership. Maybe that’s been the cause of a rattle I’ve been hearing for the last year or so!

LOL probably! Glad you caught it.

[Kipjames3]

Added the euro center console. Thanks again to TexaZ3 for redoing the console. Turned out great. Quick question though, does anyone have any tips to get rid of the crease left in the carpet after going to the short console?

[TexaZ3]

Added the euro center console. Thanks again to TexaZ3 for redoing the console. Turned out great. Quick question though, does anyone have any tips to get rid of the crease left in the carpet after going to the short console?

Looks great! Try steamer and stiff brush to fluff the carpet a bit.