Hey everyone,
Finally picked up another E46 M3 after a few years of my other one being down. Long story short, had an 02 jet black that I abused regularly at the track, turbocharged it, gutted it, turbo said bye and I went in for a full rebuild, and lost interest... Found myself in an N55 135i for 6 months, which I did not care for at all. Then picked up this beauty on April 23rd. Got it home, slapped on some Hawk DTC-70 fronts, DTC-60 rears, Condor Speed Shop stainless steel brake lines, and bled her with Motul RBF600. Took it to Angeles Forest the next morning and ripped it all day. The car is fantastic. Came with tons of goodies as well, to include:
Shrick 288/280 cams
Turner Motorsport CSL airbox
Megan Racing Headers (not sure about these yet, but there are zero exhaust leaks so I'll leave them for now)
SGT SCZA Section 3
Bilstein Clubsport coilovers
Ground Control front and rear swaybars with endlinks
Apex ARC-8 18x10 square, wrapped in 275/35 Nitto NT01s
Recaro Profi SPG's (maybe? Someone correct me if I'm wrong)
IRP v3 shifter (decent, used to it now so it'll stay for a while)
DMG rear x-brace
Tuned, aligned, and corner balanced at Lang Racing
Ape flex fuel kit, running it on e40 for now
1.5lb battery
Unlike my previous M3, this one will not be gutted. I like the idea of having a car I can enjoy on the street with music and AC, while also having a decent weapon around Buttonwillow. No forced induction for this car, ever. VANOS is done, subframe reenforced with plates as well as the DMG bar. Rod bearings have not been done, but I am able to knock this out in a day in my garage, so no big deal.
For future plans, I need to power the mishimoto electric fan. I'm considering just an on/off switch as the car doesn't come close to overheating without it, but I would like the ability to flip it on at the track if needed. The rocker arms were not replaced during the cam install, so that's a fairly high priority. I did pull the valve cover and had a good look, and they all look perfectly fine for now. Lang sells DLC coated rocker arms for about $1600, which is half the price of new, OEM rockers. I'd like to upgrade the fuel pump to a walbro 450, and swap out the injectors for the green bosch 440s I have laying around once I get them cleaned and tested. Get it retuned on straight e85 to see what it can do. It's my understanding that with the ape kit, I have the ability to run whatever mix I want, so straight e85 will be solely for the track. I'm going back and forth on whether I want to do a roll bar, or just a harness bar. The seats hug me enough around turns that thee stock 3 point isn't an issue, but hard braking is a different story. Having had a 6 point in my other M3, I know the benefit of being sucked into the seat at all times.
Looking forward to seeing some of you out at the track!
IG: Desert_M3 -- Here you can see this car, past cars, as well as others M3s who I have done work for. I do rod bearings, valve adjustments, sometimes VANOS, and any other maintenance/modifications (besides any welding/6spd swaps) for people all over Southern California. I am located in San Diego. If you're looking to get any work done, shoot me a message on instagram, or email me at SanDiegoS54s@gmail.com (note the 'S' at the end of 'S54').
Finally picked up another E46 M3 after a few years of my other one being down. Long story short, had an 02 jet black that I abused regularly at the track, turbocharged it, gutted it, turbo said bye and I went in for a full rebuild, and lost interest... Found myself in an N55 135i for 6 months, which I did not care for at all. Then picked up this beauty on April 23rd. Got it home, slapped on some Hawk DTC-70 fronts, DTC-60 rears, Condor Speed Shop stainless steel brake lines, and bled her with Motul RBF600. Took it to Angeles Forest the next morning and ripped it all day. The car is fantastic. Came with tons of goodies as well, to include:
Shrick 288/280 cams
Turner Motorsport CSL airbox
Megan Racing Headers (not sure about these yet, but there are zero exhaust leaks so I'll leave them for now)
SGT SCZA Section 3
Bilstein Clubsport coilovers
Ground Control front and rear swaybars with endlinks
Apex ARC-8 18x10 square, wrapped in 275/35 Nitto NT01s
Recaro Profi SPG's (maybe? Someone correct me if I'm wrong)
IRP v3 shifter (decent, used to it now so it'll stay for a while)
DMG rear x-brace
Tuned, aligned, and corner balanced at Lang Racing
Ape flex fuel kit, running it on e40 for now
1.5lb battery
Unlike my previous M3, this one will not be gutted. I like the idea of having a car I can enjoy on the street with music and AC, while also having a decent weapon around Buttonwillow. No forced induction for this car, ever. VANOS is done, subframe reenforced with plates as well as the DMG bar. Rod bearings have not been done, but I am able to knock this out in a day in my garage, so no big deal.
For future plans, I need to power the mishimoto electric fan. I'm considering just an on/off switch as the car doesn't come close to overheating without it, but I would like the ability to flip it on at the track if needed. The rocker arms were not replaced during the cam install, so that's a fairly high priority. I did pull the valve cover and had a good look, and they all look perfectly fine for now. Lang sells DLC coated rocker arms for about $1600, which is half the price of new, OEM rockers. I'd like to upgrade the fuel pump to a walbro 450, and swap out the injectors for the green bosch 440s I have laying around once I get them cleaned and tested. Get it retuned on straight e85 to see what it can do. It's my understanding that with the ape kit, I have the ability to run whatever mix I want, so straight e85 will be solely for the track. I'm going back and forth on whether I want to do a roll bar, or just a harness bar. The seats hug me enough around turns that thee stock 3 point isn't an issue, but hard braking is a different story. Having had a 6 point in my other M3, I know the benefit of being sucked into the seat at all times.
Looking forward to seeing some of you out at the track!
IG: Desert_M3 -- Here you can see this car, past cars, as well as others M3s who I have done work for. I do rod bearings, valve adjustments, sometimes VANOS, and any other maintenance/modifications (besides any welding/6spd swaps) for people all over Southern California. I am located in San Diego. If you're looking to get any work done, shoot me a message on instagram, or email me at SanDiegoS54s@gmail.com (note the 'S' at the end of 'S54').
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