My New Money Pit | TiAG E46 M3

[Mpower04]

A couple of days ago I acquired this 2003 TiAg/black SMG M3 with about 175k miles and a clean title with no accidents/damage reported. Overall, its extremely rough around the edges and has several items that need to be addressed but it runs/drives (kinda, SMG) and has good potential with a little bit of time/effort.

This car was originally bought by the previous owner to be a parts car and was never used as such so it sat for a little over a year before I ended up buying it. It was experiencing some SMG issues (go figure) which point at a bad gear position sensor. I'll be replacing this sensor and keeping the SMG as I'm one of the few who enjoy it. After its up and running ok I plan to go through and rebuild the pump with new o rings, motor, sensors, accumulator etc. It holds pressure and primes as it sits but the motor has to run too often to maintain pressure so its coming sooner than later.

The goal here is to build something semi reliable that I can track and drive wherever without really worrying about it too much. Similar to what I did with my E92 M3 only this platform is less to maintain.

So far I've ordered/already have from previous E46s;
-Redish RACP plates
-TMS solid subframe bushings
-E36 M3 OEM rear diff bushings, OEM E46 front diff bushing and new bolts
-OEM RTABs with limiters
-cabin/engine filter
-OEM fuel pump/filter
-windshield cowl
-E21 transmission mounts
-belt/pulley/tensioner kit
-liqui moly oil change kit
-WPC coated rod bearings with OEM bolts and associated gaskets
-OEM motor mounts
-OEM front control arms with OEM FCABs

That's it as of now with much more to come maintenance/mods wise. Enjoy the cringe and please excuse my horribly cluttered garage.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Yes, these are non M grey sport seats.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

First thing I did was clean out the trunk to rid the excess clutter and clean it up a bit. There was some not so great aftermarket tail lights installed and subsequently the gasket on the passenger side failed and filled the battery box with water. It cleaned up pretty well for what it started as. Needless to say these lights will not be re used.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Water sucked up.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

[Mpower04]

After that was more presentable I moved to the front of the car to deal with some horrible "halo" install one of the POs did. Ended up throwing all of it away. It was hacked together and one of the headlights was missing its rear cover and a high beam bulb. Lenses, gaskets and upper trim will be replaced at a minimum.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr



Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

A couple rats had made the top of the airbox their home with a nest and all (hence the repaired harness) which was cleaned up before I got it but I'll go back through with a pressure washer, steam cleaner and some simple green to make it less nasty.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

[bran.stum]

Subbed! Can't wait to see it cleaned up

[Mpower04]

Gave the engine bay a quick rinse/steam and proceeded to tear it down to get to the SMG pump for its full rebuild and relocation coming in a later post.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Manifold off, I'll be replacing the hose clamps previously installed with the OE clamps.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

SMG pump out. I've bought everything to rebuild/relocate this with the exception of a mount which I still need to make/source.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr


While I waited for all the SMG non sense to come in I started to address the rear end. Upon dropping the subframe I found some cracks mostly on the passenger front mount and one on the driver rear mount with separation beginning in the pinch on the driver rear wheel arch. All of these were repaired with no issues (besides my ugly welds).

Parts used;
-Redish reinforcement plates. After using TMS plates in my past M3s these are giant in comparison and require a lot more work but cover an obviously larger area.
-TMS solid subframe bushings
-TMS adjustable lower control arms (street)
-OEM differential bushings. I used E36 M3 rear bushings as they are very close to the OEM ones and you can buy them separately without needing the whole cover.
-OEM RTABs with limiters
-Upper/lower trailing arm ball joints
-Differential output shaft seals
-gasket maker for the diff cover
-OE fuel pump

Wall of parts

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

To help weatherproof the exposed areas I used KBS Rust Seal as a base followed by some seam sealer and topped with spray paint that kinda matches the factory coating. Definitely not the prettiest presentation but plenty functional.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Putting bushings in the freezer overnight makes install a bit less painful.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Anyone know what this clunk could be?

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

An old RTAB tool made install pretty easy.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

E36 M3 rear mounts vs my old ones.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

The right tools always help. No torch or hammers needed.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

My lower trailing arm ball joint bolts were seized into the sleeve so I had to cut off the bolt to get it free from the control arm then used a dremel and a hammer to get the rest out of the arm resulting in this. None of the others bolts had any other issues coming out so I'm not sure why these were like this. (both sides)

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

The right tool for this. From doing this a couple times with this tool it always gets them out perfectly and the top ones get pressed back in just fine but it always tears the boots on the lower ones as the way they have you set it up doesn't leave enough room for the side going in to come out all the way. Thus, I have to use a random combination of cups to get it in undamaged (maybe it's just me)

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Old RTAB coming out.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Cleaned up a bit and ready to go back in.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

That's pretty much where I'm at now. Subframe is back in and I'm working on getting the ISC coilovers from BW installed and set up. Once thats good to go I'll move onto the WPC rod bearings, front end refresh and SMG rebuild/relocation.

[Mpower04]

Subbed! Can't wait to see it cleaned up

Thanks! I don't think it will turn out quite as clean as yours. 😅

[karter16]

Great stuff! Love seeing these cars being cleaned up and maintained well - look forward to following.

[Mpower04]

Thanks!

[T3amfish]

Excellent work

[Mpower04]

Thanks!

[liam821]

Doing gods work.

[Mpower04]

Thanks!

[Mpower04]

I originally just wanted to replace the compression spring and gear position sensor on the transmission but I ended up just dropping the whole thing. Never fun to do on jack stands! After everything was taken apart I ordered some parts. The fan clutch/fan is unrelated but the blades had some damage so I decided to refresh the fan clutch as well.

Luk clutch kit

Luk dual mass flywheel

FAG clutch pilot bearing

BMW clutch release arm spring

BMW clutch pivot fork

BMW clutch fork pivot

BMW clutch release bearing guide tube

Flywheel bolt x8

Pressure plate screw x6

Febi fan blade

Mahle Behr fan clutch

Corteco rear main seal

BMW crank seal cover gasket plus bolts

Corteco transmission input shaft seal

Some pics of the process and current state...

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

New compression spring and locking pin. The old one actually wasn't broken which was surprising.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Plan from here is to clean everything up a little bit and make it less horrible to look at while I wait on the parts to arrive.

[Mpower04]

Also, for those interested, I did a similar style "revival" on my old E92 M3. This build was pre children 💀

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1456773

[Speed Monkey]

That is some terrific work bringing that E46M back to glory. Moar - moar - moar! 😜

[Mpower04]

Thanks!

[MrClutch55]

impressive, can't wait to see the final product.

[Mpower04]

Thanks! You and me both!

[Will ZCPM3]

Holy crap that thing was beat up.

[Mpower04]

Holy crap that thing was beat up.

Had seen better days for sure!

[Mpower04]

Small update as I haven't been able to work on it a lot lately.

Transmission cleaned up to be less of an eye sore. That's what 17 years of various leaks and road grime look like.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

After a light cleaning;

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr


Rebuilding the pump

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Old seals and components off.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

New stuff.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Back together. To recap the unit was rebuilt with new solenoid o rings, internal pump seals, new motor and a new accumulator.

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr

Untitled by jake ellegard, on Flickr