I believe it's time to start my build journal, so here we are gentleman. I graduated high school in 2000, so when I was 18, 2001 hit and the E46 M3 came out onto the market. From that day I was hooked on owning one, the $50K+ price tag was daunting as a young kid but I could dream. A friend from school had just picked up his 2001 LSB Coupe and ended up blowing the engine within the first few weeks of ownership. I believe they were able to hook it up and see that he indeed redlined it multiple times, hooligan type driving. He didn't get the warranty from BMW NA but ended up buying a brand new engine, I believe he paid northwards of $25,000. Scared the hell out of me and I vowed to return one day.
I've built a solid sheet of cars and have attended multiple track days through the years in various whips. I always opted to buy my cars stock and learned how to do all the work on my own starting out. I started in the Japanese game with a 1992 Integra GS, ended up installing a B20B engine out of a Honda CRV w/ nitrous and then sold it. Attraction to the street racing scene is what lured me in, was happening throughout the Bay Area, San Jose to be exact. Started getting into drifting in the early 2000's, so I found a clean 1986 Toyota Corolla GTS w/ 1-way LSD, lots of J-Blood and Cusco parts on this car, sold it for $4000 which was a big regret to this day. I moved onto a 1989 240SX Hatch w/ S13 front end and SR20DET swap done by myself after money shifting from 4th to 2nd on the freeway. I ended up getting this car to close to about 400whp, with the help of a GT2871R turbo, injectors, and a tune. After the 240SX phase, I picked up a 1988 Porsche 944 and it launched me into the German game. The car was super difficult to work on, I had to replace the oil pan gasket, and that meant pulling and tilting the motor, it was a nightmare that one. Car was stolen and never seen again unfortunately. I then purchased a 1995 E36 M3 in Alpine White. Caged it with a TS Designs custom build for time attack, cut the fenders, flared it and ran a square 305/30/19 setup. Car was ready for a LSx swap but I never completed it, I did take it to a few track days. I remember going full out with that S50 and couldn't break traction, car just stuck. Later after a couple of commuters my urge for another ///M surged. Snagged up a 2016 M4 Competition and fell in love with the F8x chassis. When the CS model came out, I knew I wanted it, and I wanted it in San Marino Blue. I ended up trading my 2016 M4 Comp for the 2019 M4 CS and I'm definitely satisfied but the itch came back for the E46 M3, I put it into the back of my mind. As I've driven an M4 for the last 7 years, I can't help but feel my CS is always trying to kill me, definitely way to much car for me at the track and for the mountain passes, it's a lot of car. I looked back into the E46 M3 market and when the prices started rising, I knew I needed to jump in and pick one up.
I bought my 2003 E46 M3 in December of 2020 from a family in-law member. He's in his 50's and has back issues, he was the 2nd owner. Bought it with a few thousand miles on the clock from a woman in Minnesota when he lived there. He never drove the car in the rain, waited for it to rain TWICE before taking it out. He was meticulous and it shows, an example is some of the suspension bolts still have their zinc coating on them from the factory per Performance Technique who completed the complete suspension overhaul, welded in Turner RACP reinforcement plates and installed the epoxy/rivet Vincebar at the same time. This journal is to go over everything that I've done with my E46 M3 and why this car is special to me. I don't think I'll ever get rid of it, especially after dropping around $20,000 in a little over a year for refreshment and maintenance. 2 of the 3 BIG THREE have been completed, waiting for my first oil change to send the oil off to Blackstone Labs for an analysis. Please stay tuned, lots of pics and work photos.
I will start with some of my previous builds.
I've built a solid sheet of cars and have attended multiple track days through the years in various whips. I always opted to buy my cars stock and learned how to do all the work on my own starting out. I started in the Japanese game with a 1992 Integra GS, ended up installing a B20B engine out of a Honda CRV w/ nitrous and then sold it. Attraction to the street racing scene is what lured me in, was happening throughout the Bay Area, San Jose to be exact. Started getting into drifting in the early 2000's, so I found a clean 1986 Toyota Corolla GTS w/ 1-way LSD, lots of J-Blood and Cusco parts on this car, sold it for $4000 which was a big regret to this day. I moved onto a 1989 240SX Hatch w/ S13 front end and SR20DET swap done by myself after money shifting from 4th to 2nd on the freeway. I ended up getting this car to close to about 400whp, with the help of a GT2871R turbo, injectors, and a tune. After the 240SX phase, I picked up a 1988 Porsche 944 and it launched me into the German game. The car was super difficult to work on, I had to replace the oil pan gasket, and that meant pulling and tilting the motor, it was a nightmare that one. Car was stolen and never seen again unfortunately. I then purchased a 1995 E36 M3 in Alpine White. Caged it with a TS Designs custom build for time attack, cut the fenders, flared it and ran a square 305/30/19 setup. Car was ready for a LSx swap but I never completed it, I did take it to a few track days. I remember going full out with that S50 and couldn't break traction, car just stuck. Later after a couple of commuters my urge for another ///M surged. Snagged up a 2016 M4 Competition and fell in love with the F8x chassis. When the CS model came out, I knew I wanted it, and I wanted it in San Marino Blue. I ended up trading my 2016 M4 Comp for the 2019 M4 CS and I'm definitely satisfied but the itch came back for the E46 M3, I put it into the back of my mind. As I've driven an M4 for the last 7 years, I can't help but feel my CS is always trying to kill me, definitely way to much car for me at the track and for the mountain passes, it's a lot of car. I looked back into the E46 M3 market and when the prices started rising, I knew I needed to jump in and pick one up.
I bought my 2003 E46 M3 in December of 2020 from a family in-law member. He's in his 50's and has back issues, he was the 2nd owner. Bought it with a few thousand miles on the clock from a woman in Minnesota when he lived there. He never drove the car in the rain, waited for it to rain TWICE before taking it out. He was meticulous and it shows, an example is some of the suspension bolts still have their zinc coating on them from the factory per Performance Technique who completed the complete suspension overhaul, welded in Turner RACP reinforcement plates and installed the epoxy/rivet Vincebar at the same time. This journal is to go over everything that I've done with my E46 M3 and why this car is special to me. I don't think I'll ever get rid of it, especially after dropping around $20,000 in a little over a year for refreshment and maintenance. 2 of the 3 BIG THREE have been completed, waiting for my first oil change to send the oil off to Blackstone Labs for an analysis. Please stay tuned, lots of pics and work photos.
I will start with some of my previous builds.
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