KhanArt's Jet Black///Cinnamon 6spd E46 M3 build journal

[KhanArt]

Update: 6/24/20

My friend pointed out that my lower bumper grill was faded the other day. He was absolutely right. Not sure how I haven't addressed this earlier. It was faded and had white compound residue.

I happened to have gloss black paint from a previous project and decided to give it a quick spray before I bought a replacement. No I was not going to remove the grill to paint it.

Shitty cell phone pics but much better than before. Matches my gloss black grills and gills.

[KhanArt]

Update: 6/18/20

Coated wheels, calipers and front strut bar with CQ.UK3.0.

Probably a combination of the new brakes and me driving the car a lot more these past few months but the brakes dust like crazy.

Hoping the dust will just spray off with the pressure washer now that they are coated.

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[KhanArt]

Update: 6/8/20

Slowly going through all the fluids and filters again.

Changed the power steering fluid. Emptied a few cans of brake kleen while I was down there. Pressure washed my skid plate too.

Replaced cabin air filter, old filter still looked new smh.

Replaced damaged passenger side headlight trim.

On to the next..

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[Onefastsicilian]

love how the e39 is coming along!!! nice work Z.

[KhanArt]

I really need to update this..

Around 4 months ago I bought a 2003 E39 540i M Sport and that has been getting most of my attention recently. Hopefully I'll update both journals soon.



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[KhanArt]

Gave this turd a polish.

It can get better but not trying to put any more level of effort into this right now. I'm going to display on the wall. Not putting this on the car.

[KhanArt]

Update: 6/1/20 and 6/3/20 Painted interior trim


I painted my interior door grab trim. Not 100% but MUCH better than it was before. Especially considering I've been driving around with the eye sore trim for almost a decade. I originally wanted to do a color change and repaint all of the trim. I have too much going on now so only focusing on the damaged trim until I'm motivated to redo everything.
















I had some paint left over from my trim restoration so I decided to do my lower steering wheel trim also. Damaged area now repaired and I like the two tone look. I ordered a new M badge which has not arrived yet. In the future I would like to do a color change on all the interior trim.

[KhanArt]

Update: 5/23/20 and 5/27/20 Wheel Wells and Ceramic Coating


I've NEVER cleaned wheel wells before. This is a new level of crazy for me. Raised the front up a hair while I was at it, It was a bit too low.









Finished ceramic coating the car with CQ.UK 3.0.

Too soon for me to say if coating is something this car needs since it's garage kept and doesn't see much miles but it looks great. I put Jescar Power Lock sealant on top of the coating, followed by Bead Maker spray sealant for a final topping. I skipped Collinte 845 this time.

Paint is not perfect but for 16 year old original black paint it's not bad at all. It's good enough for me. I wasn't aggressive this time. I'll revisit the paint in 6 months to a year and use a more aggressive pad/product combo.

Now interior, wheels, tires, calipers, and undercarriage left...

[KhanArt]

Awesome, in the middle of polishing as well! And I need PDR, but I will call a pro. What menzerna is that?

I used Meguiar's 205 until it ran out then finished the rest of the car with Menzerna SF 4000, both polishes. I may try Sonax perfect finish next time as I finished my 205 and the Menzerna is super old..

Yes I try to learn and DIY everything as my skills and tools increase but learn from me, don't PDR your M3 lol. On your daily or beater sure.

[Tbonem3]

Awesome, in the middle of polishing as well! And I need PDR, but I will call a pro. What menzerna is that?

[KhanArt]

Update: 5/15/20 Detail Part 1

Over the past few years I guess from poor technique and/or dirty towels I introduced a lot of light scratches and swirls on my paint. I've done a paint correction in the past and really did not want to invest that much time so I opted for a one step polish to get the the light scratches and swirls out.

Here is what I have done so far:

Wash
Autoscrub fine
Wash
Polish
ISO alcohol wipe down
Sealant

I also did a engine bay detail.

I have stopped now since I bought coating and waiting for it to arrive. I should have waited on applying sealant as now I will have to strip it most likely then apply the coating. After the coating is applied I can add sealant and wax on top.

I also need to do the interior and hoping to give the wheel wells and undercarriage a light cleaning. So more to come.

Sorry for the bad cell phone pics. Will take better pictures when all done.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2j3F3m7]/url]*

[KhanArt]

Update: 5/08/20 Beauty Bolts/Washers

I purchased a complete set of beauty bolts/washers for my E46. I'm all about the little details and "everything is important".

However the purist in me is saying leave it stock. The customizer in me is saying yes "OEM Plus" and "Restomod".

It's easily reversible so I might just run with it and switch back if I change my mind.

I had the same delima when I recently purchased a complete white interior LED light kit for my car including glove box and trunk bulbs. I sold those without installing them since the bright white leds would loose the period correctness of the car.

Fine line I'm trying to balance...

[KhanArt]

Update: 5/04/20 Paintless Dent Removal (Round 2)

I previously had PDR done years ago but over the years I acquired a few more dings. So I bought a PDR kit off Amazon and gave it a shot.

So it got one ding out on the very first shot. The other two I ended up stretching the metal and pulling the ding out too far. Moral of story if it's a beater or large dents/dings sure give it a shot. If it's very small dings on a car your really care about, let the pro's handle it because you can pull the ding out too far.

So I took it to the best PDR shop near me and had them fix my expensive mistake. First time some one has touched my car besides myself in probably 5 or 6 years! I have trust issues.

[KhanArt]

Money shot!

Thank you Sir! And again for the help with the brakes.

[Tbonem3]

Money shot!