My Slow Burn (E46 M3)

[eforty6_m3]

Went away to NH over the weekend for a little birthday getaway (sans kids), so the boys were very happy to see mom and dad when we picked them up from my parents on Sunday. My oldest wanted to sit in the M340i driver seat, so I happily obliged...then the youngest wanted to sit front passenger:






As for yesterday, I had taken Friday and Monday off, so my wife brought the kids to the playground and as an additional birthday gift, gave me an uninterrupted garage day. So I got to working on the M3. Unfortunately, I had taken a few spills on Saturday while snowboarding (mind you, I hadn't been in about 7 or 8 years), so I'm pretty beat up and moving slower than normal.

I did manage to flush diff fluid and trans fluid, and install new fill/drain plugs for both, as well. I am LOVING these new flat bottom jack stands:




Starting pile:












Took this opportunity to clean up some of the underbody plastics:








This is what's left to do (at least, until the intake arrives!!!):




And stored for the evening:




Going to leave it up on jackstands as I plan to start addressing the cooling system hopefully tomorrow. And I still need to flush the brake fluid. I want to remove the aFe intake so I can get that sold, but debating on waiting in case I need to move the car in/out of the garage in the meantime. I suppose I can reinstall the OEM intake for the time being...we shall see.

Very happy to be knocking these maintenance items off my To Do list and updating my spreadsheet with this info. I try to document ANY modification/service item that I perform to all my vehicles.

Stay tuned for more. Hoping to speak to the plumber in the next week or so to schedule a day for him to hook up the garage sink to my existing lines/drain pipes. Gonna be nice to be able to wash my hands BEFORE going in the house and making a mess of things.

Cheers!

[eforty6_m3]

That 340i is looking real good.

Thank you!!

[eforty6_m3]

Looking good

Thanks, man!

[Mike0032]

That 340i is looking real good.

[0-60motorsports]

Looking good

[eforty6_m3]

Mounted my Deckorate M3 deck in the perfect location above my desk:








And my collection of items that await the M3 for some pampering:





I also managed to hand wash the M340i on Friday, as the temps were hovering around 60. This car looks so good clean:












While drying the door jambs, in all my recent Karbonius craze, I found that I had almost forgotten how beautiful the CF intake was on this car:
















And lastly, I installed the optional european-model only OEM first aid kit on the M3:

[eforty6_m3]

I recently ordered one from apmotorsport in UK for my Evolve CSL airbox. They might still have some in stock

Good to know. I just contacted them...I’ll see what they say. At the end of the day, I still won’t have my intake until around the same time, so it’s really not a big deal if i have to wait.


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[Nick_P]

I sure hope not (don't think I will be!!). And you weren't kidding...the shut off valve currently has an in stock ETA of 4/12/21. Ordering what I believe is the rest of what I'll need today, for sure!

I recently ordered one from apmotorsport in UK for my Evolve CSL airbox. They might still have some in stock

[eforty6_m3]

You will not be disappointed by the intake. Make sure and order all the required parts now as sometimes there are delays from BMW.

I sure hope not (don't think I will be!!). And you weren't kidding...the shut off valve currently has an in stock ETA of 4/12/21. Ordering what I believe is the rest of what I'll need today, for sure!

[eforty6_m3]

Best choice on the intake

Thanks, man...I think so, too! 👍

[eforty6_m3]

Awesome. CSL intake is worth it for the sound alone.

That's what pushed me to make the purchase. I'm not looking for any big performance gains. I want some crazy-ass induction noises!! 👍

[0-60motorsports]

Best choice on the intake

[heinzboehmer]

Awesome. CSL intake is worth it for the sound alone.

[eforty6_m3]

Couple things...let's start off with the really exciting part. I placed an order on Friday for something that I've wanted for the M3 since day one. I went back and forth trying to figure out how to spend this money, from a potential exhaust for the M340i, to some fun bits for the M3, to maybe splitting it up and getting some smaller items for both cars.

But in the end, the M3 won out. I decided to order a CSL-style intake. More specifically, what many claim to be the best non-OEM option on the market (I've even seen some claim that it's BETTER than OEM, but that's certainly up for debate). I went with the Karbonius Full Carbon intake. This thing truly is a work of art...unfortunately, they are back-ordered, so my ETA as of now is 8 weeks (which happens to coincide with the beginning of "driving season" here in New England, more or less).

As many of you know, Karbonius is located in Spain, so I'm sure COVID and shipping from overseas isn't going to help my cause much, but I'll use that time to also update some of the cooling system (mainly the water pump and thermostat), since it's much easier to do so when the airbox is out of the car.

Here are a bunch of drool-worthy stock photos of the airbox to feast your eyes on:

























And a photo of one installed:




I realize that power gains will be minimal, but I didn't buy it for power. I bought it for noise. I look forward to hearing this thing each time I drive my car for a long time to come.


As for the other bit of news...much less exciting, but still a good change for the garage. I'm having the attic space above the garage insulated with 9.3" of R30 Open Blow Cellulose Insulation, along with one Wind Shear Vent installed per bay.

I'm only doing the attic for now because, as I've alluded to several times here, I plan on adding a 3rd stall down the road. So I'd hate to spend the money to insulate that far wall only to have it ripped down in a few years. I might have them do the back wall come the fall, but my main focus was the attic space, since that's where the majority of heat loss occurs.

They're actually coming tomorrow, so I'll have to move the M3 temporarily since the attic access is located directly above the old girl. Very exciting to see what sort of temps I can expect to see with the newly added insulation.

Luckily, it never really gets below freezing in there and that's with ZERO insulation. So perhaps another 10 degrees or such, but maybe that's me being way too optimistic. Guess I'll find out.


One last VERY unexciting thing. I FINALLY picked up some flat-bottomed jack stands. Hoping this alleviates the need for me to put a layer between my current jack stands and the Swisstrax to help prevent the sharp corners of the stands from cutting into the tiles. I went with Torin Big Red T43004 jack stands.

Only grabbed one set for now, but will probably end up grabbing another so that I can get a vehicle completely off the ground and up on jack stands if and when need be.




So, yeah, think that's all for now. Cheers!

[eforty6_m3]

I'm so jealous of your garage. It looks every bit of 13 feet high, plenty of room for a full size 2 post lift. Nice Journal too.

Thanks, man! It’s about 12’ tall. Plan is to probably add a 4 post lift sometime in the fall. Long term, I’d like to add a 3rd stall to the garage.

Sorry for the delay in responding.


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