My Slow Burn (E46 M3)

[SeñorEnglish]

Lego model is awesome

[eforty6_m3]

Due to a back injury sustained in April, my spring and summer were pretty quiet and uneventful, from an automotive standpoint. Ended up being 2 herniated discs, one of which required microdiscectomy surgery back on 9/25. Feeling better every day, just in time for winter and putting the car away for hibernation. 🤦♂️

Figured I'd take a moment to provide the very few updates with the car. Back in June, I repainted the pitted wiper arms and also treated the faded windshield cowl with Solution Finish:





I also replaced the missing plastic rivet/clip and bolt on the passenger side, seen here on the driver side:



Brought my car to the BMW CCA Boston Chapter Concours d'Elegance at Prowse Farm in Canton,MA back in July. Here are some of the photos I took, as well as some from Larry Levin (IYKYK):

[eforty6_m3]

Around the middle of October, I dropped my car off at my buddy's (https://www.instagram.com/builtbyfurches) shop for some exhaust work. Since meeting him shortly after opening my now closed dry ice cleaning shop, we had talked about him fabricating me a custom rear section. And that finally happened:

OLD (Megan) EXHAUST:







Fabrication Photos:













































































































Cold Start

Operating Temp

This thing is an absolute work of art, as evidenced by the photos. Brandon ended up using a ton of material to get it as picture perfect as he could, and I could not be happier. Sucks I have to wait until Spring for windows down driving to hear this exhaust sing again, but hey, living in New England sucks sometimes!

And that takes us up to this past Saturday. Going to hopefully wash the car this afternoon, then get the battery tender and car cover on it and stored away in the garage for winter. We'll see if my back is ready for an oil change, though, I might just wait a bit longer to give it more time.

Cheers!

[AntRyv]

Phenomenal work brother 👌

[eforty6_m3]

Phenomenal work brother 👌

Appreciate the kind words, and glad someone appreciates my "build"! Cheers!

[WestBankM4]

Fantastic update. Anything nerve related is a pain in the ass (literally) because of the time it takes to heal on its own. Glad you're past that and looking forward to more progress on the "Purist".

After the rain has stopped in California, I'll be updating my build thread as well. I've done a lot on the car in terms of foundational, so now it's the interior refresh (just need to install everything) and the installation of my Karb box which is due in 7 weeks!

[eforty6_m3]

Fantastic update. Anything nerve related is a pain in the ass (literally) because of the time it takes to heal on its own. Glad you're past that and looking forward to more progress on the "Purist".

After the rain has stopped in California, I'll be updating my build thread as well. I've done a lot on the car in terms of foundational, so now it's the interior refresh (just need to install everything) and the installation of my Karb box which is due in 7 weeks!

You aren't kidding! But man, just over 4 months out, I'm feeling so much better now. Better than before my injury. Been focusing on strengthening my lower back/core/glutes and being more mindful of my posture, including when I sleep (always with a pillow between my knees, as I'm a side sleeper), or when I lay on the couch (a pillow under my knees to alleviate pressure on my lower back).

I'm going to go check out your thread now! And I get it with the rain. This has been the wettest (non-snow) winter I can recall here in MA in years. It's grey and rainy every day. Didn't realize we moved to the PNW, or England. Super depressing.

Karbonius?!?! Hell yeah...can't wait to see that bad boy installed! Absolutely love mine. The BEST upgrade I've made to my car, yet, without a doubt. The sound is gloriously intoxicating....

[eforty6_m3]

Got my latest oil analysis results from Blackstone Labs:


Obviously puts my mind more at rest in regards to the bearing wear. Definitely going to keep an eye (er, ear) out for any unusual noises, but I was hoping this would be the result.

[eforty6_m3]

Just finished up a small project on the M3. The speaker cover/grille on the passenger door had faded and was a much different color than the driver door cover, and I found this DIY which seemed like an easy enough thing to do:

https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/faded-bmw-330-ci-coupe-harman-kardon-door-handle-speaker-covers-dont-buy-new-ones-restore-in-30mins.1428348/?utm_source=pocket_saves

Passenger Door










Driver Door









Using Rit Black All Purpose Dye, I masked off the area and got to work:










I was able to achieve the following results:

[eforty6_m3]

Got the M3 up in the air over the winter for some much needed TLC:



It was finally time to overhaul the brakes on the M3. New Powerstop drilled & slotted rotors, carbon fiber brake pads, Motorsport Hardware stud conversion kit, and painting the calipers black was next on the docket (excuse the blurry photos, not sure what is going on lately with what seems like 1/2 of my uploads from my phone to Flickr, but they look 100% fine on my phone, but end up looking blurry/grainy on Flickr and when sharing from Flickr):













I also threw on 20mm H&R spacers up front to try and get the wheel more flush with the fender. It helped, but think there's too much camber so I'll need to take another stab at adjusting that:



Also ordered the Radium oil catch can kit for the M3, which I have yet to install, but should help with any oil blow by with the CSL style intake:



Also performed my annual oil change on the M3 and this one was a bit more memorable than most, and not in a good way. Stripped the oil pain drain plug, which is a common issue on these and the E9x M3s. Luckily the bolt is in there good enough and the oil leak is barely a drip, but I'm hoping (weather dependent) to drive the car to a local Cars and Coffee 3/30 at a very reputable BMW Indy shop about 45 minutes north of me and then leave it there for the helicoil repair, which they've had great luck with in the past and have performed on many cars. After that, the next bit of service the M3 is overdue for is replacing the water pump and thermostat, along with the radiator hoses. I have all the parts, but not sure it's a job I feel like undertaking, so I'll probably be bringing it back to this shop later in the Spring to get that work done.



Took her out this past Sunday for the first official drive of the season, which also allowed me to properly bed in the newly installed brakes:







I also picked up this "E46 M3" brick (generic legos) set from Petrolbricks:

[eforty6_m3]

Got a good report card from Blackstone Labs on the latest oil change:




Currently at Wile Motorsports...water pump/t-stat/radiator hoses/heli-coil/valve cover gasket. Picking it up this afternoon!

[eforty6_m3]

Finally installed my Radium Engineering catch can: