My Slow Burn (E46 M3)

[eforty6_m3]

My latest gift for the M3 came in recently, and it's glorious:













Over the next few days, my plan is to remove the CSL box so I can swap back to a non-CSL dipstick and plug up one hole in the back of the box that I forgot about that may be contributing to an occasional CEL. While I'm in there, I'm also going to swap out the 5 remaining ignition coils. I'll also slap the "M Power" decal on the box and reinstall everything while I wait out the last few weeks of "winter" before driving season is upon us.

Then this old girl is heading straight to my new business (entICED Garage) for a thorough, dry ice detail!!!!

[eforty6_m3]

Not much going on in M3 world (she's hibernating), but I did get a great Blackstone Oil Analysis and figured I'd share. I do have a pretty cool purchase (or 2) planned for the car once I get my bonus at the end of January. I'll share those once they're official, because things can always change. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and wishing you all a Happy New Year!

[eforty6_m3]

Starting to make my 2022 maintenance list, which will probably be led by new rotors and pads. I'm also planning on a full paint correction come springtime, as I have yet to deal with the paint. I also need to remove the Karb box for a few reasons, namely:

• Swap back in a replacement OEM (non-CSL) dipstick
• Apply the M Power decal to the box
• Plug a hole in the back of the box that I missed during both previous installs 🤦♂️
• Replace the remaining 5 coils

As we head towards winter weather, I took advantage of the decent weather lately and filled her up with Shell V-Power (and Stabil), a fresh oil change with Liqui-Moly 10W-60 with Liqui-Moly MoS2 additive, and the final wash of the season:

[eforty6_m3]

You took better pics of my car than I did lol

Was a good turnout, hopefully we can schedule more of a sit down lunch operation next time.

Ha, I didn't take all those photos! But absolutely, I'd be down for that. Maybe even visit a brewery or something.

[Sharocks]

You took better pics of my car than I did lol

Was a good turnout, hopefully we can schedule more of a sit down lunch operation next time.

[eforty6_m3]

September

Yet another wash:



































9/12/21 - E46 M3/1 Series Owners of New England Meet @ Audrain Automobile Museum & Fort Adams, Newport,RI:

[robgill]

Nice I also got one of those binders! Really had to hunt around on Amazon to find inserts that fit the euro holes 😂

[eforty6_m3]

August

Snagged this sweet (but expensive, as it came from overseas) binder to store all my service records/receipts in:








While not specific to my M3, it is somewhat BMW-related. I flew down to Florida with a buddy for business reasons and while we were down there, we decided to visit Obsessed Garage (we're both huge supporters). We got to tour OGHQ, as well as the new Yard Building:


































OK, back to reality. Took these photos while giving the car a mid-August wash:


















On 8/15/21, I attended the Boston Chapter BMW CCA RI Show n Shine in Narragansett,RI. Here are some photos from that event:

[eforty6_m3]

Early July

To match the refinished rear deck, which I had already addressed, I gave the rear speaker covers a few coats of paint to make them look new again (using Rust-Oleum Metallic Paint & Primer in One - Satin Nickel):












A rare sight...both of my cars actually clean at the same time:

[eforty6_m3]

Whoops, haven't updated this in a bit. Also haven't had to do much to the car over the summer, so I'll highlight a few items I did address and show off some of the various events I attended in the car.

June

Back at the end of June, I swapped out my headlight lenses for brand new OEM replacements and while it might be tough to tell from the photos, they made a huge difference in freshening up the front end:

BEFORE





AFTER






Brought the whole family out to the 6/27/21 Audrain Cars & Coffee at the Newport Polo Grounds in Portsmouth,RI. These photos, taken from the drive in, were shared with me after the event:

[eforty6_m3]

Much to my surprise, the CSL dipstick and tube did, in fact, arrive yesterday!



Yes, I'll have to remove a portion of the intake anytime I want to check the oil level, but it's really not that big a deal. 4 torx screws is all I need to remove, in addition to unclipping one hose fitting. And it's a MUCH cleaner solution than when I stuck the original dipstick behind the strut bar, as it was slightly rubbing against the intake.

Maybe if I get bored and come across a cheap, used dipstick from a part out or something, I'll try my hand at bending again. But this'll do for now!

As for the misfiring. Now that I was able to get the car all buttoned back up and running, she's definitely still misfiring, but seems to be a bit smoother than before. Codes were showing that only cylinder 1 was misfiring now, so looks like he new plugs addressed the other misfires. I swapped the coil from cylinder 1 to cylinder 2 (and vice versa), and sure enough, cylinder 2 started to misfire. Ding ding ding. Looks like I've got a bad coil and a new one already ordered from FCP that should be here by Friday. Hopefully that is all the old girl needs to get back on all 6 cylinders so I can hit up the Audrain Museum Cars and Coffee Sunday morning!

Stay tuned...

[eforty6_m3]

Car looks incredible man!

Regarding the dipstick mishap...lol, what did you use to make the bends? My Karb box is still in the box waiting for my car.....

Coming from you, that means a lot...thanks, man!! Saw the photos you posted recently after getting your car back from Rex and, WOW, she looks amazing!

🤣 I used a Klein Tools conduit/pipe bender that I picked up from Home Depot specifically for this reason. Ended up putting a bunch of kinks in it (whoops), but it was my first foray into bending pipe of any sort so figured I'd see what happened. It was a clusterf*ck, hahaha. Lesson learned.

Dude, here's what we're going to do. Ask Matt to fly me down there and I'll do the install (minus the ECU stuff!!) for you! 😎

Not being able to drive my car the last 9 days is KILLING ME, because the weather has been absolutely perfect driving weather.

[BMWahba]

Car looks incredible man!

Regarding the dipstick mishap...lol, what did you use to make the bends? My Karb box is still in the box waiting for my car.....

[eforty6_m3]

The very next day, when returning from a market nearby, the car cut out on me and threw a check engine light when taking off from a red light. Seemed to not be running on all cylinders (sounded like a damn Subaru boxer engine), but luckily, I was able to drive it home as this happened about a mile from my house. Immediately checked for codes and found the following:





Hassan from HTE said it was most likely plugs or coils, and having never changed the plugs on the car in my ownership, I can only wonder if they're original or not. My mechanic neighbor also thought the plugs were the most likely culprit, noting the recent intake install and tune, and this was probably putting too much of a burden on worn out plugs. So I started the triage by replacing the plugs and, while I'd be shocked if they weren't THE single culprit, they were most definitely a large contributor...these things were toast:








Plugs were all swapped over the weekend, but while I was at it, I decided to try and properly bend the OEM dipstick. I learned a valuable lesson during this time: I don't know how to properly bend pipe. I massacred this thing! So I did what I should have done from the get-go and ordered the CSL dipstick and tube from ECS Tuning Sunday night. It's on the UPS truck today for delivery, which is very impressive (yes, I paid extra for 1 day shipping)!

So once the dipstick situation is taken care of, I can reinstall the Karb box and take this thing for a test run and see if the misfiring situation is addressed or not. If not, then time to move coils around and see if they're also a culprit. Fingers crossed it's just the plugs.

While I had the cabin filter housing out, I decided to throw some Solution Finish on the faded cover:

BEFORE




AFTER (much better!)








And lastly, my new vanity plates came in, after waiting pretty much the length of the pandemic for the MA RMV to allow them again:

[eforty6_m3]

Hood up after a quick rip through town, so couldn't help myself in getting some shots of the Karbonius box:










Was then able to squeeze in a wash last weekend: