My Slow Burn (E46 M3)

[eforty6_m3]

Yesterday afternoon, I got the M3 dyno-tuned to help address a sporadic check engine light/fuel bank code I'd been receiving since getting the car tuned after installing the Karbonius intake.

So I had my laptop plugged into the OBDII port, while my tuner was remote connected to the laptop from his location (California, I believe). Was my first ever experience at a dyno...pretty happy with the numbers she put down considering she's 17 years old and only modifications are the intake and the muffler/rear section:
































And now for the fun stuff.....noises:

https://flic.kr/p/2nimkk5

Man, 6 individual throttle bodies + the Karbonius intake sound utterly amazing!!!!

https://flic.kr/p/2nimxdv

https://flic.kr/p/2ninyAu

https://flic.kr/p/2nimrp4

[eforty6_m3]

Although I have yet to get her up on the lift for a full undercarriage cleaning, I spent a few minutes last week spot cleaning the M3 with dry ice. Did the wheels, gas filler and a few spots in the engine bay:



BEFORE






AFTER






On Sunday, a buddy and I rode down to the first Audrain Museum Cars and Coffee of the season at Fort Adams in Newport,RI:



















And after a nearly 3 month wait, a little more carbon fiber arrived for the engine bay. I was convinced it was going to be destroyed based on the condition of the box...alas, it was not:


















BEFORE



AFTER

[eforty6_m3]

Finally had some time to address some of the items on my To Do list. Got my Karbonius Strut Bar installed (which involved flipping the positive terminal in the engine bay), coils 2-6 swapped, swapped out the CSL dipstick for a non-CSL version, mounted the 'BMW M Power' decal on the Karbonius box and I think that's about it. Hoping to get her out of the garage by the end of the week (assuming we get more rain to wash any remaining salt off the roads) for the first time. Need to get her up to my Dry Ice Detailing garage for some hardcore cleaning!

https://instagram.com/enticedgarage

[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.