Tyler's 04 slicktop 6spd Silvergrey MCS/Brembo/CSL/Karbonius/Nogaros/Supersprint

[Tbonem3]

You might have seen, I made a new thread for it, but I recently acquired a 02/2002 Steel Grey 6 speed coupe with 123k, 2 owners, no accidents M3. It doesn't fit, chronologically, with this thread as I'm still updating from 2020, but I wanted to mention it, very exciting! It's replacing the experiment that was the 128i. A very cool car in its own right, but not what I want exactly, as I came to find out in 2020, after owning it about a year. In the end, it being a place holder for this new E46 worked out perfectly as its value hasn't dropped at all.

Continuing with the silvergrey...

September 2020

Coolant flush/refresh. I'd already replaced the WP, Tstat, radiator previously, so this wasn't a full refresh, but it was time to flush the coolant anyway so I took the opportunity to make some small-ish changes. My friend gave me a lower mileage expansion tank (mine's level had broken inside), I replaced the hard line going from upper hose to exp tank (with new OE), I got Wolfn8tor's O-ring pack, and I bought new radiator hoses as I tired of the blue silicone ones after like 6 years (going more OE look).

It also gave me the opportunity to clean the last, untouched part of my car, the area under the exp tank/SAP.

One of the messier cars to drain. I pull the lower hose off the rad.



Tank removed. SAP is already gone, if you remember.



My friend also gave me a waterpump shaft "beauty" nut. I should prob sand it down and paint it.



Putting Gary's o-rings in. I bought new hoses, but the OEM CRP (conti) ones, and I didn't quite trust the o-rings like I would with OE. Gary's kit was great timing.



I use aerospace 303 wipes on just about everything, even little harnesses. Cleans and rejuvenates in 1 step, plus protection.



New(er) Exp tank in, O-rings on and lubed. Two o-rings on these because this cap vents. Our exp tank is the highest point and is self bleeding (after/as it cools). The little screw on the upper rad hose is vestigial from E36 days, I believe.



I already polished most exposed metal like heatshields, vanos, AC line ends. I did a another quick polish since I was in there. Used a wet rag and simple green to clean the fender area down there. Sprayed the back of the headlights with 303 to renew all that plastic/rubber.





More than any special product/chemical, just putting in some effort will yield a significant improvement. My way isn't too fancy, I clean with simple things like water and diluted simple green, then I follow up with products like 303 or any trim/vinyl protectant. Mostly, it comes down to elbow grease/effort/time. Which is great, cause I have that! No real $ spent yet it transforms these 20 year old cars.

Moar engine bay shots 'cause why not





To finish, I use Genuine BMW blue, I put in a half gallon and then almost 2 gallons of distilled water. Run it, open the heater, let it get hot, then check it the next morning and add a few ounces of water till the level pops up. No need to bleed, as I mentioned earlier. Squeezing the hoses can help move fluid through, but you don't need to do it to try to get air bubbles to come out.

[Tbonem3]

September 2020

I had redone my 996 calipers and had made some changes like new textar pads, and went from CM brackets up front to RR. I already documented that, and posted some of these pictures earlier, but this is when I did a last bleed to really eliminate all bubbles and get the best pedal feel possible. I also wanted to try out my new pressure bleeder (typical motive euro)! I use ATE typ200 fluid.




First time using it, I wrapped some tissue around the quick connect to see if it leaked at all. No issues.



The best pressure seemed to be about 16-17 psi for me. Fluid wasn't coming out very fast below 15.



At first, I thought it'd be an issue, but there's a lot of space in the tubing. It's deceptive though, because there is a thin film of fluid that moves through, and the air never goes into the reservoir so no issues.



Starting at the back right. You can just see some tiny bubbles coming out. I use some 1/4" hose and a "smart" water bottle as my catch, works a treat!





Happy to report the pedal feel is incredible! The RR brackets are so much nicer than CM too! Half the weight, they fit better and the rotor turned in the caliper with slightly less resistance. It felt like something was just a hair off about the CM brackets. They'd get very touchy when hot and would heat up a little too quickly like the pistons weren't coming off the rotor. Maybe their planes weren't perfect? But I tested the pistons, and the issues seems to have been solved by swapping to RR brackets or at least, by taking things apart and redoing it. So whatever, I'm happy.

Look at this thing. What a car. This and E39, perfection.

[liam821]

My goodness, Tyler, everything is sooo clean!

[jdauria]

Love the attention to detail Tyler, this has to be the best looking 150k+ M3 out there.

Odd question, for the CSL airbox: did you bend the dipstick yourself for relocation?

[Tbonem3]

My goodness, Tyler, everything is sooo clean!

Thank you Liam!

Love the attention to detail Tyler, this has to be the best looking 150k+ M3 out there.

Odd question, for the CSL airbox: did you bend the dipstick yourself for relocation?

Thanks man! I did. Also have a spare, unbent one.

I used vice grips with rubber to hold below where I wanted a slight bend, and used a 12" 3/8 extension to pull it. Had to secure it or provide a fulcrum. Did it numerous times in the directions I wanted. Would be better to take it out and do it in a vice. Mine's not that smooth, but it works fine. Have to bend it again going to dmg bar. Might start over with my good one, just like having spares.

[freshprince2421]

I keep coming back to this thread. Total OEM+ goals!

I'm hung up on Nogaros or Recaro PP (ABE). How are the Nogaros on say a 2-3 hour drive? Have you by chance sat in the latter, as a comparison?

[Tbonem3]

Thank you!

I can't imagine sitting in any fixed back for 2-3 hours! the Nogaros are very comfy as far as shape, padding, size (for me at least). The thing that hurts comfort, is how upright they put you (and I'm in the more reclined pos). Great for spirited driving, but not too comfortable (being so upright).

ABEs are the only other seat I'd buy. If you want more comfort, look at sportsters, but then weight penalty.

[K-Dawg]

Great attention to detail. You need a journal for your other M3. Reading through your thread brought up a couple questions I have:

Can you compare the B6 dampers to Koni, especially ride quality differences? Also, do you ever notice the B6s bottoming out with your set up?

Did you rebuild the Turner plates because they needed it, or just to do it? It looks like the replacement bushing they now sell is black. I wonder what the difference is besides color.

It looks like you could fit a 9" front spring, which would eliminate all or most of the droop slop and potentially give you some more margin to spring blocking.

[Tbonem3]

Thank you! I do have a journal for steelgrey, it was a litter higher up on the page than this thread.

The B6s are great dampers, in my opinion. I got really tired of Konis after 3 sets over the years. The b6s are stout, stiff, tight. Konis always felt loose, "jangly" & unable to control rebound at higher speeds/compression.

Yes, you can adjust koni yellows, but I always found that to make them harsher rather than smoother - slower rebound should make it smooth up until rebound is too great and you don't return to full travel before the next compression.

For my rates of 325lb/550lb, the b6s were slightly too bouncy, as in, not enough rebound. So, I wouldn't go with B6s unless you're going to be using stock-like rates. Seems like about 350lb is their max (remember, rears act like less than 2/3rd's of their actual rate).

The way I setup the b6s meant I never bottomed out. I used high travel springs (barrel, less coil, lower block height). I also used tall springs, 7" up front and 6.5" rear vs. most ppl using 6". I used mount assemblies that gave me free lowering of about an 1" up front and then 2" less droop (shock action happening earlier on in stroke rather than at the end like most slammed cars) in the rear with GC tall RSMs.

Yes, I absolutely could have used a 8" spring up front (maybe even 9"), but I wouldn't have dropped to the ride height of 13.365" that I wanted. To use a 8" spring, I'd have to go with a rate of like 275lb or something for the car to settle at the desired height. Irrelevant though, as the 7" spring provides plenty of travel. You could use tenders, but my car wasn't catching any air.

I rebuilt the plates because they were bought used and were fairly old, and why not? The replacements were like $70 for both, plus I repacked the radial bearings. Color change has nowt to do with anything, I would guess.

[K-Dawg]

Cool, thanks. If I go with the B6 dampers, it would likely be with Eibach or Dinan springs. I was curious of your opinion since you have used both Bilstein and Koni, and I'm unsure which way I want to go for my daily driven car.

You're right, I was mistaken in thinking the longer spring would settle to the same height. A tender spring would add to the spring stack height and you don't have enough adjustment to make up for that.

[Tbonem3]

You're welcome. Just know, the B6s, with their gas pressure, will raise the car up slightly vs konis.

B6s will wipe the floor with konis, but it will be a bit harsher, esp over little bumps/inconsistencies in the road. I usually say konis for city driving and billys where you can stretch her legs.

[Tbonem3]

November 2020

Resprays

Unfortunately, even though I found an all original, well specc'd car in 2009, it did have some misfortune with respect to the body after I bought it. Twice (2010 & 2014 iirc), it was parked, and hit in the rear corner by 2 mindless girls, so both QPs and bumper (twice!) have been resprayed. Both shops did great work, and it's never been an issue, but I'm explaining this as the reason why I wasn't hesitant in having other panels redone with the car being 17 y/o and having 180k.

My main focus, like many, was the front end - all those rock chips! And other little defects. I started researching and talking to people. I have a really good shop in town that did my pass QP/bumper, but I ended up using a guy in my town, just down the street, who'd been in the business for decades and now runs his own little shop out of his house. I wanted a more personal touch, and I wanted to learn! I got bit by the detailing bug recently, and wanted to learn more about paint, color sanding, buffing.

Getting ready. I removed the corners/grilles/emblem & headlight trims just to make things a little easier for him.



Car with hood removed. He thought it would just be easier to work on the hood by itself (as well as headlight trims), but do the fenders on the car.



I don't have any photos mid process. The car isn't a daily, and I told him to take his sweet time. While waiting, we did chat some, and I learned some very useful and interesting info! Apparently, at least with PPG (OE is Glasurit), there is a "prime" A08 silvergrey and 2 variants. 2003 is the prime, what was used on CSL and, if you look closely, you can see how different the CSL silvergrey is from all other silvergrey e46s (nonCSL). It's desaturated, slightly darker, colder. The next is 2004 (my year) which is lighter and much warmer with RED added. I believe he said the 2005/6 was similar, but more yellow than red.

If your car only has one prime and no variants, it's a little easier to match, although the color and hue is also determined by many other factors, even how often the painter cleans the nozzles or tank. Iirc, he mostly used the 2004 variant (which is correct for me), but also bought some prime 2003 to mix in as needed. He also said he spent more $ and bought all new supplies and cleaned all of his equipment very thoroughly, which goes back to what I wanted, that more personal touch. I wanted the metallic flop to match OE perfectly, which needs a smooth spray by a talented painter.

Car back with me. Hard to capture the paint like in real life, but hopefully these pics represent it well enough. To be fair, my factory paint was not THAT bad. You could barely tell in pictures, but since my car sits under fluorescent lights in the garage and I stare at it all the time, I wanted fresh paint.






Lights & everything re-installed. Let me tell you how satisfying it is to not see one single chip or scratch!



Driver fender - I think he did an amazing job on the match (metallic/orange peel/color). The hood is incredible as well, but the match doesn't matter as much as a fender or door.



Passenger fender. It took me weeks to see it, but I think he might have mixed in a little too much 2003 A08 or did something that caused the fender to be slightly "colder" or more desaturated than it should have been. I'm not sure if you can tell from the photos, and I can only tell when looking at certain angles. I was told by the guy it's in my head, but who knows. His colorsanding also left slightly more orange peel than it should have, in my amateur opinion. A real shame, because he did a 100% job on the headlight trims, hood, driver fender. I *may* consider having it redone sometime depending on bothered I continue to be. I think I only noticed because I've been paying so much attention to the paint. It's one of those things where "ignorance is bliss." I almost regret educating myself on paint because now I see every tiny defect whereas years before, I thought the car looked great just washing it ahaha.



I mean, it looks fantastic. I'm just being super picky. OR maybe it is in my head. These metallic paints are doing my head in lol



Alright, I saved the worst for last. Several years ago, before I was able to garage the car, some tree sap got on the upper part of driver quarter, after the door like 9" or so. I think it was on there for a week before I saw it. Well, by the time I got it off with tar remover and clay bar, it had etched the clear very badly. It was only the size of a dime, but it was killing me to see, and I felt ashamed as I pride myself on good custody.

Well, I wish I wasn't so naive that I thought it'd be a good idea to have him respray and blend the top first portion of the QP. He, rightly, told me that painters don't like to do any "spot" jobs; they much prefer to "spray big" aka do the entire panel or do most of the panel and blend it further back for a better match. I think he tried to do what I wanted, and make the job as small as possible, but in the end, I learned that it wasn't a good idea.

Here you can see it looks flawless, but that's because you're only seeing the base paint, at this angle and lighting.




I mean, the guy knows how to paint, and the color match is great.

But when you are in certain lighting, you can see the blend (seems like I only see the clear coat "blend", but maybe that's because it's on top).

See the discoloration about a foot after the door, near the top of the QP?



It's noticeable enough that I do want to get it redone some time. Not a huge priority, cause you can only see it at the right light/angle, but you know, once you see it...

If the QP were original, I definitely would have been upset with my decision, and have preferred to just live with the little sap etching, as painful as it was to see.

Overall, I'm very pleased. The front end looks unreal, like an m3 off the lot in 2004. Plus, I learned a whole lot about paint from the guy, For example, with these metallic paints, you can fooled into seeing a scratch and think that your paint correction didn't cut deep enough. He explained that paint is always liquid, even if it seems hard to us. because of that, if you get a strong enough scratch in the clear, it can make an impression in the base layer below. So you come along and wetsand or buff out that scratch, but you still see it!

[jet_dogg]

You are a brave man.

It's too bad it's so hard to find an excellent body shop, even in all of southern california.

[Tbonem3]

Ha! More like greedy!

As far as the best paintwork, if you are willing to pay for it, 2m in SD and c&c Alhambra are the 2 best I've heard of.

[jet_dogg]

It's like asking for the best pizza in ny, everyone has a different suggestion LOL!

I've gotten 5-6 diff recs from my buddies. I would never drive to sd for body or paint living in a major metro area though.