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

[Tbonem3]

August 2018

I was getting tired of the 4.10s and found a fellow member who wanted to buy it where I could inherit their stock diff. At my mileage, my original diff's LSD was toast, so if i was gonna go back to stock, I wanted a lower mileage diff as I know how important a working LSD is to the dynamics of this car. I also wanted to get more than -1.7 camber in the rear. I had been keeping an eye on adjustable LCAs, mainly aluminum for weight savings, when I got lucky and saw a vendor mis-list some eibach/SPC alloy arms on Amazon for the steel price (half). They quickly re-upped the price after I purchased

Lubed up. Wrote wrench sizes for easy alignment









If your socket wrench isn't slender enough, as you're backing out the rear diff bolts (etorx e12?), an 11mm iirc, offset box end wrench fits perfectly!



Late night swapping by myself When you've done it before, recently, it's not too bad. This stock diff had 71k which I was happy with. I swapped my diff cover back over since it has the AKG poly bushings. Used a new gasket, a new gasket for the drive shaft end, and then new OE SAF XJ + fm booster fluid.



This is why you must remove or loosen, and lean back the diff to R&R control arms (well, the long bolt). The passenger side has enough room iirc, but the driver side doesn't.



Matched exact length to maintain alignment



Leverage; my old friend, Archimedes.





Shiny



With how few miles the car gets, I'm on annual oil changes now.

[Stock_E46_M3]

oh_look_a_jimmy

Should have used that name ! LOL

[Tbonem3]

oh_look_a_jimmy

[Stock_E46_M3]

Hi Tyler. Jimmy here, just got on here lol

[Tbonem3]

Thank you Steve!

[Steve]

The attention to detail is inspiring, great work!

[Tbonem3]

July 2018

I was thinking of my brakes, and the little mods to make them better like brass guide pins, euro pads/rotors, etc., but I then started researching 996 Brembo conversions. Turns out, if you DIY it all, it's very affordable. I ordered rotors/pads from FCPeuro for future replacement, brackets and lines from ECS, and a set of used Boxster S calipers from a dismantler.

My father is a machinist, so he took care of the front mounts for me. I DIY'd the paint job and install. I'll post some photos, but real info/details can be found in my DIY thread: https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...bbk-conversion












While installing the fronts, I first took the opportunity to replace the hub (bearings) with OE FAG.



OLD

NEW



Rears






D737 vs. D738






I've learned a lot since then, so what I've posted here has changed. I've refinished my set a few times now, chasing perfection. I also went with Rallyroad brackets for the front to drop weight (half the weight of CM).

Latest version:



My favorite thing about this "BBK" is the weight loss (unsprung weight). The car feels lighter overall, and very tossable and fun. Looks are there too of course, not gonna lie, especially after I worked out how to get my perfect yellow finish. For street use, braking isn't that much of an upgrade, actually. OE brakes are touchier (esp zcp), work better cold and better initial bite IMO. These brakes shine once up to temp and after repeated stops, which is what suits me for my car's use. The pedal feel is insanely firm as well. I'm using OE Porsche comp textar & ate pads. Fluid is ATE Type200 (higher boiling point).

[KhanArt]

You know, with the prices on some of this trim, I bet a good body shop could do a great job for a fair price! Maybe bmw black sapphire paint? My friend has trim repainted by a shop to match the stock titan, but I actually think it looks better than stock. It was years ago, don't remember price.

Great idea on the black sapphire, I had a F30 that was black sapphire. The metalic flakes should pop when nicely polished.

[Tbonem3]

The soft cover ya, but the light fixture requires more technical removal

[rbg]

Tyler does that LED brake light cover just pops down or you need to move somehow? I see there are tow "hooks" above the "door" clips on your photo.

[Tbonem3]

You know, with the prices on some of this trim, I bet a good body shop could do a great job for a fair price! Maybe bmw black sapphire paint? My friend has trim repainted by a shop to match the stock titan, but I actually think it looks better than stock. It was years ago, don't remember price.

[KhanArt]

Very nice! I want to paint my trim Piano black one day...

[eforty6_m3]

Ya I stole it from another! Little things...

So true! And it's been stolen...just swapped out this afternoon, as a matter of fact. Cheers man!

[Tbonem3]

Beautiful car. I love the growl of the airbox in between shifts... so tempting.

Thanks! Do eet.

Think I may be stealing this idea from you! I had no idea about this until seeing your post. 👍

Ya I stole it from another! Little things...

June 2018

I had gone back to a mostly stock shifter setup, but it still felt too notchy. I entertained the idea of putting the stock "broomstick" back in for better leverage, but didn't like how lightweight that knob is, esp after getting used to the ZHP. I also really didn't like the silver ring of the ZHP and how stubby it is. Can't remember where I saw it, but I decided on knob #25117896884, which is almost identical to stock, esp its height, but no boot attached and weighted (slightly more than ZHP).

Before:



New knob OE BMW 25117896884



Compared to ZHP:



I also got a new euro tray due to scratches on the other and in the little tray behind:



Everything as it is now:





Alcantara boot is from ZHP 330i. Trim is from 2000/1 LSB "piano black." Ebrake is Coby Wheel "alcantara" to match, due to 330i alcantara boot being NLA

I even put one in my 2012 128i I love it so much! Plus alcantara "performance" boot.



I also decided to polish the trim. After removal, you might find dirt or dust, so I clean/dress the plastic/vinyl underneath



I polished 2 step, fine polish, then an even finer plastic specific polish



Came out great! Luckily no big scratches anyway.





Back in



The 3rd brake light trim was bothering me as well, so I decided to see if I could disassemble and clean:



The cover just pops out with plastic rivets just like the door cards:



The fabric at the edge was peeling just like our pillars, so I nipped it in the bud with some super glue gel along the back edge line:



The light unit needs to be unplugged and "released." Cleaned/dressed it:



Back in:

[eforty6_m3]

Thanks guys!


Then I learned that the earlier cars actually got a different (non-Castrol) oil filler cap which I though looked better, plus new is nice! You can see the nice new ///M engine emblem as well:


[/SIZE]

Think I may be stealing this idea from you! I had no idea about this until seeing your post. 👍