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

[Tbonem3]

CA Smog time

As you saw, I put quality cats into sect 1, partly for smell, but mostly so that the car would be pretty smog ready at any given time. Now all I have to do is swap out the airbox and ECU tune, and I'm ready to test after.

Unfortunately, the entire strut bar must be removed, so keep the car on the ground and fixed so that alignment (camber) isn't lost. Though, I did mark my camber on my towers since I just got an alignment.



Airbox off



Looks stock to meeeee



After stock tune, I'm able to get monitors to pass pretty quickly. The HJS cats ain't slackin.



Passed with ease. My guy does a quick look in the engine bay, makes sure I've used my scanner to confirm readiness so we don't waste each other's time, and he's done in 5 minutes. With the HJS, there's no smell, so there's no thought that the car isn't stock underneath either.



Back home, do the reverse






Did a little polish/wax



Till next time...

[Sharocks]

Cleanest stock muffler I have ever seen hands down!

Nice update bro.

[Tbonem3]

Ha thanks! I guess it just comes naturally because I've always done this sort of stuff since I was a little kid. But that doesn't mean you can't learn! Almost all mistakes can be fixed too. I'm also spoiled by having 2 garages, lots of tools, time, desire, etc... Oh and covid cash / trump/biden bucks I shouldn't have gotten 😂

[cbean]

Holy smokes, your attention to detail, process, and sophisticated taste is inspiring. I thought I was OCD about my car, but I'm like a fat kid ( cause I am ) who plays Sunday football in the park compared to you . . . 250 LBS NFL Linebacker. And as you know, I have already stolen some of your ideas, like the Sportline wheels But, I still have so many questions, mostly related to the actual wrenching, as I am always so nervous I'll mess up 5 things to work on one This is my favorite thread, thank you for all the hard work and effort!

[Tbonem3]

When the last Supersprint groupbuy started up, I contemplated the idea of getting the best cats (HJS) so that I would no longer have to swap headers/sect 1 every 2 years for CA SMOG. I also contemplated just having some cheap cats welded into my straight pipes, but I wanted top quality and HJS cats barely lose any power. The retail price of the HJS is eye watering, but the GB discount was hefty enough, I pulled the trigger.

Despite the groupbuy taking a while, and issues with QC both in the manufacture and shipping of items, mine arrived in perfect condition, just in time for me to swap them in for my smog test that was due in a few weeks.


Beauts

Car up - I had noticed the giubo (OE, replaced in 2014-40k ago) had some new cracks forming, so I bought a new one (FCP warranty) ahead of time since you have to drop sect 1/2 to access D/S.


SS "S" pipes out



One of my other goals on this job, was to extend my muffler out a it more, especially (mostly) on the right side, to even the tips out. You can see how uneven it was, below. Yes, my tips are adjustable, but the factory metal piping that my tips attach to, are very short and there's no more room for me to bring the tips out further. (Only an issue with CSL diffuser)



Next, dropped v-brace and sect 2



Need to drop heatshield in order to reach CSB. Have to loosen CSB to push D/S back enough to get giubo out. You can access giubo without dropping sect 2 and heatshield, but then you're stuck.



You can see cracks on the giubo. Made it almost 40k of hard driving.



Giubo removed. Inspected the shift linkage. I had done it all recently enough, though, so still well lubed and everything looking as it should. (pictured is UUC DSSR & RE tranny bushes)



40k giubo vs. new. You can buy the cheaper Febi brand, and in the package will be a factory SGF. Save yourself like $100. (also pictured is a factory corteco centering bush that wasn't actually needed [don't waste your time/$])



Don't forget to push the CSB forward when torqueing, before you finish up.



Put copper paste on the new SS hardware and the O2s. O2s (post-cat) were replaced like 7 years ago for when I was passing smog with the euro headers/cat setup. Didn't use them with my v1s, so these are still pretty new.



New pipes ready to go in:



New gaskets:



Before installing the sect 1, I routed the O2 plugs through a hole in the heatshield (made when I had euro cats) and run along the tunnel, driver side



Hello



Once the pipes are installed, I pulled the O2 plus as far forward as possible, to meet the harnesses that need to be run behind the airbox and down tranny/clutch line area (already done in 2014). They'll reach a bit past the tranny brace. It's actually a good area for them to meet the harnesses as there are already some clips for the wiring of the tranny sensors.



Before removal, I had marked (sharpie) where the S pipes settle on the header outlets. I wanted to install the new pipes about 3/16-1/4" further back:



I also shimmed the passenger side hanger with some rubber blocks. This helped push this side out a little more.



Here's the end result:




For me, this is perfect. While I miss having some more exhaust noise sometimes, I don't think I'll touch this setup now that I have it exactly how I want. I'll put a muffler on my other M3 to enjoy those sounds.



In the wild:




Impressions: Shit, the cats eliminated all the drone and rasp 😭 Bright side - the airbox is even "louder." Power-wise, I've always noticed an increase in responsiveness when going catless, then a bit less when I would swap back. I have to say, these HJS are incredible. No perceivable loss at all, and zero smell, I mean zero. Seems like even less than stock, from memory.

Overall, the engine/exhaust sound is a little too calm for my tastes (I like a little drone and overall raspy nature). The airbox is the shining star, and that makes up for it.

in a perfect world, I'd have an electronically controlled "dump" installed at the end of sect 2, and open it up as desired. Maybe one day.

Next up is swapping the airbox back to stock, stock tune, and getting a smog test. We'll see if the cat/o2 monitors go green 🤞

[Rekpoint]

Nice touch on the hood vent. Just purchased one earlier today. For $37 and an FCP lifetime guarantee it's hard to say no.

[Tbonem3]

Some little things...

The hood grille is one of the parts that miraculously hasn't shot up in price, so figured I'd replace it. The original always looked good since I often treated it, but most of the clips had broken by now.

It wasn't until I put the old next to a new one, that I saw how worn (shinny, left side) it really was:



You can see many broken clips on the old one


New one popped in



Sprayers in. Not much difference in pictures, but it does look a little better in person



Other new trim piece I bought, which was more expensive, was the dead pedal. My original was actually in good shape, but there was a bad scratch right up front that was too noticeable, so here we go.



Unfortunately, BMW factory trim parts are looking worse and worse. They got some little kids in the factory painting these things or something, look at this finish:



Here's the scratch on my original



And the top was cracked after being removed too many times



While I was doing this, I also uninstalled my TMS pedals. I came to not like the pedals. The grip was actually too much and I was having trouble removing my foot fast enough with spirited driving. I also didn't like how it made the gas pedal heavier and harder to modulate with the increased throttle mapping in my tune.

So I bought new rubber covers. I loved the look of the TMS, but I'm happier back with stock now.




Last thing - Years ago, John (Donutboi if anyone remembers) gave me some parts when he moved to e92, and one of them was a like new ebrake. The handle on my original ebrake was well worn. I thought you could simply remove the handle, but after trying my hardest, it wouldn't budge, so I just replaced the whole unit:

[Mike0032]

My favorite pic (shows the new stance as well):

Ooof. This is good.

[Tbonem3]

Thank you. I couldn't be happier with them. Maybe they could be tilted a bit further back, but I never feel like they're at a standard of quality lower than the factory surfaces. Whatsoever. I would assume leather might feel a little more substantial, esp on the shoulder "wings", but this is the most impressive vinyl I've ever seen/felt. I'm not missing leather at all, really. The fabric center is high quality as well. The damn white stitching was the only let down. But I made lemonade.

[Casa de Mesa]

[SIZE=14px]September 2019



Not sure what led me down the path to seats, probably just tired of how bad the stock ones are. I have manual seats with no adjustments to lumbar or sides, so I really slide around a lot in the stockers...

I got the street versions in vinyl.

Hey Tyler. How does the vinyl compare/fit in with your Nappa leather elsewhere? Does it feel out of place?

From your pictures, it looks absolutely perfect, but pictures can be deceiving. However based on your review, vinyl/Dinamica center seems to play the part well. The leather/Dinamica upgrade is a steep step up and I'm trying to weigh if it's worth it.

I'm considering this mod after looking at yours, Ian's and others posts on this. Like you, I have never liked the stock M3 seats. After you've spent time in a race seat, nothing compares. This is a pretty good middle ground for a street car, dropping a nice chunk of weight while you're at it.

Love the stitching coloration, BTW. Super slick detail. Well done.

[loudspeaker69]

That's not the right question. The right question is, "why aftermarket?" If there's not a compelling enough reason to go with a different part, you don't.

In the case of FCABs, the only change that makes sense is solid or spherical for a race application. Fresh rubber is amazing. Few owners, today, know what a new E46 M3 feels like. The only places where I think there's no trade-off is RTAB and subframe. Indeed, I'd recommend aftermarket in these 2 locations even for a street car. And I'd only recommend poly in a few, very specific locations where there is no articulation/rotation.

Noted.

[Tbonem3]

That's not the right question. The right question is, "why aftermarket?" If there's not a compelling enough reason to go with a different part, you don't.

In the case of FCABs, the only change that makes sense is solid or spherical for a race application. Fresh rubber is amazing. Few owners, today, know what a new E46 M3 feels like. The only places where I think there's no trade-off is RTAB and subframe. Indeed, I'd recommend aftermarket in these 2 locations even for a street car. And I'd only recommend poly in a few, very specific locations where there is no articulation/rotation.

[loudspeaker69]

Stock. Replaced often.

Why stock?
Just curious….

[Tbonem3]

Stock. Replaced often.

[loudspeaker69]

To confirm: what FCAB do you use ?