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

[Tbonem3]

[Loopyspec]

Car looks incredible. I'm considering buying a high mileage M3 and restoring it just how you did yours. I was stuck on looking for a low mileage example, but the car I found is my dream spec (AW, slicktop, zero options),

[Tbonem3]

Thanks! Mileage is pretty irrelevant (not incl bubble cars). There are so many factors to consider. A car with 150k, but $30k of maintenance/fixes can be better than a 100k car that hasn't had a thing done yet.

[jet_dogg]

Ain't that the truth brother. Restoring it mechanically to how it should have been maintained (which nobody did) is minimum 10k worth of parts and labor, minimum.

Cosmetically and structurally, add another 5-10k at least.

[WOLFN8TR]

Looks Fantastic Tyler! 😎

[Tbonem3]

Thanks Gary!

Moving right along...

December 2020

I was pretty sure at this point that I was buying my wife's uncle's early e46 M3 with no strut bar, and I wanted a front bar with a better "footprint" esp before I upgraded the suspension/chassis any further. I love being able to upgrade one car, and then the "hand-me-downs" can go to the other car.

I had already taken note of some newer fabricators like DMG & SME, because I wanted to further reinforce my RACP. While on IG, I saw Brandon (DMG) post about a GTR style rear bar that he had painted yellow for someone, but they didn't want it, so he listed it at a discount. I took the opportunity to buy it, but also have him throw in the front strut brace at a discount too!

Here's the "comp-v" before paint. Really nice work.




Didn't take pics of the front bar, you've all seen it before. Here I've got the stock bar off. You can see the 3 little "feet" that the stock bar's mounts use to sit on top of the strut tower. The DMG bar, and others of similar design (Mason might be the oldest, RE too), sit flat on the surface for better distribution of forces.



Good time for a light polish




Bar on and secured. A pretty tight fit, don't tighten one side without getting the other 3 nuts on the other side.



Uh oh, my bent dipstick is now in a bad spot I'll rectify that when the bar comes off again for suspension changes.

Some more shots of the front bar installed:







Before finishing, I wanted to remove the wipers for less weight and a clean look. I never drive in the rain, I barely drive the car much at all.

Take care when removing the arms. They'll likely be pretty stuck on the splines. Some penetrant helps, but I think it's best to use a puller, at least at first to get it started, then wiggle it off or leverage it off with a flat head. You can crack you glass if you're not careful.

[loudspeaker69]

For safety reasons if something ever spills on your windshield, you won’t have complete vision if you don’t have wipers.

Small risk it will be non-clear substance, but just an FYI.

It’s happened to someone I know.
Paint spilled on their E36 M3 on the road !

Looks beautiful nonetheless !

[WOLFN8TR]

“Wipers for Less Weight” Awesome!! 😎
It actually looks really good wiper less. I rarely use mine as well, hardly ever rains out here in the desert, but when it does it pours so hard they don’t really help anyway.

[Tbonem3]

December 2020

On canyon runs, in the summer, even though my cooling system is new, and I use proper oil, my oil temps would creep higher than I thought acceptable. My car has 179k miles, so I was sure the oil cooler was the issue. I also noticed the lines' crimps weeping oil.

Timed everything with my yearly oil change.




Dropped the cooler. Ya, it looks pretty done.



Some oil will come out. Center bolt is a 6mm hex iirc (maybe 5mm)



Not much oil to worry about up top at the housing. I had to bring the lines up through the rack and frame rail, couldn't go down. Might depend on your airbox situation.



Old



New cooler, lines, o rings. Cleaned housing. Didn't take a pic, but cooler is made by OEM Modine just like our coolant cooler (radiator)



Lube the o-rings



New lines going in. O-rings lubed and rolled on



Had to use a swivel on my 3/8



Same below



And also used the swivel here as sway bar makes it a little awkward.



New OE Mahle oil filter. Gasket also pre-lubed



OE spec fill



peekaboo



Done



Lol that first drive I was waiting and waiting and waiting for the oil to come up to temp. Took forever. Doesn't even hit center until you give it the beans.

Some time has passed and I've been able to beat on it. Doesn't budge from center. Wasn't until we had a 96 degree day recently (2021), that it finally crept up at all after numerous redlines.

-------

The center HVAC filter cover clip had been bothering me for years, but I never took the time to see if I could buy one/replace it. Turns out you can:




I think the center one gets faded as it's the most bathed in sunlight (if outdoors). Side ones look good. Simple, but important:

[Loopyspec]

Curious to know why you didn't opt for a CSF oil cooler over OE, assuming OE is more expensive.

[Tbonem3]

Quality/fit

I also got the cooler when FCP had it on clearance

[jet_dogg]

Love the wobbles.

[Tbonem3]

March 2021

Almost caught up to present day. This is the point where I was buying the 2002 Steelgrey coupe. Had some mods/maint just sitting around that I had intended to install for a little while, but became quite busy with the neglected steelgrey car as you can imagine. As I was making progress on steelgrey, I noticed and remembered that there was a change somewhere in production where cars got fluted fog lights over clear ones. The silvergrey's fog lights had about 150k on them (they were uninstalled for ~30k), and were pretty pitted and hazy. Not horribly, but no longer equal to the condition of the rest of the car.

The steel grey had a single fog light replaced recently (and the black ring), and it was the clear type. I immediately liked the look of the clear vs. fluted. It also seems to match better with my double halogens. So, I set off to buy one more OE ZKW clear fog, and a new ring, for the other side, and put them on silvergrey. Then move the fluted lights and decent condition rings to steelgrey.





The driver side rear quarter glass' black button cap's paint had stared to chip. I touched it up for a few years, but finally dug through RealOEM and, sure enough, you can buy a replacement kit. I didn't need the kit, just the cap, but the kit was only $15 anyway.




Easy enough of an install. I used pliers to squeeze the spring washer back on, was a little hairy - take care doing so.



Steelgrey didn't have a belly pan, and silvergrey's was also no longer equal in condition to the rest of the car like the fogs. I love these hand-me-downs!



Lastly, as I was checking adaptations and codes on steelgrey, I figured I'd have a looksee at how silvergrey is doing



Ahaha you motherfucker! Fucking perfect, just like it feels. (EWS is a bad key I later replaced)

My neighbors, knowing my care for these cars, graciously offered a space in their garage (The live out of state usually) for me to park silvergrey as I work on steelgrey

So here she sits safe and sound



Decent shot of the clear fog light look:

[jet_dogg]

Man it's like old forum days when you're on 56k waiting for pics to load with your picture heavy thread bro hahaa.

The fluted lenses occurred with the 2003.5 update and at first I didn't like them but to me they look a little more high end because you can't see the bulb imho. I prefer it on my because it's period correct but I obviously don't dislike the clear pre-lift one. Always love little touches like plastic trim caps, etc. and such.

[robgill]

Nice update, now I have to order new button cap's 😆.