Black & Tan 332iT

[Thoglan]

I was literally just about to order some monoball RTABs and now this thread is making me think I should just get new OEM ones.

[Bry5on]

I was literally just about to order some monoball RTABs and now this thread is making me think I should just get new OEM ones.

If you value a smooth ride, or if you frequently drive on crappy roads, I’d stay stock. The rear end definitely feels tighter with the monoballs, but you’ve gotta want that trade off. I’m also in a wagon which might make a difference in noise, although the RTABs are under the back seat, so I’m a little doubtful.

The commute today was fantastic. I drove with the stereo off

[Bry5on]

Well, I did it..

[Bry5on]

Now that I've got the corner weights and CG height, I was able to calculate my exact CG location. And not to put this information to waste, I built a spreadsheet to track changes to corner weight and CG location (incl. height) for any given modification. I just have to enter the x, y, and z coordinates (relative to the center X of the 4 wheels, on the ground) and the weight added or removed and I'll have new numbers generated automagically.


This spreadsheet technically works for any e46 (make sure your track and tire widths are correct) so I'm sharing it here in the case anyone else finds it useful. Enjoy!

CG location change.xlsx

[Bry5on]

Spent some time datalogging with the wideband O2 sensor this weekend. I’ve got a tune on the car now which looks like it needs some work in the low end! This is several runs all logged on top of each other, with only WOT data points, as an example:

[Bry5on]

Well, I'm on to Rev 2 of the CG location change sheet. Really just wanted to nail this thing..


And I've also started playing around with TunerPro. Very interesting to see how much correction there is in the WOT map from the stock CSL, and how the need for it aligns with my datalogs above.

And last but not least, for the record, slon tested the M3 v-brace at a 12% increase in torsional stiffness, with the strut brace at 20% - combining the two gets you 34%!

Factory tourings were already a bit more rigid due to the bonded rear glass and maybe the floor.
Assuming they are additive, this puts it at:


BMW E46 Sedan (w/o folding seats) - 18,000 Nm/deg
BMW E46 Sedan (w/folding seats) - 13,000 Nm/deg
BMW E46 Wagon (w/folding seats) - 14,000 Nm/deg
BMW E46 Coupe (w/folding seats) - 12,500 Nm/deg
BMW E46 Convertible - 10,500 Nm/deg
Slon stock M3 - 14,200 Nm/deg
Slon M3 with rear seat wall - 18,176 Nm/deg
Bryson 332iT - 18,760 Nm/deg

[Bry5on]

Low key couple of weeks. Took the time today to trim the intake duct a la M3 CSL along with a car wash and vacuum as it was getting pretty messy. Excuse the power wire that’s connected to my wideband for datalogging purposes (did my own WOT tune using Tunerpro). I also received the missing heat shield that keeps the AC working well. Gotta add a few nutserts to the frame rail and get that thing installed. The right time to do this is when the engine is out..

I also caved and ordered a Wavetrac and 3 new CV joints (diff from diffsonline). I loved the Torsen in my old 6-speed Z3 coupe and the diff in this M3 is tired. Goodbye m-clunk! Thanks in advance heinzboehmer and/or Trent for the extra hands.

[jrgatfh]

The v2 recaro brackets showed up, powder coated and all and I was able to get them in today. They’re millimeter perfect fitment in every dimension, and I’m very happy with the finish. Thank you sendcutsend!

Link to CAD, if you're inclined to recreate these: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/c4...d0507e4eaa81d3

Final bracket version installed:

I also installed the upper steering column trim from a late cabrio (still waiting on the OEM mic, just wired my existing one in for now) and swapped out the steering shaft flex disc. No pics of the flex disc but here’s the cabrio column trim:

Great thread and amazing build.

Love the idea of using the cabrio steering wheel trim to fit the microphone. Any additional information you can share on this? Have you finished installing it yet?

Is the factory mic plug and play with the AVIN radio? Or did it require some work to get it functioning properly.

TIA!

[Bry5on]

Great thread and amazing build.

Love the idea of using the cabrio steering wheel trim to fit the microphone. Any additional information you can share on this? Have you finished installing it yet?

Is the factory mic plug and play with the AVIN radio? Or did it require some work to get it functioning properly.

TIA!

Thank you! I did finish wiring it up to the factory mic, but alas, the cheapness of the Avin engineering shines bright. The mic input is connected through the Avin’s Bluetooth module directly, and as I use CarPlay the Avin does not use the mic plug from the back, but uses the built in mic on the front of the panel at all times. Callers on the other end of your CarPlay phone calls will report no difference in audio quality whether a mic is plugged in or not, and in fact folks on the other end of my calls heard a sawtooth like interference noise. Undoubtedly due to crappy layout of the traces on the board that lead to the microphone input. I opened the Avin unit up, disconnected the internal mic, and under no circumstance did any audio come through from my end.

When using the factory mic with the Avin unit over Bluetooth (which means no CarPlay), sound is clear but quiet, and unfortunately I never did test the original mic in its place.

At some point in the future, next time the dash is apart, I’m going to have to take apart the Avin unit, trace the circuit and hard wire this mic in place of the front panel one. Probably by bypassing as much of the board traces as possible..

Eventually, I’ll get this one right as I’m really tired of putting headphones in when I get a call.

A couple photos of the cab mic. If anyone knows the part numbers for the mating plug and contacts, I’m interested!

[tlow98]

Totally agree. When I installed these, I only really noticed the harshness on hard impacts. Going back to stock really highlighted the NVH differences during all types of driving, especially a bit of drivetrain noise that came through that I didn’t realize. It’s subtle but does make a difference for a daily driver.

interesting note about the shifting being smoother with the stock parts. Maybe I’ll give the stock RTABs a try after all. Did you put any of the limiters on with them?

[tlow98]

Low key couple of weeks. Took the time today to trim the intake duct a la M3 CSL along with a car wash and vacuum as it was getting pretty messy. Excuse the power wire that’s connected to my wideband for datalogging purposes (did my own WOT tune using Tunerpro). I also received the missing heat shield that keeps the AC working well. Gotta add a few nutserts to the frame rail and get that thing installed. The right time to do this is when the engine is out..

I also caved and ordered a Wavetrac and 3 new CV joints (diff from diffsonline). I loved the Torsen in my old 6-speed Z3 coupe and the diff in this M3 is tired. Goodbye m-clunk! Thanks in advance heinzboehmer and/or Trent for the extra hands.
]

Gripe, gripe, gripe Im in :-)

I’ll trade ya for some SMG to manual coding. The vendor that sold me the bell housing went AWOL on the tuning portion - terrific!

Also, you want the v-brace stuff from the vert before or after diff install?

[Bry5on]

interesting note about the shifting being smoother with the stock parts. Maybe I’ll give the stock RTABs a try after all. Did you put any of the limiters on with them?

No limiters, but I can feel a little squirm under acceleration in the first two gears with my alignment set to my preferred version of the CSL range. I’m running .06* total toe in front and .16* rear, the middle and most toe in of CSL spec, respectively. I’ve been considering making some limiters that I can install without dropping the mount and losing my alignment..

[Bry5on]

Gripe, gripe, gripe Im in :-)

I’ll trade ya for some SMG to manual coding. The vendor that sold me the bell housing went AWOL on the tuning portion - terrific!

Also, you want the v-brace stuff from the vert before or after diff install?

Hell yeah, I’ll gladly make that trade. I’m ready for the v-brace stuff whenever you are. The fuel tank needs to come out to get to everything that we need to chop out though, so let me know when it’s go time.

[jrgatfh]

Thank you! I did finish wiring it up to the factory mic, but alas, the cheapness of the Avin engineering shines bright. The mic input is connected through the Avin’s Bluetooth module directly, and as I use CarPlay the Avin does not use the mic plug from the back, but uses the built in mic on the front of the panel at all times. Callers on the other end of your CarPlay phone calls will report no difference in audio quality whether a mic is plugged in or not, and in fact folks on the other end of my calls heard a sawtooth like interference noise. Undoubtedly due to crappy layout of the traces on the board that lead to the microphone input. I opened the Avin unit up, disconnected the internal mic, and under no circumstance did any audio come through from my end.

When using the factory mic with the Avin unit over Bluetooth (which means no CarPlay), sound is clear but quiet, and unfortunately I never did test the original mic in its place.

At some point in the future, next time the dash is apart, I’m going to have to take apart the Avin unit, trace the circuit and hard wire this mic in place of the front panel one. Probably by bypassing as much of the board traces as possible..

Eventually, I’ll get this one right as I’m really tired of putting headphones in when I get a call.

A couple photos of the cab mic. If anyone knows the part numbers for the mating plug and contacts, I’m interested!

Thanks for the info and pics! Looks really nice/factory looking. I hope you get it to work the way you want to.

Hope you don't mind but I'm going to send you a PM. Have a quick question but don't want to derail your thread.

[tlow98]

No limiters, but I can feel a little squirm under acceleration in the first two gears with my alignment set to my preferred version of the CSL range. I’m running .06* total toe in front and .16* rear, the middle and most toe in of CSL spec, respectively. I’ve been considering making some limiters that I can install without dropping the mount and losing my alignment..

oh I like this. *copies and pastes* haha.

on the fuel tank - Yep, I forgot that point. I’ll only need the very chassis for about 150 miles while I seat the rings. Then it’s time to strip it all.