NorCal M3 - CSL Conversion (Orignial owner car)

[M3dragon]

2004 The Adventures Continue

The start of the New Year brought the start of the real performance purchase for the car. The first item on the list was an Eisenmann Race muffler with 83mm tips. I went with this muffler because I like the tip design and it was one of only three choices at the time. Over the years mufflers have come in and out of favor but this is still the only muffler I can never get enough of its sound. I also ordered the color-match front reflectors as a late Christmas gift to me.

*In owning this muffler for almost 10 years the only issue I have had with the muffler was one of the side brackets broke on a drive in 2011. It was a quick weld job to re-attach the bracket*













By this time it was February and I wanted to get out and try out my new upgrades. I organized a weekend of drives to Napa for the first time. This drive was to bring the Bay Area and Sacramento guys together for a fun day of back roads turns. I did the drive twice with the first day only getting one car to turn out and on the second day I got my buddy to go at the start and we met four Bay Area guys in Napa.

Saturday drive to Napa




Sunday drive to Napa




As March 2004 rolled around I was able to order a set of BMW E46 M3 CSL rims. At the time I got these rims they were one of the hottest items on the market for any BMW. I also got my rims before daytonaviolet for those who are keeping track. When I bought the rims I also installed a set of Nitto 555 per the suggestion of the tire shop that did the installation.







At the end of March, I went down to the Bay Area for the Stanford Mall meet. This was the predecessor meet to the now famous Santana Row meets. Sadly over the years, I seem to have lost the images from the many events I attended down there. Luckily I have the very first meet I was at.

[M3dragon]

In June of 2003 I organized another meet and drive with some of the people I meet at the Sacramento State meet and my coworkers. As you will see we stopped at the same turnout for photos and completed the same loop around Folsom Lake. It was the only drive I knew and it was starting to get old driving on the same road over and over again.

This drive was also when I test my first modifications. I bought a K&N panel filter which might not seem like much but it was the first step down a very long road. Granted at the time I did not know that the road would have been this long as well as take so many twists and turns if we are staying with the car theme.









The next performance upgrade I purchased was the UUC Rasp X system in September of 2003. I bought this to get rid of the raspy metallic noise that the E46 M3 seemed to make at higher RPMs. This was the first generation of this system and it does remove the metallic rasp. The one drawback to the system is it does not add any power and but does add weight. So the removal of the rasp sound negates any real performance in retrospect but at the time it was the hottest thing on the block.





Three days after I installed the UUC RaspX system I went on my first group drive up HWY 1 North of San Francisco. Only three cars went on this drive but that was more than enough to have a good time. The group coved over 330 miles from start to finish which made for a long day and a great shake down run to see how the RaspX system worked on the car.











The last major activity I did in 2003 was to organize a drive up to Lake Tahoe for the first time. This drive took place on October 15 2003 and is a far cry from the Tahoe Drives I organize now. Like anything, you have to start somewhere and this was where it all began for the Lake Tahoe runs. As this drive was the first time I had been to Lake Tahoe on my own I let one of the other drives lead the group. This was a great day and something I look forward to planning every year.

[M3dragon]

The Start of the Journey 2003

As I was new to the sports car world, I wanted to get out and meet fellow car enthusiasts and go out on drives. In 2003, I was only on the E46fanatics forum which is where I learned all about my M3 before I purchased it. This was also where for the next few years I hung out to learn about upgrades for the car.

The very first event I went to was at Sacramento State in February 2003. This was set up by some of the local BMW guys and was my first event ever for any organized car meet. After meeting at Sacramento State and taking a few pictures, we headed out for a drive on some back roads around Folsom Lake.









The next event I went to was in March of 2003. I can’t recall if I tried to set up this meet but my memory says this was my first attempt at organizing a meet. Mother Nature decided to remind me that she dictates when car meets happen as it ended up being a very wet and windy day.

There was one car that showed up and the two of us did a short drive on the only road I knew at the time. While the drive was short we did pull off and take some pictures to show these cars do not melt in the rain. After pictures, we took a ride in each other’s car as the E46 was still a new car at the time. I have a real respect for the continental tires that were stock on the car at the time as I drove like an idiot in the rain when I look back on that day.

[M3dragon]

Recreating the old M3forums build for my car.

Full build thread XLS Document:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...EE&usp=sharing

Assistance XLS Document - FULL CSL parts listing for M3 to CSL Conversions:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...0E&usp=sharing

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Purchase History and Day 1

I started looking in September 2002 at 330ci’s, as I wanted a sports car to have for weekend drives. I had never owned a BMW or even a sports car for that matter. My car ownership experience at the time I started looking at BMW’s had only been Ford Broncos, so I was definitely a fish out of water. After some research, I changed my mind and ordered an M3 as it had the SMG system. I asked the dealer to order a silver one and let me know when it arrived.

About two weeks later, the dealer called me and said they had a customer back out of an order and asked if I was interested. At first, I was hesitant because I wanted silver but they gave me a discount on several of the ordered options. I agreed to purchase this car as I was saving money and the color was not bad. I am glad they did, as now the Steel Gray Metallic is one of the rarer colors for the M3. October 15th, 2002 I bought my M3 with 88 miles on the clock and the journey began.

Vehicle Specifications:

• 2002 BMW E46 M3
• Build Date: XX/2002
• SMG II
• Steal Gray Metallic.
• Black Nappa Leather
• Premium Package
• Bi-Xenon Headlights
• CD Player
• 19inch wheels
• Harmon Kardon Sound
• BMW Car Cover
• BMW M3 Floor Mats

The next morning I could not wait to walk out to the garage to see if the car was actually there or if was it one hell of a realistic dream. Thankfully when I walked into the garage, there she was, sitting all clean and pretty.

Now take this as a coincidence but here are some interesting things I realized after I bought the car. I bought the car on October 15, 2002. My favorite month is October, 15 is my lucky number and the car's vin ends in 15, I was 22 at the time, and the stock horsepower matches the last digits of an item we all need to drive. They say when things are meant to be they will just happen.