Immaculate low mileage 2004 Silver Grey CSL Inspired Build

[repoman89]

Did you buy the Euro rear deck new or find it used? Think I might need one of those. I cannibalized my US one anyway for the BK rear deck harness mounts that I don't want anymore since I can just use a QFP for my occasional track days.

Don't forget you can get a slimmer carpet and larger tray for the driver side of the trunk since you deleted the nav stuff.

[Bry5on]

Looks good, keep your ear out for buffeting with the windows cracked as the cabin vents are in the trunk and it looks like those holes are the air passages.

[Avedis]

Part # for the speaker grille blanks? Didn't know they had 'em!

BMW Part No. 51468243667 and 51468243668. Weirdly, one is 3-4x times the price vs the opposite side.

This morning I continued on with the rear deck project. I remember seeing Tbonem3 build thread where he added acoustic mat to the holes in the rear deck. Great idea, so I stole it. Although I want to remove some of the weight from the car, I don't want it to sound stripped out and unfinished. I created some templates and cut the acoustic mat to shape.

Factory sound deadening foam removed


Templates cut and installed




I then test fit the new rear parcel shelf. I checked my work from the outside of the car and saw that the area between the rear windscreen and rear parcel shelf vented trim was dirty. I had to take out the sound insulation foam, then remove the vented trim. While the trim was out, I ceramic coated it with Carpro Dlux. It was incredibly time consuming but worthwhile due to it being exposed to UV constantly.



Window was deep cleaned



Everything reinstalled. Along the way, I broke some clips which will need to be replaced at a later date. For now, I will be leaving the headrests out as well. The headrest holes were plugged with a rubber BMW blind plug. Thank you to Casa de Mesa for the idea. I will update once the new speaker grills and replacement clips arrive.

[Tbonem3]

Part # for the speaker grille blanks? Didn't know they had 'em!

[Avedis]

Spent the morning continuing on with the radio / audio components delete. I started with the trunk area and removed the SOS module, navigation, radio, HK amp, and mounting frame.





I bundled up all the wiring harnesses in a microfiber towel then wrapped it tightly with friction tape. The bundle fit nicely in a little nook. I will find a more legitimate wrapping solution at a later time



Everything back together neatly. I then removed the emergency m-mobility system.




Next up was the HK under-deck mounted subwoofer


In addition to removing the speakers, I also had planned on replacing the rear parcel shelf with the streamlined Euro version and new c-pillars. Although the c-pillar trim was not faded, the fabric had started peeling from the edges closest to the rear windscreen. First the rear seat backs were removed.


Rear bench removed


Side bolsters removed. Next up was the removal of the plastic through-loading cross member trim. The plastic rivets were 100% stuck, and I had to cut the heads off just to get the trim off.


I then removed the c-pillars, unbolted the seatbelts, removed the seatbelt cover outlet, latch systems, speaker covers, speakers, and speaker mounts. I did not photograph everything step by step, as I kind of got into a nice work groove and did not want to stop to take photos. Here is everything removed.




The new parcel shelf and c-pillars were treated with Carpro fabric coating to reduce UV fade. Some new vs old photos below



I wanted to keep the parcel shelf as sleek as possible. I purchased the latch delete plugs for the speaker grills to plug the hole.



I attempted to install these into my new euro parcel shelf, only to realize the new shelf uses the smaller speaker grills! Turns out I purchased these, ceramic coated them, and installed them into the speaker grill for absolutely no reason. Oh well, smaller speaker grills already purchased and awaiting shipment.


While the c-pillar lights were out, I swapped out the hideous blue wedge bulbs one of the previous owners installed. They were swapped out with Sylvania long life 194 bulbs. The blue ones went directly into the trash can.

[Avedis]

Beautiful car ! Love a clean SG.

Was the dent removal person well experienced? Is it a mobile only service or do they have a shop too? Looking to remove a few dings from my Z4

He is very experienced and I would highly recommend him. I am very particular, and he definitely shares my standard/attention to detail. He has done my X7, and my neighbor's GT-R in the past. As far as I know, he is mobile only. You can contact him HERE.

[Maxima SE]

Beautiful car ! Love a clean SG.

Was the dent removal person well experienced? Is it a mobile only service or do they have a shop too? Looking to remove a few dings from my Z4

[Tbonem3]

Nice! I just want to buy E46 M3s and do this to them all day long.

[Avedis]

Lighting was taped off and polished


Had to break out the nano polisher to get into the intricate areas without risking damage to the adjoining panels





The whole car was polished as needed. Some areas needed two stage correction, some needed a single stage with multiple passes, and some just needed one single pass. Even though I blew out my pads often and changed pads frequently, the car was covered in polishing residue. The car was wiped down with alcohol prep to remove leftover polish and polishing oils.


Prior to putting the polishing gear away, I used the same polish and pad combo to correct the side markers.


I also polished the side grills with the same combo. You can really tell a difference, especially in the gel coat of the M3 badge. Top grill is unpolished, bottom is polished.


Used pads from the day


Switched my setup from correction mode to protection mode.




Prior to coating the car, I wrapped a small plastic tool in a microfiber. I used the tool to get into all the panel gaps and crevices. You can see how much trapped dirt and polish residue I was able to get out. I got this technique from Jim @ WhiteDetails. He calls it “toothpickery”. It’s a subtle detail but it makes a huge difference. Nothing is worse than a nicely detailed car with polish and residue in all the nooks and crannies.



I used a sharp bamboo toothpick and applied the factory BMW touch up paint to the rock chips around the car. I did not photograph the process. After the touch up paint dried, I applied the first layer of ceramic coating. For the base layer, I used Gyeon Evo Mohs. With just one layer, the paint already looked very glossy. Tomorrow I will finalize with the top layers of ceramic coating, tidy the windows, dress tires, and all the small details to wrap thing up.




Day 3, all finished

[Avedis]

Spent the day decontaminating and preparing the paint for correction. After fully stripping the paint bare, I was able to find a few small scuffs.



Prior to correcting the whole car, I went through the car and found all the spots that needed extra attention. A few before and afters:


Scratch on rear quarter near the driver's side door handle



Strange rust/abrasion spot underneath the license plate. Not perfect but much improved.



Scratch on rear quarter above the passenger's side taillight



Scratch on trunk lid. After taking this photo, I found a few longer/shallower scratches on the trunk. The whole thing needed a few passes of correction.



Also found that this was a perfect time to remove the sharkfin antenna. First I cut through the adhesive foam with fishing line. I then removed the antenna, and removed the adhesive foam. I removed wire from the rear windscreen gasket. The antenna was unplugged from the trunk, then fully removed. The hole in the trunk was plugged with a BMW blindplug.







Here you can see the damage left from removal. A few passes of correction and it looked flawless.



After the worst spots were sorted, I started the polishing process on the rest of the car. This will be a multi day process, which will include polishing all the lighting, glass, trim, and paint. The car will then receive a multi-stage ceramic coating. I will update as the process continues.

[Thoglan]

I've been meaning to go with a button delete on my wheel as well since I already have no radio. I've just been waiting to do the Z4 cruise control stalk so there is no loss of functionality.

[SQ13]

Interior looks sooooo simple with the radio and wheel button delete. Love it!

[Avedis]

Dinan pedal set install. Installation was relatively straight forward an not much to document. Went full OCD and aligned the screw heads so they were all aligned/matching +
New airbag also went in and dash trim was reinstalled. Everything looking buttoned up, really making me want to go for a drive.

[Str8f4c3]

Blank upper steering wheel trim and refinished lower steering wheel trim installed. Loving this streamlined and driving focused setup.

Absolutely LOVE the look of a button-delete wheel. Had one in my first M3. I believe there is a DIY around here somewhere for retrofitting the z4 cruise control stalk, so you can keep cruise and have the clean wheel. Great thread so far, keep it up!

[Avedis]

Blank upper steering wheel trim and refinished lower steering wheel trim installed. Loving this streamlined and driving focused setup.