Immaculate low mileage 2004 Silver Grey CSL Inspired Build

[Avedis]

I had typed out an entire order of operations for the exterior rebuild so that I could stay on track and organized. Having a plan was nice, but when my son realized that “his” M3 was back in the garage, he couldn’t wait to work on it.

We went out to the garage and took on all the easy tasks. The order that we were doing things made absolutely no sense, but it really wasn’t about being efficient. I know these are memories are something I’ll hold onto forever, and I was happy to just be present, productive, and bonding with my son. It’s been really fun to see his understanding and passion for cars grow as he has gotten older.






After he got sick of working on the car, I stayed on the passenger side of the car and kept reassembling. All new hardware went into the body and onto the side skirt, then side skirt was reattached.




New lower window trim went down, then I reinstalled the shadow line trim, window gasket, window, b-pillar, and reattached the seatbelt.








I then detoured and took full advantage of having my neighbor home for the day. I used his extra set of hands to install the hood and passenger side fender.



I went back to the passenger side and installed the rubber door sill, plastic lower kick plate, rear door panel, rear bench and front door panel. Really good progress for a single day, i'll keep this thread updated as I continue the exterior rebuild.

[AWE46M3]

Let’s go!! 🫡

[Flow]

Very nice !
I just hope that the immaculate condition won't keep you from driving the car
Can't wait to see the next updates

[bavarian3]

Let's go ! The results are going to be epic.

[Avedis]

The painting process took a lot longer than expected, but I’m really impressed with the results.

After Monterey Car Week, Dave was able to get my car painted. If you recall, he sprayed about 10 color samples a while ago, two of which looked incredibly close. He picked the best color match and sprayed the quarter panel before painting all the accessories. Dave wanted to make sure he was happy with the color match before painting the bumpers and trim pieces.

About a week later Dave called me and informed me the color match was not to his standard. Despite us both agreeing on the color samples being an excellent match, the color did not quite translate to a larger scale for some reason. I have so much respect for his professionalism and perfectionism. I can almost guarantee you that any other shop would have pushed the job through. Dave special ordered some large scale panel spray outs so he could test the color match at a larger scale. They mixed up a few more batches and settled on a new formula.

Another week later, Dave called me and this time was much happier with the results. He invited me to come to the shop to see the color in person, and asked for my final approval. What I appreciate about Dave is his willingness to allow the customer to be a part of the process, ensuring that my concerns are heard, and that I am satisfied with the work being done.

When I arrived, the car was parked outside, and I got my first look at the paintwork. This was straight out of the paint booth. The color match was so good, and the orange peel texture was identical to factory. The most impressive part of it all? Zero body shop dust on the car, not a single spec. No over spray, no surprises, just great work.


Although I always knew paintwork was difficult, I’ve gained an even deeper appreciation for this skill. There are so many variables that go into a good paint match including the manufacturer itself, mixing the colors, the amount of metallic, pressure settings and arm speed for orange peel, blending vs butt matching, etc. Doing it at a high level is kind of an art form.

Couple days later, the rest of the parts had been painted, and the car was ready to pick up. I got my first look at the finished result, which was stunning. My goal for the paintwork was to go from the previously repainted quarter panel’s 90-95% color match to 95-98% color match (depending on the angle). I’d say we absolutely accomplished that goal. The only way the paint match could have been any closer would be to blend in the adjoining panels, which I was not willing to do.


I cautiously loaded the car up onto my neighbor’s trailer, then followed anxiously as we caravanned back home.




It felt so good to have the car safe, undamaged, and back in my garage.




Lights out for the night, let the rebuild begin in the morning!

[M3fanatic580]

Love your build so far. Following your progress.

[Slideways]

Appreciate the information. I'm just looking for an leather OEM style boot that fits the shorter ZHP knob. Exactly like the alcantara one but leather.

BMW does not make one for the E46, unfortunately. Only options from BMW are the imitation leather and alcantara.

Now, you can get the one piece F10 M5 or F80 M3 shift knob and boot (ZHP style knob plus real leather boot, both have the illuminated shift pattern as well) and transfer an E46 shift boot frame (glue) to either of them to make a ZHP and real leather shift boot combo. DIY here - https://chrisparente.com/2017/05/30/...b-replacement/

[Kipjames3]

In regards to the shift knob and boot, it is a ZHP shift knob paired with the imitation leather shift boot found on the standard E46. If it were a cut factory M3 shift boot, it would have four stitch lines and it would be smooth nappa leather rather than the textured imitation leather. There are also aftermarket leather shift boot options that usually have that course grain leather.

Appreciate the information. I'm just looking for an leather OEM style boot that fits the shorter ZHP knob. Exactly like the alcantara one but leather.

[Slideways]

In regards to the shift knob and boot, it is a ZHP shift knob paired with the imitation leather (or real leather, NLA) shift boot found on the standard E46. If it were a cut factory M3 shift boot, it would have four stitch lines and it would be smooth nappa leather rather than the textured imitation leather. There are also aftermarket leather shift boot options that usually have that course grain leather.

Edit: BMW might have discontinued the real leather E46 shift boot and only offer the vinyl and alcantara ones now.

[Kipjames3]

Avedis thank you. I've been reading people doing that so maybe I'll have to end up going that route. Are you thinking about going alcantara wheel and shift boot at any point?

[Avedis]

Fridays have become my day to go and check on the progress of the paintwork. Now that all the big Monterey Car Week jobs are done, Dave was able to have his team make progress on my M3. Not a bad list to be on!


Prior to getting there, my M3 was already in the paint booth. The booth was already closed and pressurized, so I couldn't really get inside to snap photos of all the prep work they did. Even so, I could see that the paint was sanded down, and all the holes and sensitive areas were meticulously masked off.


That said, Dave knew that I wanted photos for this build thread, and he snapped some photos before I arrived.





I am not an expert on paintwork, and I had a lot of basic and probably annoying questions about the process. Dave handled my barrage of questions with grace and gave me a tour of the paint mixing room. I mentioned in a previous post that Dave did 10 color/texture samples for my car, each utilizing different paint manufacturers, spray guns, and adjustments. I was surprised to find that they got the best match with PPG paint. Dave went over all the paint brands he stocks (Sikken, PPG, and Glasurit), and their different applications. The conversation was far beyond my knowledge level but I appreciated the time and explanation. Fun note, the binders on top of the paint cabinets contain every car that they have painted in this paintbooth. They are able to pull every detail, the brand, mixing formula, spray gun, nozzle, pressure settings, etc should they need to work on that same car in the future.


All of my parts were either in the process, or in the queue. By the end of next week, everything should be painted, and finish work can begin. Hopefully the next update will be in a few weeks when I am trailering the car M3 back to my garage.

You have a link to the hardware on that magnetic plate setup you rigged together? I like that a lot

Definitely, you can get them HERE. Pair those with a thin sheet of galvanized steel ($0.98 from Lowes) and you should be good to go. If you want to do it a more legit, complex and overpriced way, you can always try the Carbonex kit HERE

Avedis is that the stock shift boot or did you change that out as well? I'm assuming that's a OEM ZHP weighted shift knob also? I'm asking because I might be doing a manual swap soon and want to keep a leather interior so I don't want the ZHP alcantara shift boot + weighted knob combo that only seems to be available. I have read the OEM broomstick leather shift boot doesn't fit the ZHP knob due to the shortened height of the ZHP knob.

The shift knob is one of the few modifications the car came with when I purchased it. I'm going to be totally honest, I'm not sure. It looks/feels like an OEM ZHP weighted knob, on a factory shift boot thats been cut, inverted, then ziptied on from the underside. Nothing about it looks or feels aftermarket. Maybe it’s taken from another BMW model. I haven't read that specific combo wouldn't work. I'm sure someone here has done it and can answer that question with certainty.

[Kipjames3]

Avedis is that the stock shift boot or did you change that out as well? I'm assuming that's a OEM ZHP weighted shift knob also? I'm asking because I might be doing a manual swap soon and want to keep a leather interior so I don't want the ZHP alcantara shift boot + weighted knob combo that only seems to be available. I have read the OEM broomstick leather shift boot doesn't fit the ZHP knob due to the shortened height of the ZHP knob.

[BADCLOWN]

You have a link to the hardware on that magnetic plate setup you rigged together? I like that a lot

[AWE46M3]

Remember that F40 getting clipped by a big rig and wondering when I’d see it again - nice to know it’s in great hands (along with your car). Love this build! Thank you for the write up to kick off the weekend

[Avedis]

Went to Premier Motorsports today to check on the progress. As expected (and disclosed to me) there was not much movement on the project. They had some really big projects that they needed to wrap up for Monterey car week before they could get to my M3.

Again, when I arrived the lobby was full of different supercars. I went to the body shop area and was happy to see my car was in the queue and was protected with plastic wrap. Dave unwrapped the car and went over all the little details on how they had to prep the CSL trunk. A lot of work went into the corner area and the sides that meet the rear quarter panel (shut lines). It still needs alignment after paint.








Dave also showed me the prep work needed for carbon parts. They were in the early stages, but the carbon parts were rough sanded, and the inside taped off to retain the carbon look and prevent overspray.





When Dave said he was going to do some testing, he wasn't joking. They used multiple paint manufacturers, spray guns, air pressure settings, etc. He explained each change, and how those changes affect the final product. Dave then went over every color sample they sprayed and we held them up to the door, which was our point of reference. I appreciated how technical all of it was. Of the ten samples shown, we narrowed it down to two that were near perfect.




Dave also gave me a mini tour of all the individual work areas which are dedicated to bigger projects. This one in particular had a F40 LM with some serious damage. This gives you an idea of the level of work they are doing there.

The lineup of cars in there is wild. Did he say what kind of work the Senna was getting? I wouldn't even want to touch the original panels and paint, but stuff happens to even supercars I guess!

It looked like it hit something soft at high speed, like a traffic cone. The impact was hard enough to crack the epoxy on the carbon, but not enough to do real damage. Dave said he repaired the epoxy and was prepping the panel for clear. Pretty high level stuff.