ugaexploder's 2004 SGM/IR - 1st e46 M3

[Sid_E46]

having a hard time finding a body shop willing to take it on for less than 3500…thinking about tackling myself but still unsure 😅…not really a body guy, novice at electrical and can swap parts but i feel out of my element doing body work

I'm probably going to do the job myself when the time comes. There are some nice walkthroughs on Youtube.

DNA auto glass is local and they can remove and reinstall the windshields at your house if you don't want to mess with glass.

But there is always the option of not doing it and selling the roof to me .

[ugaexploder]

I'm probably going to do the job myself when the time comes. There are some nice walkthroughs on Youtube.

DNA auto glass is local and they can remove and reinstall the windshields at your house if you don't want to mess with glass.

But there is always the option of not doing it and selling the roof to me .

Haha! My sunroof is toast so I gotta install it

[0-60motorsports]

Great build and beautiful color!

[ugaexploder]

Great build and beautiful color!

thank you! hope to have some time later to update the thread

[ugaexploder]

Car's been on the ground for a month or so now, no exhaust leaks from what I can tell. Exhaust system is a lot quieter than I thought with the sport muffler. Below are some pictures to update the state of the car after getting it off jack stands and giving it a quick wash.

I tried messing with the passenger side muffler tip, but a combination of cheap diffuser and rubber bushing getting kinked...it looks off. I ordered (1) rogue engineering muffler mount that doesn't have any give so I'm hoping that fixes it.

[ugaexploder]

I figured if I wait to do the carbon fiber roof before the interior, I might be waiting a while...so I figured I'll knock out the interior in sections so I can get rid of some of the boxes that's been in my office for months.

My plan was to take off the door cards since I can knock out speakers, trim, and fixing wobbly mirror. Also need to solder a new battery for the key as well...

[ugaexploder]

Some of the stickers inside the door card have been through enough thermal cycling or whatever to turn into green crack

[ugaexploder]

I removed center console, radio, all that crap minus the shifter. Holy crap this thing is on! I probably need to put my heat gun on it for a little bit...it looks brand new from the conversion PO had done.

[ugaexploder]

I've been using valentine as my radar detector for years, don't think that's going to change anytime soon so I decided to modify my ashtray to fit the concealed display unit (makes it look like my radar detector is off while cruising).

I think I'm actually going to buy another ashtray as you only really need to modify the side opening to allow an RJ-11 cable in. The four prongs inside actually make it so the concealed display unit fits super snug...

[0-60motorsports]

Nice updates, Cars looking really good.

[ugaexploder]

Nice updates, Cars looking really good.

Much appreciated! Hope to get the radio in by this weekend.

Just waiting on a new mic and component cable for the rear view camera

[Sid_E46]

Sick PC case, and a great choice on the solder station, I love the Hakkos.

[ugaexploder]

Sick PC case, and a great choice on the solder station, I love the Hakkos.

I was surprised how fast it gets up to temp. I've always had some crummy soldering iron, so it was a huge jump for me

[Zhpghost]

Need to learn to solder.. electronics scare me.

Awesome build brotha!

[ugaexploder]

Need to learn to solder.. electronics scare me.

Awesome build brotha!

thanks man, if you're in the ATL area I'd be more than happy to show you some basics

I wish I had more things to solder and play around with, used to get a lot of practice back in the day when people used to mod their gaming consoles