Robs E46M BRG Street Build

[Roc123]

This is an amazing build, would love to chat if you're thinking of selling? DM me a price and lets chat, I've been looking at a few Oxford green E46 m3s and would love to see this BRG

[robgill]

Long overdue update! Been enjoying the car a lot the last few months and been to a ton of meetups and events. But it's time to start thinking about the next project and that means time to prepare this one for sale! Always part of the plan (Rosso is my lifetime E46M ). I also moved my garage upstate and now have a proper lift. Gonna miss the BX shop, spent some long hours working on M3s there over the last 10+ years.

First, as much as I love the RE exhaust, it's pretty loud for a street car. It also overpowers the Intake noise a bit too much. So like Rosso, I've decided the best street muffler is the SCZA. I swapped the new SCZA from the track M3 over to BRG. Hopefully the track car still passes sound at Lime Rock! Silly how easy this is on a full height lift:





Minor engine detail, got the OE style "BMW Motorsport" decal installed on the airbox:





Maintenance, compression test and valve lash:



for some finishing touches, I had Brain from Mamaronek over for a final polish and coating:

[robgill]

Yeah I considered the Reddish plates but decided to stick with what has consistently worked for me. I've had the Turner plates on my track car almost 10 years now and when I did the subframe refresh last year everything looked great.

[Gt4]

You have no grounds to make a claim like that Marc. We've seen so few cars have issues with turner plates, and it very easily could have been from contamination (poor job).

Furthermore, it's very likely you don't need ANY plates, if you reinforce the mounting points with things like tied in roll cage, Xbrace, front cups, 6 point brace etc.

I never mentionned issues with Turner plates?? I just said there is better options these days like CMP & Reddish. 15 years ago it was another story.

[Tbonem3]

You have no grounds to make a claim like that Marc. We've seen so few cars have issues with turner plates, and it very easily could have been from contamination (poor job).

Furthermore, it's very likely you don't need ANY plates, if you reinforce the mounting points with things like tied in roll cage, Xbrace, front cups, 6 point brace etc.

[Gt4]

Dropped off BRG at Rogue Engineering for the last big item to check off; subframe plates! I dont trust my own welding 😂, so leaving this one to the pros. Ben always has a bunch of cool BMWs at his shop.



Welding in the Turner plates:











with everything back on Ben also got the Diablo CALIENTE Exhaust perfectly aligned.

Your car is beautiful and love pretty much everything on it except that RACP reinforcement job… You should got bigger plates like CMP/Reddish/Vincebar plates. Also, welds aren’t the greatest (or maybe more the preparation prior welding I should say) and seems like only asphalt gravel guard been applied?

[robgill]

Couple pics from recent NYC area car show. See some of you at 46M East next week!!!

[robgill]

Dropped off BRG at Rogue Engineering for the last big item to check off; subframe plates! I dont trust my own welding 😂, so leaving this one to the pros. Ben always has a bunch of cool BMWs at his shop.



Welding in the Turner plates:











with everything back on Ben also got the Diablo CALIENTE Exhaust perfectly aligned.

[Projecte46m3]

Beautiful build!

[Rokoz]

Saw this car in person at MPact - STUNNING!

[robgill]

Car looks amazing ! well Done. How do u like the PSS10?

So far I'm leaning towards liking them better than the Ohlins! At first I had them too low and the ride was a bit harsh, but after raising them to around 13.5 they seem to be in a sweet spot for street comfort. Need to get them to some twisties and try some firmer settings.

[Maxima SE]

Car looks amazing ! well Done. How do u like the PSS10?

[robgill]

Falling behind on this thread so time for a monthly update 😂. Made a ton of progress and the car is pretty much done! After getting the interior fully sorted I moved onto the suspension and brakes. For suspension I'm keeping it mostly OE with a couple upgrades. First a new set of coilovers. Wanted to do something different than Rosso so went with a set of Bilstein B16 PSS10 from FCP Euro. Will be interesting to see how these compare to the Ohlins.



And stuck with the Dinan fixed camber plates as I like them on Rosso and I know they will fit the CSL wheels really well



For brakes I also wanted something different from Rosso, so decided to go with an F80 conversion. FCP sells the OE Brembo calipers for half the price of ///M branded ones! Also used their rotor and hardware kit. There are a couple ways to make these fit including custom brackets and some machining of the calipers. A better option I found is from https://vysgarage.com/ that uses some spacers on the hubs and some eccentric mounting holes in the rear. All bolt on a fully reversible.

Spacer behind front hub (plus repainted shileds):



Fronts installed:



The rears require some dust shield trimming. I was also rebuilding the rear subframe so this was pretty easy with everything apart.



I already had a rebuilt and new rear suspension ready to go. Subframe, sway bar, trailing arms and upper suspension arms all freshly powder coated. All bushings replaced with OE parts from FCP and Rogue Engineering RTABs and lower control arms. Drive shafts and half shafts rebuilt with new universal joints and boots. Also replaced the brake dust shields, wheel bearings, wheel hubs and parking brake hardware. Diff got a fresh cover, bushings and fluid. I'm not a welder so I'll have Rogue handle that down the road.





Back on four wheels and ready for some drives! Had a fun outing with the BMWCCA M chapter and finished up at Classic Car Club Manhattan.

[karter16]

Is that the only or main source of the crayon smell? If so, have to order one myself.

The sound insulation over the rear wheel arches are separate items and made of the same stuff. In my case they had not degraded and hence didn't have the crayon smell. If yours have then you can buy the new-style items to replace them (realoem quote the part numbers).

I have a theory that the dense foam in the seat base interacts chemically with the sound insulation that causes it to degrade under the rear seat, as on all the cars I've seen with this issue it's only broken up where it comes in contact with the seat padding.

[Slideways]

Yep nice find karter16!



Functionally no difference. Its just a formed pad as opposed to the rubbery stuff that breaks down and smells bad...

Is that the only or main source of the crayon smell? If so, have to order one myself.