2001 M3 Journey: Laguna Seca Blue Edition

[Grey Phox]

Being you replaced both headlight lenses, are you putting on Laminx or something similar over them? Is that even a thing for the E46's? I did it over a decade ago at least to the ZKWs on my E36 and it absolutely saved them many times.

[Loopyspec]

Love the progress. It's giving me motivation to start working on mine

[Sharocks]

Man is spending cheddar and time.

Commendable.

[0-60motorsports]

Looks so good.

[bavarian3]

Paint correcting.

This is the first time I've gone into the a deep invested paint correction. I was a little surprised by how long it took, but I got used to it and took my time. The process took 1-2weeks working when I had time, and not too late to avoid pissing off my neighbors.

I would say about 20-30hrs invested. The results were dramatic.



First step was stripping off all the old.





Griots DA polishers were used with orange pads paired with Sonax CutMax, then black pads with Sonax Perfect Finish.





Prep was easy with all the lighting and trim removed.










Perfect time to do the LED tail light swap too.







First pass. The CutMax is crazy good and practically looks finished already. It does haze over though which is normal.

A good tapeoff comparison.





So much glosss.











And "just like that" days later we're all done. I went back and forth on sealant, but decided on Collinite 845. Have to stay period correct amright.

Pictures uploaded here don't do it justice.








I'll post more pics in the next post where I'll cover the lighting and trim installation. Before that, I prepped the LED tail lights that would replace the old stuff.

These take to polish quite easily.










Bangin.






While this was all in-progress, OEM grills, reflectors, and "some other goodies" went off to the paint shop. Stay tuned!

[bavarian3]

Starting the exterior restoration.

Focus is now getting the exterior restored. All the faded plastic bits, front clip parts, yellowed lighting, roundels, paint correction. Everything had to come out.


Faded cowl and wipers.








Yuck






Headlight dissassembly is a paint for those with headlight washers. So much dirt.




All lighting is getting replaced/restored where needed. This gave me an opportunity to restore the inner trim.






Front bumper had to come out to get to the grill. Front clip trim, and front aux fan had to come out for cleanup.








I'm trying to be less wasteful on replacing parts that function well as is. So I decided not to mess with the condenser as it was it fine condition.

Got creative.


You all laugh, but it worked great on the oil and ac condensers.





Looking much better. Lot's of degreasing and trim restorer.





Trim parts went through the same process as previous trim. Lots of SEM trim black.




Re-assembling the front clip trim




No more dirt or faded parts. Might seem crazy to do this, but these parts show through the grills and bumper. It's all in the details!





Reassembling the headlights with freshly restored trim.




New new






Crazy difference.







Lighting install will have to wait however. With most of it and external trim still removed, I realized it made sense to take care of the paint correction.

I had a lot of this equipment around but hadn't set aside the time for it yet. Little did I know how much time I would spend on it. I'll get into this in the next post.

[M3Garand]

Very nice build

[0-60motorsports]

Great review on the battery

[bavarian3]

Another update.

After driving my car so little and neglecting the battery it was all but gone even after charging. This was the perfect opportunity to shed some weight. While some of the OE sized lithium solutions were nice, the price not so much.

After finding good feedback on the Antigravity ATX-30RS I found one for a deal($350 on Amazon direct from Antigravity).

Additional parts required:
-Adapter posts: link
-Battery hold down: link
-J hooks(will double check length): link







First test fit the battery to see where to mark the holes for the J hooks.




These trays are common across non-M's. So no need to feel bad drilling and hacking it up. I decided to also remove the hold down bar. These are assembled with, go figure, more spot welds!






I found my spot weld bits from the gusset cup reinforcement and had it off without any fuss.




Test fit again, then trim the J hooks so the battery beauty cover can fit.



Full assembly weighted.



Old weights minus the battery tray.







Very clean installed, and the beauty cover/tray fits no problem.


While I was in the mood I also removed this goop dispenser for some bonus weight.



I'm able to use my Noco Genius 10 to charge on Lithium mode. This was approved by Antigravity. Too soon to tell how long it will last, but this is pretty good weight saving for the $.


Afterwards I got an alignment on New years eve, and took it out to the mountains the next morning to find many others with the same idea. With the new wheels and junk out of the trunk the car really flys. The Ohlins are the real deal.




Stay tuned as there is much more to come!

[bavarian3]

Car looks great. 18x9.5et35 is a more conservative solution for the front. It doesn't look like Titan7 makes that offset. What do you think about the Apex ec7-rs? I know Apex wheels are a dime a dozen on the forums but they offer way more size/offset options.

On another note, I find 19s to be fine comfort wise on the street with my ohlins setup. Dallas, particularly where I live, has atrocious streets. Wheels are OEM ZCP. I imagine I am giving up some ride comfort but they look so good!

Yeah they got back to me unfortunately there's no solution. I'm at least able to offer my feedback for future consideration.

Contrary to me liking TS7's I don't really like the EC7's. Arc 8's are certainly a consideration. I agree either a higher offset or 18x9 would be a better solution.

My car came with the 19in E46 ZCP wheels so I don’t have any 18in ride comparisons unfortunately. I’m not sure where you are in CA but you’re welcome to come by my place and try on my wheels (staggered style 163M) to see if you like them for your car.

Appreciate it! I'm up in Bay Area.

[Avedis]

Thanks for the feedback. Sometimes it takes a couple tries to get things right.

I have to say those e90 ZCP's look reeally good! If I can't get a hold of some CSL fronts I will consider these. How do you find the ride with 19's vs 18's?

My car came with the 19in E46 ZCP wheels so I don’t have any 18in ride comparisons unfortunately. I’m not sure where you are in CA but you’re welcome to come by my place and try on my wheels (staggered style 163M) to see if you like them for your car.

[lcrain]

Car looks great. 18x9.5et35 is a more conservative solution for the front. It doesn't look like Titan7 makes that offset. What do you think about the Apex ec7-rs? I know Apex wheels are a dime a dozen on the forums but they offer way more size/offset options.

On another note, I find 19s to be fine comfort wise on the street with my ohlins setup. Dallas, particularly where I live, has atrocious streets. Wheels are OEM ZCP. I imagine I am giving up some ride comfort but they look so good!

[bavarian3]

The design of those Titans is really nice, definitely one of my favorite aftermarket for this platform. I agree with you though, the poke just looks wrong on an otherwise really classy OEM+ car you’re putting together. Unfortunate because I can tell from your build thread that you do a lot of homework and research on stuff before installing.

Option 1, stick with those wheels and double down on some extra wide carbon fenders.

Option 2, have you considered Style 359 wheels from the E92 ZCP? They look similar to your Titans and are slightly wider than an OEM setup, 19x10 rear with 275 and 19x9 255 front. I saw this combo in person not too long ago and it looked awesome, like a slightly updated and more aggressive CSL wheel.

Thanks for the feedback. Sometimes it takes a couple tries to get things right.

I have to say those e90 ZCP's look reeally good! If I can't get a hold of some CSL fronts I will consider these. How do you find the ride with 19's vs 18's?

Yeah....That poke on the fronts.....Why not return the fronts and get a better offset pair. it'll look great if it sits flush with a max of -2 front camber.

I would have, but I don't think they're offered. I emailed them to see if there's a solution.

[0-60motorsports]

Yeah....That poke on the fronts.....Why not return the fronts and get a better offset pair. it'll look great if it sits flush with a max of -2 front camber.

[Avedis]

The design of those Titans is really nice, definitely one of my favorite aftermarket for this platform. I agree with you though, the poke just looks wrong on an otherwise really classy OEM+ car you’re putting together. Unfortunate because I can tell from your build thread that you do a lot of homework and research on stuff before installing.

Option 1, stick with those wheels and double down on some extra wide carbon fenders.

Option 2, have you considered Style 359 wheels from the E92 ZCP? They look similar to your Titans and are slightly wider than an OEM setup, 19x10 rear with 275 and 19x9 255 front. I saw this combo in person not too long ago and it looked awesome, like a slightly updated and more aggressive CSL wheel.