2001 M3 Journey: Laguna Seca Blue Edition

[bavarian3]

Update time. It's been a while. I never finished documenting the previous stage as I completed the suspension overhaul and some other good stuff.

Finishing up the suspension overhaul required some new goodies, and a ton of cleaning.

New FCAB's, tie rods & boots.








The reinforcement plate was filthy, but fortunately it cleans up very well.
















I got a new hotckis swaybar with Turner adjustable end-links to go on the front.





After reading cases of swaybar mounting studs tearing out of the chassis I sent the car in to the shop for some preventative measures. Bimmerworld plates were welded on.

One realization when I got home was they plug welded the drain holes. the shop had to buy new plates as templates and redrill the drain holes.





I used SEM olive green and urethane seam sealer to coat the primer. This is a very close finish to the stock undercarraige.







I also realized the welding cooked the paint out the wheel well side.

This was a challenge to handle as there are no easily accessible paint matches for this undercarriage color. This eventually led me to an amazing autobody supply shop that can paint match and had a huge selection of swatches. I found a swatch that was close enough.






The results were pretty exceptional all things considered. You can never tell in person if I didn't show this.





This is where the drain holes come in. Seeing how welding can take paint down to an easily rustable state I see why this stuff is recommended. I used the extra on the rear end.







The same shop took on another welding job. Since I got euro headers, I knew I had to add cats. Without getting into the details of my decision process I opted to have cats welded into my section 1, and delete the rear o2 sensors.

I went with the good stuff.






This shop isn't messing around when it comes to welding. I had them placed just like the euro section 1. No bungs no nonsense.






I used BMW Flash + Martyns tool to code out the rear o2 cats, egt, and enrichment. Martyn's other tool, the DME utility was used to reset adaptations. Everything worked great.





I gave the engine bay a little cleaning. Stock as can be.






The car actually has an exterior too. Very stock and boring, but not for long. I gave it a quick ONR rinse since it's been dusty for practically a whole year.




Now that the hard work is done, we're just about ready to start the "fun" stuff. I already have some parts piling up, but I will be patient and enjoy the process.

[bavarian3]

It was a good call replacing those power steering lines. Even though you thought it might have been motor oil, that assembly is or at least was known for commonly leaking at the metal coupling when the other forum was still live. It was definitely due. If it happens again, just go with the Burgaflex one next time. They are not known to have any leaking or seepage issues. I also noticed you cleaned up the steering rack as well - it is also known to seep around where the steering wheel shaft enters the assembly so you may want to keep an eye on it with as clean as you're keeping everything down there. 👍 Great looking cleanup. Engine looks great too.

Thanks for assembling the o-ring products. They are put to good use! I'll keep an eye on the rack for leaks.

[WestBankM4]

Great thread! Super helpful the interior portion as that's where I'm currently at, thanks for the writeup!

[mpower22]

It was a good call replacing those power steering lines. Even though you thought it might have been motor oil, that assembly is or at least was known for commonly leaking at the metal coupling when the other forum was still live. It was definitely due. If it happens again, just go with the Burgaflex one next time. They are not known to have any leaking or seepage issues. I also noticed you cleaned up the steering rack as well - it is also known to seep around where the steering wheel shaft enters the assembly so you may want to keep an eye on it with as clean as you're keeping everything down there. 👍 Great looking cleanup. Engine looks great too.

[1bluemcm]

Great work. There was a LSB cabrio with hard top for sale near me a few months ago. Missed out, but someone will be happy no doubt.

[Acarv_426]

Great build! Love seeing threads like this. Keeps me motivated and wanting to hold onto my e46 even more.

[LSB FTW]

Very nice build. Keep up the good work!

[bavarian3]

Next update on the path to having a running car, I completed overhauls of the cooling system, power steering, and drive belt system. Part of what you won't see here is the cleaning process. So. much. time spent cleaning. Between the oil grime and dirt buildup that's really what I spent most of my time on.



I was anxious to get the engine off the support bar, so first order was getting the subframe sorted and back in.


New control arms, FCAB's






Torqued the nuts to spec and left the FCAB's for later before grounding the car.







and a nice engine mount comparison. old vs new.





In we go






Cleaned the crap out of the wheel wells somewhere along the way. Everything looking good and sorta relieved to get the support brace off finally.






On to the cooling system. Pulling out the old stuff was funnn. Original radiator.






Exposing the water pump. It was replaced by the previous owner but I wasn't sure which till I got in there. Turned out to be a Geba, so that of course had to go.






RTV was used on the previous install. What a joy to remove.






A few of the components going in. Genuine water pump, expansion tank, wahler thermostat.






Viton o-rings were used everywhere I had access to.





A complete overhaul of the drivebelt system went in with INA and Continental components.






And the replacement radiator. Ordered an OE Modine from FCP, what I got was this "NRF" brand. I found that it didn't fit well on the upper driver side mounting bolt, but I made it work with a little effort.






I used Rein upper and lower rad hoses to replace the old ones, The upper one(show resting on top in the pic) fits like crap as you can see it's too long.






Luckily I'm the home chef of the house, so this was solved with some careful cutting.






New power steering goodies. As seen in earlier pics some of these hoses were a mess covered in grime. Probably engine oil, but out they go.







A shot of the tool that helped removal of the power steering lines. This made things easier. (don't mind the support bar, no this was not holding the engine up, lol).







Proper tools are nice to have.






Gave the oil cooler a full cleaning picking out years of bugs and debris and straightening all fins.







Finally getting somewhere. Don't mind my disaster of a shelf. Sometimes it's like that when you're knee deep in the project.






I couldn't wait to get the engine started before finishing off some of the other suspension parts. So I finally refilled some fluids.

Everyone gets their own funnel.









The time finally came to start the engine. It was a little nerve racking with all the work done. Crossed my fingers for no fluid leaks, exhaust leaks, etc.

Well other than the stink of the new ceramic coating(which freaked me out at first) on the headers, the engine ran beautifully. I let the engine get warm before cutting it and draining the oil again. Overkill I'm sure, but the oil pan was off for some time and a lot of work was done around there.



Next post I'll cover the front suspension completion and some exhaust related work.

[bavarian3]

For what it's worth, I did the same thing (restoring the exhaust) and this is what mine looked like 5 years later (and still looks the same today another couple of years on since this photo was taken).

The silver paint I used on the V brace on the other hand 🙄

Love to see it!! I have to say I'm surprised.

[karter16]

Now, I have no idea how long this will last, but we can try.

For what it's worth, I did the same thing (restoring the exhaust) and this is what mine looked like 5 years later (and still looks the same today another couple of years on since this photo was taken).

The silver paint I used on the V brace on the other hand 🙄

[bavarian3]

Get yourself a pair of new body plugs for the holes on either side of the rear-most plates. Part number 07147140850.

Great work!!

Ahh thank you for this! and good eye.

I meant to replace them but put it off because I couldn't find the right part #.

[kaiv]

Get yourself a pair of new body plugs for the holes on either side of the rear-most plates. Part number 07147140850.

Great work!!

[bavarian3]

Nice update. Those headers look awesome. Where did you get the AN fitting and oil return line from (link)?

TY.

Here you go on the oil return line: link

[0-60motorsports]

Nice update. Those headers look awesome. Where did you get the AN fitting and oil return line from (link)?

[bavarian3]

Carrying on...

I received the new oil pump return line bolts and installed them to 5nm without issue, thankfully. That behind me I was able to finish the oil pan prep and install with new goodies.





The old pre-lci oil return line had to go, so on went an adapter. Torque specs are kind of weird/unclear for these AN fittings. Apparently AN fittings exist so torque specs matter less.






I made the mistake of installing the oil pan cone filter before installing. Outside of wasting time till I figured out I need to remove it the pan went on with ease.








With the pan back on I could move on to other things. With the headers out, this is about as open of a space you'll ever have on the exhaust side of the engine.







Logically I replaced the CPV o-ring with a viton ring from mpower22. Surprisingly there wasn't any leak, though the original ring was flattened out pretty good.






Let's get back to the fun stuff. Those Euro headers I got were nice and all, but weathered. I decided to improve em' a bit before installing.





Install was a breeeze. A simple flexhead ratchet with a couple extensions handled the job. I was then able to torque all nuts to spec.






Loving the new look, and lack of cats taking up a bunch of space.







I forgot I also had to run the new oil return line and vanos oil line. This was slightly more difficult than anticipated to route and avoid touching the header.










Though I couldn't find any obvious leak points in original vanos line I do believe it was the main culprit of the oil mess. This bimmerworld line fit without issues.






I'll cut it there as this was already a lengthy post.

Still to come:
cooling system refresh
front suspension overhaul
first start and drive!