Watch as I simultaneously improve and ruin my E46 M3

[Nate047]

Your thread has been a joy to read. Excited to see more progress.

Thank you! I don't really have much new to report, t I'm trying to get the fuel tank out today. I struggled yesterday with the lines but I think I can get it done this afternoon.

After that, I can use a blowtorch to help get the stuck subframe mounting studs out, (the two front mounting points I believe are held in with epoxy from when the PO put the plates on, hopefully that's what's making them hard to remove, not rust or something) remove the coating, remove the old plates, and reveal the condition of the RACP under there.

BTW I'm filming crucial moments along the way of all of this, because even though there are loads of videos about RACP repair and reinforcement out there, I didn't see any about this type of scenario.

Also I would love to somehow locate some information about when and where the panel replacement was performed, insight on that would be helpful. Not that it would do much except put one piece of the puzzle in place in my mind.

[Nate047]

OKAY... Got the tank out yesterday.



Thanks again to Gt4 and George Hill for the tips. Something seemingly simple and obvious had been evading me, I was attempting to disconnect the lines on top of the fuel tank, struggling with tight spaces and awkward angles, getting frustrated needlessly and nearly breaking expensive lines and necks on the tank.

What seems obvious and clear now, I hadn't even thought of. Disconnect the lines in the wheel arch near the tank filler neck. Then just gently pull the lines through the body cavity and take the whole tank and line setup out as one piece. You do need to still disconnect the lines from the fuel pump and fuel level sensors from where they connect to the body, but those are easy to access. Now after it's all said and done, nothing is broken, but I did cut a few clamps that I could have saved. Small price to pay, and now that I can have easy access to everything, I can get those off and replaced.

What seems simple to those who have done the job dozens of times, is not always clear to a first timer, and I really appreciate the help from not just these 2 guys but everyone on the forum and FB groups who share little tidbits like this.

I did not discover anything worrisome around the areas the fuel tank had been covering. Some of the line fittings are pretty crusty, but TBH I am going to leave them. I'm not made out of money and this thing has snowballed a lot already haha. I have about $1200 of hardware and other "while you're in there" stuff already on order. SO yea, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I'm not trying to replace $600 worth of fuel lines just so something I'll never see is shiny looking.

Next (maybe this afternoon after work) I will put some heat on those studs and keep going on the stripping down of the RACP.

[gashby]

are you in OC or LA? looks like dana point harbor

[Nate047]

are you in OC or LA? looks like dana point harbor

Marina Del Rey

Minor update, I have removed the old plates, here is a thread with my initiaal findings:

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...s-what-i-found

Since then, I have only had an hour or so here and there to continue removing the leftover epoxy and paint to bring the panel down to bare metal. Right now I am about half done and I will just say, this job sucks pretty bad LOL. It's so tedious and dusty and dirty. One thing I didn't expect was, how long it would take to carefully get paint off of the areas with weird curves and angles. Also I just didn't expect the black bottom coat to be at all difficult to remove. I don't know if original RACPs vs replacement RACPs are any different, but this black paint is pretty annoying to remove. Or maybe I'm just impatient and don't have a realistic expectation for how much time this should take.

Anyway. I have since that first thread, indeed found some issues. At least one failing spot weld, and some other issues on the panel that look like damage from the previous owner going too hard with the grinder or whatever he used to strip the panel. I can extrapolate this because I have also, unfortunately, gone too hard with the wire brush in a few areas, realizing indeed how easy it is to damage the panel. Nothing is THAT bad but I will probably need to have my welding guy patch an area and maybe fill some marring marks. Or maybe the plates going on top is enough? I will post up some pictures and gather opinions on that once I have the panel fully stripped and ready to repair.

BTW I am not stripping the whole panel of course, just the areas needed for the plates, and the seam area on the left edge in the wheel well. Is there a guideline for how much of that seam needs to be welded? Like how much do I need to strip off of that area?

[heinzboehmer]

Excellent progress!

I would suggest drilling and tapping up into the trunk for the vincebar while you have everything apart. Also make sure to use the long vincebar studs when putting everything back together and not the stock BMW bolts. This will allow you to put the car back together and drive it around without finishing the vincebar install right now. After drilling, tapping and installing those studs, the rest of the vincebar work is done from the top.

[Nate047]

Minor update, got the underside cleanup finished today. It's too dark to get a video, but I will do that tomorrow. Couple things I wish I had know or thought of before all this:

1. The top coating material is super dusty and powdery, it fucking gets EVERYWHERE as you grind it off. I'm glad I have a proper N100 mask and a face shield
2. This whole thing takes quite a lot of time, it's not like 2 hours and you're done. Maybe I just had an unrealistic expectation but I was surprised at how long this took.
3. Related, change out your wire wheels with some frequency. They wear out and don't work as well after a while and I lost some time needlessly by trying to use worn out tools. I was getting super frustrated, not being able to figure out why it wasn't working anymore, then I had a facepalm moment and swapped them out for fresh ones and bam, easy work again after that.


Things look pretty good TBH, no cracks (reminder: my car has already had the RACP replaced) but there are two failed spot welds. Need to refresh on the best way to repair those.

Next I need to prep the wheel arch seam for welding, drill and inspect the topside welds, address as needed, and then I can schedule my welding appointment.

[Nate047]

Update: WELL... As we all know, life can throw curveballs sometimes. Turns out, we are moving into a new house, which is great! But the timing is shit. Now I basically have to haul ass and get the car back together, I do not have any spare time to do any "optional" cosmetic cleanup or restoration type of things. This is good overall but not what I was originally planning. Welder is coming Saturday. I will post some updates after the plates are on there.

[Nate047]

Midway through the plate installation…