Karter16's Silbergrau E46 M3 Journal

[karter16]

Made a bit of progress this weekend. A couple of weeks ago I took the car for its WOF, which it failed for the first time in my ownership, due to the weeping high pressure power steering line. This was annoying but not unsurprising given it’s been weeping since 2017 and I’ve been intentionally avoiding it for as long as possible (given the new ones start to weep again fairly quickly anyway).

Anyhow, needs must, so I placed an order with Schmiedmann for the power steering line and associated bits and new wiper blades (which also needed doing) as well as a bunch of other stuff that fit in the box without increasing shipping cost.

That arrived this Friday just been:




So on Saturday I took the car round to Dad’s to swap it over (Dad’s driveway is a more advantageous angle than mine, so with that as the excuse I snaffled a few hours of his time as well).


I was thankful for a second pair of hands as although swapping the line is very straightforward, it was super annoying getting tools in to undo the vibration dampening brackets and put the new ones on.

The offending item:





It was good to actually do something on the car. Last time I really did any work on it was in 2019 before my son’s operation. It was pretty cool this time to have him helping me as well 😍






With the power steering fluid topped up and new wiper blades fitted the car is ready to pass it’s WOF recheck this coming week. The other items will remain on the shelf for now (except perhaps for the rear boot lid struts because the honking noise annoys me).

The other thing I’ve been doing this week is setting up an old MacBook as my workshop PC (this involved barbaric things such as using a flash drive to install Windows 10 on it, manually installing drivers, and other such horrors that I thought belonged in the 2000’s). Anyway it’s all setup nicely now. Currently using it with my K+D CAN cable but will probably purchase an ICOM interface at some point so that I can hopefully retire my DIS VM for good!





Will be making another order from Schmiedmann this week - I have a fairly lengthy list of parts to get through, so biting the list off in chunks for now.

Till next time!

[Will]

Great work! Thanks for sharing the narrative and photos. The car looks fantastic.

[karter16]

Some “pieces of plastic” in my wife’s words arrived today. She’s right, they are pieces of plastic, but they’re special in that, unlike my current ones, these ones don’t have any scratches on them.

Was struggling to find them in stock anywhere so jumped on a pair I found being sold out of Lithuania.

they arrived and they have a manufacture date of end of Jan this year, so they can’t be THAT out of stock haha.




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[karter16]

Update #27

Dad dropped off the PLA test print on Saturday morning (can’t beat that for customer service!)

It’s turned out really well. I have one small modification to make (points for anyone who can spot what it is), but aside from that it’s spot on.



Dad has ordered a hardened nozzle for his printer (so it can handle the carbon fibre) and some filament so once that’s arrived we’ll be able to do a test print of the end product!


Also....


Nice surprise this morning! This arrived much sooner than expected!






I didn’t realise just how worn the old one was until I saw what they look and feel like brand new!

Expensive purchase, but going to make a big difference to the driving experience.

[karter16]

Update #27

Dad dropped off the PLA test print on Saturday morning (can’t beat that for customer service!)

It’s turned out really well. I have one small modification to make (points for anyone who can spot what it is), but aside from that it’s spot on.



Dad has ordered a hardened nozzle for his printer (so it can handle the carbon fibre) and some filament so once that’s arrived we’ll be able to do a test print of the end product!

[karter16]

Update #26


Well I got notification today that the new steering wheel has shipped - should be here in a couple of months!


The other day I decided to re-investigate why the rear bumper/diffuser sits so terribly on my car. I say re-investigate as I did look at it a few years ago when Dad and I were doing all the under-body work on the car, but I'd forgotten since what the issue was.

Got under there with a torch to see that the plastic brackets that are glued to the Kevlar support bar had all detached, and only a couple of them were still screwed to the bracket on the bumper itself. I removed one, and did some investigation on the internet (although I suspected I already knew the answer).




Because the brackets are glued/plastic welded to the kevlar support the whole thing is one part number and you can't purchase individual replacements.

I could hunt down a wrecked one and try pull the bits, but didn't particularly like my chances, and thought it was a good opportunity to try putting Dad's 3D printer to use.

The original part is helpfully labeled as PA6 GF30 which means it is a Polyamide 6 plastic with 30% glass fibre.

There is a 3D printer filament available which is a Nylon 6 (Nylon is a type of Polyamide, so Nylon 6 is pretty similar to PA6) with 25% Carbon Fibre. The printed end result is supposedly stronger than the same thing made out of aluminium, so it should do the trick for this application.

I quickly brushed up on my very rusty CAD skills and knocked this up this evening.




It was pretty enjoyable to make. The original having presumably begun life by being drawn in CAD by a BMW engineer it was nicely spec'd in whole millimetres, so was easy to reproduce. The most difficult aspect was just that the bridge and the legs are not quite in the same X-Y plane.

I've shipped this off to Dad for him to run a test print in PLA. From that I'll check and make any necessary adjustments, but I'm pretty confident it's spot on.

The only thing I haven't drawn at this point is the holes in the legs. I'm undecided at this point whether I rivet or plastic bond to the kevlar support. If I go the plastic bonding route then the holes may prove to be unnecessary.

Till next time.

[karter16]

Wow, more than two years since my last post…

*trigger warning - children/babies & medical stuff*

A few weeks after my last post my son fell extremely ill. After several long hospital stays he was diagnosed with post transplant lymphoproliferative disorder, in his case caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. At his sickest there were 16 million copies of the virus per millilitre of his blood. He thankfully completed a course of Rituximab (kinda like a chemo drug that wipes out all the T cells in your immune system). By August he was home, and after a couple of blips he has been largely okay since. If things stay good for another few years his doctors will declare victory over the PTLD.

In September of 2020 we found out my wife was pregnant with #2! Our second son was born in April 2021 at 32 weeks, following a rough pregnancy. He spent 5 weeks in NICU before joining us at home.

4 days later he was rushed to Starship with respiratory issues. He got a tracheostomy about a week later (which has been amazing) and then spent 47 long days in PICU battling infections and myriad issues that couldn’t all be tied back together. He finally made it up to the ward, and then a few days later started having seizures. Over the course of a few days we watched our little man lose all ability to move, turn his head, hear, and interact with us.

Since then it’s been a long slow journey of improvement for him. After a couple of weeks he started looking at things, and us, again, another few weeks later he started responding to sound again, by the time we got him home at the end of September he could turn, but not support, his head. Another 8 weeks later and he could fairly well hold his head up, and today I took a photo of him sitting, propped up, in his hospital cot (he’s been in this week fighting a nasty virus) playing with a toy.


The teams at Starship have been incredible. The head consultants from a bunch of different teams have been heavily involved in my son’s care, and their skill and the wonders of modern medicine have been life-saving for both of my children.

I’m forever indebted to them, our public healthcare system, and, by extension, taxpayers of New Zealand.


Wow. That was cathartic to write out. Not very on-topic, but cathartic.



Thus concludes the explanation of why it’s been two years since my last post…

I only drove the M3 a couple of times in 2021. For most of the year I wasn’t even sure if I was going to keep it (hard to make plans or think about what’s fun when you’re constantly in crisis mode). But the last few months as things have trended towards our “new normality” I’ve been enjoying driving the car on occasion and making some more plans for it.

A couple of days ago I ordered a new OE steering wheel. The current wheel is quite badly cracked along the top, and the paddles and trim are in very poor condition. I looked at options like getting my current wheel rewrapped and buying new trim, etc. but for what that was going to cost it made more sense to order a brand new wheel. I found one for a good price, and, importantly, cheap shipping and pulled the trigger. It’s coming snail mail (hence the cheapness) so, given the current state of global logistics it should arrive sometime between the beginning of April and the end of time.

I have a bunch of other items I want to get as well, but they’re all significantly cheaper, so I figured it was best to buy the expensive thing first, so I don’t keep putting it off!

I also have a couple of little projects in mind to keep me busy as well so will hopefully be posting those up here soon!

Matt


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[01M3Fan]

Wow - mammoth project! Looks fantastic!

[Inizes]

Wow, i remember reading through this on M3F, but rereading it has been absolutely impressive. Well done

[karter16]

Far out, nearly 14 months since the last update! Well not a lot of progress has been made on the car in the last year. My son deteriorated quite quickly from the start of last year, to the point that by June he was a long term admission to Starship. He had his liver transplant on the 24th September (I was the donor), and he was home 9 days later (a record). It’s totally changed our lives. The last few months have been spent recovering (for me) and getting our lives in order.

Last week I cleaned the car, did oil and filter change and this last weekend my wife and I did a day trip to Coromandel for my wife’s Granny’s 80th. We took the long way round (via Clevedon and Miranda) and had a great time. Few photos from the trip attached.

[karter16]

Update #25

The last week I've found an hour here and there to get a bit more done on cleaning the car up.

I've removed the wipers, windshield cowling and side repeaters, and done a preliminary clean up.

Today I had a couple of hours and removed the rear lights to clean them up.

Everything was super filthy from all the pine pollen that's accumulated on the car.








I've done a preliminary clean on the shell around where the lights mount. They'll get a second deep clean in a little while.



I then got stuck into cleaning the tail light enclosures up. I removed the foam rubber seals and the black trim pieces so I could clean everything up properly. Some time spent with soap and warm water, a toothbrush and a cloth and they cleaned up very nicely. The foam rubber seals are still soft and in great condition - they've lasted well considering they're 13 years old.









While the boot is disassembled I'll take the opportunity to go through and remove the extra wiring that was added when a previous owner had a tow bar on the car...

Til next time.

[karter16]

Update #24

Last night I did a quick test of cleaning auto wax, dirt, etc. off the black trim on the boot handle mechanism.

Before:










To clean I simply used hot water with some regular liquid hand soap in it and I carefully scrubbed the black plastic parts with a toothbrush. The heat and soap helps soften and lift the wax. I then used a cotton cloth soaked in the hot water and soap to wipe away the remaining wax. Had to go over a few spots a second time, but I'm really pleased with how well this has cleaned up.




After:










I've got lots more to clean, and I want to go through and remove the extra wiring from when the first owner of the car had a tow bar installed.

I'm also still trying to decide whether I attempt to restore the surface of the reversing light enclosures or whether I just buy new ones. Looking at them it looks as though the plastic may be started to fracture and degrade beyond the surface layer, so may just be better to buy new ones.

I've also got a couple of bits and pieces on order from Milland for the front of the car, so I'll update when they arrive.

[karter16]

Update #23

Today I finally got a chance to make a start on getting the car cleaned up. As the previous posts show my focus so far has been mostly on the mechanical aspects of the car. Now that it's garaged and properly out of the elements I figured I might as well make a start on getting it cleaned up.

Back in August our old property was swamped with that horrible yellow pollen from pine trees. That stuff gets in everywhere. I clean it out of both cars every year, but haven't got round to it with the M3 until now.






It's horrible stuff.

I started with removing the interior carpet/card/trim stuff from the boot lid so that I could remove the reversing lights, handle, etc. from the boot lid.






From there I started removing stuff and doing a quick clean/wipe down as I went.











Now that I've got the bits off I can spend my time properly cleaning them and the boot-lid. I'll take the opportunity while all the bits are off to properly clean, polish and wax the boot lid before reassembly. I'm also going to clean up all the bits of the boot handle and licence plate lights, etc.

The reversing light assemblies are clouded, as plastic gets. I'm tossing up whether it's worth having a go at refinishing them, or whether I skip that and go straight to buying new ones.

I'm also keen to get a new M3 badge at some point as the one on there looks pretty faded. Really needs a new roundel as well as the one on there is starting to delaminate around the edges.

Oh and the gas struts will be being replaced as well - they make an embarrassing groaning sound whenever you open the boot, which isn't in line with the well-maintained sports car vibe I'm going for.

I'll post an update soon with my progress on cleaning up the bits and pieces.

[karter16]

Update #22

So now that we're in our own house and we have a garage it meant that I was able to remove the tints from the car.

I've been keen to get rid of them for some time for a couple reasons:

1. I'm trying to get the car as stock as possible, and the tints give it a different look.
2. I almost knocked someone over reversing down my parents driveway in the dark - couldn't see ANYTHING out the back window so was relying on wing mirrors (with the front windows down).

But I've held off doing it while the car has been outside as the tints provide excellent sun protection.

Now that the car is safely garaged I was able to remove the tints.

I read up a bit on the process first and used a clothes steamer to heat the tint. The idea being that the sticky stays with the sheet of tint rather than remaining on the window. I have to say it worked amazingly well. I removed the tints on the driver and passenger windows, the rear quarter panels and the rear window all in the space of an hour and a half. I think the fact they were quality tints was helpful when it came to removal as well as the sticky stayed where it should - basically no residue left on the windows at all.

When I got to the rear window I thought my cunning plan had come unstuck, as a thick layer of sticky was left behind. Turns out the sticky wasn't left on the glass, it was left on the clear sheet of the SECOND layer of tint that was on the rear window... No wonder I couldn't see anything at night. Some muppet had tinted over an already tinted window 🤣. More steam, and lifting up the remaining sheet and it all came off beautifully. No damage to the heater/aerial strips and no residue left behind 👍

I'm really happy with the end result. The car looks awesome - I much prefer the look of it without tints.

I'll get some photos up as soon as it's a decent day and I can get some good pictures.

[karter16]

Update #21

Been meaning to post an update for a while, but have kept putting it off..

In August last year my son was born, at two and a half weeks old he was rushed to Starship and after a week of tests was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition. As a result of the condition he has liver disease and we've spent the last year in and out of Starship (more in than out for most of the year). Its been pretty hard on my wife and I, several times in the last year things have looked pretty grim, the last couple of months have been a bit quieter and we're hoping that that continues for a while.

Progress on the car has obviously been non-existent as a result. I haven't had much opportunity to drive it (apart from some trips to and from hospital), it's ticked over about 2000km since I did the rod bearings. I dropped by Auckland City BMW a couple of weekends ago and picked up oil and filter ready for a change. I'll post here when I do.

Excitingly though we're in the process of buying a house (cause we haven't had enough excitement for the year), which means that the car will hopefully be garaged in the near future (hooray!). Which means that I can start getting onto the cosmetic side of things, which I've been intentionally ignoring while the car was somewhat exposed to the elements.

I haven't planned in detail, but a rough list of things to do are (no particular order other than mechanical being higher priority than cosmetic):

• Structural Foam in front RACP mounts.
• Mechanical fan replacement.
• Water pump replacement.
• Attempt to get to and clean the ICV without breaking the little clip on the SMG reservoir.
• Remove the additional trailer connector wiring in the boot.
• Replace the plastic bits on the bonnet and the plastic weatherstrip at the bottom of the windscreen.
• Replace the side indicator enclosures with new ones that aren't UV damaged.
• Replace the weather trim on the B Pillar exteriors.
• Re-align driver's side door.
• Re-align and plastic weld front bumper.
• Re-align and plastic weld rear bumper where it's been attacked to make e-bay diffuser fit.
• Replace said e-bay diffuser with OE.
• Remove window tinting now that the car will be garaged (looking forward to being able to see when reversing at night).
• Inspect the underbody restoration work done a year ago and make sure all is well.

Hopefully its not so long to the next update!