Slavik's 2002 Carbon Schwarz M3 6 Speed Build

[slavik1988]

11/05/2018 Update:


Driving to the painter to pick up my OE CSL bootlid and Status Gruppe CSL style diffuser. Took off the old parts to install the new bits at the painter's shop. It was a nice fall day for a drive:



I am super happy with the quality of the work. The paint matched 100%. This is the first time I used this painter. The way how he painted his car, I wanted to give him a try. I will be using him again. One thing that I wasn't too happy is the fitment on the Status Gruppe diffuser. Wish I would have spent the extra $$$ to go for the J-CSL.

[slavik1988]

05/03/2017 Update:


Received the results of my oil analysis from my Blackstone Lab.

[slavik1988]

04/27/2017 Update:


Finally getting around to making an update. The car runs flawlessly after the maintenance that was completed. First drive was short and I wasn't too hard on the car. After all, the clutch needed to be broken in. The drive ended at a local brewery in Sylva, NC.




The weekend of April 7th, I went to the Tail of the Dragon with a few friends. At first, the weather did not seem too promising. At least not in Asheville. Took some back roads and hit snow. Needless to say, the RE 71R tires do not like the cold so I turned around and found another twisty road.



After some coffee and breakfast, we changed our route and headed south to Atlanta Motorsports Park for some go karting. Their go kart really didn't like to pull a 180lbs dude uphill after the final turn.






Unfortunately, we lost a car Friday evening because the alignment guy didn't button up the rear end of the E30. Had to limp it back home to Asheville. On Saturday, we had a full day of driving and enjoyed the VW R32 group doing there sound off. Enjoy the pictures.

[slavik1988]

03/20/2017 Update:


Finally the maintenance is complete. During the week a new valve cover gasket went on the car and everything was buttoned up. Things that were complete: power steering fluid, coolant, exhaust, and all of the shields under the car went back on.



My attempt of taking a picture of me removing the coolant plug on the block for a complete flush:





After everything was said and done, I reflashed the ECU with the factory headers. Unfortunately, Mateen sent me the wrong tune.🤬 He sent me a Stage 1 tune with the factory air box. Now I have a check engine light because of the MAF. Hopefully I can get the correct tune ASAP.

[slavik1988]

03/14/2017 Update:


Over the weekend, went ahead and replaced the Vanos bolts and the Vanos solenoid pack and oil pump disk with Beisan Systems units. The exhaust hub tabs and the Vanos bolts were all in good shape.








Wasn't able to button everything up on Sunday because my buddy slid off the road on Sunday morning on his Audi S4 and I spent the whole day helping him out.

[slavik1988]

03/06/2017 Update:


My Beisan order was shipped out this week. Once that arrives, it should cover all of my maintenance. While I am waiting for it, I went ahead and flushed the brake fluid. I still had the old ATE super blue fluid. Damn, it was a ***** to get all of it flushed out. Went through 3 liters of fluid to clean out the system. After that, on went the differential and the heat shield to end my day on Saturday. On Sunday, I had time to only replaced the engine mounts.





Sunday's progress:



Old vs New:

[slavik1988]

03/06/2017 Update:


A little bit more progress over the weekend. Started off Saturday morning with rebuilding the shifter. I picked up ECS Tuning's rebuild kit with there teflon bushings. Even though mine was not too sloppy, it does feel much crisper. Next I moved on to the drive shaft. Replaced the guibo which was starting to crack. Also, I installed a new seal for the differential in preparation to install the driveshaft.






Old pieces:



Old Guibo on the left:



Before and After:





Next, I moved on to installing the clutch, draining the fluid from the transmission and refill it with some fresh BMW fluid. While at it, I through in a new throw out bearing. To take note of any new leaks, I cleaned up transmission casing. I hope this will be the last time I will have to install this transmission without a lift. Every time that me and my brother tried to align it into the pilot bearing, it would move the clutch out of alignment. After four tries, we finally made it. My arms are aching now from all of the man handling.

Also, bought myself a nice 34" bell housing extension.

[slavik1988]

02/22/2017 Update:


What do you guys think. Just picked up a set of E9X M3 wheels. Figured I would show them off while the garage is clean.

[slavik1988]

02/19/2017 Update:


I was able to do a few things on Sunday until I made a mess of the garage. Started off with an easy task of installing some new sway bar bushings. Even though they were not worn out, they were in the kit that I bought from ECS so there. Yep, I forgot to take pictures of them installed.





Next I jumped on the power steering line. Oil leaks really piss me off and when I last time got under the M3, the high pressure power steering line started to leak and made a spot on my belly pan. Also, the power steering pump was covered. My guess is bad crush washers. Replaced everything with some new pieces and cleaned it up. Including the reservoir which was caked with fluid and dirt.





After some lunch, I jumped on the differential. By the looks of it, the fluid was never changed in the lifetime of the vehicle. While it was draining, I went ahead and swapped out the rear pads for some new ones. I love the small BMW diff fluid bottles. I didn't even need to get out my pump to push fluid in. Just let gravity do the work.






Finally, since the garage was dirty and it needed a cleaning I pressured washed and cleaned the wheel wells with some high PH acid cleaner. Again forgot to do the before picture and looking at the after pictures, black really hides the difference. In person, it really does look better.

You can see all of the dirt on the floor in the first picture.

[slavik1988]

02/13/2017 Update:

Started the process by draining the coolant system and replacing the headers this weekend. Since the transmission was already out, it made replacing the headers easier than what my brother said when he was installing them. It also helped that I pulled the radiator and all of the other pieces in the way of getting them out.












Headers, water pump, thermostat, and accessory belts are done.

Ordered a clutch disc from BMW. None are in stock at BMW NA so it will be two weeks before it comes from Germany. Also, ordered a lab kit from Blackstone Labs. Should be here in a week.

[slavik1988]

01/19/2017 Update:


My plan is to do some preventative maintenance over the course of the month by replacing the following:

-Clutch
-Guibo
-Rebuild shifter
-Transmission fluid
-Differential fluid
-Re-bleed brakes and clutch
-Rear brake pads
-Front and rear sway bar bushings
-Replace headers and flash new software
-Oil and filter change and send oil sample to Blackstone Labs
-Rebuild Vanos w/Beisan oil pump disk, coil pack and seals
-Replace Vanos bolts w/new version and check exhaust hub
-Water pump, radiator, thermostat, coolant hoses, and coolant reservoir
-Accessory belts
-Valve gover gasket
-Engine Mounts
-Fan Clutch and blade

Most of the stuff was already purchased. ECS Tuning loves me.😂

[slavik1988]

Update 10/10/2016


On October 8th, my brother and I went to Road Atlanta with NASA. The morning started off slow with me getting used to the grip of my Bridgestone RE71R's in the first session. The second session got red flagged after just a few laps when a Mustang hit the wall on the straight into turn 10A.



On the third session is when my car started to taking a beating and unfortunately it was my dumbass. Coming into turn 7, I tried to downshift into second gear to get a better exit. I hope I would have never tried that because on exiting the turn, I shifted into 5th instead of third. I don't know what happened, but the transmission became very notchy. More on that later. The last session was going great. I was nursing my transmission and getting comfortable with my tires which had phenomenal grip. I couldn't be happier. About two thirds of the session through, I was flying through the back straight when my lip ripped off the front bumper. I knew immediately what it was. Needless to say, I don't miss it at all.



Next morning, I needed to get some fuel. Upon engaging into first gear, I heard a weird noise. I talked to my brother and we narrowed it down that I either damaged my clutch or my throw out bearing was on its way down. I decided to still run the car on track since the noise was only present in first gear. After the first session, my brake pad wear sensor came on. Thinking that the fronts would have more wear, I removed one of the front wheels and checked that I have enough pad life left. They did. I was good to go for another session. Then my brother told me to double check to make sure the rears were good. That is when I discovered that there was no pads left. Thus, ending my track weekend.


I am glad that my track weekend ended when it did. I had a two and a half hour drive back home. Thankfully for me, it was all highway miles. As soon as I parked the car at home, I was not able to shift gears without shutting the car off and changing gears. Enjoy the pictures:

[Loopyspec]

Love the square setup! Looking forward to more updates.

[slavik1988]

Update 09/07/2016:


Did a little refresh to the steering, tires and alignment in preparation for a track day:




A little nasty surprise came up. I will need to replace my high pressure power steering line since it is leaking on one end.



All buttoned up.





Fresh alignment and new Bridgestone RE-71Rs to replace the Dunlops.

[slavik1988]

Update 01/28/2016:

This is what happens when you let your wife take your car to the grocery store. 🤬


New trunk release handle from BMW: