M3mann’s 2005 Silver Grey M3 Build Thread

[M3_mann]

One of my favorite quick mods of all time is new steering wheel wraps. I usually wouldn't have opted for reman from overseas, but the thicker rewrapped nappa leather was very appealing. A lot nicer looking than OE replacement, which is about the same price.
19 years of usage and being exposed to elements has aged the current steering wheel. It was looking more like glossy plastic with leather print on it.
l've completed this DIY a handful of time in the past and it's usually a very straight forward process. Use a flat pointy stick to compress the spring to dislodge the airbag. Then undo the torx screws to remove the trim piece. 16mm nut in the middle to remove the wheel.



The newly rewrapped wheel feels amazing and is super smooth to touch. It is thicker than the original wheel but doesn't feel out of place thick. I have seen OE replacement wheels on other threads and it looks pretty flat and thin. Car looks and feels like it rolled straight out of the assembly lot. Very satisfactory, especially under the “modernized look” white led bulbs to freshen up this 19 year old interior.




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[0-60motorsports]

One of my favorite quick mods of all time is new steering wheel wraps. I usually wouldn't have opted for reman from overseas, but the thicker rewrapped nappa leather was very appealing. A lot nicer looking than OE replacement, which is about the same price.
19 years of usage and being exposed to elements has aged the current steering wheel. It was looking more like glossy plastic with leather print on it.
l've completed this DIY a handful of time in the past and it's usually a very straight forward process. Use a flat pointy stick to compress the spring to dislodge the airbag. Then undo the torx screws to remove the trim piece. 16mm nut in the middle to remove the wheel.



The newly rewrapped wheel feels amazing and is super smooth to touch. It is thicker than the original wheel but doesn't feel out of place thick. I have seen OE replacement wheels on other threads and it looks pretty flat and thin. Car looks and feels like it rolled straight out of the assembly lot. Very satisfactory, especially under the “modernized look” white led bulbs to freshen up this 19 year old interior.




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Looks gorgeous. I am still waiting for someone to offer the SMG version.

[M3_mann]

Decided to tackle one of the big three preventative repairs.

From what I hear, if the subframe remains intact this long (going 20 yrs now), it's likely that the defect is not present in this specific e46 frame. Regardless, I decided to have the plates welded on as a preventative measure. I went with the Redish V3 Plates from the UK. Having subframe and diff bushings replaced with powerflex polyurethane bushings as well.







PO impressively snapped off every c-pillar clips during the alcantara wrap. Had to remove about a pound of double sided 3M tape that was used to keep it in place.. Easy choice would've been to just replace these problematic pillars. But the worry was the possibly of ripping off the sponge layer on the new pillar fabric which needs to be removed before glueing on the alcantara on. After some contemplations, I came across these 3D printed clip attachments. They seat perfectly and were super glued on. It was difficult to justify paying $55 for some plastic pieces but it came out nicely. Will be installed when car comes back from the shop.

Side project: pillars pictured are sitting on my project lounge chair. I reupholstered the chair and ottoman with brown Porsche houndtooth to fit the 1960s production date of the chair.




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[heinzboehmer]

PO impressively snapped off every c-pillar clips during the alcantara wrap. Had to remove about a pound of double sided 3M tape that was used to keep it in place.. Easy choice would've been to just replace these problematic pillars. But the worry was the possibly of ripping off the sponge layer on the new pillar fabric which needs to be removed before glueing on the alcantara on. After some contemplations, I came across these 3D printed clip attachments. They seat perfectly and were super glued on. It was difficult to justify paying $55 for some plastic pieces but it came out nicely. Will be installed when car comes back from the shop.

Ooh are those 3D printed parts something you printed yourself? Sounds like a useful thing to have ready to print in case one of the clip attachment points on my pillars ever break (again).

[M3_mann]

Ooh are those 3D printed parts something you printed yourself? Sounds like a useful thing to have ready to print in case one of the clip attachment points on my pillars ever break (again).

It was purchased from a shop in Taiwan called Rendition Design. They make wide variety of little 3D printed knick knacks for BMWs. If I had a 3D print set up, I could've definitely scanned these into STL file before installing to keep as spares.


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[heinzboehmer]

It was purchased from a shop in Taiwan called Rendition Design. They make wide variety of little 3D printed knick knacks for BMWs. If I had a 3D print set up, I could've definitely scanned these into STL file before installing to keep as spares.


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Ah I see, thanks for the info. Might have to design my own version to print if they ever do break.

[M3_mann]

Now that it's getting little cooler in Texas (barely), I've decided to tackle the blown suspension. I had a set of almost new Bilsteins and H&Rs sitting around so they were installed on the parking deck!

Having installed numerous struts and shocks on e46 m3s in the past, the most difficult part was probably finding all the torque specs online. It's been ages since I've had access to BMW TIS and I remember the strut tower bolts breaks very easily. So I took my time and found every torque spec and wrote it down prior to starting the project.

To continue on with the thin E46 frame reinforcements, front strut tower and rear shock mount reinforcement plates were installed as precautionary measures. Strut tophat nipples were removed and struts were pulled outwards to compensate for the added camber in process of lowering the car

Car feels so much better with the replacement hydraulics and definitely improves on the handling and aesthetics with the H&R sports.
Time to get the car re-aligned! It was aligned last week after subframe was reinforced.

[M3_mann]

How it sits now after a quick 20 min drive.
Very happy with the results.

[Slideways]

Having installed numerous struts and shocks on e46 m3s in the past, the most difficult part was probably finding all the torque specs online. It's been ages since I've had access to BMW TIS and I remember the strut tower bolts breaks very easily. So I took my time and found every torque spec and wrote it down prior to starting the project.

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/414-e46-m3-torque-spec-thread-every-bolt-on-the-car-on-diagrams

[M3_mann]

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...ar-on-diagrams

Wow this wouldve been really helpful! Saving it for next time thanks! Cheers

[Str8Six]

superb looking m3! are those ch-r bbs wheels?

[Zajce46m3]

Nice wheels and interior upgrades! I'm still on the fence whether to integrate apple car play myself. Complete interior trim restoration is my next goal. Keep them updates coming.

[M3_mann]

superb looking m3! are those ch-r bbs wheels?

Yes they are! Thank you!

Nice wheels and interior upgrades! I'm still on the fence whether to integrate apple car play myself. Complete interior trim restoration is my next goal. Keep them updates coming.

Thanks glad you like it!

I personally really like the CarPlay upgrade. Seeing that they're integrated into nearly all new vehicles, general consensus seems to be very favorable towards it as well.

I always wanted to restore the wooden trims on old e46 coupes. I read that they're are in fact real wood with thick (and usually cracking) lacquer. It would be awesome to strip the coating, restain with a more modern pigment and putting a matte finish


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[M3_mann]

Today I got around to repair the poorly finished Alcantara fabric on the rear deck along with installing the c-pillars.
Started by removing all of the trims, bolts and pins to access the deck piece. It's difficult to see in the photos but the fabric glue came loose and would flap around when I drive with windows down.
It consisted of three bolts holding down the baby seat attachments, three 8mm for each speakers and 4 impossible to save plastic rivets with flush heads right were the folding seat latches are. Entire deck pops right out.



Here you can see POs obsession over 3M double sided tape. I removed all of it prior to reinstalling the pillars.



Final install photo. The 3D printed c-pillar repair clips align very well and gives it a very clean unnoticeable repair. Alcantara was peeled back, 3M spray on flexible adhesive was applied and fabric was glued back down.
Next up is finding replacement seats for the rear. You can see the stitching coming undone from the drying and shrinking.