Cockroach Individual M3 6/28/2026 x5 or m3? PWR 55mm Rad

[samthejam]

I think the pics are pretty self explanatory. I grinded some of the old poorly welded areas and drilled out any cracks. Zapped even more reinforcement plates on there.

The left side was really bad, it has had creaking over bumps I can hear on the highway with radio off. Incredible the pace the car has put down on track like this. That is gone now, still some poly squeaks but the groaning and creaking is gone.


Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

I also went to Tokoyo for my honeymoon. After a lot of searching found a Nardi I was happy with for the M3.

Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

[bigjae46]

Yes, they were very cracked before. They didn't get drilled for the cracks, had a buddy who tig'd it and it is cracking again on some of those welds.

I want to drill the cracks. Weld the cracks up. Than spotweld the reinforcement plate to the tower

At this point, you really should at least stitch weld the plate underneath with a MIG then hammer the metal flat against the plate finish with a couple of rosette welds on the top side. If you just tack weld the plate you're going to be in the same spot as you are now or maybe worse.

[samthejam]

Don't you have the reinforcement plates for the strut tower?

Yes, they were very cracked before. They didn't get drilled for the cracks, had a buddy who tig'd it and it is cracking again on some of those welds.

I want to drill the cracks. Weld the cracks up. Than spotweld the reinforcement plate to the tower

[bigjae46]

Don't you have the reinforcement plates for the strut tower?

[samthejam]

I did clean it.
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

However it is dirty again. 8 hour round trip for a work trip.
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After I finished that. I installed some MCS 1WNR
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

Had to fabricobble a spacer.
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

The front towers need to be repaired again, not sure how I will attack that and with all the fiddling the alignment is off. So that's on the agenda. I am trying to be on a hiatus for track stuff to save money. We will see how long that last.

Initial impressions of the MCS 1WNR, is they go brr. Not a magical ride, but it is so much better than the ASTs. They handle dips in the road extremely well which is a huge pain point for me on most aftermarket suspension. The clicks are real and adjust the handling balance. I finally have another car with a suspension that does both fairly well, it took a lot of time to get that right on the E28. Works as advertised, in my suspension thread I will go over why I picked them over the 2WNR and as well general research stuff I found. As well as update what killed the AST for me. https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...027#post314027

[bigjae46]

Unless the bearing is shot, the regulator is the only other wear item on the alternator. Replace and send it!

[samthejam]

Someone did get a pic of my M3 at Road Atlanta

Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

So the overheating situ for on track...

On the street the car has absolutely zero issues with temperature, and if it's below 85+ the car was on track. Anything over that 5 laps, absolute tops. Usually 3-4. This is unacceptable, by this point it is at 3/4 and it will keep climbing. If it equalized at 3/4 I'd give it a pass but it wasn't.

To address this prior to this post:

- replaced the front ducting for the rad
- replaced the radiator with a 2016 date Modine used radiator
- replaced the thermostat with a lower one 70C
- water wetter/more water mix
- added the factory undertray
- added all the factory fan shrouds (I only had the main one)
-bleeding it multiple times, jacked up front end and other tricks

and it passed a exhaust gas test for the coolant and isn't using any.
Fan clutch can be heard moving a lot of air with raised rpm and it destroys a roll of paper towels at idle.

There were no real obvious improvements with any of those changes. The lower temp stat resulted in longer warm ups and lower operating temps cruising around under 60mph. Once I was on the highway with the A/C on gauge would be at the middle. Which I always thought as odd, as the increased airflow should bring it down.

Out of ways to optimize the stock system further, I got a Koyo Radiator and cleaned out the A/C condenser.

That is the not the 2016 Modine, I had in but the other Rad I had that basically came with the car. Just have it there for comparison.

Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

I just got some simple green coil cleaner and a regular garden hose trigger nozzle thing.

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Can't see the shiny thing hidden under everything but its there.
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Now I fully believe the stock system should be capable of keeping a car cool. My fathers did great when he had it, as a street car and as a trackcar with deleted A/C. He never had an issue. A Genuine Rad is now $700~, and I had already tried the best used one I could find.

I figured it would be time to try a Koyo and see if a result, worst case I have a radiator without end tanks to break off.

So the results,

The car by the gauge, and by the OBD2 reading is running WAY Cooler when moving. I have yet to see it go past 82C on the highway on a hot summer day. I feel like I can say the cars cooling system has increased in removing heat now with airflow, which was what I had been chasing to see an improvement. With the low temp stat, it is much more evident that it seems to be cooling better. I can't say this will give me a track session but this is the most progress I've had on seeing improvement in the system on the street.

Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

Now as anything goes, increased radiator cooling usually comes at the drawback of this radiator probably is harder to get air through it, since it is slightly thicker. So far that hasn't been an issue at low speeds, and not at idle yet. When August hits, I'll know for sure.

Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

I also went to take it to work Monday and was greeted with the battery light staying on. Luckily I had a spare, looks like a BMW reman from 2007.

Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

The original alternator, had absolutely no brushes left. I unfortunately didn't check the brushes on the one I put in, but way she goes. I should be able to put brushes in the bad one, and that should fix it. I have a local guy that can also go through it as well if needed.

[samthejam]

Let me know if you ever want to get rid of 4 of those SSRs. They look so boss. Cool to see one of these cars still really used as a dual purpose street/track car. Reminds me of myself 10-15s ago with old Hondas and stuff.

Probably going to diamond hands these haha, is some sentimental value since they're takeoffs from a childhood racecar and they're a great wheel. They've had a lot of hours on them from their prior life and how I am using them. So I know I'll need the spares I have.

Glad you're enjoying following along in my shenanigans.

[discoelk]

Let me know if you ever want to get rid of 4 of those SSRs. They look so boss. Cool to see one of these cars still really used as a dual purpose street/track car. Reminds me of myself 10-15s ago with old Hondas and stuff.

[samthejam]

It's officially been one year with the car, 28,000 miles in that year.


I actually washed it!
Untitled by Kurvenkamph Motorsport, on Flickr

I did Road Atlanta again, I did a bad job planning. It came up a week quicker than I thought. So I was gonna have to do the BBK there. Which I was nervous about for this reason. So my wife and I left early, spent a night in NOLA in the french quarter. Got to Atlanta early Friday to do the BBK.
Untitled by Kurvenkamph Motorsport, on Flickr

Idk what other monkey worked on this car, but brakelines are like a sacred thing to not fuck up for me. When I initially tried to change these, I could not get them loose. Luckily with jayjaya29 help they loosened right up.
Untitled by Kurvenkamph Motorsport, on Flickr

He also trimmed the heat shields for this, and donated some stuff from his parts car and bent the hardlines into their homes so that is all correct now.
We were left with this a Stoptech ST40 BBK. I also installed some NOS softlines from Stoptech and NOS PFC 01s.

Untitled by Kurvenkamph Motorsport, on Flickr
Untitled by Kurvenkamph Motorsport, on Flickr
Untitled by Kurvenkamph Motorsport, on Flickr

Track driving is not a stopping contest, but the confidence this setup gives me now has been amazing. I am no longer scared of brake zones in this car, so I can be more brave experimenting.

Untitled by Kurvenkamph Motorsport, on Flickr


Car is still getting hot. This issue is really pissing me off. I will do a separate post about that or maybe even thread. It is only replicatable on the track at full pace driving, 85 degrees+. The other issue is the LR shock I rebuilt, despite not leaking did fail. I believe I go the dividing piston in wrong spot and it adjusted itself, as well as overfilled it. So when it moved down there no air near the top/most of its stroke. So my LR damper was struggling, I was able to get the shock settings good enough to drive it. I wanted to perservere and drive through the issue and I did to break a sub 1:40. Also not really a fan of the ECFs.


Untitled by Kurvenkamph Motorsport, on Flickr
After that I did try the Bilsteins, and it makes the car much easier to drive as well as not beating me and the car up.

However, I really like the ability to just have turn in sharp enough to hurt myself. I don't like trail braking and dealing with understeer. I really enjoy just putting the car in a slide and holding it, so while the Bilsteins will work in the long run I hope I am not stuck with them.

Untitled by Kurvenkamph Motorsport, on Flickr


I spent about 3-4 hours assembling the AST upon returning home from my 13 hour drive. I believe I have it right now. So that issue I'm not too terribly worried about, it's back in car. Time will tell. However the cooling system getting that sorted for 20 minute sessions of driving how I like to will need to be figured out. We did try a stock undertray this weekend.

Overall an absolutely amazing trip.
Untitled by Kurvenkamph Motorsport, on Flickr

Here is video of the best lap:

[/QUOTE]

[samthejam]

I was able to repair the AST shock, or it hasn't leaked for the past 200 miles. We'll see how long that stays. More about that here, that was my favorite automotive side quest by a huge margin in a long time. More about it here.

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/292889-before-i-lose-my-mind-ast-4150-setup-opinions

Untitled by Kurvenkamph Motorsport, on Flickr


I also got the 70C stat in, from my current observations it will not do any miracles. It definitely increases oil warm up time. The car will need a better rad, however the thermostat will help me know if I'm going in the right direction for certain thermal conditions and also allow me to bring the cooler temps down more than with stock thermostat for cool down laps before I get on it again. Probably will try a Koyo rad first?

AC OFF
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AC ON
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If it's 90+ or greater it's just in the standard buffer range cruising or at idle.

Untitled by Kurvenkamph Motorsport, on Flickr

[samthejam]

I have a used BBK on the way Stoptech ST40, looks like 355x32mm rotors. I am archiving the part numbers I might need here for reference as I know availability is getting rough.

Just want it it to be saved somewhere, I can get to on my phone.

Looks like the kit is:

https://www.bimmerworld.com/Brakes/BMW-StopTech-Big-Brake-Kits-BBK/StopTech-Big-Brake-Kit-Front-M3-E46-355X32-ST40_7.html

83.137.4700

Aerohats:
37.137.7415

355x32mm Slotted Left Aerorotor with hardware:
SRT31.737.1101.99

355x32mm Slotted Right Aerorotor with hardware
SRT31.737.1102.99

Girodisc Brake Rotor Set with Hardware:
- GD355.32.52

https://www.bimmerworld.com/Slotted-Rotor-Rings-Girodisc-355x32.html

Pad Info:
Hawk Pad Shape: 650
PFC Pad Shape: 447
Pagid: 1204

https://www.bimmerworld.com/ssearch.html?query=st40+Pads

" FMSI D372, D447, D609. Fits:
1994-98 Audi RS2
1994-96 Ferrari 456 GT Coupe Rear
and many Porsche models, including:
1996-98 911 Carrera 4 rear
1991 911 Turbo
1986 928 S
1987-91 928 S4
1990-91 928 GT
1989-91 944 Turbo
1992-95 968 Sport
Also fits the Stoptech ST40 caliper.

| Brand | Part # | Description |
|-------------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| PFC | 0447.08.17.44 | 08 Compound – Endurance racing, low wear |
| PFC | 0447.11.17.44 | 11 Compound – All-purpose racing, flat torque |
| Hawk | HB141U.650 | DTC-70 – Max bite, aggressive track use |
| Hawk | HB141G.650 | DTC-60 – High torque, better modulation |
| Hawk | HB141N.650 | HP Plus – Street/track hybrid |
| Hawk | HB141B.650 | HPS 5.0 – Performance street pad |
| Ferodo | FCP372H | DS2500 – Street/light track, refined feel |
| Pagid | U1204 14 | RS14 – High bite, ceramic-based race pad |
| Pagid | 63-910-0609 | RSL29 – Endurance compound, consistent wear |
| Porterfield | AP372-R4 | R4 – Full race pad |
| Porterfield | AP372-R4S | R4-S – Street/autocross pad, rotor friendly |
| Centric | 105.06090 | Posi Quiet Ceramic – Low dust, street use |
| StopTech | 334.0609.17.0 | SR34 – Full race pad, high bite, low wear |


I'm pretty sure there is a spec series, not sure if its a 928, 944, or 968. "

PFC 11:
-0447.11.17.44


Brake Line Set for front:
950.34005 (this is wrong this is for stock calipers)
950.34000 (this is for st40 kit)

Caliper Rebuild Kits:
They seem available but you need to know if long or regular piston? Different diameters from 26-40mm?

https://www.zeckhausen.com/catalog/index.php?manufacturers_id=2&srsltid=AfmBOoreRSya8 OkJPSKmsWSSIvjCikHMGOAQIwcrM2lIpgm9mnzTwUEB

Caliper Bracket part #s:
36.137.7419

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/classifieds/members-parts-for-sale-wtb/e46/251924-stoptech-front-st40-bbk-new-girodisc-rotors

Caliper Assemblies in Black:
ST-40 caliper, 38/44mm pistons, black, 32mm wide, trailing R (ACS.43E.1154)
ST-40 caliper, 38/44mm pistons, black, 32mm wide, trailing L (ACS.43E.1153)

Hardware:???????????????

https://images.carid.com/stoptech/info/pdf/catalog.pdf

[samthejam]

One of my fave build threads by far, all the pictures and background make the whole thing so much more "real"

Glad you are enjoying following along!

[nextlvel]

One of my fave build threads by far, all the pictures and background make the whole thing so much more "real"

[samthejam]

Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr
Untitled by Sam DaJam, on Flickr

Did some research and found some Porsche Bilsteins that fit. I did the same thing for my E28 since it did not have much aftermarket support, Porsche shocks are great to adapt as they are valved fairly stiff since Porsches have an engine in the back. They are also shorter, but the bumpstop engagement looks perfect. I went with the stiffest one I could find as I have a stiff rear spring. Older 911s have a lot of different options for OTS Bilsteins.

Just got back from a test drive, best the car has ever felt. Firm but supple ride, way more rear grip. Just feels good. I had to get some adapters but got lucky with scamazon.