2003 Alpine on Imola Build Thread

[Rokoz]

Started this journey in March of this year, but I haven't gotten around to starting a build thread until now. Luckily, I've taken a ton of photos and documented the process along the way so I'm going to be posting them to here to catch up to current day.

Been yearning for an E46 M3 Coupe for about 6 years thanks to several friends owning them. Finally, everything lined up and I found the right car at the right time. Introducing my 2003 Pre-LCI E46 M3 in Alpine white over Imola

I picked the car up from an older enthusiast in North Carolina where he'd owned the car since 2011. The original plan was to drive it back home to Vermont, I made it about 3 hours north of Raleigh and the fuel pump kicked the bucket on a Friday at almost exactly 5:00pm. Lucky for me, I have a fantastic best friend who left Saturday morning with a truck and Uhaul trailer to rescue me.

The car was almost totally stock with the exception of a few modifications:

• Revshift poly subframe, RTAB and differential bushings
• Turner subframe plates,
• K&N intake
• Eonon headunit.

Essentially started with a great blank canvas. The end goals are really to restore the car to its former glory and do a few OEM+ modifications along the way. Mechanically the car is in fantastic shape, however, it spent quite a bit of time outside in the North Carolina sun. Luckily, the paint isn't bad but anything rubber is certainly tired.



A few photos of the car once it finally made it home:

[Rokoz]

With the fuel pump fixed, it was off to the races!

• New M3 emblem - the previous one was black and very faded, certainly couldn't leave that one there
• Dyed the rear speaker deck using RIT dye
• Removed the 15 year old peeling tint, even with my steamer this was absolutely miserable.
• New cabin air filter and an engine bay detail

[Rokoz]

Next up I had to replace the original suspension - lucked out on a sweet Facebook marketplace find. I snagged lightly used set of KW V3s with Vorshlag camber plates, rear strut mounts, and SPL front end links. Took the opportunity to reinforce both the front and rear strut mounts as part of the suspension install.

Also knocked out a cowl refresh and hit the wiper arms with some sandpaper and spray paint (OEM wipers came a few days later to replace the mismatch beat set on the car)



SO MUCH DIRT UNDER THE OLD COWL. Honestly - this is a theme with this car, every time I took something apart in the first few months I had to spend time spot cleaning. Previous owner had his garage full of stuff rather than his S52 Clown Shoe, E46 M3, and several other garage worthy toys...

[liam821]

I moved this into the member's journals section - FYI.

Love your spec, AW on Imola is my favorite!

[Rokoz]

I moved this into the member's journals section - FYI.

Love your spec, AW on Imola is my favorite!

Thank you!! Totally missed that section

This car has been a blast to work on

[Rokoz]

Scored a Rogue El Diablo Section 3 off of a buddy selling his E46, also replaced my fan blade and clutch before it nuked my hood.

@ 143k miles these were actually in okay shape for now but better safe than sorry

[MGQFrank]

This is beautiful!

[Rokoz]

This is beautiful!

Thanks! I have to get around to posting more - she's come a long way since the Spring

[Rokoz]

Next up is a HUGE set of transformations - most importantly, the SMG to 6MT conversion!

I just want to give Wile Motorsports a shout out - Jake and his team were so fantastic throughout the process. I live 3 hours away from their shop and he even met me on a Saturday so I could pick up the car without having to burn a day of vacation time. The car is absolutely flawless, all of the features work as they should including cruise, mirror tilt, and my parking sensors. They also threw in a few parts I had purchased for the swap including the CDV delete clutch line from Rogue, a manual intake manifold, and Rogue transmission bushings. The car drove 3 and a half hours home without a hiccup.


When I got the car car home, I spent time knocking out the valve adjustment and valve cover gasket. My valves were relatively in spec, I only had to replace 2 shims but my valve cover gasket was leaking pretty badly on the side of the block.

Lastly, I happened to check Facebook Marketplace and came across a sunroof cassette with a black shade just across the border into Canada. Hopped in the car and scooped it up for just over 100 bucks. No more stuck sunroof! With the headliner already out to fix the sunroof, I decided it was time to tackle the minor sag I had with a good friend of mine. I used the BM134 from Veteranco that many recommended here - the material is a fantastic match for the OEM headliner and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, they stopped selling the pillar materials so I'm likely stuck buying new pillars which will absolutely hurt my wallet

[Acarv_426]

Next up is a HUGE set of transformations - most importantly, the SMG to 6MT conversion!

I just want to give Wile Motorsports a shout out - Jake and his team were so fantastic throughout the process. I live 3 hours away from their shop and he even met me on a Saturday so I could pick up the car without having to burn a day of vacation time. The car is absolutely flawless, all of the features work as they should including cruise, mirror tilt, and my parking sensors. They also threw in a few parts I had purchased for the swap including the CDV delete clutch line from Rogue, a manual intake manifold, and Rogue transmission bushings. The car drove 3 and a half hours home without a hiccup.


When I got the car car home, I spent time knocking out the valve adjustment and valve cover gasket. My valves were relatively in spec, I only had to replace 2 shims but my valve cover gasket was leaking pretty badly on the side of the block.

Lastly, I happened to check Facebook Marketplace and came across a sunroof cassette with a black shade just across the border into Canada. Hopped in the car and scooped it up for just over 100 bucks. No more stuck sunroof! With the headliner already out to fix the sunroof, I decided it was time to tackle the minor sag I had with a good friend of mine. I used the BM134 from Veteranco that many recommended here - the material is a fantastic match for the OEM headliner and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, they stopped selling the pillar materials so I'm likely stuck buying new pillars which will absolutely hurt my wallet

Nice, I had Wile MotorSport do a ton of work on my car last year. Great guys to deal with. Car is looking good, love the Alpine on Imola!

[Rokoz]

Nice, I had Wile MotorSport do a ton of work on my car last year. Great guys to deal with. Car is looking good, love the Alpine on Imola!

Thanks! Yes, I'd definitely recommend him to folks in New England. Hopefully the rest of the work I'll tackle myself but if not I wouldn't think twice about going back that's for sure

[0-60motorsports]

Beautiful combo. Coming along really nicely.

[Rokoz]

Another round of updates! This time a pretty fun set of cosmetic ones

It took me about 3 months to find a good condition and complete set of LCI tail lights, my stock tail lights were very sun faded. Snagged this set of eBay - took the opportunity to get rid of all of the dirt buildup. I tend to find this everywhere I go. Also snagged a set of side markets from FCP, holy cow I did not realize HOW yellow these were until the new ones appeared.


More importantly - I got a set of bi-xenons from Gt4 in exchange for my halogen lights. He has an awesome project to make a super lightweight M3. Rebuilt the headlights with a new set of lens gaskets, lens, and the hood to headlight gasket. I still need to decide if I'm going to go crazy and get the bi-xenon functionality working or use them as a set of regular Xenons.

[Rokoz]

Had to have a bit more fun with some cosmetic updates - replaced my tired steering wheel with one from a popular refinisher on eBay/Facebook. Also waiting a few months for Euro mirror glass to come in from Turner Motorsport. My glass wasn't broken until I removed it but it certainly had some corrosion going on both mirrors.


Once the car was converted, I found the armrest often in the way. The condition of my center console made the decision to switch to the euro console easy, I also happened to score brand new cuplolders and a coin tray on facebook for $30.
Took the opportunity to address some of the tired piece in the interior and had Coby wheel make up a couple shift boots along with the E-brake handle.

[Rokoz]

Sorted out a few little things that have made me sad since I bought the car this Spring.

Don't ask me how or why, but the trim on the edge of the popout windows was glossy and peeling. I couldn't tell if it was wrapped at one point, if it was painted, or if the plastic was just beat to hell and delaminating. Regardless, I scooped up a pair of rear windows from a part out because it was significantly cheaper than just buying that trim piece.



With the window out - it was time to knock out a few other rough items. I replaced the lower rubber seal and refinished the window fittings (These are only 50 bucks for the pair, but I have so many other things to do that refinishing them with some sandpaper, etching primer, and SEM trim black was a better option for now)



And finally, our finished product!