2003 Alpine on Imola Build Thread

[Rokoz]

This is beautiful!

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

[MGQFrank]

This is beautiful!

[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

[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

[liam821]

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

Love your spec, AW on Imola is my favorite!

[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...

[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]

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:


April 2025 - Current Modifications

Engine:
HTE Tune
OEM European Headers
Supersprint Resonated X-Pipe Section 2
Rogue Engineering El Diabo Section 3
Rogue Engineering Power Pulley Kit
Rogue Engineering SAP Delete
Rogue Engineering transmission bushings
New OE Coolant Lines & Hoses with Hi-temp O-Rings
Autosolutions SSK - Autocross Edition

Chassis:
KW V3 Coilovers
Vorschlag Camber Plates & Rear Strut Mounts
SPL Adjustable Front End Links
Revshift 95A Poly Subframe, Differential & RTAB Bushings

Interior:
Rogue Engineering Clutch Pedal Delrin Bushings
OEM European Armrest Delete
Coby Wheel Tri-stitch e-brake handle, e-brake boot, and shift boot
Bavsound Speaker Upgrade