Steve's 2005 Jet Black Coupe

[Steve]

In late 2018 I picked up a Jet Black Coupe with 86k miles on it from the second owner. The car was bone stock, came with no maintenance history and looked nice enough so I decided to purchase it.

I immediately did FCABS, RTABS, steering coupler, belts, fuel filter and other various bits since I had no records. I also installed a set of coilovers and a set of OZ Challenge wheels.



Previous to this car, I had owned a M3 convertible for many years and enjoyed the car but this car was eye opening as everything about it was better due to the reduced weight and added rigidity.







I drove the car like this for awhile but after I tore apart my convertible to build my touring I used some of the leftover parts to make it a little more DD friendly.

18x9 square ASA wheels on AS3s were swapped onto the car.

[Steve]

I really didn't want to mod the car too much since I use it as my "reliable car" but I came across a used but never installed Karbonius box from the original M3F group buy and couldn't help myself.



Ordered the Kassel MAP kit and installed it on a Friday night.



Found a home for the SMG reservoir without drilling any new holes in the car.



Modified a Turner IAT relocation harness to make the box completely reversible if I ever choose to do so.



Done.

[

I should have had the snorkel with it; however, FedEx mixed it up and sent me something else instead. No clue who ended up getting my snorkel, but it's out there somewhere.

Coded the oil level along with M track mode.

[Steve]

While everything was shut down, I grabbed some new photos of the car in an empty parking garage that is usually completely packed.













Random interior photo of the car. Still deciding on if I want to keep it SMG or go manual.

[Tbonem3]

el manuel snr chalupa

Nice car! Bone stock with airbox is as good as you really need it (though more may be in store ofc)

[BMWahba]

Damn that thing looks clean! Liking the build so far.

[Steve]

el manuel snr chalupa

Nice car! Bone stock with airbox is as good as you really need it (though more may be in store ofc)

Thanks, it sounds great and is pretty light on its feet compared to the touring. It needs a clutch soon, noticed it starting to slip in fifth and sixth and I believe that's one of the first signs. I'm sure it's my fault for trying out the CSL launch control but it was worth it. If I'm going to convert it to manual, it would sure be the perfect time to do it.

As far as plans, I have a set of headers that I'm trying to decide if I want to use. I don't care for catless cars, so I'll need to figure that out before I install them. I have a pair of downpipes from an old 335i with super low mileage cats on them, I may have to look at the dimensions and see if those can be used in some way. Probably better to just grab a euro catted midsection, but it would be nice to use those for something.

[Steve]

Damn that thing looks clean! Liking the build so far.

Thanks! Will do my best to keep this thread updated.

Speaking of updates. Here is a weird one. I put a new fan clutch and fan on the car recently and after about 250 miles this happened.



I got extremely lucky as the blade ended up on top of the fuel rail and missed the radiator, but still, I can't figure out why this happened. I don't see any evidence of contact with the fan shroud or anything around there, not sure if this fan was just defective, damaged in shipping, or flexed wrong at some point in its life. It was shipped with a gallon of coolant so I'm thinking that had something to do with it, even though it was well packaged.

I'm also glad it didn't hit the airbox, I think that would have upset me more than the radiator.

[Tbonem3]

Crazy, glad nothing happened. Now remove it for good!

[Steve]

One night my wife randomly mentioned that she hates this car and that I should sell it. I asked her why and she said she hates riding in it because it gives her a headache and she doesn't like how jerky it is. I asked her if she felt the same about the wagon and she said no, that she likes that one. I asked if the E36 bothers her and she said no, that one is fun and I should keep it.

There's only one difference between these three cars and it is the transmission. I personally don't dislike SMG. I think it does what it does pretty good considering the year that it came out. It also never overly bothered me from the driver's seat either; however, happy wife, happy life.

Removed the airbox to gain access to the SMG pump and removed it.



Pulled the trans.



Now I'm just waiting on a few additional parts to get this completed. Can't wait to drive the car again and hopefully she will be happy to ride in the car again after this

[BMWahba]

Normally, our significant others are wrong. Lol, but man what a good call on her end!

[Steve]

Didn't get a whole lot done this weekend.

Prepped the trans to remove the bellhousing so I can take it to Hill Performance Bimmers to get it machined.



Crazy how much weight the SMG system adds. The actuator, pump and other bits are all pretty heavy.

Also unboxed these after having them for over a year now. They look pretty good to me. Thinking to go ahead and install them with the trans out as it should offer a little more space to work.



Noticed my valve cover was leaking a bit in the back so I swapped it out with one I had on hand.



What a great time to inspect the exhaust hub.



What a great time to quit for the weekend and figure things out later

[heinzboehmer]

What a great time to inspect the exhaust hub.



What a great time to quit for the weekend and figure things out later

Glad you caught it and didn't have the tab fall down into the oil pan! Fortunately Beisan makes their own exhaust hub now, which is significantly more affordable than other options.

[Steve]

Glad you caught it and didn't have the tab fall down into the oil pan! Fortunately Beisan makes their own exhaust hub now, which is significantly more affordable than other options.

Yes, good timing and I am lucky. Other than the hub and oil pump disk, what else do I need to order from them? Seals?

[heinzboehmer]

Yes, good timing and I am lucky. Other than the hub and oil pump disk, what else do I need to order from them? Seals?

If you haven't done anything to your VANOS then I recommend doing all the seals they sell, S62 diaphragm springs, updated cam bolts with threadlocker, upper chain guide, and the rattle kit. The solenoid is super easy to swap whenever, so you could skip that and do it later.

[Steve]

If you haven't done anything to your VANOS then I recommend doing all the seals they sell, S62 diaphragm springs, updated cam bolts with threadlocker, upper chain guide, and the rattle kit. The solenoid is super easy to swap whenever, so you could skip that and do it later.

Thanks for the input!