Zen and the Art of E46 M3 Ownership

[Bimma360]

Who's doing the painting? I need some paint work on mine and I'm right next to you.


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What size (type?, gauge?, class?, weight?, whatever the correct term for a sewing machine is) sewing machine do you need for this sort of work?

Looks great btw!!

I use a Singer Heavy Duty Model: 4411. I can't even tell you anything other than that, since I bought it over 10 years ago, and I don't even remember the specs haha. It's a budget starter machine. What I have learned though is you really need a "post bed sewing machine" for this type of work, but those are more of a commitment as they cost over a grand. The Singer I have, for example, is a flatbed machine and is good for 80-90% of the work. When you get to tight curves, it gets really hard to use a flatbed and do it right. Case in point, the rear headrests, after learning my lesson with the e36 I am just going to take to a shop to do them for me. They are impossible to do right on a flatbed. In fact the curvature in that middle section of the seatback pictured above was a pain in the ass. 10 years ago I didn't know any better when I was shopping for machines. But If I was going to do an entire interior this time around, and not just the back seat I would buy the expensive post bed machine. The amount of money you are saving doing a full interior more than justifies/pays for buying a nice machine. And it will make the whole experience so much easier and more pleasant.

[karter16]

A little bit of seat progress...

What size (type?, gauge?, class?, weight?, whatever the correct term for a sewing machine is) sewing machine do you need for this sort of work?

Looks great btw!!

[Grke46m3]

The truthful answer is I have issues. Rock chips all over the front necessitated a full front clip respray. Paint damage at the lower rear quarter window trim meant the whole left side basically needed to be painted. And there was some blending work needed in the rear b/c of the trunk being painted. More or less 2/3rds of the car was going to get paint, and it would have been an 8.5/10. So as I was talking to the owner of the shop about the work, halfway through I was like you know what screw it just respray the whole car, if I am going to do a lot of this anyway I might as well do it right.

Here it is in the booth earlier this week...

Who's doing the painting? I need some paint work on mine and I'm right next to you.


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[0-60motorsports]

A little bit of seat progress...

Nice!

[Bimma360]

A little bit of seat progress...

[Bimma360]

So a few weeks ago, after 13 years of ownership and at 245k miles I sold my arctic silver e36 m3.





I taught myself to sew on that interior. And I honestly thought those days were behind me. But instead of sending out the rear e46 seat out to get redone to match the front Nogaro Munich's, I decided to just do it myself. There is really nothing online on how to take apart the seat backs, so here are some pics for those that are wondering.







I also came across a can of Arctic Silver paint I’d completely forgotten about, so I decided to repaint the SMG shifter console with it. Just to bring a small piece of my E36 into the new car. I ended up changing my mind about the bezel as well and swapped in the Storm version to match the knob.





I am basically twiddling my thumbs waiting to get the car back. I cleaned up the side grills, and replaced the emblems, exciting stuff haha.

[Bimma360]

Lol oye vey. Famous last words. Been following along love the thread and car; great work

Haha you don’t know the half of it. It’s a condition.

[sd561]

…if I am going to do a lot of this anyway I might as well do it right.

Lol oye vey. Famous last words. Been following along love the thread and car; great work

[bimmermh]

The truthful answer is I have issues.

Ah okay that does make sense indeed - otherwise you will always see the non painted parts and it will annoy you. This beast is gonna be mint!

[Bimma360]

love it. why did you do an entire repaint tho? many chips and scratches?

The truthful answer is I have issues. Rock chips all over the front necessitated a full front clip respray. Paint damage at the lower rear quarter window trim meant the whole left side basically needed to be painted. And there was some blending work needed in the rear b/c of the trunk being painted. More or less 2/3rds of the car was going to get paint, and it would have been an 8.5/10. So as I was talking to the owner of the shop about the work, halfway through I was like you know what screw it just respray the whole car, if I am going to do a lot of this anyway I might as well do it right.

Here it is in the booth earlier this week...

[bimmermh]

love it. why did you do an entire repaint tho? many chips and scratches?

[Bimma360]

So I have been refraining from just posting pics of stuff as it arrives, b/c I am just going to do it as I install them. But this just came in today, and I got super excited about it. It's a bit more rounded than the factory airbox, and it really gives it a slight CSL concept car feel which I dig. Saw the car this morning at the shop, and it's about ready to be sprayed. Happening next week. Can't wait to dig in.

[Bimma360]

Okay so this car will not be used for hoagie runs lol

Full respray and all is wild but makes sense since many parts are new.

Sorry to hear about the French Canadian, he takes pride in the E60 M5's SMG so it was doomed from the start lmao

Its going to do it all... Hoagie runs (love that you are calling it a "hoagie"), coffee runs, grocery runs, etc. The only time I want to use the X3M is when I need to fit more in the trunk and I need to haul around more than 1 kid. My wife and I work from home, so we only drive about 7k miles per year combined. If I can put 3-4k miles per year on the e46, I'll be happy. Yeah Frenchie wasted a ton of my time, but I got my money back. So if it sticks, then I guess it could have been worse. We'll see.

[Sharocks]

Okay so this car will not be used for hoagie runs lol

Full respray and all is wild but makes sense since many parts are new.

Sorry to hear about the French Canadian, he takes pride in the E60 M5's SMG so it was doomed from the start lmao

[Nate047]

Man what a build, coming along nice. I gotta try that muffler treatment on my other car.