Keith’s E46 M3 build log.

[nytgamgingcs]

Awesome build thread. Are you going with alpha N or map tune for your new airbox?

[Keith_MN]

Awesome build thread. Are you going with alpha N or map tune for your new airbox?

Thanks! Going with a MAP sensor.

[Keith_MN]

Rod bearings done. #2 upper showed the most wear, #5 upper a bit and everything else looked good. '04 with 78k, original bearings. I do have an oil analysis in progress just for fun.


Got the headers dropped and was in the midst of swapping out the CPV oring and it cross threaded going back in because of course it did. Thread was just barely marred, didnt have a die that size to clean it up so opted to just spend the $50 and get a replacement. Always something.



Still have the bottom end to put back together, euro headers to put on, get the subframe back up and then I'll drop the trans to get the bellhousing sent off for machining. When that's out, I can work on pulling O2 wires for euro sec 1...and lots more after that.

[Keith_MN]

Here we are at the last day of February, making steady progress.

Finished up reassembling the rod bearing job. My RH engine bracket was cracked so I pulled that off for replacement. While that was out of the way, I could work on a couple other things.

Last year I swapped out the engine block coolant plug with a 12mm to -6an fitting after seeing bigjae46 post about it. He had used a banjo bolt, I used a standard fitting and then a 90* -6. I got it to fit, but the hose was threaded through the accumulator bracket and there were too many interference points. I removed that and replaced it with a banjo fitting to snug it up to the block, now it fits much cleaner.



And as you can see above, got the new euro headers installed.




Got the bracket replaced, subframe back up & engine mounts back in place.

I needed to get the trans pulled but of course the next thing I did was give my Meisterschaft sec3 a bath and quick polish. I'm not a show & shine kinda guy but something came over me. Peak M3 ownership.
I did weigh it out of curiousity. 38.1lbs on the bathroom scale. I can hear my wife's eyes rolling from here when she steps on it next and sees the last weight, she'll know I was weighing more car or bike parts.





Enough procrastinating... Started working my way around the bellhousing, couple bolts here and there over the course of a week plus whatever other distractions. Didn't have too hard of a time with the exception of #3. That one sucked. Especially as I quickly resigned myself to lowering the subframe again to gain that extra inch. That extra inch plus a swivel link on a wobble extension gave me the angle. Was certain I was going to break the swivel or an extension, had a good half a rotation on the breaker bar in slop but it did the job.





Eagle eyed viewers will note one missing bearing. I found it after 10 minutes of nervous searching.

Stopped at the recycling center yesterday to get a big box to reconstruct into bellhousing size, then it's off to Hill Performance for machining.

Meanwhile I get to continue the MT transformation, put in a new clutch, etc.

Potentially unreasonable goal: Fire it up by the end of March?

To do that, have to finish the mt swap, csl intake, assorted assembly, coding... Good news is that work should finally be calmer for March.

[George Hill]

For the transmission take an old brake rotor or use blocks under the output shaft to stand the transmission straight up in the air. It'll be really hard to lose the bearings and makes lining everything up an easy affair.

[Keith_MN]

For the transmission take an old brake rotor or use blocks under the output shaft to stand the transmission straight up in the air. It'll be really hard to lose the bearings and makes lining everything up an easy affair.

Noted, thanks!


Unrelated, forgot to post my Blackstone results. No surprises, just a reference point.

[0-60motorsports]

Nice build thread.

[discoelk]

The aesthetic of those Meisterschaft section 3s is 10/10 to me.

[Rekpoint]

Coming along nicely! I am also working on headers and a CSL intake right now. I am local

[Keith_MN]

.... 🙄 .....

[bavarian3]

I think there's a lot of broken or missing images Keith_MN

[Keith_MN]

I think there's a lot of broken or missing images Keith_MN

Hmm. Anyone else not seeing images?

I posted that on my laptop, I can still see the images logged out on my phone.

[George Hill]

Only (1) pic shows for me.

[karter16]

Only (1) pic shows for me.

yup same for me

[Keith_MN]

Reposting my last attempted update:

4/3/26

Prepped a few things while the bellhousing was getting machined.

Didn't have any interest in stuffing bread into my engine so I grabbed a pilot bearing puller from HF. Struggled with it a couple times before taking a look at it, the "teeth" that grab the bearing race had no edge to bite. Few minutes with a grinder and the bearing popped right out.



Got the rear O2 wires pulled over, rewrapped and routed down the driver side. My local O'Reilly had a surprising assortment of wiring loom options. Couple zipties and the existing transmission harness clips did the job.





Used a combination of the OEM clips and a stainless zip tie (sorry no pic) to secure the wiring around the rear of the cats.



Admiring my AutoSolutions shifter. This is the autox and 25% reduction.



Meanwhile...the bellhousing had arrived from Hill Performance and I got that all reassembled. Had a friend come over to give me a hand getting the transmission mated back up. Struggled way too long to realize that I had not, in fact, angled the trans side down like I thought I did. Certainly didn't make it easy but it helped and we got the job done. With that over, it was time to bleed the clutch. I had finally picked up a power bleeder for another project last year that didn't materialize, so this was my first attempt. As usual, the FCP diy video does a great job of showing you what to expect. Couple great tips in the top comments of that video too, particularly to teflon tape your brass adapters or they will leak on you. The whole process was quite easy and satisfying, almost looking forward to using it again.



I already had a replacement center console but then this armrest delete version came up for sale here. I like the armrest but now that I'll be properly shifting, seemed like it would be in the way. Definitely like the cleaner look of this.