Robs E46M Rosso Corsa Street Build

[robgill]

Been awhile since my last update just been enjoying the car!





One item that I haven’t been completely happy with since the SMG swap is the shifter feel. I originally used the Rogue shifter but there was too much slack left to right. I pulled it out to have the bushings replaced. In the interim I installed the Turner adjustable shifter and that was super tight.



Too tight for a street car IMHO… So back in with the Rogue shifter with stiffer bushings. Now it’s EXACTLY what I wanted! Better than OE but not too stiff and no additional NVH. Went with a “M3 Evolution Illuminated Shift Knob” part 25112228742 that wired right in.



Also found a BMW Performance foot rest after a lot of hunting to complete the pedal set. Interior done (for now 😂)!

[02_lsb]

That cars and coffee was probably fun, and some dudes were probably even fond of their cars… till you showed up. .

What a build!

edit: chrome grills need to go back on the car.

[Lee_Enfield]

Damn, definitely inspiring.

Would love to do something similar. Came across a few low(ish) km cars with rebuilt titles for decent prices that might be good candidates for something like this.

The cost though...

[Gt4]

Damn, definitely inspiring.

Would love to do something similar. Came across a few low(ish) km cars with rebuilt titles for decent prices that might be good candidates for something like this.

The cost though...

If you are going to put all the effort and cash to completely rebuild a car, at least pay a little more and avoid rebuild title if you want to see your money back one day

[Lee_Enfield]

If you are going to put all the effort and cash to completely rebuild a car, at least pay a little more and avoid rebuild title if you want to see your money back one day

Ya your not wrong. That did cross my mimd as well. Will probably keep an eye out for a nice clean car. I guess color options are not as important if I plan on doing a complete repaint like the op.

[Hallerhan]

Beautiful build! I’m looking to install a carbon roof on my Jap Rot M. What DIYs did you follow when you did yours?

the work seems reasonable (aside from removing the glass)

[robgill]

Good news. Bad news.... Good news!

First good news. Had an awesome drive a couple weekends ago with Simon up to the Orvis Sandanona Club in CT. Perfect fall weather and great roads.



One the way back home I stopped under the Riverside Drive overpass in West Harlem for a couple shots:





Bad news... Got up the next morning and was taking the car back to the garage. On the Cross Bronx the car in front of me swerved to miss something in the road and I had no time to miss it. Trailer ball hitch lying on its side in the middle of the lane. Just tried to center it and hope it would clear. NOPE! Hit it hard and sounded like a freakin bomb going off under the car. Fortunately it was right before my exit and was able to get it off the highway and to my garage. I could smell trans fluid so knew it wasn't going to be pretty:




I just fucking installed this transmission 😩!!!

Good news! Insurance has worked out really well and they covered a tow over to Rogue Engineering in New Jersey.





Ben has been awesome and ultimately insurance is covering the full repair with the highlight being a shiny new 6 speed straight from BMW. 1 of 2 left in North America. Sooooooo fresh!!!! Would have been nice for this to happen BEFORE I did all the SMG conversion work but hey, at least its now a true (new!!) 6 speed.



Stopped by the shop yesterday and they have already started work. Front subframe is being replaced with one of REs reinforced ones and the trans should go in early next week. Also going with an aluminum belly pan from Turner plus all new underside trim panels. Fingers crossed it will be ready for E46M.East next weekend.

[robgill]

Beautiful build! I’m looking to install a carbon roof on my Jap Rot M. What DIYs did you follow when you did yours?

the work seems reasonable (aside from removing the glass)

Thanks!! Lot of great DIYs on this forum but primary doc is this realoem PDF with torque values. Basically an assembly manual.

[Str8f4c3]

Was drooling over that transmission on rogue's Instagram. Nice outcome!! This post gave me a bit of PTSD from the time I centered a rock and the highway and got all too familiar with the "bomb under the car" noise. Tore up my oilpan but didn't get a new motor out of it haha.

[Lee_Enfield]

I am getting more and more envious of this car lol. While the incident sucks overall, getting a brand new transmission over it seems like a positive upturn, to me anyways.

[heinzboehmer]

Oh man yeah that sucks, but also jealous of the brand new transmission!

Curious if the second gear is still crunchy on your new unit. Was talking to someone recently who once swapped in a brand new manual transmission into their 8 series (same internals as 420G from what I understood) and it still had that crunchy second gear.

[bigjae46]

I guess that ended up working out! I'm assuming you have stated value policy?

Love the pic with the interlagos E46!

[aapilcher]

I’m gonna go look for a trailer hitch to drive over

[robgill]

Oh man yeah that sucks, but also jealous of the brand new transmission!

Curious if the second gear is still crunchy on your new unit. Was talking to someone recently who once swapped in a brand new manual transmission into their 8 series (same internals as 420G from what I understood) and it still had that crunchy second gear.

Yeah I do notice second gear is "tight". I notice it most in low speed/rpm shifts from first to second. I assume it will break in over time.

I guess that ended up working out! I'm assuming you have stated value policy?

Love the pic with the interlagos E46!

Good question... So I did not have an agreed value policy. I had a normal Geico policy and it all came down to how the insurance accessor valued the car and the repair. Fortunately they valued the car high enough to cover the cost of the repair without having to total it. That sounds crazy but this was an expensive repair and blue book on our cars is exceptionally low compared to market. The trans alone was 6k... It was also an eye opener, my logic has always been I can do all of my own work I just need parts covered. But if this car was a total loss or stolen I wouldn't get anywhere near its market value. I've now switched to Hagerty agreed value for both of my M3s.

[Casa de Mesa]

Rob crap that sucks about the damage but I must say, this is the best possible outcome. So glad the car in front of you didn't kick it up and into your windshield.

I was towing my racecar (with an F350 dually) up to Summit Point once when a reinforced brake light from a dump truck fell off the overpass I was driving under - it likely was kicked up by a car driving over the bridge. I was cruising at ~70mph but in heavy traffic and that thing came through my windshield, took a chunk out of the dashboard directly in front of me, ricocheted off my steering wheel (about a 1/2” from where my left hand was), up to the A-pillar (no airbag, bent the metal behind the plastic cover), flew to the left of my head to the B-pillar, over my head and took a chunk of headliner just above my head, down to the front passenger seat, tore a hole in it on its way to getting lodged in the footwell / passenger side kick panel. It punched a 6" diameter hole dead level with the top of the steering wheel and all those glass shards went into my eyes and into my lungs (I must've gasped when it impacted...) and I was still doing 70mph in the left lane on the 4-lane wide interstate (on the northbound side, 8 total).

Incredibly lucky that the car in front of you didn't kick it up. Glad to hear you're alright!