Pipe's Carbon Black/M texture M3

[PipeUy]

The halogen lights output was never the greatest even though I had some top of the line Philips bulbs. So I pulled the trigger and bought some US spec bixenon headlights, they were in excellent condition and everything works as it should. I still have to wire the bixenon but it seems that the default euro configuration is to have the inner halogen headlight turned on too, so that might simple things up. What I’m still debating is if I want to retrofit the city lights or not, but will probably end up doing it (just need to drill the holes in the headlights housing).


In process.



Done.

[PipeUy]

Since I got the SCZA section 3 I wasn't happy with the tips I chose, 80mm titanium ones, and neither with how they attach to the car. I got a fabricator to make some 2.5" tips and aligned them similar to a Supersprint section 3. I'm finally happy with how the rear end of the car looks. Next will be getting the car polished and coated and also ordered some OEM bixenon headlights.

[CSLManual]

ah thanks for the shout out, only just saw this! Glad you're happy.

[PipeUy]

Great job on the big 3!

Thanks! It's nice knowing that the car is solid.

[Tbonem3]

Great job on the big 3!

[PipeUy]

A few weeks ago I bought a set of CSLManual's paddles covering panels for the missing SMG paddles. They fit really good and tidied up the back of the wheel which was visible from outside the car.

Not the best pictures in the world but you get the idea.

[PipeUy]

Then since we had the car apart it was time to manual swap it, the SMG was starting to drop gears on hot days and I’ve always wanted a manual E46 M3, so it was time.









The clutch was really tired and contaminated by an oil leak coming from one of the flywheel bolts.














Then we had the bell housing modifications done, used the following guide and everything worked out perfectly.

https://www.mforum.net/forum/e90-m3-sedan-e92-m3-coupe-e93-m3-convertible-2008-2013/diy-ab/511-diy-smg-to-6mt-bellhousing-and-transmission-modification-revised-2020

Checking that everything was working properly.









New LUK flywheel and clutch.









And gearbox mounted.









Gear knob installed.









Pedal too.









Removed the paddles.









Here is where the pictured start to run low, we had the driveshaft rebuilt and new exhaust gaskets. Then we assembled all the plastic covers and heat shields.









Bled the brakes and clutch, old fluid was nasty.









Coded the car and went for a short drive to make sure everything was ok.









Then it went in for an alignment and everything checked out.

















And this is were things end, the car now drives beautifully with no weird noises and everything works as it should. The big 3 and the gearbox conversion completed, now it’s time to enjoy the car and tackle small things like an interior refresh.

[PipeUy]

I ordered a Racing Diffs free play shim and LSD clutches, it has fixed a lot of the free play, hope it lasts a long time.
























Fully done.



















This completes the rear end repair, we were quite happy with the result.

[PipeUy]

We got the floor undercoated.



















And then we got some paint made using a small bracket we removed, it turned out darken than what we imagined but it still looks factory.
























The inside of the boot too.














Not willing to take apart the car again I got all new bushings.














Diff carrier painted and in place.









More bushing swapping.









Finally we had all the rear suspension in place.

[PipeUy]

Took the time to clean the gearbox too, it was really caked in oil.



















We zinc coated all the bolts and nuts.









I’ve been reading this forum since it was created and the old one for a while too and it was clear that only the Redish plates were not enough and something had to be done to the top too. So I got a Vince Bar to make sure I never get to do this again.














We had to get the rear teared floor in the position it’s supposed to go in before we could weld it, so we lowered the car very carefully onto a jack stand so we could get the metal back were it should go.














Then we welded the Vince bar to the car and improved some of the floor welds.



















We also welded the Redish plates and every single crack of spot weld that was broken.












































My friend managed to hide the bar as well as we could. I think it turned out really nice.














Then we riveted in the front reinforcement cups.

[PipeUy]

Before considering buying the car I did a lot of research about E46 M3 possible problems and of course the RACP cracks were among the top. So when a friend and I inspected the car we knew we had to look for those. We did find that it was cracked but of course we didn’t know the extent. About an year later my friend had time and the space to take the car in and we started with the repair process.









We could see some separation in the sound deadener.









After removing the sound deadener we could clearly see how the floor was tearing itself apart.














Then the teardown of the rear axle started, both gearbox mounts were shot and the center support bearing was repaired very poorly by the previous owner.














The diff had a small leak from the input and right side flange, also it had a lot of free play on the right side. More on this later.



















The floor right side tear from below.









Rear axle removed.



















Cracks in the front right mount.









Left side.









Totally necessary to clean the underside to find the small cracks.

[PipeUy]

The E30 was a theft magnet so you replaced it with an E46 M3? LOL




And only 6 imported in the country? Wow, to think people here claim their cars are rare spec! Nice work so far - looking forward to future updates

Haha yeah they’re extremely rare over here, Uruguay had a pretty big economic crisis in 2002 so all of them are early ones.

Beautiful! Love the direction you're heading in. Glad to see e46 m3's getting the love they deserve in South America too!

Thanks!

Very nice. Super jealous that you guys get euro spec cars over there.

Yeah we always get euro spec cars over here which is a big plus.



A couple weeks ago I parked the car in a friend’s house and we started tackling 2 of the big three, vanos and rod bearings. Vanos tabs were in good shape and everything else was in original condition, had to clean everything quite a bit which took a long time but we got the vanos completed with evert Beisan part and engine timed correctly (after having to order a new damper from Schmiedmann since mine was delaminating). During the vanos rebuild I also changed the front main seal for an original Bmw one and all the belts and tensioners, we also flushed the cooling system and filled it up with Motul Inugel Expert. I still have to refresh the cooling system but that will happen in early 2021.











Then it was time for the rod bearings which were changed at 100k km at the dealer during the recall, the car has now 221k km so they probably were due for a new set. Before we removed the oil pan we ran through the oiling system a can of Liqui Moly engine flush because the oil changes weren’t done as regularly as they should have been done. Disassembly went smooth with the only problem being that the pan had a pretty big oil leak and everything was covered in crud.




Rod bearings didn’t look too horrible but some had some wear, so it wasn’t a bad time for the refresh. The bearings that we swapped in are ACL and the ones we removed were original Bmw.











That brings us to the present day, we are now assembling the front suspension/subframe with all new bushes, control arms and tie rods and throwing in some Koni Yellows since the shocks look like they are the original Sachs units.

[heinzboehmer]

Very nice. Super jealous that you guys get euro spec cars over there.

[skristedja]

Beautiful! Love the direction you're heading in. Glad to see e46 m3's getting the love they deserve in South America too!

[freshprince2421]

The E30 was a theft magnet so you replaced it with an E46 M3? LOL

And only 6 imported in the country? Wow, to think people here claim their cars are rare spec! Nice work so far - looking forward to future updates