Jason's 2006 E46 M3 6MT Coupe - Tiag/Imola

[freshprince2421]

I see you had the steering wheel redone again. I'm considering two tone as well but perhaps leather on the sides for better durability. Looks sharp!

[Titaniu//M]

I see you had the steering wheel redone again. I'm considering two tone as well but perhaps leather on the sides for better durability. Looks sharp!

Thanks! I did indeed have the steering wheel swapped out- went from a Coby wheel to a Ledermanz. Very impressed with the craftsmanship and wish I would've gone this route the first time around. I also had him wrap the lower trim in black leather, which I hope will hold up better than the original soft touch coating. Search for him on instagram, you can send him a DM on there and he can basically put together anything you can imagine.

[Titaniu//M]

As freshprince2421 pointed out, I also had the steering wheel swapped out while the seats were in North Carolina getting restored.

A Coby wheel was one of the first mods I did to the car back when I bought it in December 2018. At the time, my pocket was still hurting from buying the car, so I went with Coby Wheel over Ledermanz. However, I desired something a bit more unique, so I decided to upgrade to a Ledermanz to match my newly restored seats. I had the sides done in Alcantara, an Imola leather 12 o'clock stripe, and top/bottom done in black Nappa leather. I also had the bottom trim wrapped in leather.

Shipping from Ledermanz in Latvia to the US only took 2 days.




Fit and finish of the Ledermanz wheel is superb. The Coby is not bad in any way, but it is evident from closely looking at the Ledermanz wheel that the guy pays attention to details. The 12 o'clock stripe matches the Imola red BMW leather both in color and grain, unlike the Coby wheel version.



I sold the Coby wheel quickly after I received the Ledermanz. But for a short time, I had 3 E46 M3 steering wheels in my possession - OE, Coby and Ledermanz.



Comparison of Ledermanz stitching and OE.



Stay tuned for installed pics, car is currently at the shop getting a few other things done.

[Tbonem3]

Good stuff! Seats look new!

[Titaniu//M]

Good stuff! Seats look new!

Thanks!

[Titaniu//M]

I decided to knock out two jobs to (hopefully) keep my engine free of oil leaks for some time to come- the oil pan and valve cover gaskets.


After I rebuilt my VANOS with Beisan components in March, I reused my existing valve cover gasket that had roughly 10k miles on it. Occasionally, I smelled a faint oil burning smell when I drove the car with the windows down, and suspected this was the culprit. The VCG in our cars are made of Viton, and theoretically reusable, but I decided to swap it out for piece of mind.



Used this opportunity to break in a new toy of mine- a Milwaukee Fuel 3/8 in electric ratchet. Really happy with how it speeds jobs up.



Cleaned the mating surfaces on the valve cover and cylinder head, and hit the "half moons" in the back, as well as the area where the timing cover mates to the cylinder head with some OE Drei Bond 1209 based on the official TIS procedure.



This is the 3rd time I've removed the valve cover on this car, so the job went smoothly. Took about 2-3 hours from start to finish, working at a very leisurely pace.

The next job- the oil pan gasket didn't go quite as smoothly. It is worth noting this is the second time I am replacing the oil pan gasket. I did it back in March, but the new gasket leaked worse than the 14 year old original. I followed the DIY for rod bearings on M3forum, and put RTV on both sides of the gasket. After talking to some BMW techs, this was likely the root of my problems. It does not make sense to put RTV on a gasket that is already rubber. The official BMW procedure calls for a small amount of Drei Bond 1209 to be placed where the timing cover meets the block in the front, and where the crankshaft cover mates to the block in the rear.



I took advantage of FCP Euro's lifetime replacement program and got a new gasket for free.



Also ordered new bolts this time around.



Took the oil pan off, and took my time to make sure I got every bit of RTV off the engine block and oil pan.




Old breather hose had a broken connector on one end, so I replaced it.




I didn't replace the gaskets for the oil pan cover, oil level sensor or dipstick last time, so I made sure to do so this time.




Things were going fine, and I was about to finish up in half the time it took me to do this the first time. Until....I tried bolting one of the front control arm bushings (FCABs) back in. I believe the FCABs should be bolted up to the frame rail first, before the subframe. However, I was pretty tired and not thinking clearly, so I bolted the subframe in first. Then, I tried to bolt the FCABs in, but it was really challenging to get them to line up since the subframe was already in. I decided to thread one of the bolts in by hand to try and guide one of the FCABs into place, and the bolt ended up going in crooked. The first ~3 threads were messed up, and the bolt wouldn't go in straight no matter what.



I ordered a thread chaser, and tried cleaning up the threads to no avail. The remaining option would be to run a tap in, which is made of hardened steel and would hopefully clean the threads up. However, I had no experience using a tap and didn't want my first time to be on the frame rail of my M3. It takes some experience to get the right feel with a tap as to whether you are making new threads, or cleaning out the existing ones.

So.....I put the rest of the car back together, and had the car brought to my independent shop of choice (RRT Racing) on a flatbed to have the hole re-tapped. Front bumper was in primer because I didn't want my painted one to get scuffed from being loaded/unloaded on the tow truck.



Happy to report the hole was re-tapped properly, and FCAB bolt went in without a hitch. I was glad to pay the bill for an hour of labor to have it done properly. Not all DIY projects go perfectly, and I'm not afraid to admit my mistakes in hopes it keeps other people from doing the same thing in the future.

[Titaniu//M]

Took care of the last 2 outstanding maintenance items on my M3 this weekend- differential and transmission fluid. I bought both sets of fluid back in March 2019, so it was about time I got around to changing it. Both are recommended items during an Inspection II at 60k miles. I also got new fill plugs and some Rogue Engineering transmission mounts.



Per the sticker on the transmission, some cars require MTF-LT-1 fluid, while others like mine require MTF-LT-2. People also use aftermarket options like Redline or Royal Purple, but I prefer sticking with the Genuine BMW stuff, even if it is more expensive.

I let the bottles of fluid sit in hot water for 20-30 minutes before I begin pumping it into the transmission. Heating it up makes the fluid more viscous, and easier to pump into the transmission.



Took out just under 2 liters of original fluid. More than likely the original fill.



While the trans fluid was draining, I started working on the transmission mounts. Having large hands makes this a bit more challenging, but it still wasn't bad overall. Having a 13mm ratcheting flex head combo wrench was a lifesaver here. Original mounts were in very good shape, but the new Rogue ones will hopefully provide more stiffness. Be careful of the order you put everything back together, because the section 1 of the exhaust gets in the way. I tightened down the bottoms of both mounts first, then installed the brace, then tightened the top of the mounts to the transmission.



Buttoned the transmission back up and started working on the differential. Same deal here - soak bottles of fluid in hot water, drain and fill with new fluid. I bought two pumps to prevent contamination.



Drained out ~1L of old fluid, and put in 2.5 bottles of new fluid.





Once I put the car back down, I went for a drive. The Rogue mounts do seem to make shifting a bit crisper, but there is not a huge difference in performance over OE.