Announcement

**CrisSilberGrau** · 10-26-2020, 08:40 AM

More background on the car.

It was previously an EAG car, was owned by a gentleman in Sarnia, ON. That took it to BMW dealership for all maintenance. The owner afterwards only kept it for a short while, but records of maintenance or work are very scarce.

Mod list that I know of:

TCKline DA suspension. 450F/550R springs
Vibratecnics solid engine mounts
Racing Brake BBK
Rogue Engineering SSK installed at EAG from receipts
Claimed EvolveR tune on the car (dyno sheets of it making 309whp at DL Motorsports)
New or solid Transmission mounts
Hollowed out OE Muffler (receipt from previous owner)
Unknown Diffusor
Blacked out badges and grilles all over the car

Was happy with TCKline, but Racing Brake is still an unknown to me. Not a lot of our cars have it, if any, that I know of. I've managed the brakes well IMO, the lines are also SS. Here in Toronto winter when the car is stored in my parents garage it gets quite cold and the lines leak. I'll have to get to looking at them before this winter comes full force.

PPI done at White Eagle Motors here in Mississauga close to the owners place. Couldnt go to RMP as I'd have liked, or 11tenths (glad I didnt more on that later). We put the car up and looked at the subframe which seemed ok, they quoted that the A/C belt, Vanos seal, and pressure release valve needed immediate attention. On the test drive with the owner he grinded/missed 3rd at full tilt twice which made me cringe more on that later on as well.

The suspension also had spring binding noise, the previous owner drove it in winter which was probably the cause of the failed bearing and also the reason for all the rust on the nice springs. Glad it was at least stored underground.

OE ZCP rims were powder coated black, but this was/is badly fading and bubbling in most places, especially on the inner barrel. Due to driving in the winter, the rear rims were cracked, then repaired (welded and machined), I noticed this upon initial inspection of the car but only saw the passenger side, owner didnt mention this until after the purchase. Would love an oe set of Hyper Silver and wanted to refinish them to that but I'm not sure its worth it anymore. The front rims are in normal wear condition.

Paint was in decent condition, the hood is peppered with chips. Most likely a lot of them from the winter drive that probably saw a metric fuck ton of salt being thrown at the car. Thankfully the owner rust proofed the car so the underside is in surprisingly good condition. The interior to the previous owner's credit was kept in immaculate condition. The driver's seat is not ripped, has decent wear but not obscene (I've put quite a lot miles on the car since purchase im at 126.7k miles already, cant stop wont stop) so for that I'm really happy about.

The steering wheel is not OEM alcantara and was replaced and reupholstered with leather, which I dont mind, as seen in the above pic. The other interior bits have worn, the center console usual bits, and steering wheel trim (which I'd love to refinish).

Attached Files

**Tbonem3** · 10-26-2020, 09:06 AM

Hey you made one!

**CrisSilberGrau** · 10-26-2020, 09:18 AM

Fast fwd a few days, SES light comes on. Gives codes for engine running lean. I take the car to a local shop (11Tenths) they suggest a retune and smoke test. Leak was apparently detected in the intake elbow boot, instead of a new part this was the fix they provided below (first red flag). Leave from the shop no SES, next day light returns same codes. They then suggest a new silicone intake boot from Bimmerworld which I promptly buy. No more SES light.

A note: Since owning the car I've almost never driven it in sport mode or with DSC off. DSC off because subframe was not done and didnt want to cause damage, and also because this was more car performance than I've ever driven. Despite my limited experience in other sports cars I did not own didnt want to wrap my dream around a tree trying to see "what it can do". Sport mode throttle was insanely jumpy after the tune. 50% throttle pedal travel was 100% engine response/load, hated it. Normal mode was just fine, however there was weird hesitation from a stand still at times, and in reverse if I didnt apply throttle the car would actually stall.

First order of business and maintenance was to setup a timeline for the big three, none of which I had records that were done. I wanted to go with CMP, Beisian and ACL. I eventually orderd CMP topside brace, rtabs and some bearings, and ACL race bearings with standard clearance.

First order of maintenance was a coil pack, new ngks, and AFE pro dry filter. Thining this could cure the weird idle issues. It didnt but the car felt a bit healthier up in the rev range, coils looked ok, the spark plugs def needed replacement. Did this at about 113.5k miles.

After consulting with HassanEido Tbonem3 and a lot of other friends/owners decided the first order of mods was the headers, bonus as Canada has lax emissions in ON. Went with OEM Euros which I sourced here (m3f) for around 625USD shipped. They came with a slight ding in the the long bank at the end of the header where it mates to sec1 which I dealt with easily. Did the install myself with the help of one of my brothers (owner of a sick Dakar Gelb E36 M3) and my pops. Install was a pain but m3f helped a lot, took me a whole weekend. Also go the ECS header install kit. This is where the idle issue was found. Whoever owned the car before me, and had taken it in for work, had improperly wired the O2 sensors. I believe it was the 1-3cyl bank header, the post cat O2 sensor was plugged into the precat receptor in the top side of the engine. The tune from 11T already deleted the post cat O2s. After the header install the car was like night and day in Normal mode. Immediate increase in midrange, and with the hollowed out OEM muffler the rasp was fucking excellente (I love the rasp). The volume was noticeably increased.

With the eventual goal of full 2.5in piping throughout the exhaust I went with an SCZA with 82MM raw Titanium tips. Install was painless, order process was not, fitment of the tips is a PITA. This gave the exhaust not a tone more tone and ofcourse considerably lighter. Sold the oem peice kinda wish I didnt because it's such a solid unit and just looks and feels so German.

Driving pleasure increases drastically, cant believe thats possible but it will increase even more in following posts. The other two M3s was one of the first meets I've had right before my bday, and would later be the founding members of the E46ixM3Gruppe. The mean Estoril M3 is my other brothers car, he purchased it later in 2019 I believe and it was one of our first COVID drives when the roads were absolutely empty in late March.

Pretty current pic of brother's bday celebrations, they are twins, with the same car... I know... amazing. The neighbors call us the dealership when we all get together, the f10 535 Msport Manual rwd is my dads, CB, he barely drives it.

Attached Files

**Sharocks** · 10-26-2020, 06:39 PM

I miss the La Paloma meets. Nice journal, tons of shop to use in Toronto. I'm personally pretty tight with Randy at 11ths but if it's closer for you, Howard at Apex Motorsports in Concord did a lot of work on my E36 M3 and E46 M3 while I was in Toronto. Also you can use Fuchs oil which is cheaper and better than Liqui Moly or whatever BMW is using these days. I remember Howard being able to beat dealer pricing by a ton for the oil.

**CrisSilberGrau** · 10-27-2020, 03:59 PM

Thanks Sharocks yah man back in the day La Paloma meets were nice. Since the onset of COIVD there have been a few, and then the local PEEL Police have shut them down and now there's a zero tolerance policy with second wave coming in hot. As to 11Tenths, I can't recommend them to anyone, I have my own story with them, my brothers as well, and countless others where there were night mare scenarios. I know Randy as well, he's a nice guy for sure, however he doesn't do the work and can only count on his techs, quality of that shop is down in the gutter for me.

The last post brings me to late April or May. After the headers and SCZA, I was waiting on the Turner Motorsport CSL airbox. I was in on the group buy with m3f.net. As per COVID, everything got delayed along with the CSL Wheels group buy. At least we didn't have it as bad. Leighton communicated well imo, I just wanted my shit so I can get my car to enjoy it a little before the season is out. I think I received the box late May or very early June, with the accompanying parts coming before and after the main box delivery. Around the same time I also decided against refinishing the oem ZCP rims. I wanted to return them to OEM Hyper Silver, but due to the condition (carcked and machined), decided against it, AND went in on a group buy for EC7rs in Satin black ET35 18x9.5 all square. A little while later through my car group an ARC8 deal came in that I couldnt pass up and jumped on it, however the spec was not enough to clear the brakes with no spacer (off by 2.3mm) but even with a 5mm the poke was way too far out even if I dialed in more camber. Drove the setup for about 50km and already sandblasted the rear quarter. Stayed with the EC7r group buy, was 500USD off, total spent was still close to 3k CAD because customs. Ended up selling the ARC8 set with the tires for a $200 loss, and got the new EC7rs with Hankook RS4 265/35/18s. Easy brake caliper clearance. But rear is way sunken, so started running a 10mm HR spacer.

For comparison, similar but much better fitment on the EC7r and no spacer in the front and super flush at ET35 vs ET30 (ARC8 non R)

One the passenger side it was even worse, the poke was outside the fender.

EC7Rs 😍😍😍

Since I had no records of the rods being done, I sourced my own ACL race bearings and OEM bolts (went against he usual ARP bolts), per learnings and advice from this forum. Then handed the car off to 11tenths to perform the change. Could have done it myself however they assured me the job would be done in a day max two. Took a week, got it back right by EOD Friday. Car was given to me with apparently no checks or test drive to make sure it was all ok. This was my first time leaving a shop to do something this big a car so I should have done my homework as to what is required of them and me, anyway. Driving the car off nothing felt out of the ordinary, was gonna keep the car under 4k rpm for atleast 1k miles.

Driving down highway on the way home, windows down because its hot and why the fuck not. I hear a weird audible rattle every time I pass 3k rpm. FREAK THE FUCK out, comes from near the firewall part of the engine bay. Immediately pull off the highway and stop at a Petro Canada. Before this happened doing the headers on my own I also addressed the CPV valve. So no more dripidy drip, cleaned the whole side of my engine underneath, made it look as good as I could without being made anal like KhanArt or Tbonem3 , was proud of that, no more stains on the ground ffs, then when I look at my engine bay...

The oil filler cap was half hanging out when I popped the hood. Oil was EVERYWHERE, on the side of the engine pictured and everywhere else, airbox etc you name it. Also smelled like burnt oil ass as you can imagine.

Checking the oil level to make sure im not running on fumes, checked it 3 times I cant see the line... Thats because it's on the metal rod, which I didnt noticed until the 5th time checking it into different light, nice overfilled. How do you fuck the two most elementary things like putting the oil filler cap on, and filling the car up with oil to the proper level. A shop that only deals with M cars etc, whatever.

Water works.

How the rods looked, also posted in the main forum for reference.
Pics are in order from Cyl 1 - 6, they overlap in pics.

Ended up calling one of my brothers, gave me a ride to parents garage, got an oil pump and pumped 1L out before I could see the Max fill line. Babied the car home, against my better judgement. Through out all this on the phone with 11t they asked me to tow the car to their shop and leave it there as theyre all gone for the day. They literally rushed me out as I was the last customer picking my car up.

The rattle ended up being the rubber grommet that holds the power steering hose, the metal elbow of that hose was not tied down and rattled at 3k rpm resonance. Car was towed to the shop by the shop owners, and they fixed that. Which was nice, however when you dont put the oil filler cap on and over fill a car with oil... doesnt give you a lot of confidence. Anyway nightmare over, on to bigger and better things.

Picked this beauty up locally off a great owner and most likely member here. MileEndComposites CSL front bumper.

CMP raised bushings, top side beam kit, rtabs coming in hawt

TCKline spring refresh and new bearings. Springs are 400F / 600R, and will need Hotchkis med front sway for flat ride via the spreadsheet Obioban has linked

Some beauty shots after the Rods being done, since it wont look like this for longer

Rear spring overhaul, out with 550 in with 600.

I actually reversed this setup after consulting with TCK and a few members advice, to the adjuster is on the bottom. I might change this and I'm wondering if I can use some intermediary material for the adjuster.

After that was done I wanted to adjust the height to 13.5in in front and 13in rear center hub to fender line. The passenger side coil over is a bit wet and worrisome tbh. For the fronts I have not tackled the refresh yet. I get mad anxiety when doing something on the car for fear of breaking shit, so I put stuff off I'm not super comfortable with until I actually put a wrench in and get going. (after lots of research etc and looking around... probably too much)

Sechshual front fitment, for my taste.

Sad day here, ex broke up with me and I went to my favorite coffee shop and the lighting was mad good. The car... well it always looks good. This is August 8.

Then gave the bumper to European Autobody in Woodbridge to take car of painting with oem Glasurit pain and fitment. They did not fuking disappoint. Thank you very much to Jason who took amazing care of the car along with the techs. Insane shop and stable they have there.

Then off to West Side PPF in Mississauga where Jay was a G and ppfed the bumper and an aggressive one stage for the whole car.

IMG_20200828_121429 by Cristian Haba, on Flickr

That's it for this post. So the whole reason for rods and this bumper in my head, was to get the car ready for CSL Map conversion and airbox install, after which HTE Senor Eido would massage the S54.

**antknee** · 10-28-2020, 07:57 AM

awesome which bumper is that. looks like amazing fitment

**CrisSilberGrau** · 10-28-2020, 08:11 AM

Originally posted by antknee View Post

awesome which bumper is that. looks like amazing fitment

Apologies I thought I had put the brand in there, got lost in the long post. Its MileEnd, yah amazing fitment.

**Inizes** · 10-28-2020, 11:36 AM

Wow what a nightmare with the rod bearing job. I was expecting the worst when you heard rattling near the fire wall, thought I was going to hear you say there was an issue with the bearings ton cylinder 6.

Car looks fantastic, looks like another beautiful example coming together up in ON.

**BMWahba** · 10-29-2020, 06:35 AM

I'm pumped to get my Mile End bumper painted and then having my car corrected, must feel so nice! Curious - anything notable about your install for the bumper? Did you need to relocate the windshield washer reservoir or horn?

**CrisSilberGrau** · 10-29-2020, 11:07 AM

Originally posted by BMWahba View Post

I'm pumped to get my Mile End bumper painted and then having my car corrected, must feel so nice! Curious - anything notable about your install for the bumper? Did you need to relocate the windshield washer reservoir or horn?

I looked into that, and Jason at European Autobody also told me that I had to have that done. I asked around and none of the bumper installs needed this. In the end I just asked them to perform the install, nothing needed re-arranging. Honestly its a super nice piece. I forgot to get a new bottom radiator/oil grille, mines all worn and white, and a CSL vent guard. I hope I dont have to take the bumper off to put them on.

**BMWahba** · 10-29-2020, 11:12 AM

Originally posted by CrisSilberGrau View Post

I looked into that, and Jason at European Autobody also told me that I had to have that done. I asked around and none of the bumper installs needed this. In the end I just asked them to perform the install, nothing needed re-arranging. Honestly its a super nice piece. I forgot to get a new bottom radiator/oil grille, mines all worn and white, and a CSL vent guard. I hope I dont have to take the bumper off to put them on.

Man that makes it even better. It’s literally plug and play! Car looks great!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**antknee** · 10-29-2020, 02:04 PM

Originally posted by CrisSilberGrau View Post

I forgot to get a new bottom radiator/oil grille, mines all worn and white, and a CSL vent guard. I hope I dont have to take the bumper off to put them on.

A little black trim paint will make that lower grill like new. I shot mine before putting it onto my Status Gruppe bumper.

As far as the CSL vent guard, i had to silicone that on, since there was no way it would clip into the SG bumper....might be diff with the bumper you had, although looking at the vent grill there are no clips to hold it in place. Had to get creative when allowing the silicone to dry since the hole was curved.....tied a sack of coins in a sandwich bag and hung them from the grill as it dried LOL it worked.

Untitled by anthony esmilla, on Flickr
Untitled by anthony esmilla, on Flickr
Untitled by anthony esmilla, on Flickr

**CrisSilberGrau** · 03-18-2021, 11:07 AM

I need to learn how to do multiple quote posts.

antknee Seems like ill have to take the bumper off for beautifying maintenance. Also looking to find a good flexible hose to feed air to the mouth of the box.
BMWahba excited for their CSL trunk, sad about the difusor.

Time to post some more.

Next up was the Turner CSL V1 box install with Turner Silicone boots (instead of stock ones which I couldnt source in time), OEM Bosch Map sensor from the generous COVID-19 Erik. Lots of help on this from Erik, Hassan, and Tyler. Big thank you. Also had a lot of help from an E46ixM3Gruppe member that's local to me and was handy to help me do the wiring. Overall the job took me full day and a half, started Friday night finished Saturday midnight. As always finding things that were missing on this car. Tried to clean as best I could as I go along.

IMG_20200904_175040

IMG_20200903_204022

ITBs were dirty as expected, cleaned with ITB cleaner as best I could being very careful. Wondering if its worth completely taking off ITBs and fuel injectors before putting on V2 box this new season. If anyone's done it and has tips I'm all years.

IMG_20200903_203153

The OEM dip stick was only held in place by the chrome screw to the air box, the bottom had no bracket, so my pops helped me machine one. Took a while but it was needed. The bending of the stick was not the best. This is another thing I'd like to possibly change to perhaps a CSL stick. There are a few minor dents but it's just not the level I'd like to be at. But got it done felt good.

IMG_20200905_211405

September 5, 2020, close to midnight. Done, finished product. HassanEido provided a remap of the DME, took his time and was super helpful, even backing up my DME first as my OBDII port has trash connectivity. Almost a 3hour ordeal, but the car was ready to drive by noon next day.

IMG_20200905_235148

Friend's car that helped me with the wiring and provided me with a laptop, big thank you to Aaron. SMG with Gruppe M intake and many other goodies.

IMG_20200906_140336

Next up, HassanEido with the tune, CSL remap baselined at 308whp finished the day at ~325whp/250wtq. Noob first timer on the dyno, forgot to ask for the carpet fans. First 3 or 4 runs were without it, then I asked the dyno owner for one and intake temps calmed down, also the car was able to be fed more air etc. That's when power started going up. For next time ill require two fans, one feeding Box the other for the oil cooler.

IMG_20200910_155309

VID_20200910_155634

VID_20200910_160332

Before this, I was hearing rattling noises that seemed to come from behind the firewall under WOT in first and second gear. Took it to RMP and after he listed to the engine for what seemed like 3 seconds he asked me to park the car and leave it with him. Vanos was about to go, was either broken tabs or timing chain guide, was luck it was just the timing chain and I caught it I guess. Rocco at RMP is also a very straight up mechanic, my experience with him and others in the Ontario area has been amazing. Only shop that my car goes to save for my garage. Knocked out vanos in 5 hours so that I could take the car to a cruise. Big thank you.

MVIMG_20200822_000101

MVIMG_20200821_235939

Used beisian anti rattle kit, and VAC hub. Would have loved all Beisian everything but this was what was on hand in a bind. I hope it's enough.

**CrisSilberGrau** · 03-18-2021, 11:14 AM

I had faulty spacers in the rear so got some new ones, went with 15mm on an ET35 9.5, could probably go for 18mm but not 20mm, negating all the weight savings.

IMG_20200914_171702

New front lenses, gaskets, side markers.

IMG_20201014_164919

Family gathering. Dad's F10 M535i 6 speed Rwd, its a boat, but a nice one. Some stupid low number of them in NA. He's happy, barely drives it, which drives me nuts.

IMG_20201010_175938

S710	M Leather Steering Wheel
S7MA	Competition Package
S785	White Direction Indicator Lights

S459	Seat Adjustment, Electric, With Memory
S464	Ski Bag
S431	Interior Mirror With Automatic-Dip
S415	Sun-Blind, Rear
S403	Glass Roof, Electrical
S490	Adjustment, Seat-Backrest Width
S473	Armrest Front
S441	Smoker Package
S494	Seat Heating Driver/Passenger

S609	Navigation System Professional
S650	CD Drive
S640	Preparation F Tel.Installation Universal
S674	Hi-Fi System Harman Kardon
S692	Preparation, BMW 6-CD Changer I-Bus
S645	BMW US Radio

S508	Park Distance Control (PDC)
S502	Headlight Cleaning System
S534	Automatic Air Conditioning
S550	On-Board Computer
S520	Fog Lights
S521	Rain Sensor
S522	Xenon Light

S845	Acoustic Fasten Seat Belt Reminder
S853	Language Version, English
S354	Windscreen, Green-Tinted Upper Strip
S818	Battery Master Switch
S8SP	Control Unit COP
S876	Radio Frequency 315 MHz

Announcement

Cristian's Silber Grau Metallic '06 ZCP Manual CSLed Werwölfe

Cristian's Silber Grau Metallic '06 ZCP Manual CSLed Werwölfe

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S946	Dummy-SALAPA
S9AA	Outer Skin Protection
S992	Control Of Number-Plate Attachment
S925	Dummy-SALAPA