Kong’s E46 M3 Track to Street Car Journal

[SQ13]

Solid alignment settings. I run the same toe but .5* less camber front and rear. You running monoball RTABs?

Your post in my track alignment thread was very helpful, so I appreciate the information you provided. I’m not really happy with the front settings currently bc I’d prefer to run -2.4° of camber which the camber plates don’t allow me to do, and on the drive home I realized that I prefer running zero toe instead of toe in. But overall, the car feels great!

Yes, I have Turner V1 monoball RTABs and plan to switch to CMP RTABs during RACP reinforcement part 2.

[SQ13]

June 2023
Recently, I had EMG replace the clutch master cylinder on the car bc I’ve been chasing some trans issues. Went with an OE part to avoid any hassles with another brand…well..the new OE part was defective. EMG replaced it with another new OE MC, and it seems to be working fine so far. Trans issues still not fixed, so I’m going to swap out the Sachs slave cylinder for an OE unit. If no luck, I’m pulling the trans and replacing everything again.


New Nappa leather wheel arrived. Slightly thicker than stock, but imo it doesn’t look out of place like some of the thicker wheels I’ve seen. Quality is very good, and it feels and smells great, too! The only downside is that it’s more slippery than Alcantara, but that’s no biggie since I wear gloves at the track. I definitely prefer how this looks compared to the 9002 Alcantara wheel in the other car and the stock Dakota leather wheel. One detail that bothers me about many wheels is that you can see where the leather/fabric is folded over at the four seams; not the case here!

Check out GS Specialties if you’re looking for a new wheel. Pricing and attention to detail is great. They sent me around 70 photos and a couple of videos of the completed wheel, which is insane but very much appreciated. 10/10


New center console. I’m not very happy with the quality, but I’m not interested in any alternatives either. I still need to get a new coin tray and rear ashtray.

[SQ13]

Very minor detail that I’m sure most wouldn’t notice, but it bothered the hell out of me. A few mins with a paint pen solved that issue.


The original window tint on the doors failed a while ago, and I finally got around to addressing them. 30% Suntek Evolve tint on the side windows. Will do rear and possibly front when the glass comes out for CSL roof.


I was planning on recovering the original headliner and installing it over the weekend, but while I was cleaning the old foam off I learned that my sister’s cat had sprayed urine on the front center portion. Not going in my car - to the trash it goes. I posted a WTB on FB and thankfully found someone local the same day who had a spare Euro slicktop headliner! I plan to have it recovered in 9002 Alcantara, along with the rear deck and pillar covers.


Upcoming tasks:
New OE slave cylinder
Karbonius CSL roof
9002 Alcantara headliner, pillar covers, and rear deck
RACP reinforcement part 2
Replace windshield with the IR blocking glass
Retint rear glass
PPF
Euro bumper (if it ever comes back in stock)
Headlight washer delete

[DJAM3]

Looking good . I'll be twinning you soon. Looking to install my Karbonius roof, airbox, and Nogaro seats on my Tiag this summer. Where did you order the tint from? I want to tint my 128i.

[SQ13]

Looking good . I'll be twinning you soon. Looking to install my Karbonius roof, airbox, and Nogaro seats on my Tiag this summer. Where did you order the tint from? I want to tint my 128i.

Very nice! Those mods are going to transform your car. I had a mobile tint guy do the install. Not something I’d want to DIY, after having dealt with removing tint from my E36, and it only cost me $250 including removal of the old tint.

[Sprp85]

On the blue car, I swapped out the ITG foam filter for an OE BMC filter, and it didn’t really make a difference. It is definitely not as loud and throaty as the Race airbox in the silver car. Next step is to swap the unfiltered sections.

SQ13 Out of curiosity; were you able to play around with the unfiltered sections for volume comparison?

[SQ13]

SQ13 Out of curiosity; were you able to play around with the unfiltered sections for volume comparison?

Negative. Ended up removing and selling that airbox before I got around to it. I’d personally recommend getting the race airbox since it’s cheaper, unless you have to have the standard snorkel shape for looks or ducting purposes. ECS had them in stock earlier today.

[Sprp85]

Negative. Ended up removing and selling that airbox before I got around to it. I’d personally recommend getting the race airbox since it’s cheaper, unless you have to have the standard snorkel shape for looks or ducting purposes. ECS had them in stock earlier today.

Understood!
I currently run the standard box without snorkel; but if the race box do sound more “throaty”, I may just get the race box and sell the current one

[SQ13]

Understood!
I currently run the standard box without snorkel; but if the race box do sound more “throaty”, I may just get the race box and sell the current one

Oooh I see where you’re coming from. Yeah sorry, I’d just been too busy to experiment with the unfiltered sections. I’d probably have to find someone local with the standard airbox to swap the unfiltered sections.

[SQ13]

Haven’t updated this journal in a while bc I haven’t really done anything since I started med school. Now that I’m on summer break, I’ll be able to hopefully install all of the parts I’ve been collecting over the past year.

All of the parts I need for my RACP reinforcement pt. 2 (Vincebar) project. Well, minus the camber arms…forgot to buy those lol.



Got an OE CSL trunk and Karb roof too.


New windshield


In Oct 2023 I decided I’d replace the blue M3 with a Porsche, so I got a 9k mile manual 981 Cayman GTS with nearly $30k in options including carbon ceramic brakes. Got the car stock, and my mod list isn’t too crazy: clear corner lights, full front and rocker panel PPF, 70% tint, BMC air filters, Cargraphic catted headers, and GT4 SSK.


Therapeutic drive with a buddy after we made it thru our anatomy block.


Kitty loves to chill inside my car for some reason lol.


Sold the blue M3 to a fellow forum member in Dec. His build is really insane! I miss it, but I’m glad it went to a great home!

[SQ13]

March 2024
Some clown hit my car in a parking lot and caused a shit ton of damage. It didn’t look too bad at first, and I thought we’d just be replacing body panels, wheel, steering rack, and control arm. But nope, the strut towers were damaged in the process, so the motor and trans will be coming out to repair the towers. Currently waiting for a couple more parts to arrive, then the work will begin. Going with an OE Euro bumper, and also painting the right fender and CSL trunk. The shop isn’t willing to install the Karb roof, so unfortunately I’ll be installing it myself inside my 110° garage lol.




a

[fattycharged]

Bummer on the parking garage fiasco…get yourself an ac unit for the garage, they shouldn’t even be an option in TX, it’s a necessity.

[SQ13]

It’s gonna take about 4-6 weeks to repair my M3 once the work begins, hopefully next week. Still waiting on the bumper to come in.

In the meantime I’m just messing around with my new-to-me baby AMG. I didn’t like how the rear end looked, so I debadged it, added a gloss black star, replaced painted lip spoiler with a more rounded gloss black spoiler, and wrapped the chrome strip gloss black. The only other mod I might do is add a tune to bump it to 480 HP and 520 TQ. Service B is also due, so I’ll take care of that before the M3 returns.


Debadged looks good but the rear needs more contrast


Yup that’s the contrast I needed. But that chrome strip still looks out of place, so I’ll need to paint it silver or wrap gloss black.


Perfecto


And the Porsche on its first trip on some twisty roads in north Houston.

Bummer on the parking garage fiasco…get yourself an ac unit for the garage, they shouldn’t even be an option in TX, it’s a necessity.

Yeah I think a mini split might be coming soon. I’ll be limiting any work I do to 0600-1200ish, since the orientation of the garage allows the sun to turn it into an oven from mid-day to night lol.