MTiz's Alpine White E46 M3

[LatinSkllz]

Congrats on your Alpine man. I need to create a build journal for mine. It's been a journey haha. IMO you have the 2nd best color haha! Keep the pics and progress coming. Enjoy it for many years to come!

[antknee]

Ha! Thanks for the shoutouts and pics bud 👆.

[MTiz]

The next set of pictures is from E46.East meet. I got there fairly late due to traffic but it was still probably my favorite car meet I've ever been to. Everyone was super approachable and it felt like true enthusiasts were there and not clout chasers/posers. Lots of variety in peoples builds too-- oem+, bone stock cars, StanceNation boys, track rats, convertible cruisers, and more. I can't wait to go again next year!

LSB looks so different in person than it does in photos. Imagine my surprise seeing in real life for the first time LOL


Saw this car on here so many times it was nice to finally see it in person






Let my best friend drive the M3 back as I was dead tired. Didn't fully convert him to M3's yet but he enjoyed it and did great.

Some official photos from the meet that included my car below:

[MTiz]

After those light modifications, I wanted to get some spacers to get that flush fitment. My car was already at the perfect ride height thanks to the KW V2's, but the stock wheels were disgustingly pushed in. I ended up going with 15mm on the front and 12mm in the rear, got my spacers from Apex. They were quite a bit more expensive than I thought they'd be but I'm happy with the look.





Looks great and they were super easy to install. I made sure to put a healthy amount of anti-seize all around so that if I ever decide to take them off it'll be super easy.



Met up with some E46 friends

[MTiz]

the refresh on the headlight lenses makes the front end look almost new. great looking alpine white m3 you got there

Thank you! I agree, the headlights made a crazy difference and they were only like $50.

[Str8Six]

the refresh on the headlight lenses makes the front end look almost new. great looking alpine white m3 you got there

[MTiz]

At this point, I was ready to start doing some mods to truly make the car feel like mines. I ended up doing tint, new kidneys and side vents, and new headlight lenses all around the same time.


Before



After. Pics don't do it justice, it made a MASSIVE difference.



Bought these off of a forum member. Corny M-Stripe delete made the front end look much more mature, and the old and foggy side vents now looked brand new.



35% on the front and 20% in the rear absolutely set the paint job off. I got the tint from a local shop to my parents house off my Dad's recommendation. A few months down the line i'm not super satisfied with how it came out and definitely should have ponied up more money to get it perfect. However, it still looks 90% good so I can't complain too much.

The next update will get into the adventure that was E46M.East and other things I've done since then.

[MTiz]

At this point, I was truly ready to unleash the car. With pretty much everything in the bottom end being brand spanking new, I was ready to start having some fun with it.


Ticked 145k and the 1,500-mile break-in. At this point I was determined to go to all the car meets and drive as much as possible. Small photo dump incoming

[MTiz]

So I haven't updated this thing in 6 months and a LOT has happened since then so I'll just jump right in. Shortly after my last update of getting the rod bearings and all the other stuff taken care of, my car started losing oil pressure. It got to the point where at warm idle, it literally wouldn't register anything on the oil pressure gauge.



Me and my Indy went at it for over a month as I was blamed for supplying bad bearings causing the pressure to drop. I took initiative and began researching and replacing stuff on my own, in my driveway, in the cold lol (no garage, unfortunately). The biggest thing I did was the Oil Filter Housing.


I ended up snapping a water-line during installation somehow and ended up breaking one of the fan shrouds out of rage during the process. I could never be a mechanic lol. After I finished this job instead of getting low pressure at just warm-idle, the red oil light was on at all times no matter what I did. I was committed to dropping the subframe and doing the bearings/pump myself at this point. Eventually, enough was enough and my father stepped in and deal with my Indy. They ended up coming to the agreement that they'd fix the issue free of charge if I came in and helped with the labor. Per the agreement, I had to pony up for all OEM parts-- BMW brand rod bearings are way more expensive than ACL's and a Pierburg Oil Pump set me back yet another $700+ dollars.





Towed the M3 up there and we knocked everything out of the park. New Oil Pump, OEM Bearings, fresh gaskets, as well as new tie rods (old ones were shot and I finished them off when I dropped the subframe in my driveway LOL), and an alignment, and the car was running like a top. It wasn't without some hiccups but two days of hard labor and we were back in business.



In just 2021 alone this car has had 2 different oil pumps and FOUR sets of rod bearings!! Originals I got the car with, ACL's extra clearance (my mistake ), ACL normal clearance, and OEM BMW lol. My poor poor wallet.

[MTiz]

Spent Friday the 22nd and Saturday the 23rd refreshing the bottom end of this car. Did the full rod bearing kit from FCP Euro to replace a leaky oil pan gasket, new rod bearings, motor mounts, control arms with bushings, raised the KW V2's a little bit, and aligned the car. The thousand-mile break-in period is going to suck as the car now drives better than ever. Wish I would have gotten pictures while. it was still on the lift, but I sandblasted the Oil Pan and it looks brand new.

Shout-out to GT Performance for doing the whole job in two days and letting me watch and help out as much as I could. Wasn't happy with the bill however hopefully I don't have to spend any money on maintenance anytime soon.

[MTiz]

Quick photoshoot on some backroads last weekend

[MTiz]

Another quick photoshoot when I was visiting a friend up in Towson. Later on this night I went to a car meet out in Eldersburg and made a bunch of new ///M Friends. I met one dude with an identical spec E46 M3 to mines-- Alpine White on Dove 6-Speed, only his was a convertible. What are the odds . Forgot to snap pics but have a few videos on my Instagram.

[MTiz]

Great pick up!! Nice to see you're getting down to business with maintenance... Most people disregard dove grey interior, but with a carpet swap I'm a big fan. Here is some post-maintenance inspiration (not mine) 😉

I've actually seriously considered doing something like this:



Black carpet and dash, with two-tone door cards, and grey seats with black backs. Ultimately I think I'm going to swap to a red interior down the line but I might just end up doing this.

[freshprince2421]

Great pick up!! Nice to see you're getting down to business with maintenance... Most people disregard dove grey interior, but with a carpet swap I'm a big fan. Here is some post-maintenance inspiration (not mine) 😉

[MTiz]

Impromptu photoshoot with my friend's Toyota Mark ii JZX90. Super cool car-- Straight piped 1JZ-GTE, 2-owners, 66k~ miles, and a couple of nice bolt-ons. Looks great, sounds insane, and will soon have the 4-speed slushbox removed. Want to get some high-quality photos taken with an actual camera soon but my iPhone XR will suffice for now 😎