Kong’s Interlagos Blue E46 M3 Street Car Journal

[SQ13]

Dec 2019 – Aug 2020

Not much going on as I was preparing for the MCAT and spending my money on guns instead of car parts.

Sold the Eventuri intake bc I was going to buy a Turner/ECS CSL intake. That didn’t work out bc it got delayed and they are also tweaking the design due to some issues.



More hard park photos



Rinseless wash with ONR


Kitty inspecting the cars


In June I was driving around and was making a stop at the grocery store. In the lot, it threw itself into neutral and threw the cog lights. Parked it, come out 45 mins later, and I can’t even get out of the parking lot without it going into neutral like 10 times. Emergency salmon relay replacement in the Texas heat. That’s what I get for putting off the manual swap. 😭



Picked up an M91/30 Mosin Nagant and it didn’t fit with the seats up lol.


Shortly after, the car started to throw itself into neutral again on hot days and/or on long drives. I said fuck it and parked the car until I was ready to manual swap it.

[liam821]

Such a beautiful car. Makes me miss my old IB car so much.

[SQ13]

Jan 2021
Getting car ready for manual swap. Installed a 6MT Coby wheel (would not recommend) and a blank plate to remove the gear indicator. I’ll replace the Coby wheel for something better later on.

[SQ13]

Feb 2021
Got the car back after two or so weeks.


Also installed an oval mirror and LED lights. Interior complete for now, minus pedal situation.

[SQ13]

March - July 2021
Nothing much. Just some pics

Spent like 2.5 hours just sitting and chilling in the driveway, and it was neat seeing different shade as the sun set.

[SQ13]

August 2021
Had a two week break where I went to VIR for a weekend to do a 24h race with some friends, and upon my return I did some work on both cars. For the blue car, I replaced the diff fluid and raised the ride height. I also planned to do a valve adjustment but ran out of time and tbh I was kinda scared to do it lol.

[SQ13]

Nov 2021
Installed my spare racing seat bc it’s more comfortable than the stock seats, especially on longer drives.


What’s this? 🤔


Always wanted one but cost was an issue. I was initially going to buy a Turner intake, those things have been problematic. When I saw this new Karb intake up for sale, I said fuck it, I’m gonna make this happen.


I’m a little impatient, so I ordered the parts I needed to install and got it on the car 12 days later.


Whoever is responsible for this is a fucking dumbass.


Beautiful

[SQ13]

Dec 2021
Got the car on a DynoJet and remote tuned by Hassan at HTE. Stock headers, RE resonated sec 1, RE X-pipe sec 2, and stock muffler + intake (no snorkel yet) got the car to 297 WHP and 240 lb-ft of torque. I was hoping to get over 300, but with the current mods that’s just not possible, I think. I would like to get a full Supersprint exhaust, but the cost is a bit prohibitive right now. If I want to cheap out on the exhaust, I could get Megan headers, Megan 2.5” midpipes with GESI cats welded in, and SS Street muffler. I’ll worry about that when I get the silver car back up and running.

Washed

[SQ13]

Feb 2022
Finally gathered the courage to do a valve adjustment. It honestly wasn’t bad at all. IIRC, three or four shims needed to be replaced. I’d say the most difficult part was R&Ring the wiring stuff on top of the valve cover, which wasn’t even hard..just took me some time to ensure proper reinstallation/routing of all wires.

I also installed the Karb snorkel and wiped down the engine bay. Think I’m going to buy an Eventuri scoop to help with feeding air. One problem this presents is that I may have to drill into the snorkel to relocate the IAT sensor.

[SQ13]

April - May 2022
Finally got around to hardwiring my dual channel dash cam. From the rear view mirror, I tucked the power cable under the headliner, behind the A pillar cover, then routed it inside the dash. This allowed the cord to be completely hidden and not be half-assed like some “pro” installers’ work.



I decided to do a rear seat delete…


…because I acquired a cinnamon interior. Had to drive the car from Houston to Austin with no rear seats and holy shit the road noise made me want to cry. I’ll eventually get Cobra Nogaro seats in cinnamon leather, but right now my focus is on restoring the silver car.


All caught up for now. Have some minor maintenance stuff I need to do. I also have a CSL diffuser and SuperSprint Street muffler on order. Aside from that, I am going to attempt to not spend too much money on this car until I get the silver car fixed up (6 month project I think).

[silbergrau137]

Love the build so far. ILB on Cinnamon is my favorite combo. Were you able to find doorcards with the ZCP trim that matched the stock black interior? Why don't you like the Coby wheel? I've only heard good things.

[SQ13]

Love the build so far. ILB on Cinnamon is my favorite combo. Were you able to find doorcards with the ZCP trim that matched the stock black interior? Why don't you like the Coby wheel? I've only heard good things.

Thanks. Was initially going for a red interior, but I quickly realized that cinnamon is the way to go. The silver car will get a red interior soon tho. Not sure what you mean by matching the stock black interior. I had the ZCP trim already and just swapped them over to the cinnamon door cards.

Coby wheel quality is lacking - single joint at 6 o’clock instead of four joints, blue stripe looks like it’s been stitched over the alcantara, stitching width is too wide and inconsistent, and the way the back was put together is atrocious.

[SQ13]

June 2022
Got rid of the old wheel and installed a Tainik wheel in 9002 alcantara. The quality is so much better. I also replaced the yellowed side markers and the coin holder.



To finish the interior, I need to replace A and C pillar covers, rear ashtray cover, front ashtray cover/bracket, and I will also install new pedal covers and an Avin Avant 4 (if I like it in the silver car). The Nogaros (again, if I like them in the silver car) and CF roof + slick top headliner are longer term projects.

[mtpktz]

Whoever is responsible for this is a fucking dumbass.

Airbox looks amazing - hope to have one some day.

I'm curious about the rubber boots - from what I've read, you have to a source an intake from a pre-LCI car or purchase 6 of the boots individually (11617830265).

Did you have issues with this?

[SQ13]

Airbox looks amazing - hope to have one some day.

I'm curious about the rubber boots - from what I've read, you have to a source an intake from a pre-LCI car or purchase 6 of the boots individually (11617830265).

Did you have issues with this?

Yeah, you need to use the smaller pre-LCI boots. I would’ve preferred to use OE boots but didn’t want to pay hundreds for a set, so I just got the Turner silicone boots.

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-588713-turner-silicone-throttle-body-intake-boot-set-s54/