Mursalin's Street & Track Carbon Black E46 M3 Build

[fullyflaredd]

Once the car is back up, I'm gonna bring out the DSLR and post some quality non sideways photos. Long overdue haha

[fullyflaredd]

Got the box back from Karbonius and it looks magnificent. They put on all new fittings and polished it. Installed it on the car, went for a drive, and I stalled as I'm exiting my driveway, and it won't turn on lol. I've been having an issue where the car won't turn on unless it's been sitting for a while. I replaced the ignition switch and coded out the clutch switch, so I'm guessing it has to be the starter. New valeo starter on the way from FCP. I'm itching to drive this thing. And please ignore the absolutely filthy engine bay, it will get a proper detail soon.

[fullyflaredd]

So few quick updates.

I honestly have a hard time trusting shops to do good work. When I got new cams and followers after putting everything back together (initial go around) , I didn't have time to work on my car so I gave it to a shop to assemble everything. I won't name any names, but pretty reputable shop. I specifically told them to adjust clearances as per Schricks specs (.25mm for both intake and exhaust) and they adjusted to stock clearances. This is the second shop that can't follow simple instructions. And these are shops that do very high quality reputable builds and are very knowledgeable. It's just carelessness and it really irks me. Fortunately I didn't run the car very hard and only drove about 2k miles or so before having them readjusted. I'm.glad this was caught before any damage was done to the expensive brand new cams and followers. I would have been extremely pissed and not even realized that was the cause (would have suspected something is wrong with the head).

Also, my airbox seems to be stuck in Spanish customs. I sent it to Karbonius over 3 weeks ago and it's been in customs for over 2 weeks. I've had a few people tell me Spanish customs is slow, but I'm honestly afraid that they might have lost my airbox. Let's hope not. Everything is on hold until they receive and repair the box.

[fullyflaredd]

I would opt for the 535d, or x5d if you need the practicality of a SUV. I wanted a wagon so my choices were restricted by that, but if that's not a constraint definitely opt for the 6 cylinder. While the n47 doesn't feel slow by any means and is more than adequate for a daily driver, I can see it becoming a bit dull after owning it for a while. I will probably go for a stage 2 tune at some point. I'm pretty content with the purchase.

[Lee_Enfield]

New daily driver. Stoked to have a car with nice cold AC and a good sound system + all the creature comforts of a modern car. Now the e46 can get absolutely ruined (aka gutted)

Nice choice.

I have been eyeing up BMW diesels as well. Can't decide if I want an F30 328d, a F10 535d, a G30 540d or an F 15 X5 35d.

All have merits and drawback. Leaning towards a good low km 535d or the X5d at the moment.

[fullyflaredd]

New daily driver. Stoked to have a car with nice cold AC and a good sound system + all the creature comforts of a modern car. Now the e46 can get absolutely ruined (aka gutted)

[fullyflaredd]

LOL I know I owned a s2000 CR and a stock E46 M3 at the same time. The s2k was completely setup too. Definitely not a good daily, however I have driven stock s2ks and honestly I don't mind driving one everyday. It's quite docile around town thanks to the dual nature of vtec. The e46 felt like a luxury car by comparison though. But I need something a bit more practical with boot space for my doberman. So I'm not going the fun route for my second car.

I'll let the cat out of the bag. You weren't too far off with those suggestions. I'm getting a F31 328d w/ msport package. Most of the common issues are under BMW recall or covered by extended warranty so I figure the reliability aspect is covered. Also practical enough for my dog and gets great mpg. I'll post pics this weekend once I have picked it up.

[EthanolTurbo]

thank you, very lucky to have found them on here. Shame that they are no longer available.

So here are some non sideways pics for you all! Finally decided to upload from a computer.

So first off, I noticed that the fitting on my airbox was loose. Given it is post filter, I didn't want to risk it coming off and getting sucked in. I decided to take the airbox off to properly repair it with some commercial grade epoxy. Unfortunately, even though I was being as gentle as possible, the airbox wasn't having it. One of the threaded metal pieces that holds the trumpet decided it had enough. I am not surprised as this is airbox #58, one of Karbonius' earliest pieces. The heat and age seem to have had its way with it. I contacted them, and they said they will happily fix it for me free of charge, and I just have to cover shipping. Talk about excellent service! I am not even the original purchaser of the box.









I also did a bit more weight removal. Removed rear seats, rear seat belts, and some sound deadening material. I still have more material to remove from under the seats. After that is gone, I will likely create a rear seat delete panel after the car gets a half cage from TC Design. Goal is to keep the weight of the delete panel to a minimum, but perhaps add some sound deadening material to the back of it. The car came with poly diff mounts, and without the backseats the whine from the diff is pretty damn loud. Hoping the car will be as close to 3k as possible with the half cage. So far lightweight mods include seats, sunroof delete, lithium battery, wheels, windshield washer delete, back seat delete (+ belts), secondary air pump delete, tire pump and trunk tools removed, arm rest removed, and some small bits and pieces here and there. All this should equate to around 250+lbs gone. On the weight removal shortlist is a Karbonius trunk, lighter door panels, lightweight flywheel, and maybe a muffler (although I hate the sound of almost every muffler available). I'll also likely end up removing the headliner as well as the curtain airbags.




Also thanks to a forum member, I picked up a sunroof delete panel. Although I really wanted to do a carbon roof, I couldn't justify spending 3k+ when I could achieve almost the same result for $400. And given that my car is carbon black, it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb either. If I am feeling spendy, I might still opt for the carbon roof whenever I get around to dropping the car off for the half cage.








And some more pics of the seats for good measure:





Next to the fat boy ABE seat




And of course the ever growing pile of parts:






While I wait for the airbox to be repaired, this is my only mode of transportation. Not very ideal, but at least it looks pretty. However this also made me realize that having a project car as my only car is not very ideal, and so I am now on the hunt for a daily driver. The problem is, I have no self control when it comes to cars, and my brain is all over the place. I've gone from considering a F31 328d to a 3rd gen Tacoma, to E60 M5, and even to S2000. Although knowing how carried away I would get with a s2k, it is probably best to stay away from that, and an e60 m5 is just as likely to not be running at any given point as my e46. So it is probably best if I either choose between the Tacoma or F31. I welcome other cool daily driver suggestions. ..




Oh and I realized I haven't actually posted any good pics of the car post paint correction (that aren't sideways) so here you go. Although the car looks good, it is very much in rough shape overall IMO. There are quite a lot of things that need to be addressed, for example: extremely shoddy stereo wiring, luke cold AC,, sagging headliner, potentially failing starter or ignition switch, cracked quarter panel window weather stripping, misaligned bumper, and a bunch of other little things I'm probably forgetting. However, I have no doubt that all these items will get addressed soon.






Oh and lastly, I apologize for the crappy and often vertical cell phone pictures. Bad habit from posting on social media. I have a pretty decent DSLR, but I haven't used it in quite some time. i need to make an effort to take better pictures.

I also realize that I am very scatterbrained and this thread jumps all over. This might be one of the worst build threads you've ever had the displeasure of going through LOL

You need an E90 335d or F10 535d daily driver. Trust me lol. S2000 is an awful daily for sure, far worse than an E46.

[fullyflaredd]

Have you/can you weigh both seats? I'm curious to know the weight different between both.

I believe it was around a 2-3lbs difference, but I'll weigh it again soon and provide an update when I take the seat off my racing sim to throw it in my car.


On a side note, I'm picking up a daily driver this Saturday! Yes it's a BMW (#10 for me I believe, lost count lol). I'll make sure to post pics here.

The e46 is waiting on the airbox. It's in customs right now on the way to Karbonius. Spanish customs sure do take their sweet time.

Also, I could use some advice. I'm having an intermittent starting issue. Not sure what it is because the starter has zero hesitation when it does start. I've ordered a new ignition switch and going to code out the clutch switch. But I won't even know if those actually resolve it because if I leave the car alone it will randomly start when I try again. Only way I'll know is if it fails to start again. Starter going bad maybe? Issue with the key? Battery is good. Alternator is pretty new and I can test that too. All lights on dash/etc light up perfect, nothing dim. Fuel pump primes.

[fullyflaredd]

Paint is looking good.

Carbon black gets a bit of flack but I think it's because it looks terrible when aged and tired... Like on a 20 year old car. All polished up it looks great. Gives that fantastic low light sheen you get from black and pops a nice metallic blue in the sun.

My old 02 in carbon black looked similar when I got it. After a few hours with a polisher the color started to grow on me.

Still not on top of my list for colors but not at the bottom.

Agreed. It is really starting to grow on me as well. It's just a pain keeping it clean, and any imperfections show relatively easily.

[Loopyspec]

Have you/can you weigh both seats? I'm curious to know the weight different between both.

[Lee_Enfield]

Paint is looking good.

Carbon black gets a bit of flack but I think it's because it looks terrible when aged and tired... Like on a 20 year old car. All polished up it looks great. Gives that fantastic low light sheen you get from black and pops a nice metallic blue in the sun.

My old 02 in carbon black looked similar when I got it. After a few hours with a polisher the color started to grow on me.

Still not on top of my list for colors but not at the bottom.

[fullyflaredd]

thank you, very lucky to have found them on here. Shame that they are no longer available.

So here are some non sideways pics for you all! Finally decided to upload from a computer.

So first off, I noticed that the fitting on my airbox was loose. Given it is post filter, I didn't want to risk it coming off and getting sucked in. I decided to take the airbox off to properly repair it with some commercial grade epoxy. Unfortunately, even though I was being as gentle as possible, the airbox wasn't having it. One of the threaded metal pieces that holds the trumpet decided it had enough. I am not surprised as this is airbox #58, one of Karbonius' earliest pieces. The heat and age seem to have had its way with it. I contacted them, and they said they will happily fix it for me free of charge, and I just have to cover shipping. Talk about excellent service! I am not even the original purchaser of the box.









I also did a bit more weight removal. Removed rear seats, rear seat belts, and some sound deadening material. I still have more material to remove from under the seats. After that is gone, I will likely create a rear seat delete panel after the car gets a half cage from TC Design. Goal is to keep the weight of the delete panel to a minimum, but perhaps add some sound deadening material to the back of it. The car came with poly diff mounts, and without the backseats the whine from the diff is pretty damn loud. Hoping the car will be as close to 3k as possible with the half cage. So far lightweight mods include seats, sunroof delete, lithium battery, wheels, windshield washer delete, back seat delete (+ belts), secondary air pump delete, tire pump and trunk tools removed, arm rest removed, and some small bits and pieces here and there. All this should equate to around 250+lbs gone. On the weight removal shortlist is a Karbonius trunk, lighter door panels, lightweight flywheel, and maybe a muffler (although I hate the sound of almost every muffler available). I'll also likely end up removing the headliner as well as the curtain airbags.




Also thanks to a forum member, I picked up a sunroof delete panel. Although I really wanted to do a carbon roof, I couldn't justify spending 3k+ when I could achieve almost the same result for $400. And given that my car is carbon black, it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb either. If I am feeling spendy, I might still opt for the carbon roof whenever I get around to dropping the car off for the half cage.








And some more pics of the seats for good measure:





Next to the fat boy ABE seat




And of course the ever growing pile of parts:






While I wait for the airbox to be repaired, this is my only mode of transportation. Not very ideal, but at least it looks pretty. However this also made me realize that having a project car as my only car is not very ideal, and so I am now on the hunt for a daily driver. The problem is, I have no self control when it comes to cars, and my brain is all over the place. I've gone from considering a F31 328d to a 3rd gen Tacoma, to E60 M5, and even to S2000. Although knowing how carried away I would get with a s2k, it is probably best to stay away from that, and an e60 m5 is just as likely to not be running at any given point as my e46. So it is probably best if I either choose between the Tacoma or F31. I welcome other cool daily driver suggestions. ..




Oh and I realized I haven't actually posted any good pics of the car post paint correction (that aren't sideways) so here you go. Although the car looks good, it is very much in rough shape overall IMO. There are quite a lot of things that need to be addressed, for example: extremely shoddy stereo wiring, luke cold AC,, sagging headliner, potentially failing starter or ignition switch, cracked quarter panel window weather stripping, misaligned bumper, and a bunch of other little things I'm probably forgetting. However, I have no doubt that all these items will get addressed soon.






Oh and lastly, I apologize for the crappy and often vertical cell phone pictures. Bad habit from posting on social media. I have a pretty decent DSLR, but I haven't used it in quite some time. i need to make an effort to take better pictures.

I also realize that I am very scatterbrained and this thread jumps all over. This might be one of the worst build threads you've ever had the displeasure of going through LOL

[cornerbalanced]

Recaro SPAs are my grail. What a great find! Hope to see this car around, such a great build.

[fullyflaredd]

I don't know why the images get inserted sideways on my phone lol. I'll fix when I'm on a computer.

Between work, life, and all sorts of other things that have come up I've had very little time to focus on the car. However I made a promise to myself that I would attend at least 8-10 track events in 2023. So I need to get the car prepared.

Few things I will be throwing on very shortly:

do88 radiator and oil cooler
Bimmerworld group N engine mounts
E21 trans mounts w/ AKG cups
AKG stage 2 solid mounted shifter w/ BMW motorsport knob
Megane RS calipers (freaky parts adapters) + zcp/CSL 345mm rotors + carbotech xp10. This is subject to change, might switch to an AP racing 8350 kit.
BBS RIA (also might just sell these, arc8 will suffice and I can use the money elsewhere such as coilovers)

And the thing I'm most excited for: recaro profi spa carbon kevlar courtesy of a forum member. That means one of my pole position ABEs is up for sale.

Ill have some better pics of everything this week.