Mursalin's Street & Track Carbon Black E46 M3 Build

[fullyflaredd]

Oh and I'll also add that after driving both back to back, the E46 felt more fun than the E92 but the S65 is always so damn lovely. I think it's mostly due to the weight difference that it felt more lively and raw.

[fullyflaredd]

So I have a hunch my braking issues are the result of a failing brake booster. When I press the pedal, I can hear a scrunching sound and hissing which leads me to believe that the seals are failing. That would explain the inconsistent pedal feel and hard pedal and having to press the pedal quite hard for the brakes to actually engage. More shit to potentially replace. Yay blowing money is fun!

[fullyflaredd]

Man call me crazy but I would trade the E46 for a s2000 in a heart beat. Not sure if it's also the fact that I'm off put by the amount of problems this car has given me, but everytime I drive a s2000 I fall in love. The controls are weighted perfectly. Everything about it is just so good. Somewhat light, fast steering, double wishbone suspension, front mid engine, perfect simple interior, good sounding exotic 4 banger, so much to love. The E46 feels kind of boring by comparison. don't get me wrong, the e46 is awesome and the s54 w/ cams and mods pulls like hell, but the s2000 just feels so much more purposeful as a fun machine.

Maybe I'm tripping and need to reconsider after sorting the car, but I'm not really sure what to do at this point. I don't want to sell and have yet another unfinished project, but I also don't want to keep dumping money into it if I'm not sure that I'll ever love the car as much as my s2000 that I sold. I also just primarily want something I can track that is reliable as I'd really like to get more seat time. If I sold it, I would at minimum have to drop the subframe and have the minor crack addressed, and a new brake booster installed. It also doesn't help that clean track prepped s2000's aren't exactly easy to come by these days as most are riced out or molested.

Realistically I'll have to dump at least $10-15k more into this car to get it where I want it to be as far as reliability, all the suspension components, half cage, subframe fix, good coilovers, and a few other random.upgrades.

The list to "complete" it is as follows:
MK rennsport technik spherical roll center correction kit (knuckles and RTAB)
MK rennsport technik solid subframe mounts
MK rennsport technik rear lower arms
SPL rear upper arm spherical bearing
Turner FCAB monoballs
Adjustable endlink
OEM Brake Booster
OEM guibo
Core4 Hubs + press in studs (was going to do bearings/hubs anyways and figured this is worth while as it's not much more)
996 rear brake setup
ZHP steering rack
MCS 2 way (true rear setup)
Subframe reinforced properly + TC design half cage tied into all 4 subframe mounting points + strut tower

[gohdunlam]

S2000 is a lot more nimble compared to the e46. The engine just sounds amazing too

[mrgizmo04]

Once e46 is sorted, and you actually drive it like it's supposed to be driven, you will enjoy it. The problem is that, sounds like you have a long way to go to sort it. Experience in e46 is very different from s2k. Is open air experience important to you, or will you hard top the s2k? Is practicality and rear seats important (sounds like no if you are going to have Tony put a half cage in it). Be careful with the last one (cage), there isn't going back from that (at least not easily) and if you end up not enjoying the car and reselling it, it becomes a harder proposition to a buyer.

S2k can be tracked as well, but it also requires some work and there are pain points - brakes need work, it needs an oil cooler, you will need to get rear aero as it is unstable at speed, fitting wheels with super high offsets/fender clearance is a pain, you will need a rollbar like Harddog, suspension and all the roll center correcting hardware, diffs need reinforcement, clutch/pp maybe, don't run stock cat as you will burn it up, depending on how tall you are fitting seats into the car is not easy (not everyone fits into Recaro pp), if you want a tune unless on a ap2v2 06+ cars requires standalone ecu, front UCA mounting point need some welding/reinforcement, etc. And if you are looking at ap1, there is a whole other list of internal engine items you need to button down (retainers, squirters, etc).

I have both, they are very different. I wish s2k quality was a bit better, it always sounds like a rattle $#itbox. Steering is numb-ish. It is more nimble and fun on tight roads. I should note that neither of my cars is fully gutted/converted track cars. They are trackable street cars (s2k less trackable, but I do have a rollbar in s2k, given I'm 6'3").

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[lcrain]

How did your elise compare to the e46 and s2000? I impulsively bought an ap1 recently to tool around in and I am really enjoying it. I can echo the rattle $#itbox experience, but I really don't care too much when the top is down and I am shifting that sweet transmission at 9k. The steering is also a let down to me personally. I haven't had a chance to take it to the track yet. Hopefully I can this summer, need to get some track pads and spare rotors before I dive too deep down the track car rabbit hole (this car is my street car).

Curious how an elise stacks up. On paper it seems like an s2000 turned to 11. Mid engine, manual steering, high-revving 4 cylinder, very lightweight. I have never driven one but have a feeling I would love it.

[fullyflaredd]

Once e46 is sorted, and you actually drive it like it's supposed to be driven, you will enjoy it. The problem is that, sounds like you have a long way to go to sort it. Experience in e46 is very different from s2k. Is open air experience important to you, or will you hard top the s2k? Is practicality and rear seats important (sounds like no if you are going to have Tony put a half cage in it). Be careful with the last one (cage), there isn't going back from that (at least not easily) and if you end up not enjoying the car and reselling it, it becomes a harder proposition to a buyer.

S2k can be tracked as well, but it also requires some work and there are pain points - brakes need work, it needs an oil cooler, you will need to get rear aero as it is unstable at speed, fitting wheels with super high offsets/fender clearance is a pain, you will need a rollbar like Harddog, suspension and all the roll center correcting hardware, diffs need reinforcement, clutch/pp maybe, don't run stock cat as you will burn it up, depending on how tall you are fitting seats into the car is not easy (not everyone fits into Recaro pp), if you want a tune unless on a ap2v2 06+ cars requires standalone ecu, front UCA mounting point need some welding/reinforcement, etc. And if you are looking at ap1, there is a whole other list of internal engine items you need to button down (retainers, squirters, etc).

I have both, they are very different. I wish s2k quality was a bit better, it always sounds like a rattle $#itbox. Steering is numb-ish. It is more nimble and fun on tight roads. I should note that neither of my cars is fully gutted/converted track cars. They are trackable street cars (s2k less trackable, but I do have a rollbar in s2k, given I'm 6'3").

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Yeah I think I'm gonna go the route of sorting the E46. It makes sense instead of jumping into a different platform and then spending the time and money to set that up from scratch.

I had a CR that I bought setup with quite a bit of autox/track mods. DA Penskes, puddymod diff, karcepts bars, st40 BBK, Berk HFC etc. Granted it was setup, it was the most bulletproof car I've owned and I have several friends that track theirs with not much other than wheels/tires/brakes. Of course there's a rabbit hole you can go down with any car and I know there's a few small issues here and there that need to be addressed, but nothing major compared to E46. I did about 7 events with just fluid changes every 2-3 events. I agree about all the rattling being annoying, but the quality of the car is there in the components that matter (engine, suspension, even interior quality is pretty good, but it's just a buzzy car by nature).

As you said, both the E46 and S2000 provide a very different experience. I actually owned both the s2k and an E46 m3 at the same time (different e46, not this one). It's not that I don't enjoy the e46, but the s2000 just felt more focused everytime I switched between the two. I am certain I can get the M3 to feel a bit more focused if I go the track route and ultimately that's what I'm looking for in a car at the moment. It helps that I have a daily now and don't care about resale, so getting a cage and going spherical etc should make the car feel quite a lot more special without the worry that I'm ruining a nice street car.

[fullyflaredd]

How did your elise compare to the e46 and s2000? I impulsively bought an ap1 recently to tool around in and I am really enjoying it. I can echo the rattle $#itbox experience, but I really don't care too much when the top is down and I am shifting that sweet transmission at 9k. The steering is also a let down to me personally. I haven't had a chance to take it to the track yet. Hopefully I can this summer, need to get some track pads and spare rotors before I dive too deep down the track car rabbit hole (this car is my street car).

Curious how an elise stacks up. On paper it seems like an s2000 turned to 11. Mid engine, manual steering, high-revving 4 cylinder, very lightweight. I have never driven one but have a feeling I would love it.

The Elise felt a lot more like a serious tool than a toy. It was very fun, but felt a bit too serious whereas the S2000 was more playful and tossable. I was comfortable driving the Elise around 8 or 9/10th on the canyons as it was a bit snappy thanks to it being swb and mid engine. The s2000 I always felt very comfortable driving near or even at the limit, granted it was a pretty well setup car.

The steering on the Elise is hands down the best steering I've felt in any car. The engine is well suited to the car and is adequately powered, but I couldnt help but dream about how much better it would be with a k20/24. It's also a rattling shitbox though. Such is the nature of a light car with no sound deadening. Shifter is actually okay, not as bad as everyone says it is despite being a cable shifter. Quite a few good shifter mods available too. However nothing, and I mean nothing compares to the s2000 shifter. Not even Porsches and other high end cars.

I oddly preferred the s2000 over the Elise. It was better as an everyday fun car or as a second car. I think the Elise is a good 3rd car. I also think everyone should drive an Elise to recalibrate what a pure driving experience feels like. I think people seriously underestimate how much of a difference weight makes when it comes to the driving experience of a car.

[fullyflaredd]

Bunch of parts on the way.

Got the CMP subframe mounts, GC rear lower arm with sealed bearing, GC upper inner bearing, Lemforder ball joints, Bimmerworld RTAB + the appropriate Lemforder ball joints as opposed to the Meyle they come with, and the big missing piece, MCS 2 way remote.

Scored the MCS thanks to a forum member. They're a little bit rough due to corrosion from brake dust and the threads will need to be cleaned up to remove some rust. I'll likely have to replace the spring perch for the helper springs and torrington bearings as they also have a good bit of rust. But overall in decent shape, no leaks, somewhat recently rebuilt.

Anyone know the best way to clean these up? Just take a wire brush to it? I'm going to rewrap them with aluminum tape to keep the body from pitting/corrosion and throw some anti corrosion wax on the threads, but I want them to look pretty even though the car isn't a show car.

I feel somewhat bad throwing this much money on a high mileage car, but I intend on keeping it for a while and driving the hell out of it so it makes it worth it.

Next up are turner Monoball FCAB, turner adjustable end links, Lemforder tie rods, all new hardware for every suspension piece, and a ZHP rack then time for install and to drop the car off at TC for subframe work/cage. It's all coming along!!

[fullyflaredd]

So a bit of elbow grease and a wire brush and i made.some progress. Although I realized I have a Dremel so I'll just use that and make my life easier

[heinzboehmer]

Evaporust works great for that kind of rust and isn't abrasive like a wire brush. It's also readily available and reusable.

Only issue I see is that normally, you'd fill a container with the liquid and then let the parts sit in it for a while, which won't be doable with the coilovers. Maybe you could soak a rag and wrap it around the rusted areas? Don't know how effective it will be when used like that though.

[fullyflaredd]

Evaporust works great for that kind of rust and isn't abrasive like a wire brush. It's also readily available and reusable.

Only issue I see is that normally, you'd fill a container with the liquid and then let the parts sit in it for a while, which won't be doable with the coilovers. Maybe you could soak a rag and wrap it around the rusted areas? Don't know how effective it will be when used like that though.

Awesome! Thanks for the suggestion, I will look into that. Fortunately the wire brush doesn't seem to be damaging the threads which was my main concern initially. I'm going to disassemble everything this weekend so that it's easier to work on.

My core4 hubs with ARP press in studs also just arrived.

Slowly getting there. Also really annoyed of these sideways pics lol. Gonna have to start posting from a computer, or edit my pics and make them sideways before uploading so it orients them the right way.

[fullyflaredd]

Got the shocks mostly cleaned up. Disassembled them, put the smaller bits in evaporust as recommended. I tried wrapping a cloth soaked in the solution around the threads but it didn't do too much, however I was able to wire brush most of the rust off. They're not perfect, but the height adjuster spins freely now and they don't look like complete ass now so it will suffice. Also, I really need a garage ASAP.

[fullyflaredd]

And I have everything I need for the suspension refresh. SPL end links came in, along with the turner FCAB, and Lemforder ball joints to press into the Bimmerworld RTAB instead of the Meyle they.come with. Beyond excited.

[fullyflaredd]

Finally got around to installing everything. Old subframe had a bit of rust so I purchased a used one to work off. I still need to make some adjustments. Installed end links wrong so they're making popping sounds, hopefully didn't destroy them. Also have a rubbing sound from what sounds like a brake backing plate or perhaps parking brake dragging. Could also potentially be the exhaust heat shield running on the driveshaft. Also need to fix the 4x4 ride height. Other than that, it was a fun project and I learned a lot. Glad I didn't take it to a shop as I got to address a bunch of small things a shop would have likely ignored. Next up is the half cage from TC design.