Bad Om3n "Build"

[Sharocks]

Next time for paint, go to Rich at Luxury Auto Body in the GTA.

Journal is great, even through all the tribulations you still keep on keeping on haha.

[Bad Om3n]

Yesterday was certainly one of the most frustrating days i've had.

I left at 6am. short notice meant doggo was coming with me so thats a thing. Also, with no time off and some hot items at work - I'm taking meetings from my car with my dog towing this trailing in the morning up to the GTA. To be fair, this all actually went pretty smoothly.

I got to Elevated just after noon and busted out the laptop. I bought a "diagnostic" laptop a couple years ago - basically a super cheap and small laptop i don't mind taking to the garage. I have all the software loaded and running on it but oh my god i've never had such a slow computer in my life. It can barely run windows I don't know how its legal to even sell something this bad. So I brought my regular laptop but INPA was giving me trouble to we dealt with the diag 'top.

I scanned DME and EWS as well as some other modules. No code error! although, it did have a bunch of random low frequency errors I chalked that up to low voltage. I cleared all the codes and went to start it.

Nope. No starting. You wish. crank and crank and crank, I can smell fuel. no start. At this point I nearly called a locksmith to come cut a new key, but $500 for a shot in the dark was too steep - couldn't get a valet key. This time I came prepared though, brought a come-along to winch it up on the trailer:


One problem though. I don't have the E46 tow hook - because of course the PO didn't include it. So I go try my F15 hook


RIP.

So now I'm sitting here. My car won't start. My tow hook doesn't fit. I'm not pushing it on - especially when its this low. You can't grab a subframe or anything substantial to tow from otherwise [Danke!]/ And this guy has some high profile clients coming in I need to get my car out. I've already extended my stay as he's let me keep the car there for quite some time. What the hell am I going to do?

I start messaging my friends in the GTA, Elevated starts messaging some guys he knows with E46's.

Through my friend, I learned that an old friend I used to BMX with half my life ago and haven't spoken to in probably like 15 years has an Imola E46 M3, its even the same year as mine! After some coordination, I meet up with the guy and borrow his tow hook:



What are the freaking odds? I just spent like 3 hours trying to track down a tow hook. I called BMW, I called some speed shops. Everyone has to order it in. As might be able to tell from the photo above, i'm pretty much out of daylight at this point. Back to Elevated we go to winch this thing onto the trailer.



With some wood to raise the rear of the X5, and some wood under the trailer ramps, we reduce the breakover angle to help this lowered ///M get onto the trailer. Last time I drove it on, I shaved a plastic mount off. We push the M3 out of the shop, line it up with the trailer and get to work:


After resetting the come-along 4 times, its finally on. Some blocks of wood under the front wheels to help the bumper bits clear the massive uhaul wheel stop at the front. taped up the holes so the interior doesn't fill with road grime during the tow (did you see how dirty the X5 was up there??)


At this point its like... 9:30pm? I still have a 4 hours drive + stops for the doggo + unloading the car + returning the trailer to go. I've been so stressed all day I haven't even eaten. So I set off on my way home, with a small detour to drop my friend who helped me off at home. 30 minutes into my trip, Elevated calls me to let me know that i've left the M3 keys at the shop. F&#$! But being the legend that he is, and understanding my situation, he drives them out to meet me 30 minutes away where I wait by my friends place. Took this opportunity to walk the doggo a bit, poor guys been cooped up most of the day and he's active.




Once I've got the keys, I can finally start heading home. But now its like 10:30.. I end up making it home at 1:30am. keep in mind, i've been going since 6am and at this point i've eaten exactly 1 bagel.

Now, in typical fashion, nothing is easy. I get home and i'm trying to back the trailer into my driveway and i have some problems:
1.) In my brilliance, I decided to park my Camaro on an angle cause I thought angled cars on my driveway looked cool. And it does. But I did not leave enough room for the width of a trailer - just a car. This meant I couldn't get my X5+ trailer completely onto my driveway
2.) If it hadn't snowed (and the snow stayed) I could circumvent the Camaro using the grass a bit. But, of course I'm doing this in February and its one of the few times snow actually stays on the ground for a while where I live. We also recently got alot of snow.
3.) My driveway is on a decline which is counter-productive for unloading a lowered car off these trailers (worse for breakover angle).
4.) The snowplows have left me a generous helping of canada's finest in the form of a slushy river at the base of my driveway.




I have to wait until tomorrow morning for a buddy to come help me push this thing off the trailer. without it starting, I can't unload it on the street (like I would have liked to) - and even if it started, that slush river I'll have to fjord will be an obstacle. I can't push and steer it off the trailer myself. So much for returning the trailer "on time".

The next morning, my buddy comes when he can and we push the car off the trailer and into the garage. On the way down, I heard a gnarly crunch - sounds like plastic inner bumper bits scraping. But once the car was pushed into the garage, I saw this:


F&#% me man. I'm thinking I cut a fuel line, or worse, cracked the oil pan or something. At this point i'm at my wits end with this damn uhaul trailer. They are so woefully inadequate for sports cars. I may have been a bit rude on the return tow. 😶

Fortunately, after I got the car in the air and crawled under - it seems like it PS fluid coming from the top of the reservoir. My guess is the manual steering action pumped some fluid out.

Speaking of U-Haul trailers - on the way up I mentioned I sheared off a lift point. Fortunately, when I had just bought the BMW I was researching the aftermarket. I bought one of these lift pads thinking you needed to buy them separately to properly lift your BMW or something. I didn't realize they were factory at the time LOL. I've learned alot since them days. This had to be taken care of in order to lift the car to check out the leak.




After towing the car down during this time of year, it gives you a good visual as to why I've PPF'd the car. Not that I plan to drive it in the winter, but the same "patterns" happen in the summer they just don't leave salty trails behind.





Now I can look at pictures like this stress free, knowing my fresh paint is completely fine. I probably would have got stone chips already towing it home otherwise.

One last thing, while I was up there I picked up a front + rear dashcam setup that I ordered through a friend. I went for a BlackVue 750X model as its a bit more slender than some other models while maintaining good quality and frame rates [1080 @ 60fps front/30fps rear with nightvision]. I'll throw up some more pics as I install this thing and how it all works so look out for that but for now... heres the box!


2 years ago, I had just finished a bunch of work on an E38 740iL that I picked up for a good price. Just got the new wheels aligned - it was driving nice, the weather was nice, i was feeling good. Got in line for gas at costco when the lady infront of my throws her caddilac into reverse to rush over to a shorter line and backs right into me. Despite having Both a rearview camera And backup sensors. Heres the thing, she jumped out and yelled "WHY DID YOU HIT ME?". That pissed me right off. Fortunately for me, Costco has video cameras in their parking lots and clear as day you see her back into me. I filed a police report, and she got all the fault. But this happened in Michigan. What an interesting way to learn about "no fault" states. If you know what kinda wild stuff that is, you know. If you don't, go look it up. Its a whole thing. Because of this, I wasn't entitled to her making me "right" despite being at fault. Because I didn't have comprehensive coverage on my 20 year old E38.

This is why I have elected for a dashcam. Ever since then, I value that footage more. My friends have shared many situations where theirs have been invaluable as well. So now I've got them on my more valuable cars.

[Bad Om3n]

oceansize haha 😅 this has certainly tested my patience like no other. There have been plenty of curse words and thrown tools. I once got so frustrated I picked my new creeper up and smashed it on the ground breaking 3 of the wheels for getting caught on small things. But that doesn't make for a good read haha.

The other part, Is that many of these obstacles you only see when they're infront of you. So its kind of like "oh just this one more thing and we're there". But if I had a crystal ball that could have shown me the cluster this has unfolded into I would have walked away 4 years ago. Nevertheless, electing to persevere through all these obstacles has pushed me outside my comfort zone sometimes and as such - this car has more value in my life as an experience not just an object. It has grown and forged me farther as a person. And even if I did sell it, what would I do - go buy another E46 M3? My M3 itch hasn't been satisfied yet lol.

heinzboehmer The starter is actually fine - the car cranks like a champ. It just won't spark and i'm so damn certain its a computer thing. even if I push started, I don't think it would fire for the same reasons.

timmo It was Formula First! They seemed to take exceptional care of my job - but the shop manager also took an interest in my project which was nice. When I went to go for the final inspection, he showed me around the shop and we talked about what some of the processes for new cars are. Its getting pretty ridiculous man. While I was in there, there was an RS7 in the shop getting some work done. Apparently the guy took it to Costco for new tires where they ugga dugga'd the shit out of his lugnuts and now he's staring at a $4000 knuckle replacement or something. Look at the size of the brakes on this thing:


My car was flawless in their shop though. No swirls nowhere. I'm actually surprised to hear your story of swirls!

Sharocks Hmm I may check them out for the Camaro (will also need paint). This shop had outstanding reviews but the BMW certified sold me since I wanted the closest thing to OEM I could get.

[Bad Om3n]

I've left the car on the charger with the key in the ignition for 2 days now. The car still won't start. I connected INPA to verify the key was being read. I also tried re-initializing the key but that didn't work. Even through INPA I can see that the remote on the key fob isn't transmitting. The thing is i'm not sure yet whether the key battery is just completely toasted, or whether the functions have been coded out. But even if they were coded out, I would expect INPA / computers to register the signal and simply chose to do nothing about it. Remember, PO installed a aftermarket security system and the key fob appeared disabled when In got it.

Here are some INPA Readings:


Below, I Think "Radio Signal Received" illuminates when you press a button. And below it will tell you which is registered. But i find it interesting that "initialization of radio transmitter key possible" it not illuminated.



But here is the fun one:


It seems like the EWS isn't communicating the ISN with the DME. When I try to sync the rolling codes - I get error messages. I've seen guys who've had problems here when the signal wire from EWS->DME breaks or gets corroded. Mine seems ok but has also bee subject to the PO's molestation.

For anyone who's interested, heres a great read on how EWS works in older BMWs:

http://www.unofficialbmw.com/images/BMW_EWS.pdf

I've seen people who have had a cut or pinched wire throwing a similar code. I will check the connection with a multimeter later - there are solder joints along it from the PO's wiring job. Does anyone have experience with this error though?

[Bad Om3n]

quick post about side markers.

I got a set of DEPO side markers, the original ones were looking a bit old and dated. I liked the smoked look and LED style.



For anyone who hasn't installed these - They. Are. Fat. I'm not even sure why. But they are and I'm not a fan of it.. :



Also, Somebody please comment. I put the Original one back because this just can't be how its done... Am I missing a piece or something????


It does kind of wedge itself in there in place. but there is no way this is how its intended to work. I thought there might be an insert there so I check RealOEM and only saw this 😅


I might craft something myself, maybe epoxy in a little plate or something so it clips in completely if this doesn't get resolved.

In the meantime, they look like this:

[RoyalFlushness]

Love this thing man. Would be awesome to see this thing locally in the Spring

[Bad Om3n]

Alright, I'm dead in the water at the moment. I'll be posting this in other areas/forums to try and resolve it but at the moment I'm stumped. In the off-chance someone reading this has the solution.

The car still won't start. It cranks fine but just won't GO.

Here is a list of where I'm at.

- Tried resetting the computers by letting the car go to sleep, disconnecting, and shorting the leads.
- Tried charging the key for 2 days on a trickle charge
- With INPA I've verified EWS is satisfied, key is read.
- Can smell fuel out the tailpiped - but for good measure I checked fuel pressure. No guage but the fuel squirts out. Although, the pump doesn't try to build pressure up again once I relieve it?
- Engine fuses and relays have been checked.
- DME and EWS disassembled to look for damage. none found.
- Continuity between DME and EWS verified. Pins inspected for corrosion. none found.

For context, the car ran fine when parked. No rough idle, no stutter, nothing. Only hard starting due to super low battery but did fine with a jump (yes, i've tried that too and measured voltage while cranking and used a load tester).

The biggest clue at the moment is that the DME and EWS Don't appear to be communicating the ISN. And, if I attempt to sync the rolling codes I get errors. I thought this would be connection between EWS and DME but perhaps it wasn't. OR I've checked the wrong lead (also possible, OP has been up to some no good wiring down there).

I'm nose deep in my Bentley manual at the moment trying to learn what all the pinouts do for the DME and EWS.

[332]

all this money on parts and you put the hvac back together like that??? JESUS FUCKING CHRIST MAN! Drop me a PM, I'll get you my #. I'm sure we can get that mofo started even if we gotta bypass everything!

[Bad Om3n]

I refused to work on anything until I got this damn thing started. It was quite an adventure for me, however I knew that if I let myself get carried away with other tasks this thing would get me in another bind at some point by not starting. I went over to the General E46 forums as there is just a more massive wealth of information, especially on coding the computer systems. Here is a link if you're curious to see how I solved the no-start issue:

https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/another-crank-no-start-problem-the-plot-thickens.1287678/#post-18893887

But generally speaking, it was certainly due to fouled plugs / flooding. Possibly also due to a lack of compression. The cold weather likely also doesn't help. There were no EWD/DME/Key issues. No Battery voltage issues (although to be fair, the battery is still trash).

This issue killed my motivation for a while there. between the cold weather and the lack of ideas/solutions I just wasn't feeling it. But now that its running again i've caught a new wind - also, some much warmer weather is inbound so I'm hoping to make some more progress in the coming days!



332 I'm fairly certain Lexan is way more primo than whatever thermoplastic they've got in there! 😋

In all seriousness I'm not a fan either. But its what I had in the garage at the time and its easy to re-do. it IS better than a big hole blowing all your conditioned air all over the inside of your dashboard - and it was stopping me from fitting and putting other things back together. I do intend to re-do it, likely with some filled marine epoxy and/or some fiberglass. But that's just not up on the list of priorities right now.

[332]

Grats on getting it started! I had some bad gas that was sitting in a tank for years, was chasing my tail like you were. BIG WIN!