n7btg
Provisional
Posts: 25
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Post by n7btg on Jul 29, 2017 20:14:03 GMT
Just before I start, I've never done a build thread for any of the cars I've owned so this is all new to me so bare with me  Hi my names Scott I'm a master tech and work for Litchfield imports. I sold my previous e46 330 which had a rotrex supercharger on a couple of weeks ago in order to buy an e46 m3. The main reason I sold my previous e46 was because I went to far with it really for what I ended up wanting. I go to the Nurburgring quite regularly and found that I would be Sat in traffic on the way about to die due to heat stroke as it had plastic windows and know air con and carpet and the transmission tunnel you could fry an egg on ect ect and decided that it wasn't fun anymore lol I dont know if it's me getting old or not. But I thought it's time for a change. The majority of cars at the ring people get out of still retain most of the creature comforts but are race cars underneath so I decided for me clubsport was the way to go! So I sold my car and bought an m3 with the intention to keep it nice inside! This is my previous car it was a bone stock engine with a rotrex supercharger making 10psi of boost with an intercooler. The secondary cats removed and a e46 m3 exhaust. It made 358hp safely.  So I searched around for an m3. I definitely wanted a black one and it had to be manual and non sunroof. Low and behold one popped up on m3 cutters. It was a bit tatty but most of the things that were tatty were things I wanted to replace. So after test driving it ect a deal was done and I took it home. This is it when I picked it up  [/url]  [/url]  [/url]  Now the work began to turn it into something I could use! As ill be honest it was a bit of a step back. As it felt considerably slower or definitely less torquey that my 330 the stock brakes were terrible. I definitely wasn't as impressed as I thought I was going to be. |
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n7btg
Provisional
Posts: 25
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Post by n7btg on Jul 29, 2017 20:36:23 GMT
First up was suspension and wheels. I'm on a bit of a budget at the moment due to being a farther for the second time so I decided for the second to buy some bc coilovers. These will be swapped out for some kw clubsports in the not so distant future. And as for wheels, I found it very difficult to find aftermarket wheels with the correct offset and width without spending alot of money! As if money wasn't an issue I would be buying some apex wheels. So I decided to purchase some stock 18inch wheels but 4 rear wheels so I was able to run a square set up. A fellow Nurburgring friend moran who drives an e46 m3 built by tom schrimer had a set of rears all round with a fresh set of rains port 3s on so I decided they were perfect. So fitted the suspension and wheels one Saturday after work accompanied by a set of 12.5mm rear spacers and 5mm shims on the front.  Also a cheeky sunstrip! And swapped my number plate over. |
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n7btg
Provisional
Posts: 25
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Post by n7btg on Jul 29, 2017 20:46:11 GMT
The interior was something I wasn't to fussed with at the moment as I had kept my recaro spgs from my old car so knew when I was ready I would swap them over. But after someone posting on Facebook looking for a full m3 leather interior and offering very good money I couldn't resist so ripped it out for him to collect. There was no choice then so I bolted the recaros in. I had ordered some carpet to trim where the rear seats were and also a t45 gusseted strut brace to mount my harnesses to temporary until I got a rear cage so when they arrived I put thoughs in to.  I had a helper that day  |
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n7btg
Provisional
Posts: 25
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Post by n7btg on Jul 29, 2017 20:53:13 GMT
Next up was the steering wheel. Due to it looking like a dog had been chewing it. I originally wanted to get it retrimmed but after driving with it for a bit and being so used to after market wheels I found I didn't like how thick they are. So I decided to buy an aftermarket semi dished alcantara wheel and the apopriate boss. The gearknob was also in very poor condition. I didn't want to spend alot of money as I decided I wanted a cae shifter so as a short term measure I got our machine shop at work to knock me up an adaptor so I could use a Quaife style gear knob I had. I also ordered some alcantara gear gaiter with red stitching of eBay to finish it of. As the stock gaiters were looking a little tired.  |
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n7btg
Provisional
Posts: 25
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Post by n7btg on Jul 29, 2017 20:57:01 GMT
Next was to remove the window tints.
I hate window tints, especially on a black car. Gives that drug dealer look.
So a night with a window scrapper and plenty of tar and glue and they were gone.
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n7btg
Provisional
Posts: 25
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Post by n7btg on Jul 29, 2017 21:11:47 GMT
The stock brakes are terrible they really are. On my previous car I had the porsche calipers ect and the car only weighed around 1200kgs so the brakes were really good. So I had to do something about them. I deal with Goodridge at work so spoke to them and they set me out one of there braided line kits to try. To accompany them I needed some brake pads. Now I have tried so many pads. The ones I really rate due to such massive bite are carbon Lorraine. But they give of so much metal it can destroy the paint work up the side of the car. So I didn't really want that. I spoke to a few people including tom schrimer and I was advised to use performance friction pads in the stock calipers. So I ordered up a set. So another Saturday at work I fitted, braided lines, pads, and flushed the brake fluid through with some new motul brake fluid. And to finish painted up all the calipers red so it all looked a little fresher.  |
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n7btg
Provisional
Posts: 25
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Post by n7btg on Jul 29, 2017 21:19:08 GMT
I always think e46s look like there missing something at the front end when they don't have a front splitter. So after searching around I decided I wanted a ac schnitzer front splitter. I managed to source a Fibreglass replica one. So once it arrived I rubbed it back etch primed it and painted it. It came out really well considering bodywork really isn't my thing.   I'm not a fan of fog lights, I know you can buy proper brake cooling ducts but are very expensive and seeing as the m3 comes with brake cooling standard, making some thing to help push the air into them via being a bigger surface area couldn't hurt. I had seen someone do this so thought I'd give it a go. And was very please with the out come for the price of a bucket.   I also swapped out the carbon fibre front grills for original chrome ones. |
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n7btg
Provisional
Posts: 25
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Post by n7btg on Jul 29, 2017 21:36:56 GMT
I love achieving things that don't cost the earth. The amount of people I see at the ring, pop there boot and they have the helmet, shoes, gloves ect in a nice helmet box. Its just neat and tidy and serves a purpose. I looked at them, there's not alot really on the market. But what is, is quite expensive for in all tense and purposes is just a box! A friend of mine suggested ikea! So of I went. I bought 2 really nice fabric boxes for £5 screwed them to the boot panel, so they can be removed easily but also won't move around!  |
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n7btg
Provisional
Posts: 25
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Post by n7btg on Jul 29, 2017 21:49:38 GMT
Due to the car not have a full service history I thought it best to give it a proper service and change everything so I could start a fresh. So changed all of the oils, engine, diff, gearbox ect. I have ordered an aftermarket itg pro air filter but it's not yet arrived. The car had an oil leak underneath which proved hard to find. One of leaks turned out to be a bolt that I later found out holds the chain tensioner in place. The bolt sits between head and the thermostat housing. So I rectified that and used a little lock tight to try and stop it happening again. The next place that seemed to have oil around was the vanos accumulator. Now the metal line that runs between is a none failure so thought I'd look into it. After speaking to hel performance as we deal with them at work they sent me a braided line to replace the stock line. When I removed the stock line, it turned out to be cracked. So I hope that's my oil leak issues resolved!  Also used some gold heat tape on the inlet elbow and airbox. Who doesn't like a bit of gold under the bonnet |
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n7btg
Provisional
Posts: 25
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Post by n7btg on Jul 29, 2017 22:00:43 GMT
One evening after work we were messing around seeing what you can code in and out on the car. And checking fault codes ect and found that the aux fan didn't seem to work. Seeing as I wanted to keep the air con on the car. I thought it best it needed to work. After looking at what people do regarding fans ect it seemed in this country everyone bins of the aux fan and viscous fan and runs a single electric fan. Alot of people Say that the aux electric fan blocks everything and causes over heating. But after looking at alot of German setups,including schrimer cars they seem to all maintain the stock systems. So I decided for now I would do to. So I removed the front end and set about trying to repair mine, as a replacement is £480 from bmw. Turned out to be a single broken wire that rund into the resistor pack. So after resoldering it and covering it in sealer so try and keep the weather out, it was all back up and running  |
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n7btg
Provisional
Posts: 25
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Post by n7btg on Jul 29, 2017 22:07:12 GMT
In the search for cold air entering the air box i made a small flat plate extension to help direct air into the airbox. First out of cardboard  And then out of a plastic  |
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Post by smallspeed on Jul 30, 2017 11:56:42 GMT
Loving the look of this car 😎
Re: brakes, take a look at the bronze calliper guides hack engineering sell - I'm running stock calipers at the moment and these really help improve the initial bite and overall feel. The downside is they require a little more maintenance in terms of keeping the sliders clean and greased but it's not a major job for someone who's handy with a spanner as you seem to be 😉
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Post by andypd150 on Jul 30, 2017 14:08:37 GMT
This is ace. You know your stuff. Always loved the E46 M3's. I used to deliver customers cars after a service and these were a favourite to drive. Manual better than the SMG.
One day.....
Keep up the work. Following.
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Post by duffmanuk300 on Jul 31, 2017 7:50:58 GMT
Can't beat a nice M3, good stuff!
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Post by ctwillis on Jul 31, 2017 14:33:02 GMT
Great progress so far! Have been looking at either a 335i e90 or an e46 M3 as my next Nur project.
Bet it was hard to tear yourself away from that 330 project knowing it's a long process all over again.
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