Build Thread: 2015 BMW M3 (Lots of Photos & Videos!)
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Congrats on the purchase and the subscriber count! 14 cars already ehh? It’s been fun watching you turn up the notch each time since your E36.
Thanks! I can't believe that $1,000 rusted out E36 sparked this crazy addiction. I loved that car.
Great color! I have a hard enough time keeping 1 BMW 1 Toyota and 1 Honda maintained and here you are with 3 turbo BMWs! Hope it treats you well!
P.S. we know you sold off your collection of 1:24 RC E92s to buy this
I'm torn on the color. Sometimes I love it and sometimes I think it's too "grandpa grey". But I hope it treats me well too
I still have all of the RC E92s if anyone wants one...
Good for you. I really like the looks of the F80. I agree with above, spacers and springs will really set this car off for now. I'm jealous of your stock seats! I feel the f8x got the first M seats that actually compete with the Audi S/RS cars.
Do you plan on addressing the crank hub before you throw power at it?
I really like the Competition package seats, so I'll always wish I had those instead, but the standard M3 seats are nice. I really like the top half of the seat, but butt cushion is fairly plain with no thigh adjustability.
I will probably address the crank hub at some point, but don't plan on making it a requirement before modding/tuning it. I think it's overblown as far as how often it happens.
Congrats on this milestone! Can't wait to see where you take this one!
Thanks! I can't wait to see what comes of it either.
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Thanks! I can't believe that $1,000 rusted out E36 sparked this crazy addiction.
heh
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Ohhhh does this have the carbon driveshaft!?!?
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Ohhhh does this have the carbon driveshaft!?!?
Yes, I believe they all do!
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Yes, I believe they all do!
I know at some point they removed the carbon driveshaft to fit it with steel or aluminum in order to fit new emissions filters on the exhaust. I wasn't sure if that was a U.S. thing or not.
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I know at some point they removed the carbon driveshaft to fit it with steel or aluminum in order to avoid covid-19. I wasn't sure if that was a U.S. thing or not.
Fixed that for you.
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The M3 got it's first modification! I couldn't stand the wheel gap these cars have from the factory, especially in the front. So I combed through forums and Facebook groups to find what my best option was for lowering the car.
My goal: eliminate wheel gap and retain comfortable ride quality without spending thousands of dollars.
I narrowed it down to Emmanuele Design lowering springs. I could go on and on about why I bought these lowering springs instead of others, or even coilovers. But I don't want to clutter up my build thread, so I wrote a dedicated blog post about them. The Best Lowering Springs for BMW F8X: EMD Auto Review.
Brief summary:
- Ride quality remains the same or better than stock.
- Compatible with both standard and adaptive suspension.
- Engineered specifically for stock shocks to avoid premature failure.
- Perfect stance, lowering the front 1.3″ and the rear 0.3 – 0.9″.
- Linear spring rate, similar to stock springs.
- Made in the USA.
- Affordable at $300-350!
I got around to installing them a few days ago. The process was way easier than I thought... so easy that most of you could do it at home! I took photos and video of the whole process and created a comprehensive installation guide. The guide is too long to post here, but I shared it on my F80 blog. If you want to lower your F8X and save money by doing this job yourself, check it out: How To Install Lowering Springs in Your BMW F80 M3 or F82 M4.
Wrapped it up with a proper 4-wheel alignment.
Before - front:
After - front:
Before - rear:
After - rear:
Let me know what you think
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Looks good! Did you do spacers to?
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Much better! So in the front I see that the struts are mounted like an e39 where you loosen the pinch bolt and then slide the strut up. On this is there enough clearance to flop it out of the wheel well without loosening other stuff? The e39 you have to disassemble more stuff to be able to tip it out of the wheel well and actually slide the strut out.
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Much better! So in the front I see that the struts are mounted like an e39 where you loosen the pinch bolt and then slide the strut up. On this is there enough clearance to flop it out of the wheel well without loosening other stuff? The e39 you have to disassemble more stuff to be able to tip it out of the wheel well and actually slide the strut out.
In my experience all that's needed to disconnect on the e39, e9x, f3x/f8x, etc. is the sway bar link and height sensor to get enough movement to swing it out.
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Thanks everyone!
Im shocked that there is so much wheel gap on a modern sports car. I never really noticed!
I know! You don't really notice it until you focus on the fender/wheel gap in the front. The bumper still sits low, which might give it an illusion.
Looks good! Did you do spacers to?
Thanks! No spacers yet, but I'm thinking ~15mm all around.
Much better! So in the front I see that the struts are mounted like an e39 where you loosen the pinch bolt and then slide the strut up. On this is there enough clearance to flop it out of the wheel well without loosening other stuff? The e39 you have to disassemble more stuff to be able to tip it out of the wheel well and actually slide the strut out.
I think all BMWs use that pinch bolt which clamps the strut in. But yes, you're able to just swing it out without disconnecting anything but the sway bar end link. The top of the strut is very close to hitting the fender, but you can compress it with your hands. Makes it so much easier than removing the whole strut!
Could use some Alzor wheels.
Looks good though. Wheres all the other goodies?
LOL @ the Alzor wheels. Unfortunately 19's and 20's are fricken expensive, and I have expensive taste, so wheels won't be cheap. Would love a set of HRE's...
Other goodies are still in the garage, waiting to find time to install/film everything.
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Thanks everyone!
I know! You don't really notice it until you focus on the fender/wheel gap in the front. The bumper still sits low, which might give it an illusion.
Thanks! No spacers yet, but I'm thinking ~15mm all around.
I think all BMWs use that pinch bolt which clamps the strut in. But yes, you're able to just swing it out without disconnecting anything but the sway bar end link. The top of the strut is very close to hitting the fender, but you can compress it with your hands. Makes it so much easier than removing the whole strut!
LOL @ the Alzor wheels. Unfortunately 19's and 20's are fricken expensive, and I have expensive taste, so wheels won't be cheap. Would love a set of HRE's...
Other goodies are still in the garage, waiting to find time to install/film everything.
If you need a second shooter, lmk. Can’t really do anything on my own car at the moment.
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LOL @ the Alzor wheels. Unfortunately 19's and 20's are fricken expensive, and I have expensive taste, so wheels won't be cheap. Would love a set of HRE's...
Other goodies are still in the garage, waiting to find time to install/film everything.
Pony up an be just like @pynacl
There is a guy on instagram selling HRE p40s for 1600$
His @ on instagram is Nickraft
1600$ for HREs is an incredible deal.
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I think all BMWs use that pinch bolt which clamps the strut in. But yes, you're able to just swing it out without disconnecting anything but the sway bar end link. The top of the strut is very close to hitting the fender, but you can compress it with your hands. Makes it so much easier than removing the whole strut!
E36 has 3 bolts to attach the strut to the spindle. Only advantage to that is arguably janky camber adjustment using shims on the lower bolts to add negative camber. The pinch style is nice because it perfectly goes back into place after disassembly.
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Pony up an be just like @pynacl
There is a guy on instagram selling HRE p40s for 1600$
His @ on instagram is Nickraft
1600$ for HREs is an incredible deal.
Blast from the past. I remember following this dude a long time ago. Had the super wide steel blue matte wrapped E46 for the longest time.
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Blast from the past. I remember following this dude a long time ago. Had the super wide steel blue matte wrapped E46 for the longest time.
He has had a few VERY nice builds!
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