Rekpoints 05 E46 M3 Build Thread
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Well, This marks the start of my new M3 Journey! I have owned a few M cars though the years of me being able to drive. Mainly to make some money as I am an entrepreneur at heart. Since around 2018-2019 I had been slowly looking for a clean E36 M3 coupe that I could call mine. I was kind of dragging my feet with things because I wanted a "Deal"... Only to have a rude awakening when prices shot up here on E36 m3s late 2020 into 2021.
After 5 possible cars. Out of the 5, 2 were shit boxes and the other 3 deposits were ignored and sellers flaked. Including a 1 of 2 Individual 95 m3 down in Texas that the seller drug me along for a month only to cancel 2 days before my flight left. (Still bummed about that one) I flew down to Texas anyways to get Whataburger and check out a 98 Techno car that was just listed on Ebay as my flight was non-refundable. Turns out when you look for cars that are more expensive, it doesn't mean they are nicer as it was a complete and total POS.
After expressing my frustrations with @B Cabout how crappy the sellers of these cars were. He expressed the possibility of him selling his E46 m3 to explore some other opportunities. Up until then I never considered purchasing an E46 m3, let alone him selling his baby. Mainly because the maintenance costs are pretty extreme compared to an E36 m3 if nothing has been attended to. I also had 87% of my E36 build done without buying a car as I have been hunting cool rare parts for 2 years now. After a few late nights worth of researching to familiarize myself with the E46 chassis I realized that @B Cs car was a perfect fit for what I wanted. Something cosmetically not perfect but mechanically perfect. Not to mention some more power + better safety systems then an E36. After a few texts back and forth + an email with details + google drive photos. I was fully onboard with the idea. Not to mention @pynaclhad been on my ass for months to consider an E46 M3 after he bought his... Guess his wish came true.
I was able to recruit some help from @pynacland @AZNSamto help me pick up the car from Milwaukee on the 23rd. It felt surreal driving it home as I said to Jake, "It feels weird driving Brians car without him being here"
As for future plans, I plan on keeping the car as is for now, with maintenance being the top priority. I am trying to follow in @B C& @i_love_carsfootsteps as they both did extremely good work to the car. Although I can already see a Genuine CSL trunk lid + diffuser in the future when COVID prices on BMW parts stop. (Genuine CSL trunk lids were $1500+ shipping before the pandemic and now they are $2716 shipped from Germany) I have also been throwing the idea of an interior color change to Imola around. I'll let that marinate for a bit and decide at a later date. Just going to drive & enjoy it for now.
Car was registered + Insured on Wednesday. I was specifically asked not to pull a @KaiserRolls and leave the car unregistered in @B Cs name for a year.
In the meantime, I have 2 closets full of cool/rare E36 parts that I will be listing to lessen the hit of my new purchase. If there is any interest let me know and I can post a huge for-sale ad and bring stuff to the E30 Picnic. But based on how things are around here, The E36 drivers don't attend Wibimmer's much
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We stopped at Chick-Fila in Madison for a bite to eat on our way home. I was talking to @pynaclabout the Bluetooth module I plan on ordering. When I popped open the CD changer cover and found a surprise. Wow, Someone left their spice in the car. After getting the car back to Eau Claire @KaiserRollsusing his Boarder Collie nose informed me that there were indeed more drugs stashed throughout the car.
After a little digging this is what had been found. A "Dime bag", a "Coke bag" and a "Spice bag" Not sure if the previous owner was a big druggie or he thought I was. Non the less, a very interesting find. Kaiser also informed me there is another bag stashed somewhere in the car. He just couldn't get a good hit on it with that nose of his. So I guess that will be a future find.
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I told @B C to disconnect a taillight before selling so you had a higher chance of getting pulled over lol
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Also once you’re settled into the car, sign up for some autox stuff to safely learn how the car acts when pushed.
the sum of that cars parts should make for a pretty capable car in that environment
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Also once your settled into the car, sign up for some autox stuff to safely learn how the car acts when pushed.
the sum of that cars parts should make for a pretty capable car in that environment
Disagree.
I recently installed Morimoto 6000K headlight bulbs. It’s more of a street racing/roll racing car than something you would want to push too hard on a racetrack
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Beautiful car, perfectly maintained and tastefully modified by some very like-minded, particular people. You were so apprehensive about bailing on that E36 dream and going another route. The whole time I was saying that this is the better car in every way (ITBs, flared fenders, that S54, come on!). Do you believe me now?!
Congrats @Rekpoint and great to meet you @B C! Your clutch/pedal setup made me realize how boo boo mine was, went home and ordered a turner pedal set, rogue engineering stainless clutch line and doing the CDV delete. Dang you costing me $!
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I see air ride and 16" stepped lip Work Equips with some 325i calipers and rotors to clear the new wheels in the future and I like it!
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I see air ride and 16" stepped lip Work Equips with some 325i calipers and rotors to clear the new wheels in the future and I like it!
Make sure you triple step a 13" face so you end up with wheels that are 80% lip!
Also, @B C I think you accidentally have your facebook marketplace location set to the Eau Claire area
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On Sunday after I got home, I gave the car a wash and an interior detail. One thing I noticed was the door panel fabric speaker grills were yellowing.
I used black fabric dye to bring them back to life. I am a sucker for small details.
Here is a before and after + a picture of my dads E46 that has 65k miles on it to show how they should look. I might do another coat...
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Car made it nearly flawlessly down to the E30 picnic. Had a great time as I haven't seen most of you in over a year + at this point. Killed 2 birds with 1 stone and was able to help out at the picnic and sell some E36 M3 parts to @wasnt m3.. Only slight problem it had is it started getting hot in stop and go traffic with the AC on. So Shirtless Glen w/ Heat blasting was in full effect leaving the E30 picnic.
I plan on throwing on the fan shroud to see if that fixes the issue. If not, Ill be looking into installing an OEM clutch fan/ AUX fan to fix the issue.
I drove 4+ hours down to MKE with Waze on my phone running on my lap. Conveniently @B C shows up to the picnic with a E46 Rennline phone mount. Bought that and decided to install it today. Quite an easy install as all I needed was a plastic trim removal tool and a 10mm. (Although all my 10mms were missing). All and all pretty awesome product as its not one of those silly vent attachment styles that ruin your vents after awhile.
While the trim was off I was able to remove the rest of the CF wrap from the edges. (It started peeling and my passenger at the time felt the need to pick and peel it.) Worked out though because it brightens up the interior of the car and I am actually a fan of the brushed aluminum.
I have some other small detail parts sitting on my shelf waiting for it to stop being 90 degrees so I have some motivation to go out and install them.
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Guess my priorities are in the wrong order. But when I find deals. The deals get shipped directly to my house.
I am a huge amber butthurt, So the tail lights and the side markers of the car kinda bothered me as they weren't ORANGE enough for me,
Last week I was doing my weekly scrapyard search and a car caught my eyes...
OEM AMBER LED TAILS????
Gave the scrap yard a call, for a measly $150 shipped they were mine.
Well they showed up today in pretty good condition. Gave them a polish and a ceramic coat and they look nearly as good as new!
While the tails were pulled I took that as an opportunity to clean the tail light sockets. As they both had caked on junk in them from years of not being pulled.
As I was pulling the old lights I noticed the gaskets were in better shape then the new ones. I swapped 2 gaskets per light to the new ones. Being careful I didn't break the clips on the side gaskets.
In this picture you can see the slight difference on camera. In real life its a night and day difference. Passenger is the amber wrapped clear, and driver is the OEM amber tails.All finished up and all the LEDs function properly and no dead ones. Thank god. Based on the scrapyards listing they were pulled out of a sub 60k mile 325ic.
Now I just need to track down a set of E38 Amber side markers to replace the wrapped side markers.
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What kind of slob owned this thing before that let dirt build up behind the tail lights!?!?
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Hit 165,500 miles and it was time for an oil change. I decided to go with the Liqui Moly 10W-60 oil change kit from FCP euro. That way before I store it I can get a 100% free oil change using their lifetime guarantee and PayPal’s 12 free return shipping labels a year for up to $30 a piece.
I was able to crack this out 30 minutes ago as the oil arrived a few minutes before that.
Also grabbed a black stone sample for the oil. I think the $30 is worth it for a piece of mine. Would also like to hear if 5k per oil change interval is too much or just right. As the last time they said try a 5k Interval. Doesn’t hurt to see how the RBs are wearing after 11,750 miles either. Excuse the dirty car, I cleaned it afterwards…
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I would love to see how FCP makes this possible on their books. I'm sure it's a small percentage that actually uses it but fuck, they've gotta make the money back somewhere.
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I would love to see how FCP makes this possible on their books. I'm sure it's a small percentage that actually uses it but fuck, they've gotta make the money back somewhere.
I've always wondered this as well. Dealing with used oil is always a pain.
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I would love to see how FCP makes this possible on their books. I'm sure it's a small percentage that actually uses it but fuck, they've gotta make the money back somewhere.
I've always wondered this as well. Dealing with used oil is always a pain.
They consider it a cost of doing business. Alot of people "think" they will return their used oil but actually don't. @pynacl can weigh in.
But the amount of new customers they attract with a warranty like that probably outweighs the amount of people returning their old stuff.
For those of you that didn't know. Scheels actually does the same thing, Buy a new pair of shoes, wear them for a year then return them for a full refund. Grab a different pair of shoes, repeat. As long as the shoes were originally purchased at Scheels, they will take them back!
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