WIBIMMERS

So jacked I nabbed this plate! "E46 M3" was taken, but this was up for grabs

Up until last week I had 3 cars, '15 F30 335i, '08 E92 328i, '02 E46 M3. I sold the 335 and 328 last week in an effort to "downsize". Ever since I had the idea to downsize I've been searching for the perfect daily to my M3. For me that means the following recipe: 4 doors, safe, RWD, 6MT, NA. I want to be able to haul our two dogs around, but still be a fun spirited driving machine (E92 wasn't cutting it with the cramped backseat).

I set out to find a run of the mill E90 328i. Didn't really care too much about spec, until I saw a super cool M Sport one pop up for sale. Sadly it had hail damage and I passed on it, but couldn't get the idea out of my head of having a daily thats ~cool~. So then I revised my criteria to: LCI, E90, RWD, M Sport, 6MT. At first I didn't realize how rare of a spec this actually is, but was pleasantly reminded after posting a WTB ad on the Bimmerpost forums. From my research it seems that combination is even rare on the 335i, so I would expect the 328i version is even more uncommon. Most that could afford to spec out a 328 would normally just spring for a 335. To find one meant I had to find someone who custom ordered the NA, lower spec of the car for a very specific reason, to be the ultimate daily driver.

After quite a bit of searching the entire US, I came across one in Orlando FL that ticked every box:

• 6MT
• LCI
• RWD
• M Sport
• Non-iDrive
• Manual Seats

It's on the higher side of mileage at 141k, but has all the common maintenance items addressed and a few tasteful mods:

Maintenance

Valve Cover Gasket Kit (Valve Cover Gasket, Spark Plug Tube Seals, Both Eccentric Shaft Seals)
Oil Filter Housing Gasket
NGK OEM Spark Plugs
Upper Radiator Hose
Coolant Hose
Expansion Tank Hose
Accessory Drive Belt Kit (Serpentine Belt, Belt Tensioner Assembly, and Drive Belt Idler Pulley)
Water Pump Replacement Kit (Pierburg Water Pump and Borg Warner Thermostat, OEM BMW Coolant)

Mods

BC Extreme Low Coilovers
Apex ARC-8 17x9 ET30
Achilles ATR Sport 2 255/40/17
Stud Conversion
Silicone Intake Inlet Hose
LED Headlight and Fog Light bulbs
Eonon GA9465 Headlights with Apple Car Adapter

Never been this excited to own a 230hp NA car, but for some reason I'm just as jazzed as the day I bought my F30. Will be flying out this Friday (7/30/21) to collect it and drive it home. Absolutely hitting tail of the dragon on the way back.

Nicer pic of the setup once the suspension settled a bit

Hey guys, I'm Jake, from the Eau Claire area! I'm pretty new to BMWs in general, but picked up this 335i last year @35k miles. It's Alpine white with coral red interior, pretty much bone stock, just slapped some HRE FF01s on it along with some BC BR coilovers. Supe r pumped to begin the modding process here once the warranty expires. Let me know if you guys have any questions!

Official start to my E46 M3 build thread! This is joining my garage along with my 2015 335i M Sport and my 2008 328i daily. Progress may be slow over the winter months, but progress is better than none at all! Car is completely bone stock minus a brake rotor upgrade and some Bilstein shocks. It also came with a mountain of maintenance receipts to sift through, but the most important are vanos and rod bearing replacements. Sadly didn't come with subframe reinforcement so that will likely be the first order of business come spring. It was inspected and in great shape, but we all know how important it is to do preventatively on these cars. Here's a quick spec list and a nice roller photo I got on the drive home!

WBSBL93492JR17883

2002 BMW M3
Steel Gray on Black Nappa
6 Speed Manual Coupe
134,210 miles

01/2022 (@135k) Updates

Engine

• Fabspeed catless headers
• WPC treated rod bearings + ARP rod bolts
• OE coolant expansion tank
• OE expansion tank line
• OE BMW coolant
• OE BMW motor mounts
• Achilles Motorsports SAP block off plate
• SAP + valve delete
• Valve adjustment
• OE valve cover gasket kit
• OE Meyle fan clutch + fan blades
• NGK spark plugs

Transmission

• Rogue Engineering transmission mounts
• UUC Evo 3 short throw shifter + DSSR
• Trans fluid change - Redline DT4 ATF (auto/manual)
• Delrin shift carrier bushings

Chassis

• TMS RACP reinforcement weld in plates
• Revshift 80A differential bushings
• Revshift 80A subframe bushings
• Differential output flange + input shaft seals
• Differential fluid change - OE BMW SAF-XJ + FM booster
• TMS Zinc-Nickel plated stainless steel brake lines
• Motul RBF600 brake fluid

Suspension

• Turner sealed monoball RTABs
• TCK S/A Coilovers (F - 500lb R - 600lb)
• Ground Control race camber plates
• OE BMW front strut reinforcement plates
• OE Lemforder end links
• Rogue engineering RSM + perch reinforcement plates
• TCK RSM + buna bushings

Exterior

• Paint matched front reflectors
• OE BMW LED tail lights + OE BMW wiring adapters

Interior

• OE BMW Cinnamon interior swap
• OE BMW Aluminum trim swap
• OE BMW M3 floor mats
• OE Illuminated 6 speed ZHP knob

Replaced the tired original knob. Since I already had factory illumination I figured I can't remove that, so I went with an OEM ZHP illuminated 6 speed knob. Also, these things seem to be getting crazy hard to find, thanks @Rekpoint!!

Titan trim sucks. Such cheap build quality it shouldn't have even been an option on these cars. Mine was peeling/bubbling on every panel like you see in the photo below. I took all the pieces out, sanded them down with 200/600 grit, then primered and re-painted. Took me two tries because for whatever reason, if you don't use primer, paint has a strange reaction to the bare material and it'll bubble instantly. I ended up using Dupli-color "Storm Gray", which I believe is a GM color. Closest match I could and honestly would be hard to tell the difference. Seems like factory has a bit more warmer hue to it, but even side-by-side it's really close. Also new trim clip pins are $5 a pop!?

Edit: I want aluminum trim

Also forgot I got these finally. Been back ordered for like 2 years, feel like I just won the lottery

Finished drilling out like a million plastic rivet heads and reassembled the inserts into my door cards! Probably not the best solution but I resecured them using short self tappers (3/4”) and fender washers (20mm). Fit and finish is perfect, super jazzed how the swap turned out.

Ive put a 1000 trouble free miles on it. Seems like the new battery and new FRM fixed this cars woes. These E90s are really great - cheap, easy to work on, fun to drive 6MT, okay to get a little banged up by two goldens.

Was really dreading this job, but the headliner finally gave out and started dangling - well at least the sunshade part. The rear was also sagging super badly. I ordered new OEM-like fabric, some glue, and got to work. Turned out 8/10, good enough, but definitely is a learning curve to this process and there are a few areas I caused a wrinkle, didn't apply enough glue, or didn't sand off enough of the old adhesive. Once all the trim, door seals, grab handles etc were reinstalled it looks nearly perfect though.

The job itself was super tedious. After wrestling it for quit some time I realized the headliner is removable by folding the front seats back and sliding out the rear driver door while slightly folding it in a "U" shape.

Car just turned over 150k miles

The seats were REAL shiny. I tried hitting them with some Lexol leather cleaner and a microfiber and it didn't put a dent in it. I know it's a sin, but I VERY carefully used a magic eraser (with zero pressure applied) and Adam's interior detail as lubricant. I was careful to only buff off the oils/grease and not damage the protective "clear coat" layer. Hard to tell from photos, but they look night and day different.

edit: still need to swap the front door cards, just haven't had time yet

Before:

After:

Big update for me - I bought a house! Was lucky enough to find myself a 4 car garage. The garage needs insulation, drywall and a shit ton of love but the bones look great. Huge thank you to @Rekpointfor helping with the move!

Also got a new Husky tool chest I really dig so far. Quality is pretty good for the money, definitely no snap on, but perfect for me. Has drawer liners, soft close drawers, power etc.

Not exactly car related but I knocked out the first step of the garage build - insulating the walls. Such a pain in the ass removing the shelving system the previous owner had. Half was built with nails, at least 1000 of them. After getting all shelving removed, I went with R15 in the walls and eyeing up R38 for the ceiling. My plan is to just finish insulation and vapor barrier this summer and drywall / paint next.

Another small update, small details matter though right? Noticed the rear badge was pretty sun faded/cracking on the M stripe section. Rather than replacing the entire badge, if you just apply a bit of heat (enough to make it warm to the touch but not compromise the badge adhesive) the M stripes can peel right off and be replaced. I got the replacement vinyl from here if anyone is curious. Badge looks brand new and cost $8 and 2 min of time!

YoungCR said:

Exciting updates! Taillights look great, can't wait to hear those headers.

Same!! Here's a couple clips of my end goal:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-7AvknDxzI/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-qiBpGj2zJ/

The setup is fabspeed headers, stock section 1, resonated x pipe and a top speed muffler. Never even knew the S54 could sound like this, but JEESH

Finally installed the Rogue Engineering stainless clutch line I've had on the shelf for months. Mainly did this to remove the clutch delay valve for a more responsive clutch feel. Job was messy as all hell but a power bleeder made the bleeding process a breeze. Took it for a test drive and it definitely feels more responsive. Not a night and day difference per say, but totally worth it. Frig I love this car

GunMetalGrey said:

A fresh undertray after fixing the oil leaks has to feel wonderful!

Like a clean pair of underwear after trusting a fart

Aluminum trim set is complete! Meant to post this update earlier, but the first set I bought was damaged in shipping. Excited to have rid the car of that crappy plastic titan trim. 

Also picked up a Rennline phone mount, but just can’t seem to get it to fit just right. Might have a defective one

I got really tired of the exhaust setup I had, the drone was just getting unbearable with this joke of a muffler. At first I thought it sounded good enough that it'd be fine since this is a weekend car, but it just turned me off from driving the car. I swapped back to the stock muffler for now to get the drone under control. For now I have Fabspeed catless headers, stock section 1, STG x pipe section 2, and stock muffler. I'll be on the lookout for a Rogue Engineering El Diablo muffler soon. Finally can hear the induction noise of the S54 again!