BMW E46 M3 Lemans/Cinnamon

[C2_mad]

good work as always have you thought about a manual swap? or you like the smg to much?

[Frode D]

I bought a used Eventuri filterkit a while back. The cone is made by carbon and I'm not really into that look. Especially when it being the only thing in the engine compartment made of carbon. So I decided to paint it matte black for now, but I think I will paint it with wrinkle paint to match the intake and engine cover. I guess a lot of people disagree with me, but I don't care.

When I got it:


Disassembled:


Prepped and painted matte black:


Installed the cone upside down to hide the logo for a cleaner look. I'm planning to run a hose from the air duct and up to the filter for more cold air. this part of the kit was not included. And it wouldn't fit anyway as I have air ducts instead of fog lights.


And it sounds amazing! I didn't really have big expectations as previous air filters I've changed didn't make much of a difference. But this one improves the intake noise a lot.

Also bought tinted side markers with bulbs. Finally found some that weren't LED, as I don't want the flickering they give. New side grilles were also bought, you can see a piece of it cracked inside the vent. This will be changed when I have polished and waxed the car.

Before and after:




The shift paddles have seen better days and I replaced them with brushed aluminum ones. Before and after:



I'm planning to wrap the interior trim with brushed aluminum to complete the look. And the steering wheel trim will be matte black also.

The last pic shows the idle being way too high, which is the reason I have been stuck in the garage for a few days looking for a vacuum leak. But after removing the intake once again I found the connector on the ICV not being all the way in place. This is odd because I am 100% sure I installed this the previous time. I might have just installed it halfway onto the plug and vibrations causing it to slide off.

I found this hose not being installed properly:


Also I just had to order the Remote Damper Control which Fortune Auto just released!

http://www.fortune-auto.com/remotedampercontroller.htm

[Frode D]

i have that thread saved in my favourites...lol right,seeing yours, just motivated me. after a year i have just ordered the springs.

no thread, although i love stance cars, i just cant slam mine. its my daily and i live on an island, full of steep inclines and shitty roads. i already scrape in lots of places just with eibach sportlines. so its not really stance works worthy

ps: any updates?

Thank you, means a lot
I understand, the main reason I chose air was the place I lived. If it was static at that time I would rip the car apart. I like low cars, but I'm passed that stage when scraping on everything is cool.

I have ordered aluminum shift paddles, tinted side markers and new fender grilles. One was cracked. Oh, and I just ordered a rear set of Broadway Statics with 18K rear springs and new camber plates for the front. Using my old front struts as they haven't sold yet and have just about 4000 km on them. Planning to wrap the interior trim with brushed alu to match the shift paddles and wheels.

I'll post some pictures when the parts arrive.

Congrats on this one, interesting story behind it.
Don't matter what the vin say, looks like a beautiful M3 to me

Thank you! It seems to be a good rebuild, with reinforced suffrage and fresh paint.

[Dome]

Congrats on this one, interesting story behind it.
Don't matter what the vin say, looks like a beautiful M3 to me

[C2_mad]

ps: any updates?

[C2_mad]

i have that thread saved in my favourites...lol right,seeing yours, just motivated me. after a year i have just ordered the springs.

no thread, although i love stance cars, i just cant slam mine. its my daily and i live on an island, full of steep inclines and shitty roads. i already scrape in lots of places just with eibach sportlines. so its not really stance works worthy

[Frode D]

i have the sport seats, covered them in black with perforated centres and french seems. it looks good, but no pop. its the safe option.lol

love the trunk mod, been meaning to do it to mine for over a year now....

i have a dirty diesel 320d though. so nothing compared to your beast...

as always, love your work and cars.

ps: where did you get the spring from?

Sounds like a nice interior, do you have a thread?

Thank you for the kind words.

Bought these springs. But I have ordered 40mm light load springs as I had to use 12mm of shims to compress the springs all the way. They have to be completely compressed to pop open the trunk.

I found all my info here.

[C2_mad]

ps: where did you get the spring from?

[C2_mad]

i have the sport seats, covered them in black with perforated centres and french seems. it looks good, but no pop. its the safe option.lol

love the trunk mod, been meaning to do it to mine for over a year now....

i have a dirty diesel 320d though. so nothing compared to your beast...

as always, love your work and cars.

[Frode D]

those seats are nice man, would love them in my car....regret not having done mine in that colour or oxblood when i retrimed mine last year...

Thank you! Which color did you end up with?

-

A little maintenance update..

After I bought the car the car got into limp mode a few times along with the DSC-light. Pulled the codes and found 76,77,78,79 and E6. After some googling I found out this usually is one of the Throttle position sensors or the gas pedal. So I went ahead and bought a new one, replaced the front one:


Cleaned the MAF sensor as well:


Also I wanted to do some maintenance while I was at it. This was a big mistake... As I should have tested if the sensor solved my problems before removing the intake. This resulted in 4 days for problems. The plan was to remove the intake manifold and clean the throttle bodies. The SMG has a oil reservoir on the side of the intake, which is a pain in the ass...

Intake removed:


Not a good sign:


Damn..


After a few hours and 10 sore fingers:


Cleaned the ICV as well:


After a while I got everything installed again and hoped everything would be smooth and nice:


Nope. even worse. Every time I hit the accellerator it went straight to limp mode. So I figured it had to be the TPS sensor under the intake. Started to remove the intake manifold again and realized one of the drain hoses from the intake was unplugged. Hoped this was the reason, but changed the TPS as well so I didn't have to remove the intake again. Result, still the same.
At this time I figured it had to be the gas pedal as I had changed both sensors and no luck. Went back inside to google how to remove it and look for errors, and by a coinsidence I read that the clamps on the intake manifold could block the actuator if installed wrong. I knew I had installed them with another rotation than before, and sure, they were blocking the actuator. Reinstalled them and went for a test drive and the car runs smooth as ever with no more limp mode. Took me couple of days to figure out but I learned a lot during the process.

Also did a mod to the trunk shocks to make the trunk pop open when pressing the key.

Check the video:

https://vimeo.com/184539611

[C2_mad]

those seats are nice man, would love them in my car....regret not having done mine in that colour or oxblood when i retrimed mine last year...

[Frode D]

Interesting!

Or nothing. In my country if they find out you have unlicensed mods and the car is in an accident, the insurance company will not pay you anything. They'll say that the car was unfit for public roads because the mods were not listed. You know, because they are an insurance company.

Might be, but all the mods on this car is licensed and approved. Nothing to worry about as my insurance is for an M3. I discussed this with my insurance company to get things right.

really really great looking car!

Thank you!

[kristianbolster]

really really great looking car!

[Nixxon]

Or nothing. In my country if they find out you have unlicensed mods and the car is in an accident, the insurance company will not pay you anything. They'll say that the car was unfit for public roads because the mods were not listed. You know, because they are an insurance company.

[becausephilchow]

Thanks!

Yes and no. The registration will always say 320i because of the original VIN, but we have a section in the registration papers with notes for approval of modifications. Everything not original has to be approved by the Norwegian "DMV". Mine has the engine, drivetrain, exhaust and coilovers included in this section.

My insurance is for an M3 though, if I insured it as a 320i and totaled the car I would only get the value of a 320i.

Interesting!