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E46 m3, second time around

27K views 45 replies 20 participants last post by  st33ly 
#1 · (Edited)
2005 BMW e46 M3, underbody resto

Back in 2013 I bought this, that was it at the premier inn car park as I was working away when I picked it up.

~original

And then sold it after 4/5 months as I was an apprentice and couldn't afford it :(

37 months later, the owner messaged me to say you can have first refusal on the car,

So even though e46 prices have gone through the roof, especially for late individual models, I thought Screw it. I'll have it back

So here it is back at mine last weekend



In the past three years it's had,

Head gasket
Inspection 2
Oil service
New rear tyres within last few weeks,
New mirror glasses
New steering wheel
New gear knob
Better condition wheels
Replacement boot floor at BMW with new suspension bushes etc
Intravee 2 installed

And probably a few other bits.

I could have bought a cheaper one, but I know this one has had some big expensive jobs done, and it's an individual. Only 50 made for the UK market.

Issues with the car are, the fuel gauge is reading is unreliable, so I've got a new sender to fit.
Locking wheel nut key is damaged and I can't undo the wheels
Some rust spots have crept in, which will be sorted later in the year.

Few pics of the car









Id never heard of the intravee unit but it's got some great options to turn on,





Plans for the car are,
fit a csl style rear diffuser,
renew the gearknob for the illuminated one,
refurbish wheels,
sort a few rust patches,
Diff oil,came with car
New diff bolts
New headlight lenses, came with car
Paint and clean up discs and pads,
Private plate,
New inner boot lights,

Nothing massive just little jobs to tidy it up.

Cheers Paul.
 
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#5 ·
The boot floor is a known issue on the e46 chassis where the sheet metal rips/cracks at the rear subframe mounts, so not due to accident damage.
Regarding the rust get it down to your local dealer sharpish as e46's have a 12 year bodywork warrenty and they're usually very good at fulfilling this warrenty, obviously your time is running out mate so get it to the dealer
 
#12 ·
Cars still running great.



Took advantage of ECP discount and bought a pair of new front discs, I'll be cleaning up and painting all the calipers etc.

Also bought the updated differential bolts to stop the annoying clunk all e46 M3's seem to suffer with.

Still puts a smile on my face every time I get behind the wheel.
 
#14 · (Edited)
It's all been replaced :thumb:

Decided to clean it today.

My car cleaning kit consisted of a cheap bottle of wash and wax, a can of car pride black to black and a sponge, so definitely not any good lol

So I went to halfords, they have meguiar's on 2 for 3 so bought some bits and bobs and had a go, the car hadn't had much of a clean other than a quick once over since Id had it.

Cleaned the engine bay, replaced some nuts on the strut brace with some domed nuts, and cleaned and degreased it, I didn't have anything decent to spray over except car pride back to black but it didn't look too bad for what it is.

I then used meguiar's leather stuff and did the interior, vacuumed and cleaned the plastics.

I snow foamed the car, used the iron stuff on the wheels, done the exhaust tips, the dried and used some meguiar's spray polish and some meguiar's tyre gel,

I'm happy with how it turned out, nothing like what some of you guys can do.







Now I've had the car three months I have a list of things I want to do,

Diff oil and diff bolts, bought
New inner rear lights
Csl style rear diffuser
New headlight lenses, bought
Fix few bodywork issues
Illuminated gearknob
Rubber propshalf coupling
Possibly have the rod bearing changed for peach of mind
Wheel refurb
New front disc and pads, bought
Caliper paint
Possibly strip and paint/powdercoat all suspension items
Headlight level sensor snapped
New kidney grills

Quite a list but it will be 100% sorted when done.

Just enjoying it for the summer.
Paul
 
#17 ·
Subscribed.
Calipers look good. Ended up sending my mine to BiggRed as they needed new Pistons.
Just in the process of replacing rusted break lines and a leaking diff input seal on my 2001 m3. Exhaust and tank all out, just spending a bit of time doing a bit of rust repairs whilst it's on show.
 
#18 ·
My calipers are ok. So just painted for now.

Get some pics of your m3 on here. Be good to read what your up too.

Few pics of the car and few other bits I've bought.





With my car aluminium cube trim. I quite fancy a set of aluminium pedals for it. Should set it off nice, as the Bmw pedals are quite dull and they have been using the same style for years.

Pedal Haus do a nice set. So have told my mrs to get them for Xmas



I had a plaque designed to match other Bmw plaques for the silverstone editions and another silverstone owner found a company to make them.



Got some bilstein shocks.



And some drop links and anti roll bar bushes.

 
#19 ·
I love these cars and it looks like you have a very nice example there. I am thinking of investing in one early next year and keeping it long term as a bit of a toy and project but I keep hearing horror stories about rust and the rear subframe. I realise that these are never going to be a cheap car to own and run but are they really worth the risk? I would be interested to know your thoughts as an owner and enthusiast.

Keep up the good work :)
 
#20 ·
I had a MY2000 328i that had the subframe problem. It affected the higher power models because of the extra stresses that the mounting points were subjected to - if the floor pan was weakened by rust or corrosion, big holes were ripped in the metal. My car had holes so big that the back end was out of alignment with the front and was going down the road like a crab!:eek: My BM indy took photos and sent them to BMW - the repair was paid for by them even though it had not got a full factory history (they accepted that there was a basic design fault) but this was back in 2008, so the car was only 8 years old, and although high mileage, had been well looked after. I heard that BMW had stopped accepting claims some time ago. Check further on E46 forums - I'm sure you'll find quite a few threads about the problem if you do a search.

If you're going for an E46 with a 2.8 or 3.0 litre engine, particularly an M3, I would get an independent inspection carried out to make sure that everything is OK with the subframe mounting points and the floor pan around them. Better safe than sorry!

Marco
 
#21 ·
Thanks Marco, an independent inspection sounds like the way to go. I have never bothered with these in the past and relief on my own judgement and research but this would be an expensive mistake. Especially when you read the other thread on here about rear quarter panel repair costs too.

They should hold these manufacturers to account for these obvious design flaws, they are evidently not purely age related so they shouldn't be able to wriggle out of them because the car is ageing.
 
#24 ·
Thanks for the reply, this my thinking is to pick one up now before they get out of reach. I've seen it happen with a few on my wish list now so I'm determined not to happen again.

The mechanical side of things doesntvworry me too much to be honest but bodywork scares me! And seems to cost a small fortune to sort, but in fairness £750 Is pretty reasonable.

Good luck with the car, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread and thanks again for the advice.
 
#25 ·
I had the same worries when i bought mine nearly 2 years ago now, had a look around myself and was happy with it (i am not clued up at all.. just have a good look around M3cutters first!) then took it to a local indy who has done all work on it and he checks it every time.. As has been said considering the running costs and quality of the car the price for repairing the subframe is not massive.. I am personally more concerned about the odd bits of rust coming through now which i want to get sorted asap but will probably cost more than the subframe repair!

Car is amazing though and i personally have an SMG (not starting a war) which likes to warm up in the mornings but not had any mechanical issues with it! Remember when you're reading horror stories that people rarely go online to tell the world their car is running great!
 
#28 ·
This is what it looked like last night, battery gone flat and pretty cold, I went to scrap snow off the carport as it's got a temporary roof and I don't want it all caving in on the car.



For today once been and got an Xmas tree I set to work on the car,

Needed some warmth so a fire log that burns for 2-3 hours sorted that.



Got them off, managed to damage the track rod in the process :(



Got them apart and fixed the shield as it was cracking on the mounts and the top mount was doing nothing.



Then just painted everything black.



With the silver calipers and bits it should look quite good.

Passenger side wishbone lower bush thing wobbles far too easy, was hoping to just re paint them, but have now ordered 2 track rods and front wishbones, still need to sort out power steering pipe and I've got a purple tag rack in the garage. Don't know weather to fit it.

Also need to drill out the the little screws for the discs and re tap them, the bolts have been butchered and I couldn't undo them.
 
#29 ·




Will sand and treat rust then stone chip and add some silverstone blue top coat to the inner wings, pant the crossmember, hopefully start putting it back together soon.

Clear coated the new shocks



Cleaned up these roller top mount things



Painted wishbones



And these don't know what there're called



Got a replacement xenon sensor



Rebuilt the snapped bracket with meccano, the connection rod for this has a seized ball joint, probably why it ended up snapping, it current soaking in wd40, I don't think it will work, bought this off eBay for £3 so miles cheaper than buying a new bracket.





Will put a rivet through and give it a lick of paint



Wonder how much more of my car will end up in the wheelbarrow

 
#37 ·
I just treated the rust, then stone chipped it and a top coat of this,



They make any colour in a can for about £12. Then I clear coated it with Halfords clear. My car isn't a daily and won't be used in bad weather if I don't need to, so hopefully it should last ok.

What shocks and springs did you go for?
I've gone for bilstein b4 shocks, from reading up there as close to the originals but most people say they are better quality and a nice ride. Spring wise I'm going for standard m3 springs. Don't want to mess with the ride height or anything.
 
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