E46 M3

[Jason]

Lovely M3! Have a real notion for one again lol

 

[Woodcutter]

Looks absolutely superb, definitely one of my favourite cars on RMS.

My only slight criticism is the front spacers are a little too wide for my liking.

 

[dh1079]

Saw it this morning, looks stunning,I’d have smaller spacers on front too but that’s just me

 

[mcmurray]

Saw it this morning, looks stunning,I’d have smaller spacers on front too but that’s just me

Thanks. Good turnout this morning.

There’s 15mm on it now with the F80 brakes. I could definitely get away with about 5mm less but doesn’t bother me too much. Sits flush with the arch but probably needs lowered more to look right.

 

[veedubnoodle]

Had a look round it yesterday man. Car is stunning in the flesh, real credit to you. Saw you once but you were chatting to someone so didn't wanna be rude and interrupt lmao

 

[Steviegsi]

Where did you get the new lenses for the headlights?

 

[mcmurray]

Where did you get the new lenses for the headlights?

Ordered them from Autodoc.

 

[Steviegsi]

Will get a look now, your pics made me realise how rough mine are!

 

[mcmurray]

Will get a look now, your pics made me realise how rough mine are!

Had a look there.

They’re a bit more expensive than when I got them. But their prices change daily.

 

[mcmurray]

Have had most of these parts sitting for a few months now, but got the car in with my mechanic this week to replace the rod bearings and a rusty backing plate.

I've always been a bit a sceptical of the internet stories of bearing failures with the S54. I religiously let the oil warm up, ever since I've owned it and never really worried about bearings. Did a few oil samples previously and all have came back fine. The more I (stupidly) logged into Cutters, the more threads I read about 'close calls' and 'you changed those just in time'. With no plans to sell the car and no record of them ever being changed, I decided to replace them for my own peace of mind.

I'm not an expert, but I was expecting them to come out a lot worse. Have seen plenty of copper showing on others online. These look ok to me, but at least it's done.

Went with ACL bearings and BMW bolts. ARP don't seem to make a M10 bolt specifically for the S54, so I stuck with BMW. Torque procedure took a while as they've to be done in 3 stages, backed off and then repeated 2 more times. New sump gasket and a few other bits replaced while in there. Hopefully see another 16 years out of these new parts.

Working from home these days, the car sits on the driveway most of the week. I won't be using it this winter and I've no garage to keep it in. Ordered an outdoor cover from Specialised Covers and fired it on to see how it fits. Will be plugged into the charger soon and covered up till next year. Hopefully a few more updates then.

 

[da.murf]

How did you find the fit of the cover mate ?? @mcmurray

 

[mcmurray]

How did you find the fit of the cover mate ?? @mcmurray

Never had a cover before, but seems perfect to me.

Elasticated front and rear and straps that go under the car in 4 places to keep it from blowing about.

They rang me to confirm things like whether or not the car had the shark fin antenna on the roof and to check if I’d be leaving the mirrors folded in or out.

I’ve only used it that one day to check it was ok. Will know better in a few months when it’s on all the time.

There’s a bit of a walk around of it:

 

[da.murf]

Never had a cover before, but seems perfect to me.

Elasticated front and rear and straps that go under the car in 4 places to keep it from blowing about.

They rang me to confirm things like whether or not the car had the shark fin antenna on the roof and to check if I’d be leaving the mirrors folded in or out.

I’ve only used it that one day to check it was ok. Will know better in a few months when it’s on all the time.

There’s a bit of a walk around of it:

Looks great. Was there a long wait on it?

 

[mcmurray]

Looks great. Was there a long wait on it?

Quoted 4 weeks, arrived in 3 I think.

 

[mcmurray]

Pulled the cover off this yesterday and taxed it today seeing as the weather has been good.

Nowhere to go at the minute, but hopefully I'll get a bit of use out of it soon.

 

[dh1079]

Love it

 

[Chris100]

Pulled the cover off this yesterday and taxed it today seeing as the weather has been good.

Nowhere to go at the minute, but hopefully I'll get a bit of use out of it soon.

How did you find the cover?

With working from home and no garage myself I'm thinking of buying one to keep the dust off the car.

 

[mcmurray]

How did you find the cover?

With working from home and no garage myself I'm thinking of buying one to keep the dust off the car.

It was a great buy. Car came out as clean as it was when I put it on.

Wouldn’t recommend for something you plan to use regularly though.

Putting it on takes a bit of time to get it strapped down and stuff. Then taking it off, there’s a bit of work getting it folded up neatly and packed into the bag. Not difficult, but not something I’d want to be doing every weekend either.

 

[Chris100]

It was a great buy. Car came out as clean as it was when I put it on.

Wouldn’t recommend for something you plan to use regularly though.

Putting it on takes a bit of time to get it strapped down and stuff. Then taking it off, there’s a bit of work getting it folded up neatly and packed into the bag. Not difficult, but not something I’d want to be doing every weekend either.

Cheers, back to the drawing board then.

 

[Big Pimp]

simply lovely!

 

[quattro Rick]

simply lovely!

No bias there but agreed it's a minty one!!

 

[mcmurray]

Boring update but couple of small bits sorted.

Windscreen scuttle panel was past it's best. Nice new one fitted.

After lying up for a few months, was getting a bit of condensation in the headlights. Didn't replace the seals when I replaced the lenses. Ordered some new ones and stripped the lights down and fired them in. Built back up and hopefully that cures it. Lesson learnt.

Still working from home, so the car gets cleaned more than it gets driven at the minute. Try to take it when I'm heading somewhere on my own, but the X3 is so much nicer to drive, so the M3 is a bit of an ornament. Nice ornament all the same.

New high pressure power steering hose ordered and a few other bits to sort so it's still keeping me busy.

 

[big_pete]

If you ever decide to part ways with this please let me know. It’s a beauty!

 

[MarkM]

Lovely as ever, X3 also looks great in red

 

[mayweather]

Love this car, always looks fantastic.