e46 M3 Titan Silver

[Steve750]

I got this a few months ago as a bit of a project. Its 2002 titan silver SMG car with quite a nice spec, but missing a sunroof

Colour	titan-silber
Upholstery	Leather Walknappa/black

710​	M Sports Steering Wheel, Multifunction​
S785​	White Direction Indicator Lights​
S792​	BMW LA Wheel M 19" Forged​
S793​	Sequential M Gearbox Drivelogic​

428​	Warning Triangle And First Aid Kit​
S431​	Interior Mirror With Automatic-Dip​
S441​	Smoker Package​
S459​	Seat Adjustment, Electric, With Memory​
S473​	Armrest Front​
S490​	Adjustment, Seat-Backrest Width​
S494​	Seat Heating Driver/Passenger​
S495​	3-Point Belt & Head Restr'nt,Rear Middle​

S601​	TV Function​
S609​	Navigation System Professional​
S674​	Hi-Fi System Harman Kardon​
S692​	Preparation, BMW 6-CD Changer I-Bus​

S760​	High Gloss Shadow Line​
S775​	Headlining Anthracite​

I was never a fan of e46 m3s but wanted to try one. Maybe my opinion will change on the raspy s54..

 

[pablo]

I love the rasp! Look fresh these days in silver

 

[Ben P]

Your BM's are getting smaller.
Be in a 116i soon

 

[Ben P]

Car looks nice, original and unmolested!
Building quite a collection!

Still have any 7's?

 

[Big Pimp]

Lovely car. Looking forward to getting an M3 drive out this summer.

There’s an E46 M3 NI Facebook page if you’re not already a member.

Not a lot of activity but a handy place nonetheless

 

[Steve750]

Your BM's are getting smaller.
Be in a 116i soon

Still have any 7's?

Had to include the m5 to balance the cylinder shortage . Yea I’ve a couple

Must check it out @Big Pimp

 

[KevM]

Lovely car. Looking forward to getting an M3 drive out this summer.

There’s an E46 M3 NI Facebook page if you’re not already a member.

Not a lot of activity but a handy place nonetheless

I did not know this! I just sent a request to join

Keep those wheels Steve. It looks great!

 

[Steve750]

I did not know this! I just sent a request to join

Keep those wheels Steve. It looks great!

Prob will keep them. Don’t fancy paying csl prices

 

[Blackie]

I got this a few months ago as a bit of a project. Its 2002 titan silver SMG car with quite a nice spec, but missing a sunroof

Colour	titan-silber
Upholstery	Leather Walknappa/black

710​	M Sports Steering Wheel, Multifunction​
S785​	White Direction Indicator Lights​
S792​	BMW LA Wheel M 19" Forged​
S793​	Sequential M Gearbox Drivelogic​

428​	Warning Triangle And First Aid Kit​
S431​	Interior Mirror With Automatic-Dip​
S441​	Smoker Package​
S459​	Seat Adjustment, Electric, With Memory​
S473​	Armrest Front​
S490​	Adjustment, Seat-Backrest Width​
S494​	Seat Heating Driver/Passenger​
S495​	3-Point Belt & Head Restr'nt,Rear Middle​

S601​	TV Function​
S609​	Navigation System Professional​
S674​	Hi-Fi System Harman Kardon​
S692​	Preparation, BMW 6-CD Changer I-Bus​

S760​	High Gloss Shadow Line​
S775​	Headlining Anthracite​

I was never a fan of e46 m3s but wanted to try one. Maybe my opinion will change on the raspy s54..

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View attachment 427618View attachment 427619
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Nice!!!! Health to drive Steve!!

 

[FM155]

Always think the 18's look better than the 19's on these. Looks like fresh example though.

 

[GavRS182]

Looks terrific, great spec sheet. Any immediate plans for it?

 

[Steve750]

Cheers lads. @GavRS182 yea currently working on it. Just want all the big jobs sorted and then I’ll use it for a bit. Thought about converting it to manual but I haven't given the smg a chance yet

 

[Jbridges522]

Assuming its similar to the f1 box in the maserati its very flawed but I actually enjoyed using the paddles, it being pretty much rubbish in auto made me drive it with the paddles at all times pretty much where a better auto id probs have just left it to it.

 

[cauld1]

S54 is one of the best BMW engines up there with the M30, S14 and M88.

19s are a better looking wheel if in good condition but they drive way way better on the 18s. CSL reps are the most overrated wheel this side of style 5s or m parallels imo. Nice but so overdone.

The smg box I've found can be amazing or terrible with no rhyme or reason. Give it a chance, if it's a fun car it's fine.

Dig for rust and then dig again. They hide it pretty well

 

[Lappintyre]

Do love a Titan silver E46..

 

[Big Pimp]

Cheers lads. @GavRS182 yea currently working on it. Just want all the big jobs sorted and then I’ll use it for a bit. Thought about converting it to manual but I haven't given the smg a chance yet

The SMG is a bit of quirkiness and I’d just enjoy it as long as you can until it craps itself.

At that point I’d convert it but not until then.

 

[Steve750]

@Jbridges522 @cauld1 @Big Pimp yeh I’ve done about 2 miles in smg so need to give it a chance but, as you say it’s almost that crap that it’s good and kinda cool
And btw parallels are the best wheels ever

 

[Steve750]

The car had a slight miss fire on cold start but ran fine after a minute or so. It even drove ok on the test drive. The only codes it was showing was a misfire on cyl 6 and an engine management light, but some times it wouldn't even show it. Bought it and the guy put a years test on it. Went through the test center with no EML but it came back on a couple days later. First thing I done was a sniff test but it showed no signs of head gasket failure. I then done a compression test which showed poor compression on cyls 1-2 & 5-6 so I suspected the head gasket was away between these cylinders as its a very common fault on S54's and it wouldn't have been picked up on the sniff test.

Decided to go digging and started stripping the engine.

Inlet manifold removed

Under the cam cover with injectors removed

Vanos manifold with shot seals

I then locked in the timing to allow vanos removal

Vanos removed. Tabs on the exhaust sprocket were intact, these have a habit of shearing off because they are 10mm wide but bmw thought it a good idea to fit them into a 11mm hole on the vanos side.

Vanos hubs removed

Took off the front cover and noticed the upper chain guide looked out of shape. I reached down to touch it and it broke off on my finger

Caps, cams & front timing sprockets removed. All hard fuel & coolant lines disconnected from the head, including wiring to camshaft sensors and exhaust manifold nuts.

Cracked loose the head bolts and waited for a hand to lift the head..

 

[KevM]

Brave man

 

[cauld1]

Are you going to rebuild / change the vanos unit while it's out? Definitely go for the Beisan chain guide.

Got me thinking I'd be as well doing the head gasket on mine while the engines out, have a new gasket as part of a kit anyways. At least then all the typical s54 issues sorted that way.

 

[Steve750]

Are you going to rebuild / change the vanos unit while it's out? Definitely go for the Beisan chain guide.

Got me thinking I'd be as well doing the head gasket on mine while the engines out, have a new gasket as part of a kit anyways. At least then all the typical s54 issues sorted that way.

Gonna do the O rings and seals in the vanos while it's out. They were working fine so I'm not getting too carried away with them by replacing diaphragm springs and anti rattle kits.

I would advise doing the head gasket, especially with the engine out of the car

 

[Jbridges522]

Love a bit of engine work, so interesting to see the wear over the years. Least you have been rewarded with findong issues, be worse if u ripped it apart and it was all grand.

 

[Steve750]

Love a bit of engine work, so interesting to see the wear over the years. Least you have been rewarded with findong issues, be worse if u ripped it apart and it was all grand.

Yea definitely

 

[Lappintyre]

Not the best of starts

 

[Steve750]

Not the best of starts

Nah, good start tbh I knew what I was getting in to and I love the challenge