Steel Grey E46 M3

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richystran

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@richystran any more updates please? Not all of us are interested in willy waving :grinning:.
lol i dont mind a bit of banter, colour is subjective everyone like different things so i dont mind. I just like this particular combo.

The car was in getting the head gasket done as she was "pinking" like a rattle noise under load. I actually knew it was gone when i bought the car and used it as a bargaining tool, was a risky decision as it could have needed a new head. But all was good, no real damage done. Was lucky because the tab which drives the vanos was broken but didnt fall into the timing chain.
If anyone is considering buying an M3 get a compression test done, its getting very common for the head gaskets to fail. Kits are so cheap its worth doing it!

The only symptoms of the gasket gone in this car was a very slightly higher temperature and pinking noise (like rattling marbles in a tin can). The gaskets go between cylinders so you dont get the normal pressurising of water or oil mixing etc.
pics

image3.JPG
m33.JPG
m32.JPG
 
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richystran

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You weren't between Gilford and Lurgan (Bannville roundabout) yesterday evening by any chance?
Steel grey M3 fully lit through the roundabout :grinning:

Nope haven't been out in this car since i bought it back in May. Im sure you will see it soon enough as i be around that area regularly :grinning:
There is a nice silver/grey M3 in that area, was it definitely steel/grey?
 

richystran

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Really ? Has to be a facelift car for me personally. Steel Grey just screams pre-facelift to me lol

Perfect spec in E46 is Facelift/manual/coupe/black or red nappa/sub-85k

View attachment 137823

They stopped this colour in early 03 so yes this is the pre facelift. Im not keen on the non led rear lights of this one, so thats the only thing ill change.
 

Lyons

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This is the reason why I'm not really on RMS as much any more or post any of my cars. It was a discussion re E46 M3 colours. Please forgive me for posting some examples.

Grey, not all the other colours!
 

ChrisL

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Lovely M3 ... Steel grey and Red is one of the nicest combo's for the 46.

Some amount of work going in to this ... looking forward to the updates!
 

richystran

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Wow :eek: @richystran , what's the story behind the crash? Certainly lucky!
Driver error! No one else involved. I do reckon if the car had a cutch I would have saved it BUT I put the car into that position so it was my fault. Actually went for clutch and tapped the brake and things quickly deteriorated.
Car somersaulted!!! Hard lesson learnt lol
 

Peadar

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Driver error! No one else involved. I do reckon if the car had a cutch I would have saved it BUT I put the car into that position so it was my fault. Actually went for clutch and tapped the brake and things quickly deteriorated.
Car somersaulted!!! Hard lesson learnt lol

Nasty that. Main thing is you got out OK by the sound of things, cars can always be replaced.
 
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gav525

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Driver error! No one else involved. I do reckon if the car had a cutch I would have saved it BUT I put the car into that position so it was my fault. Actually went for clutch and tapped the brake and things quickly deteriorated.
Car somersaulted!!! Hard lesson learnt lol

Sounds scary enough! Fair play at holding your hands up, at least you're still here to tell the tale (y)
 

gmsport

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Driver error! No one else involved. I do reckon if the car had a cutch I would have saved it BUT I put the car into that position so it was my fault. Actually went for clutch and tapped the brake and things quickly deteriorated.
Car somersaulted!!! Hard lesson learnt lol
I know a guy who break m3s that would probably buy it if your not claiming of insurance.
 

richystran

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OK update, had car going tonight and have to adjust some valves, not hard to do on these car thankfully. Question to anyone who knows about timing these cars. Noticed when i took the rocker off that the holes in the cams that you time with are not lining up like they should anymore. I must have rotated the crank 30 times and each time they did, and now they dont when the car has been started!!
Have i got the vanos timing slightly off i wonder? Or is that normal?
I assume that vanos doesnt reset the cams back to a timed position. Car sounds really healthy and no eml coming on so i think i am over worrying
 
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richystran

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Richy what was the craic with the cam timing? Easy fix?
Turned out that she jumped the chain, tensioner was correct but probably shouldn't have been reused and didnt fully engage possibly. So result was 12 bent valves.
Other that that setting up the timing on the e46 m3 with the tool is easy. Im not a mechanic and i managed to time all with the vanos too.
 
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