My E46 M3 update

Of course, part of the fun of purchasing a used car is discovering what the previous owners have done to the car and, if a PPI isn't done, exactly what you've bought. I've spent some quality time with my recently acquired E46 M3 and learned some things good and bad. The good: poly bushings where they count on an E46 - rear trailing arm bushings (RTABs) and front control arm bushings (FCABs). No worries about ever having to change these parts, unlike the factory rubber pieces that tend to wear out, sometimes in as little as 20k miles with hard driving. I don't have one, but it's prewired for a V1. The bad: the oil pan gasket and the power steering pressure hose both leak, discovered by the shop that did my track day inspection today. I'm having him do the oil pan gasket - 5.5 hours of labor to replace a $50 part. I'll do the power steering hose, as it's an easy swap out and I wanted to replace the reservoir anyway since it's also the filter for the PS system - unfortunately the hose is a $175 part. When I pulled the front bumper to repair the damage I did to it where I scraped it the 3rd day I had it I found that someone snapped an aluminum bracket that holds some of the underbody plastics in place, $23 for a new one. The battery was bad and had to be replaced since it wouldn't hold a charge.

I've now got a list of maintenance and small repairs to do. I already put Redline MTL into the transmission and it shifts better, but the stuff that drained out looked very good. It got new ATE Typ 200 fluid in the brakes and clutch last weekend, and will be re-bled again before I hit the track in 2 weeks. The diff fluid will likely get a change also this winter. Cosmetically, I need to finish repairing the front bumper - a little filler and paint and it will be an invisible repair. The previous owner had a custom hitch on the car, part of which apparently involved a plate held in by 3 bolts in what would be the spare tire well - when I pulled everything out to vacuum the loose dog food and other schmutz out of the trunk I found 3 holes to the ground where the bolts were. A quick spray with some Rustoleum to halt the little bit of surface rust that was there and some nylon plugs have made the trunk watertight again. The rear deck has faded from black to blue; I picked up a can of vinyl and fabric dye for when I get time to pull it out and re-dye it black again. The sunroof sunshade is loose, a common E46 malady apparently (though my last E46 went 168k miles with no problem at all there...). I hope to pull the sunroof and fix that before my track days coming up, as that sliding back and forth may be a tad distracting. There's missing plastic fasteners here and there that hold much of the underbody plastics in place too, not so much that anything's flopping around but just enough to annoy me - they will be replaced. The shocks aren't leaking and are still good but they are nasty crusty with surface rust and will be replaced this winter when I plan to upgrade the suspension to a stiffer setup.

Overall I'm quite pleased with the condition of the car and how it drives, and drooling in anticipation of my first track experience with it. The up front money for these minor repairs is annoying but I plan to recoup at least some of it from the dealer I bought it from.

pigeon wrote: ...before I hit the track in 2 weeks.... Cosmetically, I need to finish repairing the front bumper - a little filler and paint and it will be an invisible repair.

Don't taunt the track gods...repair this AFTER the track day.

Didn't you mention in another thread you paid $16k for this car? With that in mind, I would consider what you've described to be expected.

Too bad you didn't get the custom tow hitch. None are commercially available, a friend and I made one for my old E46 M3 and it wasn't a small undertaking...

docwyte wrote: Too bad you didn't get the custom tow hitch. None are commercially available, a friend and I made one for my old E46 M3 and it wasn't a small undertaking...

It's going to NC as a prototype for more to be built and I can have it after that if I want it, o just don't know when.

that's nice. That would be great for a lot of M3 owners who do track days

So, I just spoke to the selling dealer and they're going to do the oil pan gasket and power steering hose and reimburse me for the battery. Yay!

While he has the oil pan down... make sure to put a baffle in to keep from starving in high G turns once you really get cooking. There will come a day when you have enough grip and experience to make it sound like a sewing machine after a few hard laps around the Glen otherwise. You only do that a few times before it sounds like a small explosion.

Have them retighten/retorque the oil pressure sensor. Apparently they work themselves out and start spewing oil like clockwork around the 60-70k mile mark. Fine piece of german marketing that it is....

Also, double check that you used the correct trans oil. I understand most manual BMW transmissions actually require ATF not MTL. My E36 did.

amg_rx7 wrote: Also, double check that you used the correct trans oil. I understand most manual BMW transmissions actually require ATF not MTL. My E36 did.

For track work the MTL will work better even if it is a tad notchy when cold.

I've always been wondering what the E46 M3 was like to live with, so I'm looking forward to your updates...

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: While he has the oil pan down... make sure to put a baffle in to keep from starving in high G turns once you really get cooking. There will come a day when you have enough grip and experience to make it sound like a sewing machine after a few hard laps around the Glen otherwise. You only do that a few times before it sounds like a small explosion.

I can't seem to find a baffle kit online for the S54 - plenty of choices for the M54 though.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

amg_rx7 wrote: Also, double check that you used the correct trans oil. I understand most manual BMW transmissions actually require ATF not MTL. My E36 did.

For track work the MTL will work better even if it is a tad notchy when cold.

I prefer MTL over ATF - it is a tad notchy when cold but butter when warm. I had it in my old E46 328i for 60k or so miles with absolutely no issues. Besides, for the E46 M3 the factory fill and recommended fill is a 75W80 GL4 oil, which is exactly what MTL is.

The E46 M3 pan is the same as the E36 M3 LTW pan, no baffles needed. Have them tack weld or safety wire the oil pump nut on.

Good to hear a jig will be made from that hitch. I tried to get the dimensions of it from Holly's son and he just ignored me.

So 2 days with a welder, grinder, plasma cutter and some tubing and I had one of my own.

No drilling into the body necessary with mine either. I think it's still for sale if you want it. I used it to pull a tire trailer to all my events, worked great!

I've been pleasantly surprised around how livable my m3 has been. I bought it at 42k and now I've had it for 3 years and 35k. No track but some autocross miles.

Expenses so far:

Planned -Inspection two (valve adjustment, plugs, all fluids and filters) $800 -Battery $90

Wear -RTABs $200 -Koni yellows ($1g with labor and alignment) -Battery $90 -Pads and rotors (cant remember, $500?)

Unplanned -Climate control unit $600 (ouch)

So it's cost me about $4k over that time, $1k of that is in labor, and only $600 was unplanned.

I guess the ~$1800 in wear items is what stands out here on the "unlivable" side of the scale.

that's not bad for near supercar performance though.

35k miles and no tires? Mine came with nearly new RE11s on it and I expect to replace them next year (but I have 6 days at the Glen planned between now and Oct.).

Ah, yeah, tires. Oops. So, another $900. Mine had the stock contis on it and I replaced them with sumitomo htr z iii's. These were the "cheap" alternative but I like them more than the contis.

pigeon wrote: 35k miles and no tires? Mine came with nearly new RE11s on it and I expect to replace them next year (but I have 6 days at the Glen planned between now and Oct.).

I'm starting to think of tires like tanlks of gas -- simply a consumable .

ZOO wrote:

pigeon wrote: 35k miles and no tires? Mine came with nearly new RE11s on it and I expect to replace them next year (but I have 6 days at the Glen planned between now and Oct.).

I'm starting to think of tires like tanlks of gas -- simply a consumable .

Absolutely, and with the price of gas these days they are becoming the cheaper comsumable!

Time for another update.

Oil pan gasket leak - dealer wouldn't replace, only tighten the bolts (good way to strip them) so I paid my mechanic $550 to do it. Back under the car this weekend and there's still a leak, from a common small gasket that fails and is an easy repair

I did my first track days with it 2 weeks ago at Watkins Glen and the car performed flawlessly, the only issue was I used the front brakes nearly completely up. They were KFP Magnum Gold pads and worked well enough but the front wear was just too much. I also developed a soft pedal that no amount of bleeding would fix, I later found significant pad taper on the passenger front pads that explained probably 80% of it.

There's now a set of PFC 06 pads on it front and rear, and once they get a bit of heat in them it's like dropping anchor. Expensive but worth it hopefully; I'll be back at WGI in 2 weeks and we'll see if I can modulate them with street tires (RE11s).

I scored a set of used Schroth Quick Fit 4-point harnesses off Craigslist in Denver (yay global C-list searches!) and they arrived today. I started to install them and wound up pulling out the entire rear interior of the car to dye the rear deck black again. I'm typing this between dye applications and will have it all back together tomorrow.

Nothing else to report - and I consider that a good thing!

bumping up an older thread. Pigeon, any recent horror stories in the last year or two?

I keep dreaming of E46 M3's... and I keep finding reasonably nice one's in the mid teen's. I know I won't get a perfect cream puff at this price, but with a solid PPI and knowing I do my own maintenance, I think I need to put one (with a proper manual trans) in my driveway to scratch that itch one of these days.

In reply to xflowgolf:

No updates forthcoming. Scott passed away.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: In reply to xflowgolf: No updates forthcoming. Scott passed away.

Oh... sorry. RIP Scott!

That made me look twice, we miss you brother