e46 M3 Individual. Version 2.

[JackD]

Also, is that horrible SMG badge standard?!

Yes, on pre-facelift cars, pretty sure it was removed with the facelift.

 

[Danith]

NOICE!

 

[Christopher]

Gorgeous. Great colour combo, and not one I'd usually pick!

 

[Cookie]

Love the colour on this - still enjoying it @Sir_Dave ?
Also, is that horrible SMG badge standard?!

Sssh, is magic badge

 

[JD]

Sssh, is magic badge

I don't mind SMG. But that badge is horrific.

 

[Sir_Dave]

Love the colour on this - still enjoying it @Sir_Dave ?
Also, is that horrible SMG badge standard?!

Ha ha, yup, the badge is OEM, as is the rest of the car, which for a 2003 M3, is probably quite rare 😂
Still enjoying it tbh, had a bit of a wobble last week when someone wanted to potentially buy it, but it wont be going anywhere for the time being i don't think. Its just a pain having to pootle around town in it all the time lol, sometimes wish i had a longer commute just to enjoy the thing a little more!! Did have a variety of plans for upgrades, but in the midst of spending a shed load of money on the mini instead :tonguewink:

 

[Chapppers11]

This looks like an awesome example Dave, where did you find it?

So many nails around in horrendous colour schemes/convertible!

 

[Sir_Dave]

This looks like an awesome example Dave, where did you find it?
So many nails around in horrendous colour schemes/convertible!

Thanks!! Found it on M3cutters, was advertised on the Friday, i bought it on the Saturday
Got it cleaned yesterday, forgot how nice the colour was under all the grime ...

 

[_Tom]

Lovely. Stop being silly and thinking about golfs.
Foggy fog light needs sorting.

 

[Cookie]

Can you come round and clean mine? It looks like a grit truck rolled over it

 

[Sir_Dave]

Lovely. Stop being silly and thinking about golfs.
Foggy fog light needs sorting.

Yes, the fog light has been bugging me, will add that to the order for steering coupler/wishbone bushes that ive been meaning to buy since September!! Now ive finished faffing with the mini i can sort the BMW out instead ...

Can you come round and clean mine? It looks like a grit truck rolled over it

I got a lovely Eastern European chap to do it down at M&S, £45 for the Mini, BMW & TT to be cleaned, not bad i thought.
Living in a flat is just a nightmare for cleaning cars, whereas you're just lazy :wink:

 

[AdDaMan]

So nice. I badly want an E46 M3 at the mo...

 

[JackD]

Have you got round to fitting your LEDs yet? I also have a foggy fog, any idea best place for replacements?

What option are you going for with wishbone bushes? I've just bought oem lollipop bushes for mine from GSF for £60 odd - couldn't make up my mind between oem, powerflex, Z4M or powerflex eccentric for ages!

 

[Sir_Dave]

Have you got round to fitting your LEDs yet? I also have a foggy fog, any idea best place for replacements?

What option are you going for with wishbone bushes? I've just bought oem lollipop bushes for mine from GSF for £60 odd - couldn't make up my mind between oem, powerflex, Z4M or powerflex eccentric for ages!

Nah, havent fitted the LED's yet, will do at some point lol, need to work out how to code them first!
Fog lights wise, last time i bought something like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-Front-Fog-Light-Lamp-BMW-E39-E46-M-Sport-M-Tech-With-Frames-/121656720077?fits=Car+Make:BMW&hash=item1c534e3acd:g:u~sAAOSw9r1WC~dq as long as you replace the pair, any slight difference in quality/glass wont be noticeable anyways!
Wishbone bushes, ive always used the OEM Lemforder ones in the past, so il just get them from ECP/CP4L whenever the next discount is on: http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/BMW_M3+Coupe^Cabriolet_3.2_2003/p/car-parts/suspension/suspension-and-steering/suspension-bushes/?618110295&1&24ad3b4b09e986ffa009f0823e41e8a1ff474fde&000437
Re: Powerflex, having just removed them from the mini as they'd failed, id probably look at Superpro/Superflex instead i think.

 

[Martin.]

Piston Heads Sunday Service is this weekend.

Only down the road from you!

 

[_Tom]

What's next?

 

[Sir_Dave]

Piston Heads Sunday Service is this weekend.
Only down the road from you!

Ah balls, im home in Cornwall all weekend, thats normally a really good one as well!!

Final update on this M3, as it drove off to it new owner this morning, was a great car, but the urge for something else (what i originally wanted in September) was just a little too great unfortunately. I'm just glad i got to give it a proper send off as i spent the weekend chasing Sarah's dads XKR around West Sussex & Hampshire after a weekend down at Goodwood :up:
Such a brilliant car when "on it", the noise, the fee of the car, all truly fantastic, i just began to miss a few little mod cons, simple things like bluetooth that worked, non cr4p satnav and proper iPod integration. Sad i know, but as a daily, quite important. The spec/colour combo of the car was simply epic though imho, i'd never be able to find one like that again!!

Bye bye

What's next? :smile:

Terrible photo i know, but you can see the family ties with its replacement here ... thread to follow ...

 

[Martin.]

Wait a minute, have I missed something? You've sold it??

 

[-Rob]

Hardly surprised at how quick it sold, V8 is a good step up - you'll have to let us all know how you get on with it.

IMO - should have just updated the headunit in the E46 and drove it more like it was designed to be driven.

 

[ForceIndia]

Saloon? Hero. Manual or paraplegic spec box?

 

[Sir_Dave]

Wait a minute, have I missed something? You've sold it??

Yeah, wasnt really planned lol, one weekend i was underneath it fitting parts (steering coupler), the next i was looking at e90's 😂

Hardly surprised at how quick it sold, V8 is a good step up - you'll have to let us all know how you get on with it.

IMO - should have just updated the headunit in the E46 and drove it more like it was designed to be driven.

Re: driving it harder, i do agree, i wanted to do a trackday in it, but i have the mini for that, which meant id have made that unnecessary lol!!
Hopefully the V8 will make a slightly better daily driver, it certainly feels alot more "modern" from initial impressions, the way you can change the drive completely at the flick of an "M" button is very cool. And the noise, whilst not epic in the e46's raspy way, is just hilarious, a relatively normal looking 3 series saloon should sound like a derv, not a racekar.

Saloon? Hero. Manual or paraplegic spec box?

Manual saloon with EDC. Effectively the same spec as @JoePeps without the gangsta wheels :tonguewink:

 

[_Tom]

As said in the other thread, well played. From what I can see you've made a great choice.

 

[Cookie]

Surprised you kept it so long

 

[ForceIndia]

Nice nice nice.

 

[_Tom]

Done the two pipe mod yet? My mate has a cab and it sound AWESOME..lol

 

[MarkCup]

New thread is needed!

You piqued my interest in these recently, had me looking about at them before I very quickly realised I have not the slightest clue what I should be looking for, what to avoid, what needs to have been done etc.

Seeing as you're the ///M oracle on here I look forward to seeing/hearing everything.

One things confuses me though...manual and efficient-dual-clutch? Or is that just Renault's interpretation of EDC?

 

[ForceIndia]

It's dct in the BMW I think.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

BMW's double clutch gearbox is DCT (double clutch transmission?).

 

[welshname]

Nice choice on the replacement.

Need thread with specs and proper pictures!

 

[Sir_Dave]

As said in the other thread, well played. From what I can see you've made a great choice.

Lovely, cheers! Very pleased with it so far!

Surprised you kept it so long :wink:

Haha, 6 months pretty much, thats fairly good going 😂
To be fair, ive had a few good months at work, so whilst it wasnt really planned, it made sense to do it sooner rather than later really, have a wedding to pay for next year!!

Done the two pipe mod yet? My mate has a cab and it sound AWESOME..lol

2 pipe mod has already been done, the noise is just epic lol. Like, proper rumble at low revs, then it wails at the upper reaches of the rev range :hearteyes:

New thread is needed!
You piqued my interest in these recently, had me looking about at them before I very quickly realised I have not the slightest clue what I should be looking for, what to avoid, what needs to have been done etc.
Seeing as you're the ///M oracle on here I look forward to seeing/hearing everything.
One things confuses me though...manual and efficient-dual-clutch? Or is that just Renault's interpretation of EDC?

Ill get one up asap, havent really got any decent pictures as of yet, so might just use the sellers, bit cheeky i know, will see what i can do tomorrow. Essentially the main problem points are the "throttle actuators", these are circa £1500 fitted and fail at about 60k miles, you can get rebuild kits for a few hundred quid, but those only replace the mechanical parts, not the electrical, so if its an issue with the latter, you need to go to BMW. Door lock actuators also fail occasionally (mine went a couple of days before i collected it), but the part is only £70 and an hour or so of fitting. Other than that, they seem fairly robust, obviously they are still quite new compared to the e46's. I went for a manual as the DCT box seems like something else to worry about (like the SMG was), which i wanted to avoid. EDC shocks sometimes fail, but mine seem ok, car has only done 61k miles though.

Nice choice on the replacement.
Need thread with specs and proper pictures!

Thanks, will get some up asap!!

 

[Sir_Dave]

Now replaced with an e90 M3: http://www.cliosport.net/threads/m3-v8-saloon.791098/