e46 M3 Individual. Version 2.
Discussion
So then, this wont be a massively long thread full of modifications & faffing, it'll just be a place to put a load of (cr4p) pictures now & again. I went out looking for an e92 M3 to replace the M135i (its leased, & going back 6 months early) and ended up buying this instead, half the price spent meant more money for other things, like trackdays in the mini 
Its an '03 with Individual Aegean Blue paint, Lotus White leather & Black birch wood trim. Every option ticked (bar extended leather), including: Satnav (minidisc lol), Trafficmaster, Voice control, Harmon Kardon, Heated Seats, Electric Sunroof, Folding Mirrors & Electric Rear Blind.
The previous owner had also fitted some Storm Titanium SMG paddles & had the steering wheel re-trimmed by Jack at Royal. With full BMW history, BMW warranty until 2013, BMW subframe repair in March 2014 and an Insp2 done at Redish in Nov 14 inc. gearbox/diff oil, the car pretty much sold itself to me, the history file is about an inch thick!! I'll probably keep up the basic BMW servicing, but do everything else myself.
The car currently needs a clean, but here are a few pictures anyway, i just love the colour combo, the interior is just sublime imho!!
Current fleet:
The masterpiece:
Lotus white goodness:
Trafficmaster, proper oldskool display style lol!!
Minidisc player lol
And the colour when clean:
Things that will be changing? I quite fancy a Storm Titanium SMG shifter to match the paddles, as so:
Other than that? Maybe some Eibach springs when the OEM ones fail, CSL gearbox settings and possibly an airbox, the car isnt as loud as i remember, although i am probably just used to 3.0 turbo noises being played through a speaker in the car
Its an '03 with Individual Aegean Blue paint, Lotus White leather & Black birch wood trim. Every option ticked (bar extended leather), including: Satnav (minidisc lol), Trafficmaster, Voice control, Harmon Kardon, Heated Seats, Electric Sunroof, Folding Mirrors & Electric Rear Blind.
The previous owner had also fitted some Storm Titanium SMG paddles & had the steering wheel re-trimmed by Jack at Royal. With full BMW history, BMW warranty until 2013, BMW subframe repair in March 2014 and an Insp2 done at Redish in Nov 14 inc. gearbox/diff oil, the car pretty much sold itself to me, the history file is about an inch thick!! I'll probably keep up the basic BMW servicing, but do everything else myself.
The car currently needs a clean, but here are a few pictures anyway, i just love the colour combo, the interior is just sublime imho!!
Current fleet:
The masterpiece:
Lotus white goodness:
Trafficmaster, proper oldskool display style lol!!
Minidisc player lol
And the colour when clean:
Things that will be changing? I quite fancy a Storm Titanium SMG shifter to match the paddles, as so:
Other than that? Maybe some Eibach springs when the OEM ones fail, CSL gearbox settings and possibly an airbox, the car isnt as loud as i remember, although i am probably just used to 3.0 turbo noises being played through a speaker in the car
Max M4X WW said:
Very nice, colour combo inside and out looks great. Surprised you went for SMG though!
Yeah, was unsure as the last SMG i drove was awful!! This one seems to change gear fairly quickly though, so i thought id give it a try. Its even ok in auto (setting 2), sure its no DSG, but in traffic its relaxing enough for the commute. By comparison, the manual in the e46 M3 is like driving a rocket powered truck at low speeds Most of the highly specced individuals are SMG as well, & if i was going to go back in time to an e46, i at least had to have a lot of toys, even if they are old and s
t lol.But yes, i bought it from Raj, i.e. Fullhouse Customs, please don't tell me its been put on its roof at the Nurburgring, then stuck back together with a shell from an e46 that had been found at the bottom of the sea ...
Sir_Dave said:
.....
But yes, i bought it from Raj, i.e. Fullhouse Customs, please don't tell me its been put on its roof at the Nurburgring, then stuck back together with a shell from an e46 that had been found at the bottom of the sea ...
Nah, worse than that. But yes, i bought it from Raj, i.e. Fullhouse Customs, please don't tell me its been put on its roof at the Nurburgring, then stuck back together with a shell from an e46 that had been found at the bottom of the sea ...
- not really, I wouldn't know!
Another lovely BMW in this section. The colour's great.
(Can anyone get hold of minidiscs nowadays??)
Very very nice, looks a lovely car.
SMG is something ive never experienced, I'll have to try it some day.
It's good that you're leaving this one largely standard. I don't know if these suffer the same issues with the traffic master system that the E39 does and it causing a power drain, so worth keeping an eye on.
Enjoy!
SMG is something ive never experienced, I'll have to try it some day.
It's good that you're leaving this one largely standard. I don't know if these suffer the same issues with the traffic master system that the E39 does and it causing a power drain, so worth keeping an eye on.
Enjoy!
I've still got a load of Minidiscs under my bed. Still got my Pioneer system that plays them and my dad's old E46 had a player in it. Still much prefer them to the CD. Love the car though, and the best looking M3. Just right proportions and in a great colour. I'm not a massive fan of how the SMG drives at sedate paces but when you're on it then it makes more sense.
Few changes made over the past week or so:
1. Bosch Aero Wipers - so that i can actually see, instead of looking at a sea of smears each morning
2. Intravee ll, Alpine KCA-420i & 5V adapter
As i wanted as OEM a look as possible, i ended up buying the storage tray used if the car doesnt come with a CD Changer - the Intravee/iPod then sits in the tray with easy access via the usual opening flap, as below:
Everything is held on with velcro strips, so no rattles/iPods flying around the boot! The Intravee interface seems to work pretty well and has given me a number of other useful options such as folding mirrors, sticky indicators & lights on lock/unlock which i had been missing from the M135i. For the £200 or so that it cost, i think its a worthwhile upgrade. Also seems to work with my iPhone 5 ok, doesnt turn on instantly, but give it a couple of minutes and it wakes up ok.
Then this morning I got the activation code for the Binary Tool today so coded the CSL SMG Shift / Rev matching + Inertia fix, CSL Warm up light changes, 155MPH Limiter removal & Dyno limit removal at lunch time.
Imho, SMG as standard is ok when you're on it, in mode 5/6, but when dawdling about, its rather clunky. Rev match is fairly poor as well, & you can only really blip the throttle heel/toe when Sport mode is on, the throttle response isnt really quick enough otherwise. To give an example, if you are in 3rd approaching a roundabout and drop to 2nd, your passengers head tends to hit the dashboard as it jerks so much :roflmao:
Differences between the CSL & normal M3 gearbox wise are entirely software based (hardware is the same), so now its updated i have the CSL's rev blipping/ matching & far quicker changes - S3 is now akin to S5 previously. The "inertia fix" also reduces the slurring that you get with the standard gear changes. I can now change from 3rd to 2nd, feet completely off the pedals and get a perfect rev match every time - much smoother!! The Binary tool is incredibly easy to use as well, so very happy with the £20 spend!!!
1. Bosch Aero Wipers - so that i can actually see, instead of looking at a sea of smears each morning
2. Intravee ll, Alpine KCA-420i & 5V adapter
As i wanted as OEM a look as possible, i ended up buying the storage tray used if the car doesnt come with a CD Changer - the Intravee/iPod then sits in the tray with easy access via the usual opening flap, as below:
Everything is held on with velcro strips, so no rattles/iPods flying around the boot! The Intravee interface seems to work pretty well and has given me a number of other useful options such as folding mirrors, sticky indicators & lights on lock/unlock which i had been missing from the M135i. For the £200 or so that it cost, i think its a worthwhile upgrade. Also seems to work with my iPhone 5 ok, doesnt turn on instantly, but give it a couple of minutes and it wakes up ok.
Then this morning I got the activation code for the Binary Tool today so coded the CSL SMG Shift / Rev matching + Inertia fix, CSL Warm up light changes, 155MPH Limiter removal & Dyno limit removal at lunch time.
Imho, SMG as standard is ok when you're on it, in mode 5/6, but when dawdling about, its rather clunky. Rev match is fairly poor as well, & you can only really blip the throttle heel/toe when Sport mode is on, the throttle response isnt really quick enough otherwise. To give an example, if you are in 3rd approaching a roundabout and drop to 2nd, your passengers head tends to hit the dashboard as it jerks so much :roflmao:
Differences between the CSL & normal M3 gearbox wise are entirely software based (hardware is the same), so now its updated i have the CSL's rev blipping/ matching & far quicker changes - S3 is now akin to S5 previously. The "inertia fix" also reduces the slurring that you get with the standard gear changes. I can now change from 3rd to 2nd, feet completely off the pedals and get a perfect rev match every time - much smoother!! The Binary tool is incredibly easy to use as well, so very happy with the £20 spend!!!
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