E90 M3 build /pics thread!

[bmwm3fanatic]

Figured I'd finally create a little build thread to keep a journal of my journey with my M3 (my dream car).

This is my second 2011 E90 M3 DCT I've owned. The first one I owned was a 2011 in Alpine white over black. This was the first M I had ever owned. Prior to the E90M, it was N54s and some Audi's. My first E90 M3 was truly a life changing experience - I would use any excuse to go out and take it for a drive. In under a year, I had racked up about 15k kilometres on it. The car had a rough history. No claims, clean title, and low km. However, the car has had close to 15 previous owners (you heard me right). The biggest issue with that car was the shoddy paint/body work. The entire front clip was painted a different colour code white, and it looked terrible. The roof was wrapped black, and underneath the paint was yellowed. I ended up having the entire car repainted. I had a blast driving it, and truly couldn't have been happier. However, beginning of 2022.. I made one of the stupidest decisions, I sold the car. I immediately regretted the sale, and even tried to buy it back twice. I ended up getting an E46 M3 cabrio SMG when I couldn't find a clean E90M DCT, but we don't talk about that.. (it sucked).
I got rid of the e46 quickly after purchasing it, when I randomly stumbled upon this E90 M3 through a friends lead. I knew I had to have it. Went to see it the same morning I was told about it, left a deposit, and picked it up the following week.

However.. like most of my cars, this one also has a story! This E90 M3 was once a local legend, referred to by most as the nicest E90M in Toronto in the mid 2010s. The previous owner loved this car, and never spared any expense on it. He drove it REALLY hard, but took care of it as such. Many local M3 owners were inspired to own their cars by this E90M. It was the perfect balance, constantly going on cruises, at the track, doing 1/4 runs, or hard parked and turning heads at the local BMW meets. I too had a run in with this car in 2017. There are two moments in my life that made me want an E90 M. The first one was seeing a brand new Alpine white DCT sedan at the bmw dealer in 2010. The second was seeing this E90 M3 in mid 2017. Won't ever forget it. Hood popped with a crowd around it, and a bright red AA supercharger kit glowing like that briefcase scene in Pulp Fiction. Everything just looked so amazing on this car, and that was it. The previous owner was extremely well known for owning this car, but in 2018, he decided to part ways with it. It went to an unknown party who didn't own it for long and didn't drive it at all, to the person I purchased it from, who took phenomenal care of the car, and did a lot of awesome upgrades. It was used for street and track purposes.

The goal?
This is my forever keeper car, and likely the only car I will own for a while. I want to keep that versatility with this build. The car currently is more so setup for tracking purposes, which I'd like to change. I want to be able to kill it at the track, put down some impressive times/have a blast in a straight line.. but I also want to drive this car to work, get groceries in it, drive it to the upper states from Toronto to visit my family, go on cruises, and enjoy the local BMW meets.

My social media- IG: @itz.dat.e90m3

What's done (so far)
-Built engine (35k kms on it)
•Pauter rods
•VAC main bearings
•BeBearings rod bearings
•Honed short block
•Machined heads
-AST 5100 coilovers
•AST adjustable top mounts
•AST drop links
-Turner Solid diff bushing
-Turner monoball upper control arm bushing
-Turner Delrin subframe bushings
-OEM GTS DCT tune
-Alpine tune
-AFE intake scoops (red)
-Valvetronic axle back
•OEM X pipe with resonators deleted
•Test pipes
-Stoptech street pads
•Cobalt friction pads for track days
-Pom performance side skirts (to be installed)
-GT4V2 lip (to be installed)
-JL GTS diffuser (to be installed)
-18x9.5 +22 squared TE37SL in mag blue on 275/35/18 MPS4S

Sadly recently had an incident on my way home from work where a rabbit ran out from the shoulder on the highway. Front bumper, undertray, right side duct to the DCT cooler, gts lip, radiator, and oil cooler are gone at the very least. Hoping to replace the radiator and CSF oil cooler with D088 stuff, and the front bumper with a euro bumper! Sad but things happen. Hoping to get the car back in a month or so.

On a happier note, here is some pics!

[amrazM]

built motor N/A?

[bmwm3fanatic]

Originally Posted by amrazM

built motor N/A?

Engine previously boosted and I am putting it back on boost.

[matchiu]

Nice ride!

[bmwm3fanatic]

Haven't updated this thread in a while. Things have been slow, still waiting for my car to come back from European autobody. It's been a very difficult wait, I just want to take my M for a long drive!

An update on everything-

•Car repainted
•New CSF oil cooler
•New radiator
•New coolant lines
•New power steering cooler and lines
•New AC condenser
•New AC lines
•New cooling fan + shroud
•New front bumper
•Paint matched reflectors
•DCT knob painted gloss black
•New lower ducts
•GT4V2 lip being installed
•Side skirts being installed
•JL GTS style diffuser being installed
(Very expensive rabbit lol)
Thinking about adding on a Varis style rear diffuser undertray, still not sure.

In addition to that, I decided to change my wheel setup (again). Had an opportunity to pick up a set of gold BBS RIA's locally. The TE37s were nice, but they weren't the best spec being 9.5 squared, I also wanted to do something a bit different (already a few local space grey's on mag blue TE's)
18x10+ 25 on 265/35 AD08R F, 18x10.5 + 22 on 295/30 AD08R R. Really excited to see how they look on the car. I think the gold will contrast well with space grey. Haven't seen a set of Gold RIA's on a space grey E9X M yet.. could this be the first?

Some other upgrades I picked up, and will be installing when the car is back-

•Revshift 95A engine mounts
•Pinaccle motorsports ducting kit
•Motul660 brake fluid
•Carbonex hood lever

My 'to order/purchase' list-

•F8X brake kit OR Endless ME20 pads + new rear rotors
•Race polyurethane Powerflex black series RTAB
•Revshift billet aluminum trailing arms
•Turner spherical rear lower control arm knuckle bushings
•Fall Line motorsports lower control arm bushings
•Different axle back (found a Gintani race), + oem resonators to be welded back onto oem x pipe (plan is to eventually do AR headers and x pipe)

HOWEVER, most excitingly (for me), my Active Autowerke Gen 2 Level 3 supercharger kit is going on early! I was supposed to pick the car up this week, however, one of my really good friends who is an AA authorized seller & has installed most/all of the AA kits locally knows my body shop very well, and was offered the opportunity to install the kit in house at the shop while everything is apart. This made more sense to me, instead of putting everything together, and then taking everything apart again in a new months.
A little history on this specific kit and why it's so important/special to my car. This kit was ordered brand new and installed on my car in 2017. It was 'the talk of the town' when it went on the car - it set a lot of records, and turned a lot of heads. The engine failed on stock internals when it was on the car, mid 2017. A new engine was built specifically to handle the AA kits power/boost. My M3 made many local current E9X M3 owners want to own one, including myself. I saw this car at a show in mid 2017 when the AA had just gone on, and I fell in love with it. Since then, it was always my goal to own an E90 M3. I saw an E90 M3 for the first time at BMW of Toronto in 2010 and fell in love, but when I saw this car it sealed the deal. Somehow, I ended up with this exact car without realizing it! Nevertheless, the previous owner decided to quit the car scene, and sold this kit off. It went from this car, to forum member G80.6MT when he owned his LSB E92 M3. It was on his car for two years by what I recall, until it was sold to another group member S65_Martin. It was on his alpine white E92 M3 for a few months, until the rotrex seized due to an undetected internal oil leak. The result was a nightmare, as the failed rotrex sent its shredded up metal through the entire system. Here I was looking for an ESS or a VF kit. I was beat to a local ESS 625 kit by a few hours, and was super disheartened. I put out a few WTB posts, and saw a comment under one of my FB posts with an offer to buy back the OG kit. The rest is self explanatory. I had my work cut out for me, the extent of the damage caused by the rotrex failing was pretty bad. Here is the list of all the replacement parts we had to order from AA-

•New Rotrex C38-92 sc unit
•New CNC anodized bracket for Rotrex
•New front mount air to air intercooler
•New SC oil cooler/lines/fluid
•New SC air filter
•New piping
•New SC belt
•New pulley's
•Plenum, and rotrex oil housing flushed
•Plenum and airbox cover paint corrected
•New hardware (clamps, bolts, etc)
•Braided lines for water/meth system (will be done March/April next year)

Along with the SC kit, we will be installing a P3vent gauge, the Revshift 95A mounts, and a set of new spark plugs.

Parts arriving momentarily from AA. Hopefully the car will be ready to be picked up between Dec 7th-12th! Realllyyyyy eager/excited to have my car back. It's felt like forever since I've sat in it, however, I want to do things once & correctly, and bring the car back to its former glory, if not better than that. Last pic attached is the first start up of the AA kit on April 29th, 2017, installed by Jon Wilson (same tech re-installing in 2022).

[bmwm3fanatic]

Finally got myself a dragy for data logging & for timing laps! Excited to see what the car is capable of with the AA kit. Also received a set of 5mm H&R trak+ (already have a pair of 5mm in the front, these are for the rear).

[M3ZCPNYC]

Niceeee

[mashimarho]

You are going all out on this!!

[bmwm3fanatic]

Originally Posted by mashimarho

You are going all out on this!!

Just ordered my JQwerks magnetic paddle shifters from you! Loving the Black Friday sale

[bmwm3fanatic]

Woohoo! Way to end the week. All parts from Active Autowerke have arrived 2022/12/02

▪️New Rotrex C38-92
▪️New front mount air to air intercooler
▪️New CNC anodized brackets for rotrex
▪️New rotrex oil housing
▪️New SC oil cooler (mocal)/Lines/fluid/filter
▪️New pulley's
▪️New sc belt
▪️New piping
▪️New hardware/screws
▪️New air filter

Install starting as of tomorrow

[bmwm3fanatic]

My tech got a lot done yesterday. Unfortunately hit a small hiccup - missing a few miscellaneous bolts, 1x vacuum line, and a small hose. Hopefully we can order/have these small parts sent out tomorrow, and have them express delivered for Tuesday.
Nevertheless, the rest of the front end will be going on tomorrow (front crash bar, supports, headlights, radiator, oil cooler, ducts/trim), then my tech can complete the SC install (oil cooler, FMIC, Meth tank and lines). Hoping the car is ready to be driven this week, fingers crossed.
Few pics I took-[IMG][/IMG]

[bmwm3fanatic]

FINALLY! A build update!

My car is at home after almost 5 months.

Body work/damage repair:
-New front bumper
-Paint matched reflectors
-New bottom ducts
-New power steering cooler (wasn’t damaged but it was in bad shape)
•New power steering lines/fluid
•New coolant lines
•Various oil lines
•New AC condenser
•New AC lines
•New radiator
•New coolant hoses
•CSF oil cooler
•New cooling fan/shroud
•Front end repainted
•DCT knob cover painted gloss black


Performance:

AA Gen 2 Level 3 Supercharger kit installed:
•New rotrex C38-92 centrifugal supercharger unit
•New CNC anodized bracket for rotrex with new hardware
•New sc system oil cooler (Mocal)
•New oil cooler brackets (for both sc + engine)
-New sc oil lines/filter/fluid
•New pulley’s
•New air-to-air front mount intercooler
•New air filter
•New sc belt
•New piping
•New hoses & clamps
•Plenum flushed
•Rotrex fluid reservoir flushed
•Plenum + airbox cover paint corrected
•BOV(s) rebuilt

Other stuff done-
•New spark plugs
•P3Vent installed
•Gold BBS RIA mounted

Some ‘fun’ DIY things I’ve done in the last 2-3 days:
•Goldenwrench oil/coolant/washer fluid caps in red
•OEM individual edition start button installed to replace worn original start button
•Carbonex hood lever installed

And my to do list for the coming few weeks-
•Install OEM Mperformance splitters
•Install side skirt extensions
•Install RKP diffuser
•Install JQwerks magnetic paddle shifters
•Install OEM GTS/Frozen edition cf centre console
•Custom fabricate/install resonated test pipes and or change axle back setup
•Brake fluid flush
•Install 95A motor mounts
•Dyno to confirm the car is running well + to see what it’s putting down
•Install side vent grilles (body shop lost my original ones and paid for replacements in full, waiting for them to arrive this week)

I cannot conclude this post without thanking my technician/good friend Jon Wilson aka Mfanatik ! He’s done all the work on the supercharger kit, and more since the end of November all on his own time, and has been taking care of this M3 for over 100k km.

I will definitely post a better write up with more photos once I get the car dialed in and I get it looking better with its cosmetic highlights - the no side vent grilles are driving me insane, I can’t wait for them to arrive. I’m still stuck in the break in period, and can’t drive the car hard until I get it on the dyno to make sure everything is running as it should, meaning I can’t push it more than 3k ish for the time being (boo). With that being said I’ve had the car back for 2 days now, and have completed 300km which should speak for itself as per how much I missed this car. I’d like to thank everyone who’s sub’d to this thread and or has been supporting this build - truly means a lot! Enjoy some of the pics I took over the weekend:

[bmwm3fanatic]

OEM GTS/Frozen edition console installed! Thanks to my good friend S65_Martin for selling me this rare piece off his now old car.

[Andy1M3]

Looking good!! Need more side shots with the new rims. Love the center console.

[bmwm3fanatic]

Update!

I had my exterior mods installed by EAB this week and I’m totally in love with the car all over again.

-OEM M performance splitters
-RKP diffuser
-Autotecknic gloss black side marker trim

I also installed my JQwerks magnetic paddle shifters and I absolutely love them! Super tactile feeling and they sound absolutely amazing whenever you use them. The only complaint I had is that they were a tad bit on the loud side - so I slipped a small piece of paper in between the magnets on each side which improved the sound of the magnetic clicks greatly!

Alongside that I also changed the brake fluid which was old (Motul660), and had an alignment done. Plan to install a set of 5mm H&R spacers in the rear to give the car a bit more of an aggressive stance. Still waiting to get it on the dyno to make sure everything is dialed in, so I can finally hit boost and feel all that power, also pending install of the Revshift 95A motor mounts.

I’m also going ahead and changing my exhaust setup. Found a Gintani race E90 fitment axleback and had to pull the trigger as I’ve only come along e92 fitment exhausts and I don’t like how much the tips stick out. Thanks to Longjohnsteeltip for selling it to me - currently in transit, can’t wait to install it, have my resonators welded back on, and post sound clips!

[Longjohnsteeltip]

I’m glad I could help out. Definitely one of my new favorite builds especially with the AA lvl3. Can’t wait to sse it with the exhaust on.

[Siajoon]

I’ve got a gintani race coming as well! Super excited.. what midpipe are you pairing it with?

[bmwm3fanatic]

Originally Posted by Siajoon

I’ve got a gintani race coming as well! Super excited.. what midpipe are you pairing it with?

Nice! I’m pairing mine to OEM X pipe + test pipes - excited to hear it.

[Siajoon]

Should sound great! Look forward to some sound clips..

[bmwm3fanatic]

Went for a little drive this morning to Mfanatik ‘s place! He installed the meth tank sensor and a set of 5mm H&R spacers for the rear to give it that extra chunky look 💯

[bmwm3fanatic]

Haven’t updated this thread in a long time!

Car has definitely come a long way. I’ve put roughly 6000kms since the last post.

Firstly, I’ve finally broken everything and have been able to do a few 100-200KMH runs on dragy. My personal best so far has been 6.57 seconds - hoping to push more out of it. My two biggest problems right now are 1.) Grip and 2.) DCT clutch packs. Really starting to feel 1st/3rd/5th/7th pack slip from all the hard driving over the years. Lowered the tire pressure down a bit, going to try to make a few more runs and see if I can get the damn thing to hook!

Some of the other upgrades/maintenance/work that’s been done since the last post-

•BMS cabin air filters/cowl delete (red)
•Endless ME20 brake pads rear and ferodo DS2500 front
•New rear tires (295/30/18 AD08R)
•Active Autowerke fully catless resonated Xpipe
•Gintani race exhaust installed
•Oil + filter change
•Ferrari red future classics oil filter cap (all about the details &#128526
•New 02 sensors
•New gas pedal assembly

Car is running healthy and good! Have been doing many cruises and going to many meets. I’m hoping to drive the car across the border to Cleveland OH area in a month or so, if there’s any E9X M guys in the area give me a shout! I also sadly haven’t had the time to get this car on the track yet, really excited to go to an open lapping event at TMP Cayuga, just waiting for a nice and cool morning so the cad is running happy when I’m beating on it LOL.

However, there’s still some stuff I need to ASAP/things on my wishlist for this season-

•Replacing the Gintani Race axleback (it drones ridiculously with the new x pipe, makes it borderline not enjoyable to drive at times)
•Big brake kit (stock brakes are really not cutting it)
•CF driveshaft
•New cooling fan (current one somehow had a weight break off causing a worrying vibration when the IAT’s get high and the fan kicks on)
•Re-dyno’ing the car
•Tinting the windows (highly debating it, love the fishbowl look)
•AC charge
•New front tires

Thanks to both my good buddies for taking such good care of the car, Jon wilson as always Mfanatik and Eugene at ESP automotive (he did a lot of the engine work on this car back in the day) who has recently taken over a lot of the work on this build as Jon has hit some new milestones in life and has a bit less time for the ///M!

Here are some photos of the last few months!

[bmwm3fanatic]

She’s back from the shop! One of the supercharger oil lines had failed causing a massive oil leak. Was waiting for the new line for over 2 weeks, finally got the new lines + o-rings on along with an oil change and she’s running amazing once again.

Definitely need to start progressing other aspects of the build however. My immediate plans going forward are mainly doing a big brake kit, replacing the AST5100’s with KW clubsports (the AST’s are for sale), and refreshing some of the bushings.