E46 M3 owner picks up his E92 M3

[PYE46M3]

The engine bay hadn't been detailed by the second owner at all. There was grime in a lot of places and during the PPI we realized that the morons at the BMW dealer who changed the oil right before i bought it ended up dumping about a half quart of oil all over the engine bay when they changed the oil filter. Oil was all over the belly pans and fan shroud as seen in some of the pictures below.

also note the seeping valve cover gaskets and bubbling/cracked paint... a common issue on these motors as I've read?











Since I won't be daily driving the car, it was well worth the effort to do a thorough cleaning while I had her on jack stands. I decided to special order this from home depot. It is safe for aluminium and ok for use on CF and clear coat.




I filled up my foam cannon with the concentrated degreaser and thoroughly bathed the engine and the entire undercarriage. I have to admit it was VERY satisfying.

///M V8... what a beautiful engine bay layout






Picked up this little guy from HD to rinse the undercarriage. I spent about 2 hours in the engine bay with various brushes and also scrubbed all the oil from the oil pan and some of suspension components as well.




all 4 wheel wells as well as belly pans were cleaned as best as I could.










I coated the splash guards with concentrated CarPro PERL. I used it on the brake calipers too which brought out the shine to the finish. I really like the coating BMW used on the calipers !







Cleaned up the rust and painted them in all 4 corners.




all 4 wheel barrels were thoroughly cleaned and coated with ceramic coating for now. This wheel looks to be in good condition but the other 3 have a lot of curb rashes on them and that is honestly my only major complaint about the car. I got a quote to refinish them for $165 each, which I think is very expensive. But it is a local shop that guarantees very close to OEM finish. They operate out of a local HUGE warehouse here in Detroit and work with dodge/chevy/ford to supply/refinish OEM wheels. Sounds promising on paper but $700 is a lot to refinish wheels and ultimately a perfect color may be a subjective. I think it is best to sell these in the future and get brand new OE wheels

[HELROTM3]

Well done! Loving the progress.

[Staszek]

Looking really good! You are just reminding me of all the maintenance I need to do lol.

[1FastSicilian]

Looks good! everything you did, is exactly what I would do when getting a car like this. Changing all the fluids is always first on my list.

[Rahul718]

Car and progress look great. Now sell it to me!

[W///]

Very nice update! I thought your name looked familiar, I read your build thread on m3f when that was still up. Love that car. PY is such a cool color. Don't think I've seen a blue and yellow M3 combo in a garage before, very cool!

[//steve\\]

beautiful! My kind of detailing

[PYE46M3]

Originally Posted by Staszek

Looking really good! You are just reminding me of all the maintenance I need to do lol.

treat her right and she'll return the favor !

Originally Posted by 1FastSicilian

Looks good! everything you did, is exactly what I would do when getting a car like this. Changing all the fluids is always first on my list.

yes I agree ! I always like to set a baseline for myself.

Originally Posted by Rahul718

Car and progress look great. Now sell it to me!

Thanks ! I am keeping her for a while

Originally Posted by W///

Very nice update! I thought your name looked familiar, I read your build thread on m3f when that was still up. Love that car. PY is such a cool color. Don't think I've seen a blue and yellow M3 combo in a garage before, very cool!

Yes I had a build thread on M3F, sadly it is gone. My dream is to have a clean 03 LeMans E39 M5 and a manual Interlagos or Indianaplois E60 M5 parked next to these

Originally Posted by //steve\\

beautiful! My kind of detailing

still working on her. more to come




does anyone else prefer the tint-less look? I am thinking about taking off the tint. it is taking away from the color of the car and not letting it speak to me.

[regensburg94]

Originally Posted by PYE46M3

does anyone else prefer the tint-less look? I am thinking about taking off the tint. it is taking away from the color of the car and not letting it speak to me.

Attachment 2303989

Absolutely prefer the tint-less look. Way cleaner IMO.

[PYE46M3]

Originally Posted by regensburg94

Absolutely prefer the tint-less look. Way cleaner IMO.

Glad other people see it that way too. I think this pic seals the deal for me.

[SAMM3Y]

^^ Those p40's tho!! You should definitely get those...

[s1 s2]

YES to the fish bowl look! I just removed mine last week. It was PITA but the car looks way better from the side now!

Originally Posted by PYE46M3

does anyone else prefer the tint-less look? I am thinking about taking off the tint. it is taking away from the color of the car and not letting it speak to me.

[Drifter2090]

Looking great man! How does the shifter feel wit the new fluid? Also did you use Inpa to bleed thee brakes?

[art unique]

Originally Posted by PYE46M3

I used to live in CA, i need to update my profile haha. I picked up the car in Ohio, I live in MI for now.

that was one low mileage E46. I love LMB

The v8 is the #1 reason I wanted this car

Thanks ! PM coming your way

They're both nice cars for sure !

You took an Ohio car to Michigan?! Shame on you

[art unique]

Originally Posted by regensburg94

Absolutely prefer the tint-less look. Way cleaner IMO.

Get Air 80 from Suntek. Looks like there's nothing there with the benefit if UV protection

[WAKman]

Great car, and welcome to the forum. It would make a terrific companion piece to my IB DCT car.

I get tired just looking at all the work you've done, but it's inspiring!

Terry

[PYE46M3]

Originally Posted by SAMM3Y

^^ Those p40's tho!! You should definitely get those...

They look very nice ! I don't want to start modding this one too. Im already broke lol

Originally Posted by s1 s2

YES to the fish bowl look! I just removed mine last week. It was PITA but the car looks way better from the side now!

Yes I agree it looks better. did you use a steamer? how did the rear defroster come out?

Originally Posted by Drifter2090

Looking great man! How does the shifter feel wit the new fluid? Also did you use Inpa to bleed thee brakes?

I haven't driven the car since I did all the fluids. Its still on jackstands but ill probably take it for a spin this weekend. For the brakes I did it the old fashion way with the motive bleeder. I am not familiar with the INPA procedure at all.. I have to read about that !

Originally Posted by art unique

You took an Ohio car to Michigan?! Shame on you

Lol technically its a Pennyslvania car but either way she's going to cali next year.

Originally Posted by art unique

Get Air 80 from Suntek. Looks like there's nothing there with the benefit if UV protection

I will look into that. I wont be daily driving it and i'll be storying it in the garage to preserve the CF roof and paint.

Originally Posted by WAKman

Great car, and welcome to the forum. It would make a terrific companion piece to my IB DCT car.

I get tired just looking at all the work you've done, but it's inspiring!

Terry

Thanks, great looking IB there ! I got tired of wrenching and scrubbing myself and took a break. Hopefully the weather will be nice this weekend to finish up a couple other things.

[Staszek]

Originally Posted by PYE46M3

Glad other people see it that way too. I think this pic seals the deal for me.

Attachment 2304062

Nice! I am rocking the same wheels.

[s1 s2]

I had some experiencing removing some stubborn tints, like my previous S2000 factory hardtop or crazy brittle purple tint films that flaked no matter what you do.

Best way for me was to have a friend pre-heat the window with a heat gun from outside, and then another person from within start peeling from the edge. With enough heat focusing on the area you work on, slowly but surely it will come off in one piece with little to almost glue residue left behind.

Originally Posted by PYE46M3

Yes I agree it looks better. did you use a steamer? how did the rear defroster come out?

[PYE46M3]

Originally Posted by Staszek

Nice! I am rocking the same wheels.

Are they lighter then 359s?

Originally Posted by s1 s2

I had some experiencing removing some stubborn tints, like my previous S2000 factory hardtop or crazy brittle purple tint films that flaked no matter what you do.

Best way for me was to have a friend pre-heat the window with a heat gun from outside, and then another person from within start peeling from the edge. With enough heat focusing on the area you work on, slowly but surely it will come off in one piece with little to almost glue residue left behind.

Yes you have to heat up the film and take your time, otherwise you will leave the glue on the glass. I will be using a garment steamer from the inside which should be a little more effective. This method worked well on my E46 but it makes a mess as water droplets get all over your door panels and when you do the rear windshield, the steam makes your headliner a little wet.

[W///]

Originally Posted by PYE46M3

Are they lighter then 359s?



Yes you have to heat up the film and take your time, otherwise you will leave the glue on the glass. I will be using a garment steamer from the inside which should be a little more effective. This method worked well on my E46 but it makes a mess as water droplets get all over your door panels and when you do the rear windshield, the steam makes your headliner a little wet.

I know my 3 piece HRE's with wider tires were lighter than the 359s. You could also feel the 220M being lighter when you picked them up.

I really like the tintless looks but living in South Carolina, the tint really does make a huge difference in the summer. I also like that I'm preserving my interior, as well as being able to ignore people when they try to race.

[SAMM3Y]

359 rears are about 28lbs IIRC... pretty heavy