E46 M3 owner picks up his E92 M3

[PYE46M3]

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Hey guys ! I have been a lurker on this forum for a while reading and learning more and more bout the E9X M3. Finally I get to properly introduce myself !

I have owned an E46 M3 for about six years now and for the past 1.5 years I've also been looking to pick up an E92 ZCP. It took a lot of searching around the nation but I finally found the right car earlier this month.The car met 8 of the 10 check boxes I was looking for and I pulled the trigger on it without hesitation.

She is a 2013 6spd ZCP with carbon roof, finished in Interlagos on black. She currently has 50k on the clock and I am the third owner. I was told the second owner was a female and a little bit of research on my end revealed that she picked it up from EAG @ 18k miles about 4 years ago. The car is in great shape and I am very excited to finally own an E92 M3 as well !

Here are some pictures of the S65 beast !













and one with the E46 !

[SYT_Shadow]

welcome to the forum!! Great stable you have there!!

[Space Fox]

Beautiful car. Great find, looks like your patience paid off. e46 looks kick ass too! Would love to hear more about how the two compare in your eyes. Have not had the chance to experience the e46 for myself.

[Rahul718]

Wow, beautiful man and congrats! I'm in a similar boat...I have an f82 ZCP and looking for an e46 or e92 to keep it company. The subframe issues with the e46 scares the crap out of me though and I don't have enough of a comfort level or knowledge on that area to ensure I don't buy one w/ subframe issues or even how to be preventative about it.

I'd be curious to get your opinion after having both of these for some time.

[wheezyF]

Nice pick up. NGL.. I came from an e46 as well and I think it was a more fun car to drive

[PYE46M3]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

welcome to the forum!! Great stable you have there!!

Thanks ! it's a work in progress

Originally Posted by Space Fox

Beautiful car. Great find, looks like your patience paid off. e46 looks kick ass too! Would love to hear more about how the two compare in your eyes. Have not had the chance to experience the e46 for myself.

Thank ! Yes, the E46 taught me to be very patient in search of the right car. Truthfully, aside from the "M3" name, I don't think there is much of a comparison between the two. The E46 M3 is a weapon while the E92 M3 is a refined cruiser.

Originally Posted by Rahul718

Wow, beautiful man and congrats! I'm in a similar boat...I have an f82 ZCP and looking for an e46 or e92 to keep it company. The subframe issues with the e46 scares the crap out of me though and I don't have enough of a comfort level or knowledge on that area to ensure I don't buy one w/ subframe issues or even how to be preventative about it.

I'd be curious to get your opinion after having both of these for some time.

Well, it depends on what your end goal is. A clean E92 M3 is not only easier to find but also perhaps cheaper than a low mileage clean, late model E46 M3. The E92 is more of a solid car with far less common issues and will be much easier on your wallet on the long run as well. They both require rod bearings but the 46M also requires subframe reinforcement, vanos bulletproofing and an expensive SMG pump if you opt for that tranny. They pretty much all will have subframe issues eventually. You will spend thousands of dollars on a 46M to make it a turn key car, so you must choose wisely when you look for one.

Originally Posted by wheezyF

Nice pick up. NGL.. I came from an e46 as well and I think it was a more fun car to drive

Yes I agree !

[wyatth]

Welcome, congrats, and nice pick up!
Are you in or is the car from the Bay Area? Car looks familiar, a lady drives (or drove) an identical spec near my office. I see you're in CA. Can't be thatttttt many E92 ZCPs in IB driven by women around here.

[martgsr]

Congrats ! Had an E46 M3 with 35k miles 2005 titanium silver manual, but I had to sell it to be able to get my E90 M3 LMB.
Sometime I miss my E46 but I don't regret it... s65 is so much fun

[HELROTM3]

Epic! The S65 is amazing! I've owned them all...They are all amazing in their own way, but the V8 is special.

[SAMM3Y]

Looking good bruddha... love the colors of your cars. I have a coil puller if you wanna borrow it I saw your other post. Just ship it back to me when your done. Pm me your address I'll send it to you.

[mrm3too]

Congrats, just made that jump myself after having had an e92 and e90m previously. Glad to be back in an E92.

[PYE46M3]

Originally Posted by wyatth

Welcome, congrats, and nice pick up!
Are you in or is the car from the Bay Area? Car looks familiar, a lady drives (or drove) an identical spec near my office. I see you're in CA. Can't be thatttttt many E92 ZCPs in IB driven by women around here.

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.

Originally Posted by martgsr

Congrats ! Had an E46 M3 with 35k miles 2005 titanium silver manual, but I had to sell it to be able to get my E90 M3 LMB.
Sometime I miss my E46 but I don't regret it... s65 is so much fun

that was one low mileage E46. I love LMB

Originally Posted by HELROTM3

Epic! The S65 is amazing! I've owned them all...They are all amazing in their own way, but the V8 is special.

The v8 is the #1 reason I wanted this car

Originally Posted by SAMM3Y

Looking good bruddha... love the colors of your cars. I have a coil puller if you wanna borrow it I saw your other post. Just ship it back to me when your done. Pm me your address I'll send it to you.

Thanks ! PM coming your way

Originally Posted by mrm3too

Congrats, just made that jump myself after having had an e92 and e90m previously. Glad to be back in an E92.

They're both nice cars for sure !

[PYE46M3]

The big brown truck finally pulled up and a big brown box was delivered

Onto the jack stands she went with the assumption that all fluids except engine oil were still the factory filled ones.... and this car is so much heavier than the E46. you can easily feel the difference jacking up the front end !





Started in the rear end with the diff fluid. It didn't look too bad. a little "milky"





used my fluid extractor to get as much fluid out as possible





I filled it up with liquid gold. Anyone who has paid for this stuff knows you don't waste a single drop !





Trans fluid on the other hand was very dirty and smelled nasty !





I went with Pentosin FFL4. It is probably the same fluid as BMW LT3 which is the replacement for LT2. It took 1.8L, I dont know why I bought 3 ! I even started her up and put her in gear to activate the pump and didn't get to add much more after that !





The car had a fresh oil change at BMW dealer before I bought it but I decided to change it anyways just to be 100% sure (car OCD)





There is nothing I hate more in my garage than big dirty bulky oil drain pans. My old 5 quart one wasn't going to win the upcoming challenge. Luckily I found this 10 quart pan for merely $5 at home depot (advance auto also has it). It is low profile and long enough to drain both holes at the same time. It is almost as if they made it for the S65 !





I let her drain for about 4 hours. Used my fluid extractor to collect the oil and transfer to 1 Gallon jugs. I have to admit, changing the oil on this car is a PITA. BMW really screwed us with no oil dipstick thing. With the fluid extractor, I do an oil change on the E46M in 10 minutes flat. Now I am back to jacking up cars and crawling under neat all over again





I went with what has been proven already. Kind of hesitant to switch to BMW's new oil. Either way it doesn't really matter because she will be a garage queen.





some snake oil was added as well !





Time for the brake fluid. The motive makes it super easy !





old fluid wasn't too bad.




I was able to locate the clutch bleeder too. I read some people had difficulty bleeding it but the consensus was that you would need to loosen it by 2-3 full turns. That did the trick and I just let it drip out. Wasn't going to bother with hoses !

E46 is definitely watching me like a hawk




Power steering fluid was super dirty. Glad I decided to change it. I loosened the 2 (12mm) nuts on the rack and turned the wheel left and right several times and it drained almost all of it.





thoroughly cleaned the container as well





Filled it up with 11S





Next on the list was coolant....





I was able to find the driver side block drain bolt. unbolting it is doable but I decided that putting it back in was going to be next to impossible. I wasn't going to let my OCD get me into trouble here.






"The solution to pollution is dilution".... 2 Gallons of BMW coolant and 2 gallons of distilled water and I filled the system up several times and drained through the radiator.





Each time I drained the radiator, I got about 1 gallon of coolant out. On the last drain, I swapped the plastic drain plug and filled her up with fresh coolant





last but not least... decided to change the transmission mounts since I was in there anyways.... Held the trans in place with a wood block and jack





Removal took less time than cleaning the bracket.





The old mounts were actually in fantastic shape. I regret buying new ones, but what the heck... whats another $40 at this point




None of this would have gone as smooth as it did without this forum. Tons of info out there. Thanks guys !

[slow4dr]

Solid work, I now feel as though I'm neglecting my car after this last post of yours

[akkando]

Originally Posted by wyatth

Welcome, congrats, and nice pick up!
Are you in or is the car from the Bay Area? Car looks familiar, a lady drives (or drove) an identical spec near my office. I see you're in CA. Can't be thatttttt many E92 ZCPs in IB driven by women around here.

I saw an Asian lady in Foster City with an IB e92 m3 at a gas station a couple of years ago.

[wyatth]

^ Arousing, eh?


Nice round maintenance! Love the feeling of all fresh fluids after a purchase. Add spark plugs and some filters to the list and you’re SET!

[PYE46M3]

Originally Posted by slow4dr

Solid work, I now feel as though I'm neglecting my car after this last post of yours

Everything I did is super easy and requires basic tools ! It can all be knocked out in one sunny day !

[PYE46M3]

Originally Posted by wyatth

^ Arousing, eh?


Nice round maintenance! Love the feeling of all fresh fluids after a purchase. Add spark plugs and some filters to the list and you’re SET!

Right ? Having all fresh fluids is such a great feeling. I bought OE plugs but USPS is taking FOREVER to deliver them. Will put in a new air filter and cabin filters when I’m doing the plugs !

[neilum]

Nice pickup!

Weight difference is only 150-200 lbs difference though.

[IB M]

U Michigan fan?

Perfect matched set of M cars right there!

[PYE46M3]

Originally Posted by neilum

Nice pickup!

Weight difference is only 150-200 lbs difference though.

I didn't realize that ! I know the S65 is lighter than the S54 but the front end of the E9x felt harder to jack up. Perhaps its also because my E46 is a little lighter in the front end with a vorsteiner CF hood, CF airbox, stoptechs and aftermarket headers.

Originally Posted by IB M

U Michigan fan?

Perfect matched set of M cars right there!

thanks, and not really haha. I grew up in Cali and moving back there soon !

[Obioban]

The s65 short block (no heads, cams, etc) is lighter than the s54 short block. This was the basis of bmw’s marketing department claim. The s65 long block (complete engine) is heavier than the s54 long block.

... and the complete car is closer to 300 lbs heavier. Per bmw’s official weight, or:
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1554802