http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7184/6...2496de07_b.jpg

Konis and H&Rs acquired! Also came with all the supporting parts like bumpstops, boot covers, RSMs, etc. I'll be taking the RSMs off and replacing them with the Rogue Engineering ones before bolting these on. My only fear is that these may be too stiff (which despite the spring rates, would be due to lack of bump travel) but since these are rebound adjustable shocks, they should be able to control that pretty well. If they are too rough, I'll just throw the OEM springs back on (which is apparently a popular daily driver setup).

and if you've noticed my suspension builds getting milder as I go car to car, there's a reason for that...and no it's not me getting old. :P

I vote getting old lol hahahahhaha...

i just like reading your informed / in depth reviews in regards to suspension set ups... ive learned a thing or two lol

hahaha ok maybe a little bit.

i just appreciate being able to use weight transfer more rather than lose traction from being too stiff.

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...21629074&Log=0

I don't regret trading mine in because at the time, it was the right decision. I'm not getting rid of the M3 either...but someday I could definitely see myself buying an identical colored 2005 STi and building it up like I did my old one for a weekend toy (which is what it should be instead of trying to DD it).

dreams/memories. yada yada.

i saw that think on iwsti yesterday, soooo clean!

Changed the plugs on the M tonight. Was so easy, took me about an hour from start to finish. That engine bay is laid out beautifully. The plugs I took out were NGK R's, which are not OEM, so they were replaced at some point by the previous owner, however they do look pretty worn so this is a good change.

Also found out that coil plug #4 went bad at some point and the previous owner replaced it with a Bremi coil plug. Bremi is **** and the rubber separated itself around my old spark plug, making it impossible to remove the old plug. I will need to pick up a dental pick and since I'm replacing one coil plug, might as well replace them all with fresh OEM units.

And something else I found is that the previous owner only changed the oil at the BMW 15k recommended intervals, which means the valve train is nice and golden from the oil deposits. A few proper oil changes should help flush this out.

Some pictures:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8010/7...dc0cf6e5_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8001/7...bf788cb2_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8160/7...ef09c677_b.jpg

I got these plugs for $40 shipped with less than 50 miles on them. They were used to diagnose an ignition issue then taken out. They're OEM. I'm pleased.

I liked your Evo but I really enjoy this thread far more because it's a car I've wanted since I was a kid and the E30 came out.

I understand, the Evo had no soul.

i only paid 60 for new plugs, how much are they for the m3?

$75-85 for Bosch. $123 for the NGK's

Deal was posted so I went for it, not because they're too expensive new.

Ordered a replacement Bosch ignition coil and a new VANOS filter kit from ECS Tuning. Car is running a lot better today with the new plugs, plus the idle isn't rough anymore. Pretty incredible difference, the old plugs really were shot to **** considering this is with five of the new ones.

Ran the car through a quick car wash:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7227/7...b50478c8_b.jpg

Put in the new Bosch ignition coil. The old Bremi had torn inside the chamber so I had to buy a pick (thanks Ryan) and fish all the rubber gunk out. Finally, got it out and swapped in a new spark plug and the coil. Now all six plugs are done and one of the six ignition coils is a Bosch. I'll be replacing the other Bremi coils so that I won't have to deal with this again!

Also replaced the Vanos filter. Talk about an easy job. One of the old o-rings was so brittle it just snapped in my fingers while removing it. The filter itself was gunked up with brown oil residue before I wiped it off. The new o-rings and filter popped right on no fuss.

Here's some pictures!
New VANOS filter versus the cleaned up original.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8022/7...2b3e046f_b.jpg

Here's why you don't buy Bremi ignition coils!
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7080/7...d335c199_b.jpg

Thanks Ryan for the tip here:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7244/7...b9a0fee2_b.jpg

And so ends this maintenance check off. :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Had a nasty bass rattle coming from the passenger side door woofer, so i swung by BMW and got new clips for the door panel and went to investigate the cause. Taking the panel off was easy once i figured out the order things needed to be removed (same as putting it back on). I didn't see any broken clips, but decided to put in fresh ones anyway. I tested the woofer itself and saw that it was still in good working condition, so i reattached it to the door panel basket (three nice screws) and reinstalled the whole panel.

Put on some bass heavy music and the rattle is all gone. Speaker works like a champ so this was probably one of the cheapest fixes to date :)

Last weekend I attacked the loosening door moulding with some 3M super adhesive...due to the tightness of the rubber seal, it didn't adhere the moulding to the car as tight as i would like, but it's keeping it closer and not moving at all now. As much as I would like to have this looking factory finished, it will have to do.

I still have a ton of parts laying around and I hope to start putting them on the car this week after work, but it's up to my buddies' schedule since he has the lift and air tools.

The great news about this is that with my new job, I will be getting a company car and will be able to keep the M3 garaged. By no longer being my DD, I can take my time on repairs and restoring it. I plan on keeping it for a very long time, so I'm really excited for this.

Did rotors, pads and new brake sensors on the car last night.

rear passenger caliper sticks a little bit and found out the front passenger caliper is pretty much dead. yippee.

one of the stickie wheel weights also came off the drivers side rear wheel while taking it off the car.

so what i ended up doing was replacing the drivers side rotors and pads and replacing the passenger side rotors and running the old pads since the piston on both calipers sticks...no sense in burning new pads.

so now i need to get the right rear wheel rebalanced and buy a front passenger side caliper to put on. i already have a new rear caliper ready to go along with new ss lines for the whole car. going to need to knock this all out soonish.

also finally got around to putting the circlip on the shifter selector rod (on a lift i could reach it), so now i can bang gears without any worrying. yay.

absolutely exhausted from fighting those caliper pistons. replacing the front and rear brake sensors was a chore too, but that came out good in the end. still need to reset the light on the dash yet.

i can't wait to take this off the road and just restore the whole damn suspension at this point. all it takes is time and money.

Finally got rid of the check engine light from having a bad cat. Replaced the 95k mile OEM manifolds with one bum cat and the 95k mile o2 sensors and egt sensor with a brand new set of o2 sensors and egt sensor and that pair of 8k mile OEM manifolds. I went with OEM because it's just easier right now and I don't really care about making the car faster since it's not like the car is running 15 second quarter miles with 332 hp. Plus, this way I can take it to BMW to have it inspected, etc and they won't give me flack about an exhaust arrangement that the car didn't come with.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7277/7...3c38f6ac_b.jpg

Here's the old set before I threw it away like an idiot and didn't think of selling it to a scrap yard.

While the manifolds and sensors were being replaced, I also had the CPV oil leak attended to with a new CPV and o-ring. They also flushed the coolant and recharged the A/C (both as steps in replacing the manifolds).

The shop also hand washed and vacuumed my car for me, which it desperately needed. I was also told that the tie rods are fine after all and it was a mix-up between the checklist for my car and one of the other two M3s they had in that day. Same with the Guibo flex disc...didn't need one after all. So I'm holding on to both parts until I do someday.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8430/7...d755a266_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7116/7...b4ffb161_b.jpg

So that major repair is now done and theres no more CEL. I'm seriously excited about this. Next weekend, I will be taking the car in again for the following:

-Replace VANOS gasket
-Replace valve cover gasket (since you have to in order to do...)
-Perform a valve adjustment
-Oil change
-Transmission fluid change
-Power Steering hose replacement/fluid flush

After that is done, the last remaining items on my mechanical To Do list are as follows:
-New Passenger side brake calipers
-Passenger side brake pads
-SS brake lines and fluid
-Rebalance drivers side rear wheel
-Straighten passenger side rear wheel and rebalance
-Alignment


With all of that done, the 100k mile maintenance checklist has been completed plus some. In order to keep the car bulletproof I am also considering the following steps:

-Fuel pump
-Water pump and T-Stat
-Alternator
-Power Steering Pump
-Starter
-New battery

I figure once those are addressed, there really isn't a system that can fail due to age or mileage anytime soon.

Down the road (aka when I get my bonus check)

-ZCP brakes (calipers and rotors)
-ZCP wheels
-ZCP suspension
-Level 3 OEM suspension overhaul kit (all bushings, control arms, etc).
-Reprogram the M-Track mode for the ZCP brakes

I may go for the CSL headers, air box and cams someday for a real N/A beast, but I'm happy with the current power level and its simplicity.

Looking great Dave. Still loving it over the Evo I hope :)

Thank you! It's getting a full professional detail next weekend, I'll be sure to post some pics from my camera and not my phone for once.

It's nearing halftime on its life, so it's been more work than I thought I was getting into when I bought it, but at the same time the car isn't hard to work on (valve adjustments and manifolds I just don't have the time or tools to do myself). It's actually exciting to bring the car back to showroom condition (and it was in good shape when I bought it).

I just don't ever find myself missing the Evo. Even that awesome stereo it had isn't all that missed. The M3 is that perfect blend of sport and class that allows me to drive it without standing out. It's incredibly fun yet practical enough to use every day. Gas mileage is decent too.

There really hasn't been a downside other than replacing things due to age. Even that's not too bad, it just takes time and money. :)

The best part is that it will be paid off in spring. :)

I don't miss my Evo much either, so I hear you on all of the above. I miss my VR-4 a LOT though, much like the M3 even though it stood out a bit more, heh.

Keep up the great work and make sure to keep us updated :)

Thank you :)

I want to take more pics of the work I do to show off the mechanics of the car more. There's a lot of beauty in the details.