2006 BMW M3

[rherold9]

An old "forum list" of who was fixing their subframes... :lol:

[Scott]

Eh, but the additional ones with the M3 are the pricey ones. Subframe issues don't happen usually with 328s and less.

That's a cute theory

[Scott]

Part of me wants to sell the 19" E92 wheels and get a set of 18's with slightly better tires. Probably won't do anything until spring, unless I catch a great deal on a wheel I like, either new or used. Good thing is the E92 wheels seem to be pretty desirable so they should sell quick enough.

Yes.....

Obviously very subjective, but I still think these are the best E46 wheels:
http://www.bimmerworld.com/APEX-ARC-8-Wheel.html

[Scott]

Still have these 18x9.5s, super light, for sale!

Dammit, DJ.

In my search for a new car, every time I see an E46 M3 I have to try really hard to not go drive one. This doesnt help.

This........

A 2 mile commute (one way) is probably terrible for these right?

[SlimKlim]

Still have these 18x9.5s, super light, for sale!

Dammit, DJ.

In my search for a new car, every time I see an E46 M3 I have to try really hard to not go drive one. This doesnt help.

This........

A 2 mile commute (one way) is probably terrible for these right?

Easy, just make it a 10 mile commute by meandering around town twice a day so the oil actually gets to temp. :dunno:

[Scott]

A 2 mile commute (one way) is probably terrible for these right?

Easy, just make it a 10 mile commute by meandering around town twice a day so the oil actually gets to temp. :dunno:

That would work in the afternoon, but not in the morning. Every Friday afternoon and Sunday afternoon I do make a 100 mile interstate trip though

[SlimKlim]

Install a rolling road in your driveway so you can warm up the engine and transmission for 20 minutes before you leave the house. Then you can commute in maximum attack mode and shave it down from a 3 minute drive to 1.5. Or like, ride a bike or take one of your derelict $1000 miatas to work and save the high strung thoroughbred on the weekends.

It probably is about the best time to buy one if you're gonna do it. They sold about ~40k of these things compared to ~75k E36 M3s. They also have the "real motor" and it's a better built car in general, so I don't think they'll fall down into the sub-10k range. Allegedly the E36 market is starting to bounce back from its lowest point, and the E46 will follow over the next 5 years or so. If you want one, especially as a weekend car so you aren't putting oodles of miles on it, the next year or two is probably going to be the best time to buy one and who knows, maybe the appreciation over a 5 year period would pay you back for the maintenance. EAG certainly thinks so anyway.

TL;DR: Do it. Do it naow.

[D_Eclipse9916]

My mom has a 2-3 mile commute..both ways and probably never gets the car up to temp. Rod Bearings showed a bit of the reprecussions but it wasn't bad considering she put 40k miles on it that way. I make sure I rag on the car pretty good whenever I borrow it and I have never had issues. Upper valvetrain wear looked great, and the bearing lasted 130k miles originally and weren't in DIRE shape.

With you, youll take it out 10x as much as my mom in terms of longer drives so youll be fine.

[*insertusernamehere*]

Still have these 18x9.5s, super light, for sale!

Dammit, DJ.

In my search for a new car, every time I see an E46 M3 I have to try really hard to not go drive one. This doesnt help.

This........

A 2 mile commute (one way) is probably terrible for these right?

You really love your periods don't you? Lol

[Senor_Taylor]

Still have these 18x9.5s, super light, for sale!

Dammit, DJ.

In my search for a new car, every time I see an E46 M3 I have to try really hard to not go drive one. This doesnt help.

This........

A 2 mile commute (one way) is probably terrible for these right?

You really love your periods don't you? Lol

It's called an ellipse.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

[Scott]

. Or like, ride a bike or take one of your derelict $1000 miatas to work

I'm trying to get rid of most of those.

save the high strung thoroughbred on the weekends.

Weekends are for race cars, not street cars

[Jake]

Mileage: 128,400

The car was claiming "Inspection" was due so I looked up what BMW claimed should be done and did the important bits:

• Spark plugs
  
• Cabin air filter
  
• Engine air filter
  
• Check brake pads
  
• Check for leaks

All of that was really easy, the S54 does not seem overly complicated for basic maintenance tasks so far. Unfortunately, the plastic CCV breather hose split in two when I removed it (have to remove it to get at the coils and plugs). And of course, the 05/06 model year got a special snowflake hose that is $195 instead of the traditional $30. So that's cool. It's currently fixed with duct tape and a new one is part of my arriving-on-Tuesday FCP Euro order.

Also replaced one rear shock mount. I meant to replace both but my dumb ass only ordered one from FCP. So, another one is also on the way for Tuesday delivery. The inner metal sleeve had separated entirely from the rubber mount, so I suspect that was the source of a lot of my rattling around in the rear. The shock mounts are cheap - only $11 each for Lemforder.

I noticed that the rear shocks were original to the car, and while futzing with the mount replacement, was able to compress the one shock easily enough by hand. Soooo, add two new rear shocks to my FCP order. $73 each for OEM-esque Bilstein replacements. I thought about going all-out and doing something "better" but my entire goal for this car has been to make it ride better for the sake of commuting. I suspect going from blown OEM shocks to new "OEM + 10%" that Bilstein claims will be a good setup. I'll do the front shocks later on.

So... a bit of an expensive Sunday but glad to know I'm getting these couple of things sorted and sorted right.

[ScottyB]

[I thought about going all-out and doing something "better" but my entire goal for this car has been to make it ride better for the sake of commuting. I suspect going from blown OEM shocks to new "OEM + 10%" that Bilstein claims will be a good setup. I'll do the front shocks later on.

your willpower is far beyond my own when these kinds of occasions come around

[Jake]

your willpower is far beyond my own when these kinds of occasions come around

My sponsors were excited at the prospect of a full suspension refresh, but I know what I need to be buying for the E36, so I held off. Eventually I'll do the front shocks to match the rears, and then various bushings as needed (RTABs, front control arms, tie rods are all likely to need doing in the next oh, 10k miles?). But I have a laundry list of stuff for the E36...

[Jake]

In this episode of "Jake realizes that routine maintenance is awesome" -

New rear shocks are installed and what a difference. The old stuff was definitely original and very blown out. The car must have been riding more or less on the springs in the back, as the new shocks have it sitting about 0.5" higher back there. It's much more composed over bumps.

I suspect this will make me address the front shocks next, to get everything at a baseline. But not like, too soon. Winter is coming and this thing is gonna get a bath and a good ol' hard park soon enough.

[RawrImAMonster]

My shocks are completely blown out too. So much so that we couldn't get the alignment completely in spec. I'm excited to see how big of a difference switching from the stock blown out shocks to the new coil overs will be. Hopefully there are some Black Friday deals floating around for the ones I want.

The only experience I have switching from blown shocks to new so far is on my grandad's jeep wrangler. That thing went from scary as hell to drive at 60 mph to being completely fine.

[D_Eclipse9916]

What are you guys wanting, I may have a set of Ground Control E46 M3 coilovers for sale....

[Jake]

What are you guys wanting, I may have a set of Ground Control E46 M3 coilovers for sale....

At this point, I probably just want matching front shocks for the rears I put in.

Although depending on price for the GC setup, maybe I could sell my current setup and slap yours on. Send me a FB message, we can talk.

[RawrImAMonster]

What are you guys wanting, I may have a set of Ground Control E46 M3 coilovers for sale....

I'll probably just go with the Eibach Pro Street S coilovers. Everyone has been giving them good reviews and they seem to be a perfect fit for street and mild track use.

What are you thinking for the GC setup though?

[D_Eclipse9916]

Its the E46 "race" kit, $1000. Includes front and rear top hats/camber plates, etc.