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My car's progress

54K views 258 replies 71 participants last post by  E46 Coupe 
#1 ·
So I thought I'd keep a journal of my car's progression. Bought in March 2011, a 2004 E46 M3 Jet Black with about 83,000kms. Stock except for colour matched front kidney grills. I don't know why the previous owner didn't change the side gills too.
 

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#162 ·
Ughhh!!!

Just spent several hours installing my angel eyes. lol it shouldn't take that long, just that sh1t went wrong and the video I was following didn't show all the steps that clearly.

First I broke one of the clips removing the driver headlight bezel :( Then it was a complete PIA to remove that clip on the lower headlight trim that's closest to the metal fender. Once I worked it out it wasn't too bad. Then I broke one of the clips to my angel eyes - damn things are so flimsy! Then I discovered a 2nd clip was also broken (I bought these second hand). So in the end I only ended up installing 2 angel eyes. I then got the angel eyes turned on, but the car wouldn't start. WTF? Then I eventually realized I forgot to re-connect a wire harness (argh noob!!!).

Sigh. So after all that, a few broken clips, cuts to my hand (I swear BMW make the sh1test, most confusing clips/parts), and lots of cursing...I have 2 working angel eyes hahaha!!! Anyway, it will have to do. I will try find some replacement clips for the angel eyes so I can connect the other 2.

The pic isn't all that clear cos it was dark by the time I had finished...but I am happy with the overall look of the angel eyes. I had just wished the clips were a bit stronger!

 

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#175 ·
love your car man! one of my favorite M3s in the Aus section, as for changing up your headlights... my opinion is that you spray everything but the xenon projector black, I have done it to my car and I always get complimented on it, any mods you do wont be illigal as long as the light output and colour is not affected
 
#179 ·
your E46 looks hot!

Nice power figures, what did the 1M's run in comparison?
I think you should make this your sig.
Thanks guys. The modified 1Ms made around 250-260kw@wheels.

Different design. :(
Mine suit the generic eBay Aurora's/Eurodivision style.
All good. EAS were very kind and sent several spare clips free from the US. Recently installed the other 2 AEs and the car looks great! Happy with them. Let's just hope the clips don't break...cos removing the bottom headlight trim was really frustrating!!!

Anyway, recently bought a fender roller and heat gun. Decided to start rolling my civic's fenders. Went pretty good for a first try.

Fender roller was $88 from ebay and the heat gun was $20 from bunnings. haha love bunnings.



Progress...



One fender done!




I lowered the M3 about 1cm more and that caused the tyres to rub badly on the fender liner and fender itself. Talked to some guys and they recommended me to roll my front fenders, but to use a dead blow hammer instead of the fender roller (cos it might pull the fender). So went to bunnings and bought one.



End result. Not a very good angle, but the lip is pretty much flat now. The fender liner didn't "pop out" of place like what I'd feared. So all good. You can see where the tyres were rubbing on the fender :tsk: Did a quick test drive and it's all good, hardly rubs on fender now. The fender liner still rubs but I'm ok with that.

 

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#182 ·
Thanks man. It's a bit lower, but not quite even all round.

How deep is your coilover body resting in the steering joint. The point where you have the collar seems a bit low to me so that could mean not fully seated or the top hat is just really tall compared with the turner ones.
Not sure, haven't checked to be honest. My mechanic initially installed the coilovers and then I lowered it about another cm or so. I went for a drive through the hills on the weekend - no issues at all.

On the weekend I went to a local car meet. Breakfast was in a small town in the hills. Nice drive but the weather was pretty horrible. Some pics below.







And a link blogging the event...

http://anygivenreason.com/2013/04/23/the-second-any-given-reason-burger-meet/#
 
#186 ·
#188 ·
Ordered a diffuser, half painted Jet Black with 1x1 weave. It's the one on the left. The one on the right is Carbon Black with 2x2 weave. Bought from the US, waiting for the paint to dry and then get shipped over.

 

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#192 ·
Diffuser arrived. Pretty happy with it. The carbon fiber weave looks good, and the paint is pretty good too (though there are a few imperfections but I don't think you'd see it once it's on the car). Won't know how well the paint matches until it's installed, but I reckon it'll be fine.

Will be installing it soon - hopefully it fits well!



 

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