Charlie's TiAg ///M Project thread

I've been talking about doing my ///M project thread for quite some time now ( here you go Alex ) and have finally written it so here goes...

I got my second BMW and dream car, this 2004 TiAg ///M3, in April 2009. I spotted my future ///M sitting alone in the back lot and asked the sales person if I could test drive it. He agreed and off I went... Coming from my 323i I was most impressed by everything about this car...all the little details and performance... this car nailed it for me. I then thanked the sales person and left.

Several days later I decided to stop by again to see if I could test drive the ///M again....yes, the power addiction was biting on me real hard...got my speed/power fix and then left again. This time the same sales person asked me if I was interested in purchasing the car and I told him I was not looking to buy a second BMW. I wasn't going to buy into his sales pitch. Anyway a few days later... I ended up taking the ///M out for a third test drive and knew that I had to have this car....in the process, I violated everything I knew about buying a used BMW....no pre-purchase inspection.

Long story short...what clinched the deal was that the dealership included a 5-year wheel and tire warranty and with the wonderful roads here in New England, it made sense to have this for the ///M.

So here I am, the third owner of my dream car which retailed for $56,195.00 brand new. I got the car basically for under 50% of the original value and was a happy camper... Being a used car, there were several issues that I did not care for and knew that there will be many projects in the future before I am truly happy with my ///M. Like my ZHP project thread here are a few pics of the ///M after I had purchased it in May 2009.

The ///M at time of purchase:

2004 BMW ///M3 - build date October 2003
6-Speed Manual Transmission
TiAg / Grey Nappa Leather interior
LCM s/w ver 3.6
Cold Weather Package
Navigation
BMW Assist
Brushed Aluminum interior trim
Premium Package
Rain sensor / Auto headlight
Harman / Kardon premium sound
18" Style 67 wheels
74,140 miles

Lots of potential for my next projects car!







The car did not have any maintenance history associated with it, however, when I informed the service manager that I was purchasing the ///M, I gave them the VIN and they gave the car a thorough look over and did the research to determine the car's maintenance history. Luckily for me, the ///M has been dealer serviced it's entire life and was assured that I was purchasing a car with a very good maintenance history. I was much more relieved when I heard this and felt relatively at ease with my purchase...

My ///M as it stands currently May 2013:

Laminex smoke film for corner and tail lights
OEM BMW Performance Short Shift Kit
BMW Performance Carbon Fiber Strut Brace
OEM BMW Factory alarm retrofit
OEM BMW 6-disc CD changer
OEM BMW TCU 13th Gen upgrade/retrofit
OEM LCM s/w vers 4.5 coded/installed; one touch-triple blink enabled
OEM Black interior seats front and back
OEM Black door panels front and back
OEM Oval rear view auto-dim mirror
OEM F10 ///M5 lit shift knob retrofit
///M oil cap
OEM E92 LED license plate lights
OEM BMW First Aid Kit
OEM BMW Windshield @ 150,000 mi
Carbon Fiber CSL bootlid
Tekarbon Carbon Fiber CSL rear diffuser
Status Gruppe one-piece CSL carbon fiber lip spoiler
AutoCarbon Carbon Fiber full interior trim
Carbon Fiber CSL center console
BC Racing "BR series" coilovers
Authentic Gruppe M Kevlar CAI
Afe Intake elbow
ARC8 18" hypersilver wheels w/ Hankook Ventus V12s 245/275s (primary ///M wheels)
///M aluminum pedals
Color matched corner reflectors
White LED side markers
CDV delete
Monochrome ///M badges
Monochrome BMW Roundels (TiAg/White)
35% ceramic window tint
Valentine V1 hardwire
Eurosport Design Stainless Steel double-walled exhaust tips
SIRIUS Satellite Starmate 4 Radio integration
HID 6000k lighting (D2S and 9006)
Wheel stud conversion
VMR VB3 19" CSL reps in Hyperblack (alternate wheels for the ///M)
Brake Force Display (BFD) Stage 3 coded in



Future mods / maintenance...
- complete my black interior retrofit (dash, rear deck, and carpeting)
- ZKW lens swap from the OE Bosch lens
- BMW Performance Seats
- StopTech 6-pot/4-pot BBKs
- UUC Stainless Steel brake/clutch lines

On to the list of mods by pics

One of the first mods I did was to get laminate film to cover my headlights, corner lights, and tails...and my color matched corner reflectors (the yellow had to go)
I also got rid of he hideous front license plate bracket in favor of the Skene designs custom license plate bracket.




Next came the Hamann fog light covers


Somewhere in-between during a trip down to Manassas, VA... I decided to tint my windows and had it done there.

Then my friend Anthony told me that blacked out grills/side grills would really have my car pop out....glad I listened to him!


While I blacked out the grills, I managed to get a set of monochrome ///M3 badges


The Strassentech Style front lip to clean up the front end...
Test fitting the lip

Final product


Next came the double-walled tail pipe tips since I am okay with the stock exhaust for the time being...


I had taken off the dark smoke laminate film and was in the process of getting something just a little lighter...

By the summer of 2010 I had sold the 323i and was left with my ///M as my only driver so I chose to drive my ///M full-time during it's only winter driven season....it was a blast but I'll never do that again.....

Before the winter I was at a point where I had to upgrade my OE suspension as it was tired so I, at several forum members recommendations, opted to install BC Racing "BR-series" coilovers. Since several Boston area members were running this on their ///M's I felt that they were more than good enough to use for daily/street driving. So far after two years, I have to say that I'm very pleased with them. I would use these again and highly recommend them




Had the good guys at Kaizen Tuning perform my suspension mods....they are awesome folks to work with!

4-wheel alignment after the install


before the snows...

after the snows...



Didn't care too much for all the wonderful salt and sand the ///M was subjected to


That following spring (2011) I had my second Inspection II coming up so I chose to have my VANOS inspected and VANOS bolts replaced with the new updated bolts.


I was impressed by the relative condition of my exhaust cam sprocket and pump and opted to keep them in place


The bolts were all intact and secure when my mechanic took them out and replaced them with the new updated bolts. Locktite was used and then after the car was put back together I told my mechanic to drive my ///M like he stole it for the awesome work he did....needless to say he had a blast...

While the ///M was at the dealer I had my mechanic delete the CDV and also install my BMW Performance SSK. Looking back at this I could have easily done this and saved money....I know.....



There's more to add but I wanted to get this out first so that I can start to build on what I have already done.

Also got a lit ZHP shift knob from a forum member at M3Forum.net.....the best lit knob you can find in my opinion...glad to have this


It was also time to replace my OE boot lid with something more aggressive so I opted for the carbon fiber CSL boot lid which is shown below



I also slapped on the CSL diffuser as well

Then in May of 2012 I picked up my new baby...a 2003 ZHP to share the garage with the ///M. The ///M had a family again!



Now I had to share mod duties between both cars....for the past year, most of the mod duties have been going to my ZHP as it will assume 90% of the daily driving duties as well as winter driving...

I then changed out my interior trim with a product from AutoCarbon in Germany......a carbon fiber interior trim kit.




The black OEM door panels came shortly after the trim kit and then followed by my black nappa leather seats and head rests...



The next mod for the ///M arrived in the form of a carbon fiber CSL center console



Recent updates to the ///M:

BMW Performance Carbon Fiber Strut Brace

The first group shows the strut bar mounted but I haven't modded the battery terminal yet.
These pics were taken with my ultra-high quality iPhone







The next group shows the strut bar mounted with the battery terminal modded.
These pics were taken with my Nikon DSLR

My hands were shaking on the first pic since I was still getting used to the chilly weather yesterday morning.





I used liquid electrical tape to cover the exposed metal....as you can see it seemed to do the job fairly well



a few pics of the strut tower top where I have access to my coil over adjustments...


driver's side

passenger's side


I took my ///M to work this morning and enjoyed the drive....checked the strut bar after parking my car and everything was A-OK!

part 3

Future mods will be the Status Gruppe 2x2 one piece CSL front lip spoiler, Tekarbon 2x2 CSL rear diffuser, and a fresh OEM TiAg ///M3 front bumper cover.

part 4 - reserved for more pics

Nice car op! Awesome mods

Charlie it's about time you gave this beauty it's deserved thread. I had no idea how much you've done. Looks great.

Originally Posted by BBBoy323i

Nice car op! Awesome mods

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Alex323Ci

Charlie it's about time you gave this beauty it's deserved thread. I had no idea how much you've done. Looks great.

Thanks Alex! If it weren't for you, I would have never tried to install the Carbon Fiber Performance strut bar The ///M is coming along but I need to start doing more mods to it

After replacing my windshield and getting new rear tires, the first mod I plan to do for the ///M is to get SS brake lines and this:

Very nice! I like the wheels.

Hyperblack compliments your paint.

Originally Posted by VMRWheels

Very nice! I like the wheels.

Hyperblack compliments your paint.

Thanks! Yeah I agree...it was either this or going with matte black for the wheels. I'm glad I went with the hyperblacks

Originally Posted by cak323i

Thanks! Yeah I agree...it was either this or going with matte black for the wheels. I'm glad I went with the hyperblacks

Definitely! Hyperblack looks great on silver cars, almost like a polished wheel. Matte black might have taken some of the details away from the wheel.

Originally Posted by ImSoFreaknWhite

Will do man, and thanks for the compliment

Jordan....anytime! I really love a nicely set up black ///M!

Originally Posted by VMRWheels

Definitely! Hyperblack looks great on silver cars, almost like a polished wheel. Matte black might have taken some of the details away from the wheel.

So true Kevin....thanks again for the complements! You have PM regarding a set of Hyperblack 19 x 10's for the rear wheels

Looking good Charlie, I saw your car in your sig a few times and was hoping you would make a build thread. Keep the mods coming.

I love both yours cars you've done an amazing job with both!

Originally Posted by ImSoFreaknWhite

Looking good Charlie, I saw your car in your sig a few times and was hoping you would make a build thread. Keep the mods coming.

Thanks Jordan! Your ///M doesn't look bad either! Feel free to provide feedback anytime you go through my thread

Originally Posted by THECLEANERBEAMER

I love both yours cars you've done an amazing job with both!

Thank you sir! I have a good friend who recently dyed his TiAg ///M's interior to Imola... he's my inspiration Appreciate the complement

Originally Posted by cak323i

Thanks Jordan! Your ///M doesn't look bad either! Feel free to provide feedback anytime you go through my thread

Will do man, and thanks for the compliment

love the mods, exactly how I would do it.

Originally Posted by DJ Syxx

love the mods, exactly how I would do it.

Thanks! Right now I'm looking to swap out my Strass lip for a Status Gruppe one piece CSL carbon fiber front lip spoiler. I think this will look awesome and change the look of my ///M just a bit...

Love the car! I know you got the shift knob from another member but do you know where you can get this at? I think it looks sick!

Just like your ZHP... this is perfection!

Originally Posted by BringsMeWomen

Love the car! I know you got the shift knob from another member but do you know where you can get this at? I think it looks sick!

Thanks! You can get the lit ZHP shift knob at LeatherZ but they cost way too much imho....or you can get the lit F10 M5 shift knob which is basically a lit ZHP shift knob but much cheaper

Here's the link for the lit F10 ///M5 shift knob: http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=MorePartInfo&PartID=1107494&siteid=214672&catalogid=4462


The LeatherZ link: http://leatherz.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=01&Product_Code=IllumZHPShiftKnob&Category_Code=Knobs

I went the LeatherZ route initially but that was before they tacked on an extra $100 for the shift pattern inserts...now this shift knob is not worth it since you can find lit ZHP shift knobs for much cheaper - enter F10 ///M5 shift knob... ($120 vs LeatherZ's $240..... which do you want?)

Originally Posted by TallSkinnyMatt

Just like your ZHP... this is perfection!

Thanks Matt! I've been spending much more time modding and perfecting my ZHP since it's my dedicated daily driver. I am going back to a few mods for my ///M and plan to do much more in the future.....should be quite interesting