Bought an old BMW M3, filled with regret...
- Thread starter mrk
- Start date
Finally sorted it. Im used to rooting / changing ROMS on phones but not on these. Pain in the ass to get this unit into recovery. Once i did though i managed to find the official ROM on xda (couldnt see it on the link mrk) and put the necessary files on a SD card and flash it back to stock. But me being me i didnt stop there. Once i knew the process i decided to give one of the custom ROMs a go. So i flashed that along with the very latest MCU software (microcontroller) and i have what i think is a very nice unit now. The latest stock apps like music and radio look nicer, for example the stock music app on Stock firmware didnt have showing album art, this does. I'd recommend looking into flashing the MCU on yours mrk. It seemed to make the unit snappier even before i disabled google apps / services.
Only downside was the unit originally felt laggy, common issue anyway with them only having 1gb but as the custom ROM is a bit heavier in terms of RAM usage the only real option is to disable/freeze google apps / services for lag free experience. For me thats fine as i dont use anything google related like apps. I use NAVMII for navigation, the standard music and radio apps and spotify still works fine with google services disabled. The unit now is very smooth and better than stock. Hopefully it is stable and no crashes like i was experiencing before. If that does occur i will give up and flash back to stock. If i need to update any apps its literally seconds to enable google apps / services again.
Time will tell if it was a good move!!
In other news BMW got back to me as the foam / resin arrived. Its booked in for the 29th and pick it back up on the 1st. It needs a solid 24 hours to set and cannot be moved at all during this time.
Good to hear. Mine is running fast as I've got a lot of stock apps deleted (root on stock ROM), so all good. I have seen Erisin have a 32GB model out with 8 core SoC which runs Marshmallow.
I'll probably consider upgrading to that at the end of the year as that means there's be no more storage or memory issues with large apps running side by side I guess, and running a more recent Android.
I'll probably consider upgrading to that at the end of the year as that means there's be no more storage or memory issues with large apps running side by side I guess, and running a more recent Android.
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Hi all,
Im thinking of buying a hardtop for the M3, what price do these go for and is there a place i can go to get my colour or will i need to get the whole thing sprayed?
Im thinking of buying a hardtop for the M3, what price do these go for and is there a place i can go to get my colour or will i need to get the whole thing sprayed?
Between 500 and 600 typically. I sold mine in week 1 for 550 cash.You probably won't find the same colour, so have a bodyshop at the ready.
I'll look into trimming down the stock apps to speed things up even further. Very noticeable improvement today though with use and general speed of it today, with it being the first day of real world use. I didnt know about the updated model. Im with you though and may consider upgrading after i've done everything else first though. Based on today it doesnt need updating. But i've obviously gone the route i've gone due to the resetting issues since purchase so just hope it stays stable!!!
How was the gear knob today lol. My metal SMG one was literally to hot to touch after work. I had to use the cloth i use to wipe the windows with to put it in drive!!! Even the flappy paddles were hot!!!
I don't commute by car so all has been well today 
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mrk how much did you pay for an Inspection II?
I’ve not had an Inspection 2 yet, just checked as I thought I did but it was an Inspection 1. So far I’ve had two oil services and an inspection 1.
Inspection 2 cost for me is £600. The Inspection 1 cost £500. I always supply oil and filter.
I use Alexander Autos in Portsmouth, a BMW specialist. For reference, BMW at the time quoted me ~£700 for Inspection 1, and just over £900 for Inspection 2. I megalolled out of there.
Inspection 2 cost for me is £600. The Inspection 1 cost £500. I always supply oil and filter.
I use Alexander Autos in Portsmouth, a BMW specialist. For reference, BMW at the time quoted me ~£700 for Inspection 1, and just over £900 for Inspection 2. I megalolled out of there.
Soldato
Top tip - buy the Inspection I/II kits for £very little and get a trusted garage to do the labour.
Well got my car back today from BMW after the Foam / Resin injection Reinforcement job and everything was all good, even the price lol. From what i read i was expecting 300-350 and the guy who quoted me said approx 300. It was 284 
They inspect the car for any cracks beforehand and official guidance is they will allow a maximum of a 20mm crack or else they wont do the job at all as no point. They said mine had zero cracks anywhere and said the car was in very very good condition underneath / generally. So chuffed with that.
Saw some amazing cars though, especially a 17 plate M760li xdrive. V12 twin turbo with over 600bhp. Absolutely lovely and a beast of car. Made my E46 M3 look tiny lol.
They inspect the car for any cracks beforehand and official guidance is they will allow a maximum of a 20mm crack or else they wont do the job at all as no point. They said mine had zero cracks anywhere and said the car was in very very good condition underneath / generally. So chuffed with that.
Saw some amazing cars though, especially a 17 plate M760li xdrive. V12 twin turbo with over 600bhp. Absolutely lovely and a beast of car. Made my E46 M3 look tiny lol.
The new 7 series is pretty amazing, even looks beastly, more so than the 5 series in my eyes.
On an unrelated topic, what is it with people and grabbing a frameless car door by the glass? Had a weekend away and ended up ferrying quite a few people back and forth. By the end of it my passenger door glass was more smudge than clear glass, how annoying! Somehow the outside painted sill was plastered with finger smudges as well.
I also did some exploring on my own finding some nice roads, realised how useful M track mode is even just in the straights where 1st gear would just spin the wheels with DSC off. With DSC on, it would result in an unwanted delay of anchoring before traction was regained. M track kept the wheelspin just enough to keep the car moving and holding traction the entire time. Nice mode to have every now and then!
When I did the track day a while back, I had M track on, but I didn't pay much attention to it as I was too focused on the instructor and keeping an eye on cars around me
I Googled this but couldn't find a pre-made kit as such, do you have a link to the one you used? Sounds interesting if it saves some money! My indy gets everything from Snows BMW, so their prices are slightly higher than other specialists, but they also welcome people supplying as many parts for the job as they want and only charge the labour.
Car is now almost at 98k miles. not long until it's skip material at this rate...
On an unrelated topic, what is it with people and grabbing a frameless car door by the glass? Had a weekend away and ended up ferrying quite a few people back and forth. By the end of it my passenger door glass was more smudge than clear glass, how annoying! Somehow the outside painted sill was plastered with finger smudges as well.
I also did some exploring on my own finding some nice roads, realised how useful M track mode is even just in the straights where 1st gear would just spin the wheels with DSC off. With DSC on, it would result in an unwanted delay of anchoring before traction was regained. M track kept the wheelspin just enough to keep the car moving and holding traction the entire time. Nice mode to have every now and then!
When I did the track day a while back, I had M track on, but I didn't pay much attention to it as I was too focused on the instructor and keeping an eye on cars around me
I Googled this but couldn't find a pre-made kit as such, do you have a link to the one you used? Sounds interesting if it saves some money! My indy gets everything from Snows BMW, so their prices are slightly higher than other specialists, but they also welcome people supplying as many parts for the job as they want and only charge the labour.
Car is now almost at 98k miles. not long until it's skip material at this rate...
What made you choose resin injection over steel plate reinforcement?Well got my car back today from BMW after the Foam / Resin injection Reinforcement job and everything was all good, even the price lol. From what i read i was expecting 300-350 and the guy who quoted me said approx 300. It was 284
They inspect the car for any cracks beforehand and official guidance is they will allow a maximum of a 20mm crack or else they wont do the job at all as no point. They said mine had zero cracks anywhere and said the car was in very very good condition underneath / generally. So chuffed with that.
Saw some amazing cars though, especially a 17 plate M760li xdrive. V12 twin turbo with over 600bhp. Absolutely lovely and a beast of car. Made my E46 M3 look tiny lol.
Soldato
I also did some exploring on my own finding some nice roads, realised how useful M track mode is even just in the straights where 1st gear would just spin the wheels with DSC off. With DSC on, it would result in an unwanted delay of anchoring before traction was regained. M track kept the wheelspin just enough to keep the car moving and holding traction the entire time. Nice mode to have every now and then!
When I did the track day a while back, I had M track on, but I didn't pay much attention to it as I was too focused on the instructor and keeping an eye on cars around me
Sport+ mode works very similarly in the F series cars, allowing a little (quite a lot actually) of slip. On my first track day I spent the first half of the morning driving with TC on but once I'd gotten comfortable with the car and the track I changed to Sport+ mode and it makes a massive difference, especially out of slower corners where the TC would interfere way too much and the car would bog down for what felt like forever before finally deciding it would let you go again!
Gonna be the same principle yeah!
I've now lost my locking wheel nut key, phoned to order a new one from Cotswold only to be told that even though they all look the same, they are minutely different and there are about 30 different types. So I need to go to a dealer so they can whip out their master set and get the correct ID number for my nuts in order to sell just the key on its own.
Megajoys.
I've now lost my locking wheel nut key, phoned to order a new one from Cotswold only to be told that even though they all look the same, they are minutely different and there are about 30 different types. So I need to go to a dealer so they can whip out their master set and get the correct ID number for my nuts in order to sell just the key on its own.
Megajoys.
Soldato
I had this before but they found the right one from my VIN number!
Few factors really, including cost. I also did a lot of research even before buying the car and like any subject there are people recommending it as a viable solution with no need to weld, especially in my scenario where no cracks exist, and those who say steel plate reinforcement is the only option. For me the car is approaching 14 years old and 85k mileage and it hasnt cracked in the slightest in that time. I dont plan on abusing the car, i dont plan on tracking it either. Both of those factors seem to greatly increase the risk of a car cracking before any reinforcement is done. There are multiple posts online where people say resin is absolutely fine. One of the best i have read was this one:-
http://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1637340&postcount=37
then these
http://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1373810&postcount=59
http://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1621504&postcount=24
Its a topic that has been discussed to death it seems and the only clear winner is plating and resin injection combined, but at nearly 2k (reddish motorsport) vs £300 i am willing to see how it goes. I've also read people say you cant plate after resin injection but i've read reddish motorsport saying that isnt the case. So i can go that route if the need ever occurs. I personally think it wont be an issue now. When BMW replaced the boot floors under warranty they did the resin injection too, so they must have faith in the fix. Why offer it if its not gonna work, they are just going to grief for it further down the line.
Fair enough, I've had 2 x E46 M3's and both never needed subframe repairs but I got plate reinforcement on one of them. Just so you know, plate reinforcement is no where near £2k if you go to somewhere other than Reddish. ETA Motorsport in Kent charge £750 for plate reinforcement and they're work is well known.
Yeah ETA is where my car will go if it ever needs doing. Although for the price, I'd be happy enough to get the resin job done at BMW as well. It does mean if it fails and they've given it the AOK beforehand, then it's up to them to sort it under warranty whilst you roll around in a nice courtesy car.