Bought an old BMW M3, filled with regret...

[mrk]

I still own the engine. In my case either I make a coffee table out of it, or sell it to Redish for which they can rebuild it at their own leisure and sell it on or use for R&D or another customer's car that comes in with similar problems to what mine did. They are confirming to me what the options are on that front because if they can make use of it then the final bill for this work will reflect that which is good as it saves me having to ship the engine back and find a buyer etc.

 

[mrk]

Update!

So a delay held the work until after Xmas. I've been given an estimate on the additional bits being done which is fine, a grand total will be given later today or tomorrow. They'd already done the new rod bearing shells and bits to the new engine while it was on the stand by new year.

As of today the new engine has been put back together and the new clutch and flywheel with supporting components all installed. The donor engine was from an SMG car so my brackets and stuff have been transplanted across, as well as the exhaust manifold.

Here's the latest video:

So all things withstanding, I should hope to collect by the weekend. Although an MOT has been booked too as that's due and I might as well get it done at the same time.

Other findings post comprehensive inspection of the undercarriage revealed a cracked rear spring, they matched the online price of £86 for Sachs which is nice. And other items like cracked undertrays, damaged aquaplane guards in front of the rear wheels, cheap stuff really so getting all of those little bits done at the same time.

They have offered £500 to keep my old engine, it's not known without a full strip down how much bottom end damage there is, and it's a 114k mileage engine too so I just said ok. Saves me having to ship it back and find a buyer.

 

[mrk]

Not sure, all the ones on sale right now are fully working or low miles, so cost up to £6500. There's one selling for the £3500 mark but that includes everything. Wish that one came up when I was sourcing lol. A used 128k miles crankshaft and block with rods only is selling for £1000. Given my crankshaft is bust, should give an idea of the spares value I guess.

Another update, Redish sent a new video over:

 

[mrk]

It is complete!

(NOTE: I've had both springs replaced now not just the one)

MOT and PDC sensor diagnostic left and I'll collect on Friday

I now have a folder full of videos and files from day 1 at Redish. Superb stuff, especially seeing how they tackled various issues and did the work.

 

[mrk]

They can be hard to reach on the phone usually but they are busy doing the above I guess for each customer

I've had calls, emails, whatsapp messages and youtube videos about work being done so that's a rather impressive array of modes of communication.

Bet you cant wait to take it for a spin again. Only a couple of weeks till mine goes in now.

Yep! Although I need to let the new bearings bed in I am told so will be taking it easy for a couple of weeks.

Are you just having the bearing shells done or other work too?

I'm glad I had the comprehensive check done as it highlighted lots of little things to be seen to, not major in size or cost, but things that otherwise aren't really paid attention to like missing or broken clips and trim bits, or nuts that are corroded etc.

The spring being broken also explains the scraping noise I used to hear from the rear right. Thought it was the heat shield on the brake, but it was a chunk of spring being missing and only audible when turning left so compression on the broken spring!

 

[mrk]

I know some dealers now record videos etc but I've not seen one as detailed on each part of the job. Glad I went with them! It's a long distance away, gotta train it to them tomorrow which is 2hrs, but worth it!

Just the bearing shells and bolts (plus what ever else he said). I did ask if there was anything else he recommended yet but he said at my millage and age nothing else should need doing. I'll see what they say once they get it, if anything else needs doing and I'll either get it done then if it makes sense or just book it in later in the year. All depends on the cost of the roof repair, and if the mot throws anything up.

Ah that's fair. I forgot yours was such low mileage.

 

[mrk]

Picked the car up Friday 5PM, got home at 11PM!

Ended up exploring Redish's workshop and chatting for ages to James and the other guys. Top folks for sure. They had a monster V10 E46 M3 being worked on still, the very car that initially caused the backlog before Christmas with a bottom end rebuild and the owner throwing parts at it. Along with a CSL, a CS, a maroon E46 M3 coupe, an E36 M3 and a pearl white E92 M3 that has had the same owner since new and he drifts it in the snow regularly

Regarding the car, James Redish did a 20 mile road test in it to make sure everything was good with the job and remarked that it was smoother and felt stronger in the low rpm acceleration than his E46 M3 coupe which he has done an engine rebuild on. On the drive home I didn't push past 3500rpm as was advised to let the bearing shells bed in properly over 500 miles or so, but today as I was on 350 miles went up to 4000rpm max on some low rpm mild pulls during a trip to London and certainly noticed a distinct difference in smoothness between 2000 and 4000rpm. It's just stronger and smoother than what the old engine was, and that was what I thought pretty smooth at low rpm. Now it's smooth and linear in acceleration from 2000rpm in all gears.

Maybe the combination of the new LUK clutch and flywheel and bearing shells and engine being completely clean inside has helped?

Next time I'm down by Evolve's area I'll book in a dyno run. They ran it at 345.5BHP on the old engine post remap with 380Nm torque with the bulk of the gains being 6krpm and above. To me it feels like at least 10bhp more from 2000rpm. I'd confidently say it's closer to the CSL's 355/360bhp now.

My PDC issue has not been fixed however. The loom has been checked, the PDC module reports to the diagnostics without any errors and also reports that all sensors are activating, but there's a constant beep. Now one or two sensors do look like they have more layers of paint and one with flaking paint so the consensus is that the extra paint layers adding thickness is tricking the PDC to think something is too close hence the constant tone.

I have 4x spare sensors in a box unpainted, so will get a body shop to paint them and install them one day to see if that sorts it, but before then will scrape the paint layers off the existing ones in place and see if PDC works, if it does I'll get the spare ones fitted after being painted.

I also got the stone chipped and kerb marked alloys exchanged at FA Wheels, so now my wheels are also fresh. My mind is cleansed. Pic related.

 

[mrk]

Seems that way.

There's only one thing I need to have seen to now and that's the handbrake shoes. It came up as an advisory on the MOT that was done for the right side as fluctuating slightly but not enough to fail. So will just replace both side shoes.

This video demonstrates exactly what needs to be done, a Sunday afternoon DIY job coming up then!

 

[mrk]

Has a different PDC module been tried ? The parking sensors on my E46 used to just scream and I tried a few things but a 2nd hand PDC module fixed it. You will have to reprogram it but thats simple with NCS Expert.

Module has not been changed, it is working perfectly fine though as it reports no errors. Occam's razor should be applied here as above!

Nice to see you sticking with this. I popped in Redish when they first opened and my e36 promptly popped its radiator in their car park. They sorted it out pronto and their service is fab, nice guys too!

If they were closer I'd get everything done by them tbh!

 

[mrk]

I just need the 500 miles to elapse so I can explore a slightly higher rev range once again

I'll wait until it's closer to 1000 miles before touching redline every now and then, but the sweet spot has always been shifting at around 7500rpm post remap, nice thump into the seat back and off the revs climb with all the induction noise

 

[mrk]

Mine will require more than just the screwdriver I think as something is loose in there and clattering about and scraping! The shoes still work of course but I'd hazard to say that the push pin bolts that hold the shoes in place at least one of them have broken off causing one of the shoes to bob about whilst driving causing the scraping and clattering.

 

[mrk]

I did ask in the BMW thread, but got stupid response on why an E46 was £10k. So maybe better luck in here,

Im considering buying an E46 M3 for me to use up until September, by which time I plan to sell it on.

One has come up for sale local to me, I plan on looking, but any advice on it? Spec list is below and its up for £10k.

2002 manual coupe in carbon Schwartz black.
124K FSH , most bmw dealer and specialists.
4 owners
Sunroof
HK
Red leather
Power mirrors
Carbon fibre CSL style air box , and mapped ecu
Just had a full vanos overhaul not even 25 miles ago
Bottom end bearings done (by BMW at 44k)
Clutch and flywheels 2k ago
Oil and filter change 500 ago
New chain guides
Head gasket replaced.
Original 19” wheels ( need refurbish )
And a set of 18” with ad08s (just refurbished)
Stud and nut conversion
10m hubcentric spacers
Subframe reinforced

How come you're wanting to only keep it until then? That's a short space of time to have one, and you are likely to lose potentially a lot of money when you try to sell it on due to some of the things I mention below.

The bearing shells were done at 44k, the car is now at 124k. The shells should be changed at around 80k miles, so that time has now come around. That's a ~£1500 job.

It's also got a CSL style carbon intake, likely GSR, and since the spec doesn't mention it, it's gonna be running the ALpha-N map which is sloppy when driving around town.

The rest of the items seen to seem pretty good though assuming all OEM fluids and parts were used. stud and nut conversion and spacers though.... Bit too scene for my liking, and potentially any future enthusiast who wants a well maintained one without those kind of mods.

Any pictures of it?

 

[mrk]

Just be wary of the shells. When they go, there's no warning. You will hear tapping noises one drive, and by that point it is likely too late unless you are driving very slowly and stop immediately.

Other things I'd be wanting to check, tyres used, wear patterns to check to see if alignments have been done properly and regularly etc, as well as how often oil changes have been done. Should be every 5k miles or once a year for an oil change on these regardless of what the service level indicator is at.

Also I'd want to know if valve clearances have been checked each inspection 1 and 2. Usually a specialist will provide a clearance report sheet and what shims were added etc.

 

[mrk]

I still have PFC Z-rated on. I had the Mintex ones that people raved about for a bit but the squealing noise was too much so went back t PFC Z rated.

The PFC pads are excellent all round really, can't fault them and minimal brake dust on the alloys.

 

[mrk]

All round. Fronts been replaced once already since having the car. I got them all on PFCs since having the car pretty much, so 55k miles on the rears and about half that on the fronts. Give or take of course.

 

[mrk]

So recently my ABS, DSC, flat tyre monitor and handbrake lights cam on whilst driving. Goes away when the car is restarted but comes back on again.

Symptoms before they come on are DSC constantly coming on with even light throttle. Disabling DSC solves the issue but the lights still come on not long after.

Classic symptom of reluctor ring failure. Water gets on the near side one commonly an d corrosion sets in causing failure. Reluctor ring is the pickup for the ABS/wheel speed sensor so this all makes sense.

BMW don't sell just the rings and will advise replacing the drive shaft

eBay sells aftermarket ring kits for £40 each... Guess the option I'm going for.



Useful info to share I guess

 

[mrk]

That car is being a right old headache for you at the moment, I'm amazed you've kept it this long!

The engine being a key reason!

But also I don't know what else could replace it really and still deliver the same enjoyment, practicality and comfort. Plus the looks, it just looks so right inside and out even in 2019. As an all round package it's excellent for what I want from a car I drive for leisure mostly, and if I want to I can sling some people in all the seats with boot space for bags or whatever else.

Exact thing happened to my old E46.

A specialist said have to replace the drive shaft along with other parts related...ended up selling the car as he was saying it was very expensive for the car.

Swayed decision to sell as GF wanted a small car she could drive.

It's amazing how many garages/dealers will automatically give out the worst case option for stuff like this when there's really no need to replace the big components just because BMW doesn't sell the little part on them on their own!

 

[mrk]

The sensor will need replacing as it's been rubbing on the corroding reluctor ring.

This video shows the exact same issue bit for bit. Not an E46, but the issue affects all models over time if driven often year round.

 

[mrk]

Because I've heard the scraping noise weeks leading up to the lights coming on. The noise of the sensor surface rubbing against the reluctor ring. Ring corrosion is common as well and the symptoms are exactly that of the video above.

If I reset the error code and drive, within minutes the lights coke back on again. The nearside ring will collect the most water and is the first to corrode over time.

 

[mrk]

I've got a free weekend so did plan on jacking the car up and inspecting the sensor, so will make sure before buying anything!

I suppose if I can't find a genuine used ATE one, a new alt brand one will be fine as well since it's a magnetic sensor and it only has one simple job to do. All of them seem to be in the £10 region on eBay. It's an easy and quick job to do, so no reason not to check it out for myself first I guess!