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

Wish I had mine changed way back too but wasn't aware of the situation until too late!

It's annoying that by default the non CSL M3 and Z4M both show the water temp getting to normal via the tach lights and not the oil temp so naturally many owners just think the lights are at norm so they can rev it out now.

I've mapped my oil temp to the tach lights just like the CSL so even if I miss glancing at the oil needle one day I'm always noticing the tach lights as they're bright and obvious.

I also don't go above 3krpm until the oil has reached normal temps.

I'll be taking my vanos unit to Mr Vanos at some point too to get the bolts and solenoid changed as a preventative as they all go at some point and mine is still the donor engine one so at approximately 87k miles currently.

Redish did check it during engine swap and it was fine so I'm happy with it for now. The moment I get any grumbles when applying throttle in say 4th gear at low rpm I'll know the vanos needs booking in.
 
Last edited:
Your old Z4M is someone's garage queen now Badger, such a shame :(

As for the eventuri, definitely worth getting although they have doubled in price since they came out, mine was £550 when I got it!

Sounds:
 
badgeruk said:
Seems that way. Not even like the paint work was in good condition, so was a car you could drive and not worry about knocking a few k of the value if you happen to mark the paint while blasting around some lanes. Even said as much to him when I sold it.
Click to expand...
Damn shame, ah well what's done is done I guess.

Did you ever find your Eventuri's heat shield brackets start to flake paint off or get weak at the mounting side where the Xenon ballast sits on top of above the screw nut? The soft neoprene material on the inside had also gone hard, I suspect this was in conjunction with heat cycles and water exposure as rain etc kicks in through the intakes and grilles.

I recently checked my filter as Evolve recommend cleaning it every 5000 miles so was getting it all off to wash the filter and noticed my heat-shield brackets were flaking, it's the kind of paint flake/bubble you typically see from high heat cycles over long periods of time, and I've had this since they came out so it's been a while.

Anyways, I ordered replacement primary and secondary shields from Evolve at £80 for the pair, they came with revised push clips too that attach the secondary shield onto the primary (shown below) with a more secure fit. I also noticed 2x silver hex screws missing so am assuming they worked themselves loose from engine vibrations over time, the others were slightly loose too so when I get replacements I'll re-do them with thread lock.

gRuAu0V.jpg
5QgDatT.jpg


Repositioned the fitment a bit neater this time round, no touching either component on either side now :cool:

StKUV68.jpg
 
Last edited:
It does seem that the S54 generates so much heat it peels certain paint off. Will see how the replacement padding goes over time. Even just keeping the car on the driveway in this summer heat is enough to bake the inside of the engine bay it seems, the aluminium bonnet transfers heat in both directions.
 
Last edited:
Mine is checked annually, no probs so haven't thought to pre-empt it as a result. My thinking goes back to the time I visited ETA Motorsport as they are located near my sister's house so convenient to pop in. They said they have had track built E46 M3s with no subframe cracks, yet normal road ones do get cracks, later model year examples fare better, and convertibles have a stronger support back there anyway so less affected still. I think I may have flipped the head on the coin in this area, although tails in other areas (rod bearing failure and the other maintenance items I've addressed over the years etc).

But yeah general consensus is that all boot floors will crack, with a few exceptions that boils down to luck of the draw.
 
Bad news... Driver side fastening cord that holds the inner roof lining in place when roof is up has snapped: At this age the strength of the cords will no doubt have weakened with repeated roof up/down.

ghwepak.jpg


Good news... It's gonna cost about up to £100 to fix. Found a local trimmer and spent some time popping over for a chat. Needs a new cord and then looping internally the correct way with the correct tension.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom