My new E46 M3

mrk · 30 Mar 2015 at 19:55

Can I ask how much those BMW Performance callipers were inc everything to go with them? I have a choice to make soon, either get my existing callipers refurbed (shotblasted clean then finished in silver) or just get the performance callipers and go full on.

I just need to weigh up the cost pros/cons of either.

Also, Copycat :mad:

I know I love it, because I’m doing daft things like cleaning the engine bay in the pitch black and freezing cold, just because

Hah! We are more alike than you know

badgeruk · 30 Mar 2015 at 20:41

Yeh I am interested in the price of those as well, as my callipers are nasty (why BMW did you do nothing with them :/). I assume they would go on a Z4.

Gaygle · 30 Mar 2015 at 21:16

pepsilol said:
I just came.

Looks like changing pads will also be a 3 minute job in the future.

Unfortunately not, these require the caliper to be removed to change the pads. No matter though, it'll be a 10 minute job instead.

mrk said:
Can I ask how much those BMW Performance callipers were inc everything to go with them? I have a choice to make soon, either get my existing callipers refurbed (shotblasted clean then finished in silver) or just get the performance callipers and go full on.

I just need to weigh up the cost pros/cons of either.

Well I needed new front discs and pads so used this as part of justification. I told the dealer I got them from that I wouldn't tell anyone how much I got them for, but I can see that Cotswold are doing them on Cutters for £300 each, which isn't far away from what I got them for.

Caliper brackets and braided hoses were £260.

CSL ATE discs I can get for a decent price (Trust if you're interested)

Pads are OEM Textar

And that's it.

All in, you're looking at around £1100

mrk said:
Hah! We are more alike than you know

Unfortunately I can't do any more of this stuff for probably another week. Had an email from BMW earlier saying that they haven't even received the wings yet, let alone start painting them etc. It's looking at being over 3 weeks to paint a couple of wings :rolleyes:

They have agreed to machine polish the car though so rest of the car will match the doors/wings. How much do you want to bet i'll be left with holograms all over the place?

badgeruk said:
Yeh I am interested in the price of those as well, as my callipers are nasty (why BMW did you do nothing with them :/). I assume they would go on a Z4.

If you're talking about a Z4M, yes the brackets should work fine, you already have the CSL discs so would be a case of just getting the calipers and brackets and you'd be done.

They are so much bigger than I expected though, they look so awesome. And as an added bonus they are over a kilogram lighter each than the tiny OEM calipers!

mrk · 30 Mar 2015 at 21:20

£1100 all in is pretty good for a big brake upgrade with OEM parts too. I will need new discs later in the year for sure so would much rather go big brake upgrade route by adding a bit more £ and those callipers would look smashing behind my wheels for sure.

Are you fitting them yourself? Same pad wear sensors too?

Gaygle · 30 Mar 2015 at 21:38

mrk said:
£1100 all in is pretty good for a big brake upgrade with OEM parts too. I will need new discs later in the year for sure so would much rather go big brake upgrade route by adding a bit more £ and those callipers would look smashing behind my wheels for sure.

Are you fitting them yourself? Same pad wear sensors too?

Yes it certainly isn't bad value for money for a Brembo 6 pot kit! Especially when you need new discs and pads and your calipers have gone 11 years without a refurb and look a little worse for wear.

This is what the look like compared to the standard calipers:

And this is what they should look like fitted:

Going to have everything fitted in one go in the next few weeks/couple of months. Just got to decide if I want to replace the standard springs with Eibach Pro Kit springs. These apparently give next to no drop in ride height (which is what I want as I want it to be OEM as possible) and will last much longer than the standard springs which seem to snap every 20k miles.

I just don't want the car to look "lowered" or anything other than OEM, which is hopefully what Eibachs will do.

mrk · 30 Mar 2015 at 21:44

Looks amazing. I think I will forego the stock calliper refurb and go the above route too. Will the callipers alone fit the stock M3 discs or must they be fitted onto CSL discs? I am perfectly happy with on the road stopping power of the stock discs, the only thing I really wanted was just the callipers to look the part since everything else does

Will Gill · 30 Mar 2015 at 22:07

Lovely looking brake kit

badgeruk · 30 Mar 2015 at 22:19

Gaygle said:
If you're talking about a Z4M, yes the brackets should work fine, you already have the CSL discs so would be a case of just getting the calipers and brackets and you'd be done.

They are so much bigger than I expected though, they look so awesome. And as an added bonus they are over a kilogram lighter each than the tiny OEM calipers!

Yeh its a Z4M, I need new pads all round and front discs soon according to BMW when it went in a week or so ago. So this would be the perfect chance to swap to these brakes.

I assume the brakes you can get for a decent price are what I have already on the car ? (I have no knowledge of such things).

Gaygle · 30 Mar 2015 at 22:24

mrk said:
Looks amazing. I think I will forego the stock calliper refurb and go the above route too. Will the callipers alone fit the stock M3 discs or must they be fitted onto CSL discs? I am perfectly happy with on the road stopping power of the stock discs, the only thing I really wanted was just the callipers to look the part since everything else does

Yeah they look so nice. They are only designed for the 345mm CSL brakes and the brackets have been very precisely made so that they are simply bolt on with no fuss, and give complete sweep of the disc, unlike some other brackets. If you need new discs, the CSL discs aren't much more expensive than the standard ones at all. Like, less than a tenner extra if you get them from the right people

Just found out that the company who I've renewed my insurance with in 3 days don't do modifications at all! Urgh. Have to cancel that tomorrow and go elsewhere.

Will Gill said:
Lovely looking brake kit

Thanks, just got to find the time to get it booked in and fitted, along with all the other bits!

Gaygle · 30 Mar 2015 at 22:26

badgeruk said:
Yeh its a Z4M, I need new pads all round and front discs soon according to BMW when it went in a week or so ago. So this would be the perfect chance to swap to these brakes.

I assume the brakes you can get for a decent price are what I have already on the car ? (I have no knowledge of such things).

Sounds like the perfect time to upgrade! At least you won't be wasting discs with life still in them.

Yes the Z4M and Z4MC came with the 345mm "CSL" discs as standard. The E46 M3 came with 325mm as standard, and only the CS and CSL got the 345mm ones.

badgeruk · 30 Mar 2015 at 22:33

Cool, does sound like the right time to do it and wont cost the earth on top of what I already have to pay out already. Sure that colour would look fine with the dark red paint I have.

I've sent you a trust about the discs.

Ben Cole · 30 Mar 2015 at 23:53

Lovely car, thanks for sharing.

Voxination · 1 Apr 2015 at 17:55

Those calipers look fantastic, so much better than the stock ones.

pepsilol · 1 Apr 2015 at 18:07

Gaygle said:
Unfortunately not, these require the caliper to be removed to change the pads. No matter though, it'll be a 10 minute job instead.

My bad, jesus that's a bit of a fail right there. I'd have thought they'd make them just like the brembos. That's right PITA seeing as they're mahoosive on top.

Gaygle · 1 Apr 2015 at 18:46

Voxination said:
Those calipers look fantastic, so much better than the stock ones.

Yeah they really do. I can't believe that only 5 years ago, when the BMW Performance range came out it cost £350 for a pair of these calipers or £600 for the entire front kit inc discs and pads! :eek:

pepsilol said:
My bad, jesus that's a bit of a fail right there. I'd have thought they'd make them just like the brembos. That's right PITA seeing as they're mahoosive on top.

Yeah it's not ideal if you're looking to hot swap your brake pads every few weeks, but I'm not planning on doing that, so it's not an issue for me.

Hopefully with basically all new suspension, fresh discs/pads/6 pot calipers, gearbox oil change, this should feel absolutely awesome for when that hot summers day comes around and the roads are empty

badgeruk · 9 Apr 2015 at 18:54

Well as I took my car into BMW today for its brake fluid change I decided to ask about the price of the calipers. Stephen James wants £308 each and for what ever reason they don't appear on the list of upgrades for the Z4M or M3 CSL. Only the newer cars so took the guy a while to find them.

On the plus side my pads have become thicker and my front disks are now fine :/ Gives me longer to think about where I want to spend a small fortune on the upgraded calipers.

Gaygle · 9 Apr 2015 at 19:06

That's quite a good price from a local dealer with no discount etc!

Yeh they aren't officially for the Z4M or E46 M3 but some guy has had some exceptionally high quality brackets made to fit the caliper to the 345mm disc.

Happy days re: brake pads and discs. Its amazing how they can suddenly grow back eh?!

In other news the guy from Cooper Colchester has sent some pictures of my car. Wings have been sprayed, doors and rear wings have been blended and machine polished and sill has been repaired. Even in his crappy photos, it looks good, it looks very good. Its going to be like picking it up for the first time again as I've pretty much forgotten what it feels like to drive!

Gaygle · 15 Apr 2015 at 21:22

She's back!!

Paint quality is excellent as is the fitment. They ended up doing pretty much the entire side of the car in the end, to blend it all. Looks very good indeed. It feels so good to be back in a good car. Trying not to be too melodramatic, but that Merc was slowly killing me. Most things about it just were disappointing. Having had a decent amount of time with both, it's clear that the F20 1 Series runs rings around it in all areas apart from maybe aesthetics.

Anyway, this evening I have fitted new Genuine Bosch AL headlight lense covers which has freshened up the front, even though my old ones weren't that bad at all. Got them for a bargainous price too, as with most of my purchases!

I've also fitted some nice new Sachs M3 rear shocks this evening. Having had 95k miles of abuse, they were in need of replacement. Just taken it out for a spin and all seems well. I'll need to get the fronts fitted soon (i can't be arsed) along with the BMW Performance calipers and hopefully the car will be near it's best.

Also discovered slightly more wear on the outside edge of the rear tyre so will probably need a proper KDS alignment which I can get done after the front shocks are replaced.

Jobs still to do:

- Steering wheel refurb in all nappa leather similar to E92 M3 wheel.
- Fitting of front shocks, BMW Performance brake system and gearbox oil swap.
- Wheel refurb/CSL style wheels for same price?
- KDS alignment
- Get a new key (only came with one!)
- Get the BM54 upgrade.

mrk · 15 Apr 2015 at 22:20

Don't get CSL "style" wheels, either get genuine or refurb your Shadow Chrome ones in American Chrome. Will look properly good. I might upgrade to genuine CSL wheels (£500) in a couple of years, will see how much I still like these then

I'm going to be getting the BMW Performance brakes Q4 this year too, most likely after MOT perhaps, will see. I think you mentioned exactly what's needed elsewhere but as a reminder:

- Custom made calliper holders for E46 M3.
- CSL size brake discs.
- BMW Performance callipers + Textar pads.
- Pair of pad wear sensors.
- Some DOT4 for the fluid flush.

I had braided hoses on the 318 and really liked the improved braking feel through the pedal, wondering if I should do the same to the M3, though I should probably get the BBK first and see how I like the feel with those installed.

BTW, Rio Automotive in East End will do you a key for £50. Coded and cut. 1:1 replica to the original.

Gaygle · 15 Apr 2015 at 22:35

Yeh just looking at refurb options. For the full shebang diamond cut and powdercoat in OEM finish its nearly £400. For the regular refurbishment in shiny silver it's £288. Both look good but think the OEM diamond cut and shiny finish is a bit of a defining styling tweak on the E46 M3.

Re: BMWP kit. Any pads for the E82 135i with brembo calipers will work. Pad wear sensor needs to be the one from the E39 as it's slightly longer. The BMWP custom brackets come with front and rear custom made Goodridge hoses for £260. Its a very good kit that has been put together as it is all custom made and nothing off the shelf. Normally this would mean it is shoddy and doesn't fit properly but in this instance everything is supposed to be perfect and many others have bought the kit. I also bought some ATE super racing blue fluid the other day. It's meant to be good and not sure when mine last had a brake flush.

Cheers for the heads up. Was looking at BMKeys who do the same service and are close to the wheel refurb exchange place so was going to build it into one journey down to the outskirts of London.

My new E46 M3

Chooser of poor weather meets