E92 M3 'refresher' thread

[Ratslaaf]

^^^ if you asked my wife she would say I'm touched in the head :rollsmile:

Car is back together and runs like a dream. I wanted to take it for a wash before doing pics but ran out of time. So first thing tomorrow I'm getting her nicely washed and then I'm off to Zambesi. I might leave a little earlier to join the convoy in Midrand but might not make it.

The biggest thing to put a smile on my face? That Zorst. I can literally hear every combustion cycle, it's as if I'm there, witnessing it for myself. That silky smooth engine sounds even smoother with a lower octave note to die for. And when you plant it, it's not that frantic screaming that's common with these cars but a luscious overtone at a sound level that makes children cry. Yes my friends, this sucker is loud when you punch it. I was worried about droning, but if you drive calm with it its a beautiful subdued note that just begs to be fed a little more fuel.

I had the car at the testing station just now, seeing as the dealers 'lost' the previous test results. The feedback is unanimous: "what did you do to your car, that thing sounds wicked!"

To say I'm over the moon would be an understatement. Yes, there's lots of small (and some big) things to do to the car, but it's an incredible feeling to have all that hard work pay off with the smile on my face. I'm just waiting for the car to cool off to make a few adjustments and then I'm off to spend time with the family. They saw precious little of me this last week.

 

[Zound]

This is such a great project thread! I really admire what you're doing here, its not often that we get to see such an intimate restoration and modification of a prestigious car. Often the owners just throw money at someone and we get a before and after scenario.

Getting your hands dirty in this kind of manner is really inspiring, performing DIY work on such an advanced piece of machinery takes a lot of courage.

I am more than certain you are going to reap the benefits of your meticulous workmanship, and learning the intricacies of this vehicle is surely going to make her a very special ///M.

 

[GPGrobler]

Well done Gert,

Looks like you are becoming quite the "go to" guy where all things BMW is concerned, and from the little time that I know you up to now, also one of the kindest guys I have met in a long time :clapper:

 

[Ratslaaf]

Thanks gents,

The car is now nicely together, and ended up getting a proper detail again, including the interior. I'll post pics tomorrow, I'm just too goofed right now after the busy day.

 

[sash]

car really looks awesome and sounds even better.

 

[Andy1GP]

Post pics of your hands! So much epic work done here. Loving this thread Gert. Totally subbed raise:

 

[moesaley]

raise: WOW awesome work thus far

 

[N33SH]

Awesome!!!:clapper:

 

[KPM3_30]

More pics please :rollsmile:

 

[Ratslaaf]

Yes, I'll be chucking in some pics later. Just battling with the rear bumper fitment for the moment.

Here's the problem:



As you can see, the bumper is hanging 8mm lower on the left than the right. So this needs to come off again so I can figure out what the problem is. Funny thing is, it's not hanging low under the tail lights, so it looks like my bumper is a little warped :blueCry:

I also took off the steering trim, as I wasn't happy with the blotchy marks on it. In this pic I gave it a light sanding in order to help the wrap stick nicely


This has now been wrapped in matt black vinyl. Come out great for a first attempt, but want to give it another try in order to get it perfect!

Currently, the back mags are off the car and have been sent for refurb as there was a little curb rash on them. I've also ordered a new gear knob with boot, as the old one shown a lot of wear. I'm also waiting for the Tranny's filler bolts and oil filler cap. Nothing, and I mean nothing, that has an ///M badge on it is available locally. So every time I pick up something I want to change I have to wait two weeks for it to come in.

But I'll get there, slowly but surely

 

[cOlDFuSiOn]

Awesome work on your ///M! :coolShake:

Really weird and yes the top looks 100% aligned, I hope you get that bumper sorted, I am OCD with things like that..

 

[200ts]

Awesome thread BTW. How are you measuring the 8mm difference, against the Xhorzt perhaps?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Was the diffuser fitted prior or is that new?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ratslaaf]

Thanks gents.

The diffuser was removed before I measured as that's the first thing I thought.

I first measured the distance of the tips to be the same to the floor, then I measured the bottom of the bumper to the floor. That's how I picked up the difference. I'm removing the lot now to go and have a nice look to see what's up.

 

[moranor@axis]

if you measuring against the floor it would be quite normal if the car does not sit 100% level

 

[Ratslaaf]

The back is on tressles, and I measured other static areas to make sure it's level ;P

But I'll get to the bottom (pardon the pun) of it

 

[Ratslaaf]

Had Ecco's son here this morning to remove the dent on the driver's C-Pillar. It's one of those annoying things that you notice straight away when walking up to the car. I figured I'd give the paintless dent removal a go first:



And I'm really, really impressed with the result. Yes, it's not perfect but I didn't expect it to be. It's a hell of a lot better than having that body puttied and re-sprayed, as you'd never get it right with the colour of the car.

It's actually pretty difficult to get a shot of the little damage that is still there:


With this shot you can see the very slight disturbance that still sits there


The process is actually very interesting and poor Rory ended up spending over an hour talking sh1t with me on the process. And this was easily THE cheapest fix I'd done on the car!! I also gave it a bit off a cut and buff as there were halo marks from previous polish attempts that damaged the clear coat a little

 

[Ratslaaf]

Needless to say, this whole skew exhaust thing is driving me quite insane. I decided to remove the rear bumper again, as I wasnt 100% happy with the fit anyway



So I measured and I measured and finally came to the conclusion that the actual muffler seems a little warped. I can only assume it's because of all the welding that was done to the top of it. I decided to remove the tips to compensate for this, and I wanted to paint them anyway.



I used some high heat Rustoleum on these, it doesn't give me a full gloss finish, but it's close enough. Plus it'll withstand temps over 600degC so I think I'm ok. I wanted to move the tips 35mm backwards so they can come out from under the diffuser, but BMW decided I can't do that as the pieces the tips mount onto aren't long enough. *sigh*

I refitted the bumper and opted for a better way to attach the diffuser to the bumper by using a pretty strong adhesive. I wasn't comfortable having the diffuser attached to the bumper with 4 little bolts at the bottom.



The bumper now also fits perfectly and the gaps are all the same now, where that wasn't the case before. I'm now just waiting for paints and adhesives to cure properly, so will continue putting the back end of the car together tomorrow evening.

In other news, my rear Mags are about done. Boy, these look lush now and that diamond cut is now properly visible and all the curb rash and previous peeling is now fixed. Problem is, they look too good now. So I'll be forced to have the front ones done as well. I'll try polishing up the front ones for now

 

[///Moose]

raise:
Gert, awesome work buddy. Seriously bro you are on another level...

Btw do you have a job or a wife :roflol:

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Who did you use for the wheel refurb bud?

 

[Shay_shay]

Are you sure you're from this planet bro -.-
There's no ways that you have 24 hour days.
So much attention to detail :clapper:

 

[Ratslaaf]

raise:
Gert, awesome work buddy. Seriously bro you are on another level...

Btw do you have a job or a wife :roflol:

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Who did you use for the wheel refurb bud?

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Yes and yes, although I've been cheating a little (on the job, not the wife )

A place called ReNuAMag. They in Edenvale so easier for me to get to than HiTech. And they have a much better CNC machine for doing the Diamond cutting of the face. That being said, they not cheap but then again that's what you pay for perfection. Gizmo put me onto them so big ups to him.

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Are you sure you're from this planet bro -.-
There's no ways that you have 24 hour days.
So much attention to detail :clapper:

No, I'm from Mars. Didn't your wife make you read that book? :roflol:

Thanks man. I'm aware I'm pretty OCD. I'll remove the bumper 3 times, I check that I locked the gate 3 times. I wash my hands 3 times. You get the idea.



PS, just kidding :rollsmile: