Hey gents
Had her for 2 months now so thought I must start a thread!
After selling the 335i I was really uncertain as to what to get. I knew I would not be able to replace the speed of the 335i as it was an absolute beast with the mods I had done but also knew that wasn't the main focus of my next purchase. Obviously a E90/92 V8 M was at the top of my list, I wanted an M again, and wanted the special feeling that goes with driving an M car.
I looked around a bit, but was still uncertain, I also wanted to start attending track days, so then thought maybe I should find a nice clean E36 M to use and upgrade a bit for the track, looked at a couple but as we know, E36 M's in semi decent condition are so few and far between. I then came across a very decent example of an E46M for sale on the forum which had recently had a lot of maintenance work done. Only problem was it was an SMG, and I'm a manual guy, always have been, that was also part of the reason I sold the 335i as it was steptronic.
Anyways, decided that seeing as I had already owned a manual E46 M, and it would be difficult to try and find one even close to the condition mine was in, SMG would be a different experience, and I should go and take the car for a test drive. Initial impressions were that the SMG wasn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be, still wasn't completely convinced but in the back of mind was thinking that it could actually grow on me. So took the plunge and bought the car.
I've done about 1500km since acquiring the vehicle, including a track day, and I must say I'm thoroughly enjoying it! Once you get used to the SMG it really is a great transmission when pushing on! I'm still torn between this and manual, but it's all good. I've done a little bit of work/touch ups already, nothing major, just to get it into the condition I'd like. Gotta say though, it's great to be back in a M, the sound of the S54 is just epic!!
Anyways, onto the details of the car:
2002 BMW M3 SMG
Silver with black leather
170 000 km.
Maintenance work done and items replaced in the last 3000km:
Vanos rattle kit and seals
Valve clearances
VAC bearings
Oil service
New Fuel filter
New power steering hose
Front control arms
Front control arm bushes
New brake discs
EBC pads
New SMG oil
New diff oil
New gearbox oil
Coolant flush
Anti roll bar links replaced
SMG and throttle software done by Gert at OBDWorx
More recently I decided to upgrade and replace the shocks and a couple of other suspension components at Gizmo's workshop listed below, purchased all the components from our resident suspension specialist Sean/Moranor at Axis.
Koni yellow/sport shocks all round
Rear trailing arm bushes
Rear lower control/camber arms
Rear shock mounts
Rear shock mount plates
Exhaust mounts/rubbers
The car is handling like a machine now and running super well!! Some pictures below, apologies for the phone quality pics, definitely not a strong suit of mine.
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Had her for 2 months now so thought I must start a thread!
After selling the 335i I was really uncertain as to what to get. I knew I would not be able to replace the speed of the 335i as it was an absolute beast with the mods I had done but also knew that wasn't the main focus of my next purchase. Obviously a E90/92 V8 M was at the top of my list, I wanted an M again, and wanted the special feeling that goes with driving an M car.
I looked around a bit, but was still uncertain, I also wanted to start attending track days, so then thought maybe I should find a nice clean E36 M to use and upgrade a bit for the track, looked at a couple but as we know, E36 M's in semi decent condition are so few and far between. I then came across a very decent example of an E46M for sale on the forum which had recently had a lot of maintenance work done. Only problem was it was an SMG, and I'm a manual guy, always have been, that was also part of the reason I sold the 335i as it was steptronic.
Anyways, decided that seeing as I had already owned a manual E46 M, and it would be difficult to try and find one even close to the condition mine was in, SMG would be a different experience, and I should go and take the car for a test drive. Initial impressions were that the SMG wasn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be, still wasn't completely convinced but in the back of mind was thinking that it could actually grow on me. So took the plunge and bought the car.
I've done about 1500km since acquiring the vehicle, including a track day, and I must say I'm thoroughly enjoying it! Once you get used to the SMG it really is a great transmission when pushing on! I'm still torn between this and manual, but it's all good. I've done a little bit of work/touch ups already, nothing major, just to get it into the condition I'd like. Gotta say though, it's great to be back in a M, the sound of the S54 is just epic!!
Anyways, onto the details of the car:
2002 BMW M3 SMG
Silver with black leather
170 000 km.
Maintenance work done and items replaced in the last 3000km:
Vanos rattle kit and seals
Valve clearances
VAC bearings
Oil service
New Fuel filter
New power steering hose
Front control arms
Front control arm bushes
New brake discs
EBC pads
New SMG oil
New diff oil
New gearbox oil
Coolant flush
Anti roll bar links replaced
SMG and throttle software done by Gert at OBDWorx
More recently I decided to upgrade and replace the shocks and a couple of other suspension components at Gizmo's workshop listed below, purchased all the components from our resident suspension specialist Sean/Moranor at Axis.
Koni yellow/sport shocks all round
Rear trailing arm bushes
Rear lower control/camber arms
Rear shock mounts
Rear shock mount plates
Exhaust mounts/rubbers
The car is handling like a machine now and running super well!! Some pictures below, apologies for the phone quality pics, definitely not a strong suit of mine.
raise:
