B C

Just gonna get this out of the way
 


 

Just gonna get this out of the way
 


 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2851298461861013/?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search&referral_story_type=post


"But now with three kids...yeah haha"

Been a while since I've seen a Craigslist-esque train wreck ad.
Nature is healing.

The ship has landed!

Yup, definitely should be able to make this one 

Right, who said it needed to be live?

I appreciate your insight on this.  I didn't realize the variance process was such a pain in the ass.  I figured it was basically asking for a "variance" to the ordinance and was decided by a local committee of tribal elders that gathered around a cauldron and stared at the smoke until the answer presented itself.

build the shed. put a sign up that says "chicken coop". stick a stuffed chicken in there. leave a little chicken wire on the side. you technically have a building used to house a chicken. 

 

This car’s setup is at home and in its element while on the smooth pavement of the track. I consider it a streetable track car when I need it to be a trackable street car.
I started down the path of shopping more street oriented coilover setups but was persuaded by Ground Control to try a “proven setup” by going from the 6” 525 lb/in front,  6” 650 lb/in rear springs, to some 6” 375 lb/in front/ 7” 430 lb/in rear.
For reference, VAC Motorsports classifies the following spring rate combinations:
Performance with Comfort 300/450 
Aggressive Street Car 450/500
Track days (minimal street use) 550/600
the 375 springs were unavailable and I felt that the rear to front spring rate ratios were a bit too close so I chose 350/430 as it matches the proportion of the current spring rates better.
I was concerned that the 6” fronts were going to be too low and ordered some urethane spring pads to add compliance and 3/4” of material to help with the ride height. 
The pads ended up not fitting as nicely as hoped on the front but I am running 1 on the rear springs. (Old 6” 650 lb/in rear spring on left, new 7” 430 lb/in rear spring on right)

 
old 6” 525 lb/in front spring on left, new 6” 350 lb/in spring on right

 
The new spring rates are almost smack dab in the middle of stock rates and the previous rates.
with everything together the rear sits 7/8” higher than before and the front sits 1/2” to 3/4” lower than before with no ability to adjust it any higher.

 
I welcome a slightly higher ride height for practicality but am targeting 1/2” higher overall from before as a starting point before getting it dialed in, mainly to provide more suspension travel before contacting the bump stops. Right now there is about 1”, which is what GC suggested. (For comparison, Stock E90 M3 has 1/2” of travel before hitting bump stops according to a bump stop article I was reading by Dinan).
 

 
My test drive was limited because there was some rubbing on harder turns from how low the front is. Hopefully not speaking too soon, but the ride quality is still firm. It feels like a lowered car. I definitely need to lower the rebound damping in the rear.   The best way I can describe the ride quality difference is there are certain bumps that make you clench, but hitting them now was not a clench-worthy moment.
Turn in is no longer razor sharp, but compromises have to be made.
I ordered some 7” long front springs which will actually allow for some height adjustability and wont clank around when the car is in the air.
Hoping by next weekend ~ May 1st I can have things sorted and ready to take to Big Bear for the final touches

Bravo!

This car’s setup is at home and in its element while on the smooth pavement of the track. I consider it a streetable track car when I need it to be a trackable street car.
I started down the path of shopping more street oriented coilover setups but was persuaded by Ground Control to try a “proven setup” by going from the 6” 525 lb/in front,  6” 650 lb/in rear springs, to some 6” 375 lb/in front/ 7” 430 lb/in rear.
For reference, VAC Motorsports classifies the following spring rate combinations:
Performance with Comfort 300/450 
Aggressive Street Car 450/500
Track days (minimal street use) 550/600
the 375 springs were unavailable and I felt that the rear to front spring rate ratios were a bit too close so I chose 350/430 as it matches the proportion of the current spring rates better.
I was concerned that the 6” fronts were going to be too low and ordered some urethane spring pads to add compliance and 3/4” of material to help with the ride height. 
The pads ended up not fitting as nicely as hoped on the front but I am running 1 on the rear springs. (Old 6” 650 lb/in rear spring on left, new 7” 430 lb/in rear spring on right)

 
old 6” 525 lb/in front spring on left, new 6” 350 lb/in spring on right

 
The new spring rates are almost smack dab in the middle of stock rates and the previous rates.
with everything together the rear sits 7/8” higher than before and the front sits 1/2” to 3/4” lower than before with no ability to adjust it any higher.

 
I welcome a slightly higher ride height for practicality but am targeting 1/2” higher overall from before as a starting point before getting it dialed in, mainly to provide more suspension travel before contacting the bump stops. Right now there is about 1”, which is what GC suggested. (For comparison, Stock E90 M3 has 1/2” of travel before hitting bump stops according to a bump stop article I was reading by Dinan).
 

 
My test drive was limited because there was some rubbing on harder turns from how low the front is. Hopefully not speaking too soon, but the ride quality is still firm. It feels like a lowered car. I definitely need to lower the rebound damping in the rear.   The best way I can describe the ride quality difference is there are certain bumps that make you clench, but hitting them now was not a clench-worthy moment.
Turn in is no longer razor sharp, but compromises have to be made.
I ordered some 7” long front springs which will actually allow for some height adjustability and wont clank around when the car is in the air.
Hoping by next weekend ~ May 1st I can have things sorted and ready to take to Big Bear for the final touches

This car’s setup is at home and in its element while on the smooth pavement of the track. I consider it a streetable track car when I need it to be a trackable street car.
I started down the path of shopping more street oriented coilover setups but was persuaded by Ground Control to try a “proven setup” by going from the 6” 525 lb/in front,  6” 650 lb/in rear springs, to some 6” 375 lb/in front/ 7” 430 lb/in rear.
For reference, VAC Motorsports classifies the following spring rate combinations:
Performance with Comfort 300/450 
Aggressive Street Car 450/500
Track days (minimal street use) 550/600
the 375 springs were unavailable and I felt that the rear to front spring rate ratios were a bit too close so I chose 350/430 as it matches the proportion of the current spring rates better.
I was concerned that the 6” fronts were going to be too low and ordered some urethane spring pads to add compliance and 3/4” of material to help with the ride height. 
The pads ended up not fitting as nicely as hoped on the front but I am running 1 on the rear springs. (Old 6” 650 lb/in rear spring on left, new 7” 430 lb/in rear spring on right)

 
old 6” 525 lb/in front spring on left, new 6” 350 lb/in spring on right

 
The new spring rates are almost smack dab in the middle of stock rates and the previous rates.
with everything together the rear sits 7/8” higher than before and the front sits 1/2” to 3/4” lower than before with no ability to adjust it any higher.

 
I welcome a slightly higher ride height for practicality but am targeting 1/2” higher overall from before as a starting point before getting it dialed in, mainly to provide more suspension travel before contacting the bump stops. Right now there is about 1”, which is what GC suggested. (For comparison, Stock E90 M3 has 1/2” of travel before hitting bump stops according to a bump stop article I was reading by Dinan).
 

 
My test drive was limited because there was some rubbing on harder turns from how low the front is. Hopefully not speaking too soon, but the ride quality is still firm. It feels like a lowered car. I definitely need to lower the rebound damping in the rear.   The best way I can describe the ride quality difference is there are certain bumps that make you clench, but hitting them now was not a clench-worthy moment.
Turn in is no longer razor sharp, but compromises have to be made.
I ordered some 7” long front springs which will actually allow for some height adjustability and wont clank around when the car is in the air.
Hoping by next weekend ~ May 1st I can have things sorted and ready to take to Big Bear for the final touches

And thats a wrap! (Almost)
The car runs and drives, after 5 hard working days! Things swapped were, S54 (OBVI), m3 fuel tank with pumps/lines, m3 cooling system, m3 DME, etc etc. 
If anyone has any questions about the swap, please feel free to ask, I would love to help. It was very hard gathering all of the things needed to make this work and I want to help spread the word on whats all necessary. 
the last problem I have to sort out is an o2 issue. I believe I have the ordering wrong, and am going to look into that tonight as the car is getting misfires on 1-3 and lean/rich codes.
I do have the air duct for the radiator support, just need to grab some clips for it.
 









 

Normally all e46s have the rear manual shifter bushing bracket already on the chassis, but of course the touring did not. Went ahead and purchased the bracket from FCP Euro. Had to modify it by cutting the ears off as they were preventing the bracket from sitting flush against surface. Once good, I drilled some holes in the three tabs as well as the trans tunnel and pop riveted the brqcket on with some steel rivets. Sprayed some black paint over everything to prevent rusting as well.


I also installed the front prop shaft and installed clutch fluid line on brake fluid reservoir and finished the wiring for the clutch switch. This required adding wires to a DME plug and an EWS plug. For this. I went to the pick-n-pull and cut out some plugs with pigtails. I then de-pinned two wires to allow me to attach the new wires right into the plugs like factory.  Then just extended the wires to the clutch switch and done! Sorry no pics of that since it was tight under the dash while working. 
Hopefully will have the engine/trans installed in the chassis this week. 

Back to daily duty

The E46 is a stunning car....
 


....but the suspension is always trying to divorce itself from the chassis.
Here is my automatic disconnecting front sway bar:

 
 

All videos with really good sounding S54s are deepfakes of an E36 M3 with a pitch adjustment /s
It is entirely possible to have a great sounding S54 but I have yet to find a quiet setup that sounds good enough to spend money on. Loud enough to actually hear it while driving but quiet enough to hear the induction sound and not be a nuissance.
 
When you see inside the stock muffler its a bit baffling at how they arrived at such a design. 

No, it is some special ordered nasty gold color.

Is that phoenix yellow? Looks almost... bronzit in the picture?

note the perforated pipes

Interestingly the Z4M seems to have better luck with muffler options that sound good.
The stock exhaust sound isnt BAD, it is unique if not just a little bit exotic, but it isnt a sound that gives James May a fizzing sensation. 
The risk comes with modified exhaust as you can really ruin it, making it worse than stock. 
@pynacl  I wish you godspeed, just not a Godspeed exhaust

All videos with really good sounding S54s are deepfakes of an E36 M3 with a pitch adjustment /s
It is entirely possible to have a great sounding S54 but I have yet to find a quiet setup that sounds good enough to spend money on. Loud enough to actually hear it while driving but quiet enough to hear the induction sound and not be a nuissance.
 
When you see inside the stock muffler its a bit baffling at how they arrived at such a design. 

note the perforated pipes

Interestingly the Z4M seems to have better luck with muffler options that sound good.
The stock exhaust sound isnt BAD, it is unique if not just a little bit exotic, but it isnt a sound that gives James May a fizzing sensation. 
The risk comes with modified exhaust as you can really ruin it, making it worse than stock. 
@pynacl  I wish you godspeed, just not a Godspeed exhaust

All videos with really good sounding S54s are deepfakes of an E36 M3 with a pitch adjustment /s
It is entirely possible to have a great sounding S54 but I have yet to find a quiet setup that sounds good enough to spend money on. Loud enough to actually hear it while driving but quiet enough to hear the induction sound and not be a nuissance.
 
When you see inside the stock muffler its a bit baffling at how they arrived at such a design. 

note the perforated pipes

Interestingly the Z4M seems to have better luck with muffler options that sound good.
The stock exhaust sound isnt BAD, it is unique if not just a little bit exotic, but it isnt a sound that gives James May a fizzing sensation. 
The risk comes with modified exhaust as you can really ruin it, making it worse than stock. 
@pynacl  I wish you godspeed, just not a Godspeed exhaust

Replace your CPV o-ring while the headers are off.