After reading so many members’ build threads out there I decided to make one of my own.
Here’s my story of my 2003 Carbon Black M3 6-Speed w/ 74k miles and its refresh.
OEM Specs:
Premium Package
H/K Audio
Heated Seats
Xenons
19" Wheels
Addon Specs:
Tune (retuned back to stock)
Headers (OEM exhaust manifold reinstalled w/ cats)
AA Exhaust
Koni Adjustables
Eibach Springs
Wheels Spacers
Short Shift
I received a call from Sidney, BMW Certified Master Tech, some of you in the New Jersey area know him, him and John (tonggi) have done a lot of work on forum members BMWs mostly E46 M3s. Sid informed me one of his clients was ready to sell his M3 after 10+ years of ownership and if I would be interested…HELL YES I WAS INTERESTED. The previous owner was an enthusiast who took great care of the car over his years of ownership.
Once I took ownership of the car, I gave Sid full authority to do his magic and bring it back to the day it left the dealership when new…And boy did he ever to do his magic!
First day of ownership, we put the car on jack stands and came up with a list of things to be done.
Here’s a pic of the first day of owning the car.
Exterior - Front and Rear bumpers needed a respray, the car was too nice to have rock chips all over the front bumper and scratches on the rear. I also hate the front license plate on these cars so it had to be done. Also replace all blue bulbs w/ OEM bulbs.
Exterior – The wheels had a few nicks and scratches as well as some oxidization so this needed to be addressed.
Interior - Was in great shape all it needed was some new mats and a cleaning.
From the performance aspect of this car it had a Frank Smith tune, aftermarket headers w/ no cats, an AA exhaust, and was also suffering from a rough idle when I bought it which turned out to be a head gasket leak between cylinders 5 & 6. After discussing the plan w/ Sid it was decided to replace head gasket, refresh cylinder head, replace all pulleys, belts, hoses, and bring vehicle back to OEM specs w/ factory software and factory cats. The way I see it BMW spent billions in R&D to get these cars to perform the way they do, why mess with a good thing.
Cylinder head and engine bay at disassembly.
Good thing Sid knows what he’s doing b/c I couldn’t take on a project like this without him. Now the fun part putting everything back together.
One of the jobs we did on the head was lapping the valves, this was a no brainer since the head was out.
Before and After:
Pic of the cylinder head all cleaned up and ready for next steps.
Pic of the master at work.
Engine put back together and running like a Swiss watch.
Now that the engine was all buttoned up our next focus was on the appearance; bumpers and wheels taken off and sent out to get redone.
While we were waiting to get parts back we attacked the interior. The driver and passenger seats were taken out in order to thoroughly clean. The carpets and all interior panels got touched, seats were cleaned and treated w/ conditioner.
Even the AA exhaust got some Mother’s Aluminum Polish to it.
Bumpers came back from paint and reinstalled.
Wheels came back, replaced with new M logo stickers and center caps (not shown).
Once I got her home, gave the car its first bath.
All in all, the car turned out great! Huge thanks to Sid for getting the car back to showroom condition.
Thanks for checking out my thread, let me know what you guys think.
Reply With Quote
