[m3dragon]

Sadly I did not think about making a build journal about the car till more recently. That means a lot of images I have taken have been lost over the years because I did not think of them as being important. By February 2005 I remember I had Discovery Automotive race software installed to take advantage of the new SuperSprint setup. I also decided to do another Sacramento State photo shoot as I had the trunk installed this time around.

[m3dragon]

Throughout the year I was organizing meets and drives for the NorCal BMW gang. By this point in time I had become a seasoned organizer and was continually looking for new roads to drive on for our regional meets. One of the only images I have of the meets of 2005 is a picture of me driving to either the Bay Area or Napa. Not sure which.



In June of 2005 I ordered up some serious stopping power. I spoke with Will Turner no less and ordered the StopTech 355 mm BBK in Yellow. The kit included stainless steel lines and ATB super blue which made for a nice package. I have had no issues with the StopTech brake kit and could not be happier with the purchase. The only thing I wish I did was go with the slotted rotors to get a little more bite and braking surface. Even with the cross drilled the car stops on a dime with change to spare.

[m3dragon]

One thing that I had to order in a pinch was a set up 10MM turner front spacers. Reason for this purchase was I needed them to clear the break calipers.



The last images I have from 2005 are of a drive I lead up Ice House Road. We call this road the “don’t F-Up Road” as there one section is a 2500 vertical drop off the cliff and did I mention there is no guard rails. The other half the road is more of the same cliffs and sheer rock wall on the other side. Saddly there is a story about the rock wall later down the time line. The road after the zero tolerance areas is smooth and a sheer blast to drive.

[m3dragon]

2006 Majors Changes and All Most Lost The Car

The start of 2006 was the same as the year past. Setting up meet a drives and still trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the car. This year was also the year a lot of changes would happen to the car and not all of them were good. But before we get into the good, the bad and the ugly of the year, let’s start off in January with a nice bath.

[m3dragon]

The start of the year of bad and good

In March of 2006 I decided I wanted to do some major changes. At the time the hot shop for BMW’s was EvoSport down in Long Beach CA. I contacted them to do an install of a Vorsteiner Carbon Fiber roof with sunroof insert. I made the choice to do this option in order to be different as there were people already with CSL roofs. Below is the start of the CSL Sunroof install and the start to many other problems.









Besides the carbon roof I had some other changes made to the car under the recommendations of EvoSport. This would turn out to be a big mistake and was a life lesson to always, always do your own research. The first of EvoSport recommendations was to install their headers as they were “supposed” to be similar to CSL headers. These were also supposed to provide better low end torque.

[m3dragon]

The last power mods I had them install was an AFE stage 2 intake and Powerchips performance software. The AFE was supposed to be superior to the GrouppeM as it allowed more airflow compared to the smaller GrouppeM filter. Supposedly this was also the setup they ran on their race car which at the time was doing very well on the race circuit. The Powerchips software was the race software tune to take advantage of the new intake, headers and exhaust system.



The last of the work I had done while the car was in Long Beach was to install a set of Ground Control lower control arms and differential shims.



Before I show the finished install pics, the story associated with this stall was when I drove to LA and started to make the track over the Grape Vine it started to lightly snow over the summit. Now for you folks in snowy areas you are like ok and this is special cause? You forget this is California and that white, wet water stuff is a myth unless you live in the Sierras HAHA. And to note it also snowed on me over the summit on the way home as well so I have seen double snow. Images as flows are of the car being picked up at the end of March 2006.

[greekcs]

Sick ride. Love the mods so far.

Heres one of mine, also steel grey.

[Nang Vann]

Love this thread.

Great journal, man I love the classic look of the E46 M3, cant wait to get my own

[Active 2]

This is probably one of my favorite threads right now

Sub'd to see the outcome of this project

[m3dragon]

It is worth to note at the time I thought the parts and work were done correctly. Over the ensuing months I would find issues with the installs and parts that would eventually end with legal actions being fired at each other. As EvoSport is no longer in business I can now share my stories of the bad work that was performed.
In April 2006 I ordered the rear CSL diffuser in order to complete the back end CSL look. This is not one of the fanciest mods for a CSL but is a good accent piece.



When May 2006 rolled around I went down to Long Beach Again to have EvoSport install a Vorsteiner CSL bumper with fog lights. The bumper itself looked good but I could tell the fitment was not that great. I went with the Vorsteiner bumper as I wanted a CSL look but did not want to lose my break cooling ducts. Sadly I do not have any images of the install images or images from the 2006 Bimmerfest of the bumper. The only Images I have of the new bumper is a photo shoot at Sacramento State in June 2006.

[Everfly]

I miss my E46 M3 ;(
You need CSL interior bro, there is a guy selling the whole kit right now in the bay

[m3dragon]

After May 2006 things went downhill with the car. The first of the downhill things I noticed was the bumper fitment and how it was just not quite right. I know this is minor but it always seems to be the little things that bother you the most. Second was the car felt very sluggish at times with the new headers and intake. Needless to say I was not happy with the “supposed” upgrades and was starting to become very displeased with the work done to my car. The last straw was when I was washing the car and I started to have a leak over the passenger side of the car. That was it and at that point I went to my new local shop and said I want all the EvoSport crap off my car.

In December 2006 I dropped off the car at my new shop and started the few month legal fight with EvoSport to correct their shoddy install of the roof. The images below are of the roof prior to the new rood install. Notice the over drilling of the 96 spot welds and the crapy application of the glue on the areas of the roof.

[greekcs]

So youre using standard M3 door panels and inserting alcantara where carbon fiber would be on a csl, and just adding the CSL door handles?

[VSmotorsports]

saw your build on m3forum, looks great!

[m3dragon]

Originally Posted by greekcs

So youre using standard M3 door panels and inserting alcantara where carbon fiber would be on a csl, and just adding the CSL door handles?

Custom back panels to be able to mount the handles and remove the air bag. And yes instead of carbon fiber they will be wrapped in alcatara yes. Got the idea from my 1M. The back seats will be completely gone

[flipm3]

[m3dragon]

2007 New Start Towards The CSL

After several months of dealing with the legal issues of the poor roof install, I finally got resolution and began the rebuilding process to fix my car. The first Item was to replace the roof with a OE CSL roof. The shop that did the install of the new roof did a lot of research on how the factory does the install. Needless to say they did a great job as they had to fix the 96 spot welds and re prep the car for the new roof.

[m3dragon]

Now that the new roof was installed we could start to remove the other EvoSport installed crap. First Item was to install SuperSprint Stepped Header V1, SuperSprint Stepped Race 100 cell cats.







At this time I decided that I would upgrade the cars suspension to a coil over kit. I purchased the TC Kline dual adjustable coil overs, with 500 front and 500 rear springs. I also purchased the TC Kline Camber plates so I could get better suspension configuration.



To help improve engine cooling I had the Turner Motorsports Oil Cooler kit. The size comparison between the stock oil cooler and the Turner Oil Cooler is quite a difference. This is a great system for those looking to protect their investment.







For the transmission I had UUC red transmission mounts installed to keep everything firm and in place.

[Alex07M3]

Nice clean car!!

I think we have the same taste for what's OEM!

[m3dragon]

The Last major change at this time was to remove the Vorsteiner bumper and replace it with an OE Euro bumper. I took the CSL splitter off the old bumper and had them custom installed into the Euro bumper so I could get an OE fit and finish but with the Vorsteiner CSL look.





After all the upgrades and changes had been completed it was around mid April 2007. The work was completed in time for me to attend Bimmerfest that year and display my car in the shops booth that did the work. It was my first time being a car on display for a company which was pretty cool.

[flipm3]

Jeez that Airbox looks so good! Weave is perfect!

[THE TECH]

Very nice car and build!