What have you done with or to your M3 today?

Site has been down for maintenance everytime I wanted to post.

Friday, road tripped the M3 to Monticello Motor Club for M Track Days to play with the current fleet of ///M cars:
Saturday, road tripped the M3 to Ocean City, MD for h2NO.

Did a bunch of maintenance (a wee bit moist at times):

Built high temp rated magnetic drain plugs
Changed diff fluid
Changed transmission fluid and filter (thanks ISTA-d)
Changed engine oil (only 4K KM on oil - see next item )
Replaced oil level sensor (grrr, stupid technology)
Removed wheel stud kit (PITA - red thread-locker works...)
Installed 15mm front spacers (used to be 12mm front)
Washed car (while nursing a bit of a hangover)

Even had a friendly slug come help me:D

I was quite surprised at the amount of slag stuck to my transmission and differential magnetic plugs. On that note, Dimple plugs work great in the tranny and the differential but they just will not work in the oil pan. I have the 13mm bolt head versions, so no problems with getting a socket on them. They just do not seem to bottom out. I do not want to strip the oil pan, so that is why made my own magnetic drain plugs. High temperature rated magnets with a good 450F rated epoxy putty. We will see what is stuck to them when I next change my oil.

The damn oil level sensor is annoying. What is wrong with a dipstick? So silly.

I do like the stance with the 15mm front spacers. Looks great IMHO, and the new bolts are nice and clean - need to murder shops that use sloppy impacts on my wheel bolts!!

I noticed that the input shaft seal on the transmission shifter is leaking. More than just a sweat. That sucks. But I will be installing and Autosolutions SSK and will tackle that repair at the same time.

Now the car is ready for its first winter being out of a garage. Excited to live in a climate where I can drive it more than 6 months a year!

Happy motoring.

GRUESOM3 wrote

Stretched it's legs to h20 international

what is the Atlantic City event actually like?

I saw pics from last year and it seemed like there was only 20 cars there, like a local cars and coffee has more cars

everyone still associates the name h2o with driving to Ocean City that weekend even though the show moved to AC.

Well I personally like to see show cars and not daily drivers that are beaten to death up and down the strip.

Attendance seemed low but still ok. Got to see some interesting things and casinos and food helped.

Rolling shot attempt using an iPhone.

GRUESOM3 wrote

Well I personally like to see show cars and not daily drivers that are beaten to death up and down the strip.

Attendance seemed low but still ok. Got to see some interesting things and casinos and food helped.

there are those beater beater cars, but I personally felt like I saw a lot more respectable dailys, weekend cars, etc. than hondas with fart cans

do you have any pics? genuinely curious at what it looked like in AC

No I don't have any, I didn't bring my camera just have some bs iPhone pics

I finished up with the Ultimate Clutch Pedal install. I know some people don't necessarily like or believe the mod is worth anything; however, I can say that it's definitely closer to the floorboard, which is less leg lift per shift. Great if you're having to shift a lot and saves your left hip after a long day. Before the install, the clutch is higher than the brake; after the install, the pedal is about 3/4" lower.

I did experiment with a couple options. Some people recommended using the middle hole and removing the small spring. I tried this and hated the fact that the pedal could pop up--or kick you--by accident, so I kept it installed and went with the first hole for the shortest amount of clutch pedal travel.

As for the clutch stop, the one included with the pedal wasn't as long as the Burger motorsports one I already had, so I kept it on. I'd say there was about 1/4" difference of more stoppage compared to what UCP provided.

Overall it's not going to make you a better driver and drastically improve shift times, but this combined with the M5 shift knob is the way it should have been from the factory.

GRUESOM3 wrote

No I don't have any, I didn't bring my camera just have some bs iPhone pics

that's fine, just want to get a sense of the AC atmosphere.

all I see is OC h2o pics posted, I never see any of the legit event in AC.

besides the last year pic I mentioned that only had like 15 cars in it.

I looked at it today and decided I'm insuring it for a few days or just two. Miss driving the car now haha

Drove to the office then home.

Is that rolling on 220 wheels? Looks awesome. Great photo

kcdedric wrote

Rolling shot attempt using an iPhone.

Got it washed, looks so blue when it's properly clean!

Dr. Dre wrote

Is that rolling on 220 wheels? Looks awesome. Great photo

Thanks! I'm glad we tried the iPhone for rolling shots because the SD card on my mirrorless camera failed and I lost 95% of the higher quality pictures taken that day.

One of the survivors:



The wheels are indeed the stock 220s.

Put my work badge and parking pass in it. Tomorrow is a drive it to work day!!!

bought it new PS4's

Threw it on the charger as I will be driving a X5 for a week.

^ Why a charger for just a week?


So I like the CA vintage plates but something just seemed off with the front. Yes, black plate on a white car. But something else ... I thought it might be the white OE mount. So I bought an OE Jet Black mount to see if that would blend things a bit more. It does, but it also looks chunkier. What do you guys think?
FWIW my bumper has like 4 holes from a stupid dealer, so plugs aren’t an option. I like the amber so no Euro bumper in my future. And it’s in good shape otherwise so I’m not filling/repainting just to get rid of the plate.

JL12w6

wyatth wrote

^ Why a charger for just a week?


So I like the CA vintage plates but something just seemed off with the front. Yes, black plate on a white car. But something else ... I thought it might be the white OE mount. So I bought an OE Jet Black mount to see if that would blend things a bit more. It does, but it also looks chunkier. What do you guys think?
FWIW my bumper has like 4 holes from a stupid dealer, so plugs aren’t an option. I like the amber so no Euro bumper in my future. And it’s in good shape otherwise so I’m not filling/repainting just to get rid of the plate.

Honestly if you want it to look right, you're going to have to get rid of the plate. If you won't do that I think you just have to live with it. Maybe CF splitters adding another dark element could help, and draw the eye away from the plate.

How about Raiders plate? I think it's black and white instead of black and yellow.

wyatth wrote

^ Why a charger for just a week?


So I like the CA vintage plates but something just seemed off with the front. Yes, black plate on a white car. But something else ... I thought it might be the white OE mount. So I bought an OE Jet Black mount to see if that would blend things a bit more. It does, but it also looks chunkier. What do you guys think?
FWIW my bumper has like 4 holes from a stupid dealer, so plugs aren’t an option. I like the amber so no Euro bumper in my future. And it’s in good shape otherwise so I’m not filling/repainting just to get rid of the plate.

Mine has the four drilled holes too At least on a dark-colored car those holes are less obvious so I've just decided to remove the mount and let the holes be. It bothers me far less than having the mount/plate.

On AW I think your black mount idea is more cohesive and keeps the lines looking cleaner, but it will always be high contrast due to the black plate. I'd say just run it for a while with the black mount or switch back to a white plate/AW mount.

akkando wrote

wyatth wrote

^ Why a charger for just a week?


So I like the CA vintage plates but something just seemed off with the front. Yes, black plate on a white car. But something else ... I thought it might be the white OE mount. So I bought an OE Jet Black mount to see if that would blend things a bit more. It does, but it also looks chunkier. What do you guys think?
FWIW my bumper has like 4 holes from a stupid dealer, so plugs aren't an option. I like the amber so no Euro bumper in my future. And it's in good shape otherwise so I'm not filling/repainting just to get rid of the plate.

Honestly if you want it to look right, you're going to have to get rid of the plate. If you won't do that I think you just have to live with it. Maybe CF splitters adding another dark element could help, and draw the eye away from the plate.

How about Raiders plate? I think it's black and white instead of black and yellow.

Do you happen to live in the Irvine area? I feel like I've seen that license plate on an e90 around here before? Might've just been on the forums somewhere though?