WBM346Z Build Journal

As part of the overall theme of my car build I have wanted to set my car apart from other less modified or standard E46 M3s whilst staying true to a BMW styling. I wanted the car to look like it could have come off the factory floor as a BMW option package and drive well on the street, whilst also tearing up on the track. This is part of why for most of my build I have referred to it as a Clubsport build and this gave me the idea to try capture that naming and apply it to the theme of the car. There was never officially a BMW E46 M3 Clubsport as the BMW E46 M3 CS that Europe got was actually a Coupe Sport and obviously the CSL was the pinnacle model which as discussed previously I cannot really replicate from. So I started thinking about badging and labeling and was reminded of some of the M3Forum guys with Supercharged M3s who use a CSL badge but switch it around to give themselves a ///M3 sc which I always thought was kind of cool and set them apart without being too tacky. The use o...

As part of the overall Clubsport theme I am going with for this build (both in looks and functionality) I decided the car needed a bit of something for the interior, given that I currently had a pretty average set of Titan Shadow interior trims. I weighed up heavily between a original BMW set of Brushed Aluminium Trim or an aftermarket Carbon Fibre option (only premium like Karbonius, not stick on covers). I also had to consider what would happen with the rest of the interior when deciding which would suit. Understanding I cannot run CSL styled parts as the car need to have original theme for Targa Australia but also wanting to set my car apart from standard E46 M3's I decided to go with aftermarket Carbon Fibre interior trims. I believe the Carbon Fibre style for these pieces is true to what BM<W would do (given the use of carbon fibre in the CSL and in subsequent M3 interior trim fit outs) but also wasn't as widely used as standard BMW options. I also thought it would work...

As part of the Targa Australia Regulations the car must be fitted with a Goodridge G-Link quick disconnect coupling (shown above) for fuel sampling as per M5 of the Targa Australia Regulations: Luckily thanks to my previous install of the Radium Automotive Fuel Rail I now had an AN connection at the back of the fuel rail and at the outlet of the Fuel Pressure Regulator. Now due to the clearance it was not possible to neatly install a take-off at the rear of the fuel rail where the current AN fuel line connects to so the easiest place to setup a take-off for a fuel sample point was off the Fuel Pressure Regulator. So to achieve this I purchased a SpeedFlow Tee-Piece (-06AN female to male with a male off-take). As you can see in the below photo I was then able to off-take from this point for the fuel sample connection. The fuel sample line then follows the fuel rail line out from the Fuel Pressure Regulator and then splits off and follows the Oil Dipstick Tube up to the Left Hand strut t...

Now while I had the dash out of the car to get in and replace the heater core and AC Evaporator I figured it was a good time to apply an anti-glare finish to the dash. Previously I had purchased the anti-glare dash kit and tools through HARD Motorsport so I got stuck into it. Its reasonably straight forward to do but hard to get right. I highly recommend the flocking applicator you can get through HARD Motorsport if you chose to do this yourself as it made a consistent overall finish a lot easier. The hard part was getting the glue painted on nice and consistently and then blasting with the flock before it started to dry. Here is a collection of photos of my efforts and the finish: With the dash out I also noticed the rust that had started to bloom on the dash frame as it is unpainted. I thought it was a little over the top to get it painted but also didn't like leaving something completely unpainted. I had a fair bit of a can of Wurth Rust-Stop Primer and Zich Rich Weld-Thru Prime...

While waiting for my engine and ECU to be delivered I thought I would try and confirm if I have a MK60 DSC Module. This would allow me to enable M-Track Mode (CSL style DSC) through INPA when I get the car back together. Firstly I had to try figure out my modules serial / part number. Unfortunately this is very hard to do with the unit installed but I really didn't want to disassemble it... despite the fact the rest of the car is in pieces... To do this I used and Inspection Mirror and my camera to take a photo of the back of the unit where the identification information is. As you can see from the picture (although inverted by the mirror), I have a 10.0960-0813.3 unit. Next I did a bit of research on the MK60 DSC Module. There are a few good threads on the topic: MK60 DSC Thread MK60 ABS Standalone Info So it turns out the 0813.3 unit is the same hardware as the CSL unit but with a different software version. It can be modified or re-flashed with the CSL software,...