A friend of mine just purchased a pretty clean '04 E46 M3, and I’m looking to help him out with info on potential problems/weak points that he may come across. He’s also looking to do some light mods (i.e. intake, exhaust, tuning options) to start, and maybe a power adder down the road (which I told him would really not be necessary).
Any info or HELPFULL hints would be appreciated. I obviously expect some abuse, given the nature of this forum. Any questions for me as far as current mods the car has, etc. I will direct back to him and get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks in advance.
I hope he’s ready to spend some money on modding the car. Even if its light mods. Where did he pick the car up from? southern car, local car, dealership? smg or 6 speed? any mods now?
I already warned him. Car was picked up from Houston, it’s a 6 speed, and there are no mods to speak of that we can see…his big concern right now is a K&N cold-air for some unknown reason. I told him his best bet would be, and correct me if I’m wrong, a tune. First and fore-most.
I’ll let him know about the cams, but I don’t think his pockets are deep enough yet for a factory CSL intake. Not sure if he’d be interested in brake upgrades.
What’s the specific problem with radiator? Bad tanks?
The rear subframe reinforcement kit is a good preventative maintenance, if he plans on flogging it around a bit. My M was good at 108k miles, so it may have been fine forever, but for a relatively cheap price, you can have peace of mind forever by beefing that up. There is some Vanos maintenance too, like filter, and maybe the upgraded gear thingie too, as well as the Vanos cam bolts that back out for some reason.