What have you done with or to your M3 today?

[DrFerry]

Took the M3 to see "The Power of M" exhibition at The Ultimate Driving Museum along with a buddy and his M2 Competition. The Power of M: Celebrating 50 Years. The new exhibition celebrates 50 years of BMW M and Motorsport. The exhibition is housed at the BMW CCA Foundation's Museum in Greer, South Carolina—right across Highway 101 from BMW Manufacturing, and just down the street from the BMW Performance Center.

Location (with plenty of free parking) 190 Manatee Court, Greer, SC 29651.
.

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[CamasM3e93]

Originally Posted by DrFerry

Took the M3 to see "The Power of M" exhibition at The Ultimate Driving Museum along with a buddy and his M2 Competition. The Power of M: Celebrating 50 Years. The new exhibition celebrates 50 years of BMW M and Motorsport. The exhibition is housed at the BMW CCA Foundation's Museum in Greer, South Carolina—right across Highway 101 from BMW Manufacturing, and just down the street from the BMW Performance Center.

Location (with plenty of free parking) 190 Manatee Court, Greer, SC 29651.
.

Holy crap. That makes our little M event look like garbage, lol.

https://www.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...php?p=29025273

[CTMike]

TIL about the M3 CRT. Very cool story. Love the pics!!

[derbo]

DrFerry should've made this into its own thread in the gallery!

[DrFerry]

Originally Posted by derbo

DrFerry should've made this into its own thread in the gallery!

Sorry. I never really was very good with the M3Post forum etiquette. Got banned from "Off Topic" for six years.. What is "the gallery"?

[Redd]

Originally Posted by DrFerry

Took the M3 to see "The Power of M" exhibition at The Ultimate Driving Museum along with a buddy and his M2 Competition. The Power of M: Celebrating 50 Years. The new exhibition celebrates 50 years of BMW M and Motorsport. The exhibition is housed at the BMW CCA Foundation's Museum in Greer, South Carolina—right across Highway 101 from BMW Manufacturing, and just down the street from the BMW Performance Center.

Location (with plenty of free parking) 190 Manatee Court, Greer, SC 29651.
.

Wow thanks for sharing!

[EJT86]

I so badly want to quote the whole post and just say “cool pics”

[derbo]

Originally Posted by DrFerry

Sorry. I never really was very good with the M3Post forum etiquette. Got banned from "Off Topic" for six years.. What is "the gallery"?

https://www.m3post.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=64

I meant the media gallery subforum.

[DoubleYellow]

Those are some nice pics of the event. Lots of great cars.



Steering wheel extension installed. For those interested in this, keep in mind the steering column angle doesn't change, so if you've bottomed out the vertical adjustment and want the steering wheel 1-2" closer to you than max stock adjustment, the extender brings the wheel closer but it sits higher. Adjust your seat accordingly.

The stalks are 2" farther away too.

[Redd]

Originally Posted by DoubleYellow

Those are some nice pics of the event. Lots of great cars.



Steering wheel extension installed. For those interested in this, keep in mind the steering column angle doesn't change, so if you've bottomed out the vertical adjustment and want the steering wheel 1-2" closer to you than max stock adjustment, the extender brings the wheel closer but it sits higher. Adjust your seat accordingly.

The stalks are 2" farther away too.

Interesting. Does it still allow you to operate the signal stalk without moving your hand from the wheel?

[DoubleYellow]

Yes. But depends on hand size. YMMV.

[derbo]

I guess if you are already that tall probably got big hands too. lmao

[CHSe92]

Originally Posted by Redd

Interesting. Does it still allow you to operate the signal stalk without moving your hand from the wheel?

You have to extend your fingers straight to catch the signal stalks. Not too major or requiring you to let go of the wheel

It's a ~1.9 inch spacer. Takes a little getting used to but after a few drives the muscle memory is there

[CamasM3e93]

A mix of activity today. Added refrigerant, was down 24 ounces so probably have a leak to address. Also confirmed that the rubber/neoprene shield I placed over the brake boost pressure sensor is in place after 1000 miles of driving. It's approximately 2" x 3" and just riding atop the sensor, held in place by a cage of ABS brake lines. Hoping to prevent another failure if'n I spill anything down there in the future.

I haven't seen more than 5 psi boost since moving the Harrop to the e90. Pulled the Harrop to address a known boost leak after I had snapped one of the throttle body boot worm-clamps 2 weeks ago. In the process discovered a second leak on the other side. I had had to replace several of the rubber boots before the install and apparently didn't get the boot attached to the throttle body adequately with the pinch clamp. After some fussing got that nice and tight and buttoned everything back together. First pull: peak boost of 6.5 psi and the engine sounds tight.

[spammysammich]

Originally Posted by CamasM3e93

A mix of activity today. Added refrigerant, was down 24 ounces so probably have a leak to address. Also confirmed that the rubber/neoprene shield I placed over the brake boost pressure sensor is in place after 1000 miles of driving. It's approximately 2" x 3" and just riding atop the sensor, held in place by a cage of ABS brake lines. Hoping to prevent another failure if'n I spill anything down there in the future.

I haven't seen more than 5 psi boost since moving the Harrop to the e90. Pulled the Harrop to address a known boost leak after I had snapped one of the throttle body boot worm-clamps 2 weeks ago. In the process discovered a second leak on the other side. I had had to replace several of the rubber boots before the install and apparently didn't get the boot attached to the throttle body adequately with the pinch clamp. After some fussing got that nice and tight and buttoned everything back together. First pull: peak boost of 6.5 psi and the engine sounds tight.

Was the ac not blowing cold or had you smelled refrigerant?

[CamasM3e93]

Originally Posted by spammysammich

Was the ac not blowing cold or had you smelled refrigerant?

It was meager performance, and made a clicking sound when the ac was running. All better

[DrFerry]

Originally Posted by CamasM3e93

It was meager performance, and made a clicking sound when the ac was running. All better

Would love to know what AC refrigerant kit you used and a bit more information on how to go about recharging or refilling the system. Mine has never been recharged in 14 years and I live in the south…

[CamasM3e93]

Originally Posted by DrFerry

Would love to know what AC refrigerant kit you used and a bit more information on how to go about recharging or refilling the system. Mine has never been recharged in 14 years and I live in the south…

It's a standardized fitting across the brands so an off the shelf kit should be fine. Some states prohibit DIY so your state may not have them on the shelf. This is the case in Washington but I just drove across the river to Oregon. R134a is the refrigerant and the low pressure entry fitting is along the firewall below the cowl between the plenum and brake reservoir. You might be able to do it by reaching under the cowl but it's tight so I just removed it. You run the engine and AC on max with recirc on, then connect the pressure gauge and if needed it's not in the green, connect a can of refrigerant and run it in.

That said, if you are getting adequate cooling with your system I wouldn't touch it.

Addendum: discovered I overfilled the system. High pressure relief valve vented refrigerant after a drive and the system stopped working. I bought a second hose and learned that the first charging hose had a faulty pressure gauge. The system takes 1.37 pounds of refrigerant per the label under the hood, so clearly 1.5 pounds of r134a was too much. With a second hose I vented to atmosphere until the gauge was in the green and the system is blowing cold again. Attaching pic of the low pressure inlet. Black plastic cap on silver tubing. I needed pliers to remove.

[spammysammich]

Did some troubleshooting on some slight vibration I was getting in the front wheels at around 70 mph with my recently repaired and powder coated Titan 7 wheels. With and without spacers.
It turns out they didn't mask the hub area or wheel lug mating surfaces and I noticed uneven compression of the coating. I carefully removed the paint from the area with a DA and some 120 grit making sure the hub contact area was not uneven and I stopped as soon as I saw metal. Shakedown run up to 75 was much improved. Still a little tiny shimmy there but the wheels were not road force balanced so I'm sure it'll get dialed out.
The big lesson learned this weekend is if you're looking into getting into the Milwaukee M18 ecosystem home despot is selling the battery starter pack with your choice of a free tool.

[CamasM3e93]

Used a heat gun and patience to remove an 11 year old clear bra. Lots of rounds of rubbing compound then used a TouchUpRx kit to paint over a decades collection of rock chips. Then more compound then wax. Not a bad outcome for 2 hours work.

[brettcp]

Originally Posted by CamasM3e93

Used a heat gun and patience to remove an 11 year old clear bra. Lots of rounds of rubbing compound then used a TouchUpRx kit to paint over a decades collection of rock chips. Then more compound then wax. Not a bad outcome for 2 hours work.

I was just looking for a rock chip touch up kit for 2 of our BMW's (my '12 M3 and my wife's '17 440i).. was about to order Dr Colorchip but just looked at TouchUpRx after reading your post - seems to be a very similar process and a bit less expensive. Would you recommend TouchUpRx over the alternatives out there?

Thanks!

[CamasM3e93]

Originally Posted by brettcp

I was just looking for a rock chip touch up kit for 2 of our BMW's (my '12 M3 and my wife's '17 440i).. was about to order Dr Colorchip but just looked at TouchUpRx after reading your post - seems to be a very similar process and a bit less expensive. Would you recommend TouchUpRx over the alternatives out there?

Thanks!

It's the only one I've used and I really like it. Make sure to have compound and wax on hand, a big pile of clean microfiber towels, a couple hours, and bravery. It gets a little dicey smearing paint all over your hood but pushing through and following out the entire process, it turns out well. I will post a diy this week