Round 3....another M3 build

[Fudge]

aside from the bad luck youve had with this one i like the direction, love the cage and that oldschool steering wheel

2 questions

1.) what colour you painting the cage?

2.) did you have to use the original sensor and throttlebody when you swapped inlet? or is it all built in? (im not a bmw guy so dont ****)

[hinrichs]

aside from the bad luck youve had with this one i like the direction, love the cage and that oldschool steering wheel

2 questions

1.) what colour you painting the cage?

2.) did you have to use the original sensor and throttlebody when you swapped inlet? or is it all built in? (im not a bmw guy so dont ****)

1.Not really sure yet, last car I just left it black and it was boring. I was thinking red or something but thats kind of boring as well. Good thing as any color works well with silver. Thinking whatever it ends up being I will get whatever wheels I pick matched to the cage.

2.Yes original(and new) sensor, and also stock throttle body. The intake manifold I swapped is from an older m50 which is obd1 and flows better.

[Fudge]

1.Not really sure yet, last car I just left it black and it was boring. I was thinking red or something but thats kind of boring as well. Good thing as any color works well with silver. Thinking whatever it ends up being I will get whatever wheels I pick matched to the cage.

2.Yes original(and new) sensor, and also stock throttle body. The intake manifold I swapped is from an older m50 which is obd1 and flows better.

GT3RS Green

you need to get it diagnosed, was it acting up before the manifold swap?

[hinrichs]

Hopefully friday I can get the car up to a shop an hour away to try and figure some stuff out as well as tune it for whats been done so far.

Last night I installed the headlights, and broke one of them already (well the sidemarker tab) so I am pissed about that. Also did an oil change and it was just black with no signs of coolant.

[tonis]

If it runs good without a tps maybe it's because it goes into open loop that way? That would mean it could also be maf or o2 sensors instead. Maybe try unpluging the maf instead of the tps to see if it acts the same way.

[Benwalsh91]

Keep at it bro! Love the work you have done so far. Stay strong, when it's working it will all be worth it

[hinrichs]

If it runs good without a tps maybe it's because it goes into open loop that way? That would mean it could also be maf or o2 sensors instead. Maybe try unpluging the maf instead of the tps to see if it acts the same way.

I keep getting a TPS fault code, so I think its something with the DME not actually recognizing the sensor properly. If I unplug the maf it shuts right off which when I read up it will run on either the maf or tps if one isnt working.

Keep at it bro! Love the work you have done so far. Stay strong, when it's working it will all be worth it

Thanks, I hope I can get it going soon.


So over the weekend I ended up just working on my tool boxes more...finding out how many sockets I have lost over the years is annoying but of course I have extras of all the ones that I didnt loose. I did however get these throttle cable bushings installed (ended up deleting cruise control in the process). Both bushings were shot anyway so I was thinking just maybe, that extra slop was messing something up. Also thew in the cage....yeah its staying black till winter when I pull it and get it powdered coated. I didnt bolt it in yet but its there. Have yet to drive the car.

throttle bushing by minthinrich, on Flickr
cage 3 by minthinrich, on Flickr

[hinrichs]

Got my new tune thursday last week, swapped the ecu out, still having the same issue (hoping it was a fried connection), so I ordered up a new engine harness since we both think its somehow a wiring issue somewhere since its throwing a hard code as soon as you turn the key. That will be here tomorrow so time to pull the intake off once again. Also needed to order one new fuel injector since I broke one of the plastic ends over the weekend putting it back together again after trying to find a broken wire.

kassel ecu by minthinrich, on Flickr

My girlfriend helped me finally bolt in the cage this weekend. I felt like an idiot having to run to get bolts 2 times since I couldn't seem to count correctly, but its in. Still need to figure out the back sides of the seat trim tho, since I want to put it back in and make it look factory since this time around I want to keep the back seats in for sound deadening. Also this car I think is only going to be autocrossed so I dont need to strip it out. Even if I do go to the hill climb eventually, I want to be in the street class which would need a full interior basically.

cage stock seats by minthinrich, on Flickr

Also just for fun, I placed in one of my stashed away old style Sparco seat belts. Its only a simple 4 point and of course I have one blue, and one black, but the stock seats dont look terrible with them. I know schroth makes a quick fit option, but not sure how it works with a harness bar like I have now. I have some plans on seats, just need to figure out which way I want to go. Main issue is my girlfriend fitting in a passenger seat haha.

blue harness by minthinrich, on Flickr

[D876]

Great Job n Nice Car. 1 of my favorite bodies !

[stranger]

m3 1 by minthinrich, on Flickr
m3 2 by minthinrich, on Flickr
[url=https://flic.kr/p/r3twjm]

Searching for name of those rims, can you help?

[190Evan]

You're seriously replacing the whole harness? Why not just locate the issue with a multi-meter and repair it for a fraction of the cost and time.

[hinrichs]

Searching for name of those rims, can you help?

Millie Miglia, I forget which model they are, but I actually still have that set which never sold.

You're seriously replacing the whole harness? Why not just locate the issue with a multi-meter and repair it for a fraction of the cost and time.

I already did the engine harness as it was only $250 and the one I ended up with is in much better shape anyway. I figured the issue was in the rats nest of wires that is in the middle of the harness so out it went....best part is it solved nothing

From more reading and reading and reading, everyone says you have to use oem sensors on these cars and that nothing else works, so I will be ordering them up today and hoping for the best.

[stranger]

Thanks!

[hinrichs]

So finally got the OEM sensors....which arent cheap....and guess what....nothing changed.

Really starting to get to the point of giving up and selling this car. Maybe ill just get a loan like I should have and build another e46 or something newer.

[hinrichs]

Only update, took the car to my local shop yesterday.

[190Evan]

Hope for valve guide seals, easy fix.

[hinrichs]

Hope for valve guide seals, easy fix.

I dont even know what to think could be wrong. The shop has the expensive BMW scanner so maybe they can dig in more. The current misfire sure made it miserable to drive it there, good thing its not too far away from me but the highway was interesting.



Get a call from the shop....exactly what I was expecting that there is a wiring issue between the ECU and the TPS sensor...no shit I already knew that. New wiring, ecu, all sensors, yet this pos still doesnt work right.

[gianni_blanco]

Don't quit ): we believe in you. OG

[190Evan]

Do you know anyone or have access to an O-Scope? You could monitor the TPS signal at the sensor and at the ECU to see what kind of signal you are getting.

[hinrichs]

Picked the car up from the shop, somehow the leak detection pump was shorted to ground causing my issues. Shop traced the wires and that was tied together from my understanding.

Still dealing with the cam code, but I think that may be some vanos related issue.

Also power steering is now fighting me.

[190Evan]

burn it

[hinrichs]

burn it

Trust me I have sure wanted to.

I am going to try and change the steering fluid tonight since its Black....so its prolly never been done. The pump isnt making any noise so I am thinking bad fluid its just not flowing properly or something stupid.

Also talked to my tuner and he said the vanos probably isnt timed correctly which is really easy to have happen. Need to look into what tools I need for that or maybe get lucky and find someone locally that will help me out for a case of beer or something.

[hinrichs]

Turned 30 yesterday so took the day off to work on the car and drink beer, changed the ps fluid a few times and its better, but I think I will rebuild the pump soon or go try and find one at the junkyard this weekend just incase. Sounds like its whining.

Also I have had this MK3 CL lip for a while sitting in the garage, so figured why not throw it on for fun.

M3 CL LIP by minthinrich, on Flickr

[gianni_blanco]

Happy birthday dude!

[hinrichs]

Started to really look at wheels and tires again today since I can drive the car for the most part. Was going to pull the trigger on Kosei K1 but they dont hold up on the street. Rotiform RSE are very heavy so dont really want those either.

Decisions, decisions.