Real Fiero Tech

The service records wouldn't scare me if the owners seem legit. I don't have service records for any of my cars, but every one gets religious oil changes and such. Except the Fiero because I don't drive it.

I finally ran the Carfax. It looks great.

I negotiated him down to 15.8k. More than I wanted to spend, since I have a lot of expensive parts to put on it still, and I need to do the recent maintenance, but it will be a very nice car to be in for 6000 miles. Plus it's literally the best E46 M3 one can buy in the US. Every option that's actually useful including the Competition Package, and no excess weight crap like the cold weather package. Only option I don't like is the moonroof, but moonroof delete was rare. Picking it up tomorrow.

If I keep the car I'll put a Lang Racing carbon fiber roof on it and it'll be halfway to a CSL.

Vehicle acquired.

Some pics I took while i was at Lang Racing Development in Irvine to inspect the car on the lift and order parts.

Phenomenal looking car. Glad you finally got one!

Got a bay at my friend's shop for the week.



Made a bunch of progress in taking the car apart tonight so I can replace the rod bearings. Few more hours of work and the pan will be off. Going to take the suspension apart too so it's ready for the PSS10 kit when that arrives on Wednesday.

Current plan for the week:

-VANOS rebuild and refresh
-New OE rod bearings and ARP rod bolts
-Bilstein PSS10 suspension kit
-New OE rotors
-Track brake pads (having trouble getting these -- not sure what compound I'm going to end up with..)
-Aux input for the stereo so I don't have to burn a thousand CDs for the 3-week trip
-Schroth Quick Fit Pro Harness
-Apex ARC-8 18x9.5 wheels
-Dunlop ZII or Hankook RS3 tires (haven't finalized the size)
-Oil change
-New radiator hoses and coolant
-New accessory belts
-New front control arm bushings
-New rear trailing arm bushings

Parts are coming in slowly but almost everything has been ordered and shipped.

Also found out today that the wheels are CSL wheels or replicas, not US market ZCP Competition Package wheels. The difference is the fronts -- the CSL are 0.5 inches wider on the front than the ZCP wheels. So at least the front wheels were replaced at some point.

I find it either hilarious or disturbing that rod bearings are maintenance items on BMW's high revving engines.

What's the community concensus on direct replacement of stock rod bolts with ARP's regarding bearing bore roundness? (Does anyone even care?)
Had a minor row over this on Corner Carvers: http://www.corner-carvers.com/forums/sh ... hp?t=48235
Upshot is that there are OVER-sized rod bearings available for LS powdered metal rods, which allow rod resizing.

It's all academic if people are swapping to ARP bolts and NOT having additional rod bearing problems, which is my understanding of the situation.

And all moot since you're not taking the engine down that far.


Also... I never understood the desire to replace radiator hoses. I've NEVER experienced an out-of-the-blue radiator hose failure. Are they common on E46's and/or M3's?
I have replaced hoses when they were ratty at the ends from repeated assembly/disassembly, were worn by contact with a belt, etc. The Mule still has its original front hoses.

I'm expecting to be deep into the VANOS for preventive maintenance on Bad Idea's engine when I get it on the stand.

The whole BMW cooling system is plastic, the rubber hoses have plastic quick connect ends with an o ring in them. All of the cooling system parts generally have a date code on them as well. Every however many years you need to replace the stuff. When I got my E46 it needed upper and lower hoses, expansion tank, and a thermostat.

Mine were all leaking where the rubber hose met the plastic end.

Ahh... ok. I guess that's newer stuff than I've played with.

My G/F's 2002 Audi has those plastic ends, but they don't leak. Not sure if Audi's stuff is better than BMW's or if I just need to watch then after reassembly following current timing belt & torque converter replacement.

My girlfriends 06 A4 uses them and so do most modern benzes. I think BMW just uses crappy plastics, though Porsche cayennes and some 911s are known for the same types of issues and those are also VAG.

Someone told me BMWs run higher coolant pressures than most but I have no idea if that's true. All I know is "cooling system updates" on BMWs after about 1996 are the norm.

I'm familiar with plastic impeller water pump replacement, but just hadn't messed with those fittings yet. "Higher cooling system pressures" sounds like BMW elitism to me

The Dark Side of Will wrote: Also... I never understood the desire to replace radiator hoses. I've NEVER experienced an out-of-the-blue radiator hose failure. Are they common on E46's and/or M3's?
I have replaced hoses when they were ratty at the ends from repeated assembly/disassembly, were worn by contact with a belt, etc. The Mule still has its original front hoses.

I have experienced out-of-the-blue leaking from the hose ends on my Fiero and my Subaru. I have experienced total hose failure on a Ford Taurus. It is always good preventive maintenance to replace as many rubber parts as possible once they have aged a few years. They have a finite lifespan due to the continuing vulcanization and eventual breakdown of the rubber. Same goes for tires.

I desire to work on the car as little as possible while I'm on my 3 week road trip, so I'm addressing all of the common E46, S54, and general automotive issues now before I leave.

The Dark Side of Will wrote:"Higher cooling system pressures" sounds like BMW elitism to me

What? Have you seen a 29 psi relief pressure on any other vehicle you own? My Fiero and Subaru are 14 psi I think.

29? Yikes. That's almost NASCAR shit (pre-pressurized to 30 psi to avoid cavitation)

Series8217 wrote: I have experienced out-of-the-blue leaking from the hose ends on my Fiero and my Subaru. I have experienced total hose failure on a Ford Taurus. It is always good preventive maintenance to replace as many rubber parts as possible once they have aged a few years. They have a finite lifespan due to the continuing vulcanization and eventual breakdown of the rubber. Same goes for tires.

I desire to work on the car as little as possible while I'm on my 3 week road trip, so I'm addressing all of the common E46, S54, and general automotive issues now before I leave.

I totally understand that sentiment.

Tires and external rubber see a lot of UV. GM widow seals on '80's cars are disintegrating. The BMW and AMC window seals I've seen from the same era are, for the most part in good shape. A lot depends on the quality and formulation of the rubber.

The Dark Side of Will wrote:Tires and external rubber see a lot of UV. GM widow seals on '80's cars are disintegrating. The BMW and AMC window seals I've seen from the same era are, for the most part in good shape. A lot depends on the quality and formulation of the rubber.

I guess BMW rubber has gone down in quality. My housemate's 2007 328i had a disintegrating upper windshield trim after only 6 years. The exterior rubber on my E46 looks old and is barely starting to crack at 9 years old.

Heat cycling is probably more significant than UV for cooling system components.

Love the car, absolutely fabulous color. I can't wait to chase it around the track in a month. I think I'll bring my Dad's Camaro, my Jeep wouldn't stand a chance against that M3. Not like the SS will be able to, but it'll be closer.

Color will change slightly.. I'm wrapping it. It will still be a shade of silver though.

Anyway, today's progress..

Long day. Replaced all the connecting rod bearings.. they actually looked VERY good, for S54 bearings, no copper, no scoring, just some embedded debris. I had to get in there to be sure they were good though. Peace of mind achieved. Couldn't get BMW bolts in time (dealer was out...) so I installed ARP rod bolts stretched to 0.065-0.070". Haven't heard of any people having problems with these. Also put on a new oil pan gasket (of course), and new accessory belts, and replaced the oil pressure relief valve o-ring that was leakin. The bottom end is pretty much buttoned up. Tomorrow I need to knock at least half of the items off the list or I'm going to end up days behind by the end of the week. At least all of the parts have come in!

Unfortunately it looks like I won't have time to rebuild the VANOS before my road trip. I will bring the parts along and a spare VANOS in case I have to do it on the road. Maybe I'll rebuild the spare in a hotel room .

Some pics from today:

Bottom end ready to get closed up:



Bilstein PSS10 kit and Ground Control camber plates arrived:


I would have preferred Vorshlag camber/caster plates but I needed parts fast. I can always upgrade later. Maybe I can even stop in at Vorshlag on my way through Texas. They still have a bunch of LSx exhaust manifolds I sent them to test fit on their LSx motor swap projects.. I want to see if they've done anything with those too.

Car put to bed:


Many things to do the rest of the week:

If you want to rebuild the VANOS while you're at my place we can!