E46 Widebody Build thread

[jhstealth]

Okay so I had a thread up on fanatics but partially from anticipation of getting the car back and partially figureing I should let everyone know what I have been up to since this is the forum I have been on the longest and have used the most I figured I should throw a build thread up here also. I also Wanted to throw a poll up to see what everyone thinks of which way I should go with the powerplant as once I get the car back that is next. So here we go.

A little background, I purchased this car with the intent of making this a widebody project. I didnt want an m3 as I wanted to mod every inch of a car to keep my interest, also I wanted something that would be completely unique and different then an M car. Lastly I dont think I could possibly cut the rear quarter panels out of an e46 m3, Once I own an e46 m3 I mostlikely wont be modding it at all. With all that said here is my build thread and I hope I can help people out with their projects .

I purchased the car at 155k for 7k after taxes. I drove it allot of the summer while I got money together and It has had no problems, everything looks solid and I have loved it.



These are after I already blacked out the window trim and the grills.

Next step I took the rear tire well out so that I could run stock m3 exhausts making it allot easier to purchase exhausts and also not having to drive around streight piped. Also fitted the e46 rear bumper and csl diffuser. (this is before paint so dont mind the rear bumper





I also got a set of m3 fenders to fit more rubber up front and a csl bumper, still waiting on my hood. Also depo headlights, smoked corners and led tails and a CSL cf trunk.


And tires arrived.




Car is currently at the shop getting widebodied. They are custom welding the rear quarters in at the moment and should be back soon. I will show the progress of that in a day or two when I save the photos to photobucket.

Thanks for looking!

[zinda]

bout time someone puts some rubber on their e36/e46...

[m3j0n]

do the front fenders need to be trimmed to fit?

[e39hamann]

can't wait to see this done!

[nike001]

Looking forward to see the outcome of this. I think it will look pretty good. As long as you don't put M badges on it...and for future references... its 'a lot' not allot

I also voted for the S62 swap because there is always room for an S62 swap instead of another turbo story.. I'm actually getting bored of turbos since it seems that everyone and their grandmother has a turbo'd car.

[GTRSv]

Looking forward to see the outcome of this. I think it will look pretty good. As long as you don't put M badges on it...and for future references... its 'a lot' not allot

I also voted for the S62 swap because there is always room for an S62 swap instead of another turbo story.. I'm actually getting bored of turbos since it seems that everyone and their grandmother has a turbo'd car.

i said s62 cause of what this guy said, plus i think that thing would sound badass with a v8 under the hood

[raider408]

drop the v8 in there.

[Esteban213]

It would be crazy to see a v8 in your car. Do that.

[BMWmusic]

V8 please.

[Sam Son]

a M54 with a twin screw would be friggin awesome but an S62 would be badassery of a different level

[DTMdan]

S62 man!!!

[nike001]

S62 man!!!

DAMN! Your car is nicee!

And i've only heard the e39 m5 s62 v8 one time and it sounds

[jhstealth]

bout time someone puts some rubber on their e36/e46...

I know, Im actually going with even more, Im going to be ordering a set of ccw classics in 18 by 12 and im going to run 315.

do the front fenders need to be trimmed to fit?

Nope direct bolt on but they dont match up with the bumper so you need to get an M fitment bumper to make it presentable and ideally a hood but you can get the fitment close without the hood.

can't wait to see this done!

Me either, Im dieing to get it back, its been over a month that its been being widened and I have soo many little projects to tend to on it.

Looking forward to see the outcome of this. I think it will look pretty good. As long as you don't put M badges on it...and for future references... its 'a lot' not allot

I also voted for the S62 swap because there is always room for an S62 swap instead of another turbo story.. I'm actually getting bored of turbos since it seems that everyone and their grandmother has a turbo'd car.

Ahh your right, I typed it up really fast. Yea I actually already popped both the M badges off the fender gills already. I definitely wont pose just styling it to how I like. Im really leaning toward the s62 too. The only reason I even had second thoughts because that was my first choise is that when I just had my 540i I really missed the Inline 6 motor. We shall see.

i said s62 cause of what this guy said, plus i think that thing would sound badass with a v8 under the hood

Yea I definitely think it would surprise allot of people lol.

drop the v8 in there.

Definitely leaning toards it, Im gonna see what information I can find out about the hartge e46 with it in there.

It would be crazy to see a v8 in your car. Do that.

Thats what Im thinkin

V8 please

Its looking good for that option, thanks for the input.

a M54 with a twin screw would be friggin awesome but an S62 would be badassery of a different level

Yea I know, the numbers on that look great and it would keep the inline 6 aspect and look awesome but yea the s would def be way more unique.

S62 man!!!

Hopefully

[m3mobbin]

Interesting build, TT stage two definitely offers the best bang for the buck. Probably won't sound as good but you'll be saving yourself a hell of alot of headaches over the s62 swap. It would put down considerably more power than a stock s62 as well.

I'm actually getting bored of turbos since it seems that everyone and their grandmother has a turbo'd car.

There is a reason for that.

[liilpa09]

Can't wait to see this all done!

I'd say S62 swap if you can but the easiest will probably be the m54 w/ TT turbo setup.

[persianbmw91]

wat are s62 prices? iv seen one 318 in europe that had it done. pretty sick build i vote for that. i wonder if it will have enough space for f/i eventually. that would be absurd.

[jhstealth]

Interesting build, TT stage two definitely offers the best bang for the buck. Probably won't sound as good but you'll be saving yourself a hell of alot of headaches over the s62 swap. It would put down considerably more power than a stock s62 as well.



There is a reason for that.

Very good point, The ess twin screw stage two has very similar numbers which is why I picked it also but it is a tad less. Both will definitely be less of a headache and they both actually will put down approximately the same, stage two TT is approx 430 with approx 370 to the wheels and stage two twin screw is 350 and the stock s62's have been putting down around 370ish from the couple sources I have seen. The thing about the turbo that makes it tempting is that is highly upgradeable pending I have someone to re-tune it. Did I mention im the worst decision maker ever hahaha.

Can't wait to see this all done!

I'd say S62 swap if you can but the easiest will probably be the m54 w/ TT turbo setup.

Yea im looking into the s62 and the complexity right now and throwing ideas off my friends that will be helping me. If it comes down that it is going to be way to hard then ill just go tt.

wat are s62 prices? iv seen one 318 in europe that had it done. pretty sick build i vote for that. i wonder if it will have enough space for f/i eventually. that would be absurd.

From what I have seen from 5-10k depending on the mileage reputability of the company etc. Im almost positive there will not be room for a supercharger in the e46 bay but there are builds out there they have the s62 over 500hp N/A so thats something I could look into.


Thanks everyone for the Ideas and Suggestions. Here are some pics of the quarters as of right now. I need to get rid of my carbon fiber fenders at some point so I can flair out the front fenders a little to fit some more rubber there also.

[streetsoffire]

In case I missed it: What shop is doing the work?

[BavarianMW94]

why didnt you just buy a real e46 m3 and then add boost? am i the only one who thinks this would be the best idea?

[topnotch]

Wow, looks great so far, my buddy and i just finished grafting e46 front fender arches on the rear of my e36, and what your doing is even more extreme! Great work and looking forward to the progress to come.

Cheers,

Tim

[jhstealth]

why didnt you just buy a real e46 m3 and then add boost? am i the only one who thinks this would be the best idea?

Because I didnt want one... When I own an e46 m3 im not modding it especially cutting the fenders and quarters out. I wanted something to tinker with when I get bored, Something I wouldnt do to an M3. Also HPF stage 1 would be 14k. So plus a 22k m3 that would be 36k. Im going to be spending way less. Im just at 13k where im at.

In case I missed it: What shop is doing the work?

Nah I forgot to post it up since I typed this up fast. Its getting done at Azevedo Motorsports

Wow, looks great so far, my buddy and i just finished grafting e46 front fender arches on the rear of my e36, and what your doing is even more extreme! Great work and looking forward to the progress to come.

Cheers,

Tim

Thanks allot man! Will keep you posted. Do you have any pictures of your e36 with them on? My friend was thinking of doing this but wanted to see what It looked like first.

[m3mobbin]

That sheet metal work looks nice & smooth, it should minimize the use of filler which is always a good thing.

[jhstealth]

That sheet metal work looks nice & smooth, it should minimize the use of filler which is always a good thing.

Yea their work is really good. I knew I wanted to have them do it because I've seen their work and they have done a ton of widebody cars and they specialize in BMW.

[denyo77]

nice idea, I'm just not too sure about the super-wide tires yet

[Sam Son]

wow thats some impressive work. Im glad to see this is already underway. Im def subscribed