Page 2 of 15 FirstFirst 123456789101112 ... LastLast
Results 26 to 50 of 371

Thread: 2002 S54 BMW M Coupe Build Thread

  1. #26
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    361
    My Cars
    2002 BMW Z3 M Coupe
    Quote Originally Posted by 2DYE4 View Post
    So much win.
    Quote Originally Posted by CaliAgents View Post
    Nice work mayn, keep it up! Good job tracking down that pesky oil leak as well.

    Aiyeeeeeee!
    Quote Originally Posted by BlueM3Racer View Post
    Great thread, Nick. Car is looking excellent.
    Thanks everyone for the kind words!
    Sapphire Black / Black S54 M Coupe

    https://www.instagram.com/nickmdominguez/


  2. #27
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    361
    My Cars
    2002 BMW Z3 M Coupe

    Dont Use Harbor Freight Picks..

    So I was going to attempt the front crank seal again. I got into it really easily now that I knew what I was doing. The crank seal this time was extremely hard to take out. I grabbed a pick out of my father’s tool box and began to pick at the seal. With only 15% ugga dugga the pick snapped off inside the seal thanks to harbor freight. I couldnt see it, which made me nervous but I continued to get the seal out. It was gone, the pick broke off inside the damn timing cover.
    I made some calls and due to the size of the of the metal I needed to get it out. It was directly underneath the oil pick-up.
    Here’s a very sad picture of a magnet sticking to the piece through the aluminum pan.




    My first plan was to try to used a curved magnet to try to fish it out through the timing cover. After 4 hours, that didn’t work. Next plan was to try to get it out through the filter hole in the back of the S54 oil pan, that didn’t work since it was blocked off. The final plan was to try to get it out through the top aside the timing chain. There were 5 access holes, mainly leading me to the disk in the timing cover. One access hole didn’t. I was able to reach down to the bottom. There was hope.



    After playing around and going fishing I couldn’t get it. I knew I was making contact with the pan but I didn’t know what part. I had my girlfriend scrape the pan while I went under the car and tried to find the magnet in the pan with a bigger magnet, I eventually found it. this whole time I knew where the piece was because with the big magnet I was able to hear the piece moving around with the big magnet.
    So I magically was able to move the piece along the inside of the oil pan through it to the point of contact I was making above. After a little bit of moving around...

    Clink!





    I got the friggen piece out. Saved myself taking the car to a mechanic to remove the pan for $700.00. Thank god. Once of the nastiest situations I’ve ever been in, and I was able to beat it.
    Time to put the valve cover back together and try installing the seal again, wish me luck!



    Last edited by moupe54; 04-17-2020 at 08:42 PM.
    Sapphire Black / Black S54 M Coupe

    https://www.instagram.com/nickmdominguez/


  3. #28
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Mojave Desert, California
    Posts
    118
    My Cars
    '01 Z3 3.0i, '01 X5 3.0i
    This is such a cool build. I hope to have an M Coupe to work on and make my own someday.

  4. #29
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    361
    My Cars
    2002 BMW Z3 M Coupe

    Quarantine Pt. 2

    Continuing onto all of the quarantine maintenance my car is going through. After my Sad attempt at my front crank seal, I put it on hold it until the new one came and I had access to an installation tool. Most of this week has been tedious and small. My vanos unit had been looking a bit sad with leftover oxidation and rusted bolts. I painted them in silver engine enamel. Next I polished the vanos unit, which a lot of people ask how I did.
    You take various grits of sandpaper (400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500) and sand down evenly throughout the unit.
    Next clean with brake cleaner and an air hose to remove all the dust, dirt and aluminum debris.
    Finally just go crazy with a microfiber and mothers aluminum polish. Not perfect but better than hazy gray imho



    After the vanos unit was taken care of I changed out the spark plugs for bosch units and went back to my old OEM valve cover.




    While searching for the broken pick inside my oil, I continued on cleaning up some of the worn items under the car. My X-brace had been pretty beat up from some speed bumps at Hofstra University. I took the brace off and sanded/painted it in flat black. Came out pretty nice



    I just ordered some new rear tires. Mine are on their way out and dont have much tread left. Once quarantine is over ill probably replace them.


    Falken Azenis 295/30/18

    Sapphire Black / Black S54 M Coupe

    https://www.instagram.com/nickmdominguez/


  5. #30
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    361
    My Cars
    2002 BMW Z3 M Coupe

    Quarantine Pt. 3

    I had given up on installing this crank seal myself. With limited space crawling around on my back in the driveway while it rained, I was running out of patience. The car was set to go off for paint on the weekend so I needed to finish up.
    I towed the car to a friends shop to ONLY put in the seal in and I had the car back within a day.



    All that was left was to install the harmonic balancer, belts, fan, change the oil, put the X-brace and the undertray back on.
    Of course, me being me, I cant install parts that are dirty. I degreased all the shrouding and trays before I threw them back in. This car never came with the big underbelly but luckily I had an old one lying around from my old coupe. It was beat up but I brought it back to life



    Finally, after everything it was done and I after I took it for a brief drive, it appears the new seal wasn’t leaking. After 20 minutes it seems no oil was dripping in the front of the engine.



    I swear I never thought this car would be so clean underneath
    Last edited by moupe54; 05-23-2020 at 12:15 PM.
    Sapphire Black / Black S54 M Coupe

    https://www.instagram.com/nickmdominguez/


  6. #31
    Join Date
    Feb 2020
    Location
    Lone Star Republic
    Posts
    94
    My Cars
    Z3 3.0i Roadie
    Love it. I didn't realize you were a college student. Nice to have some more young people around here!

  7. #32
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    MD
    Posts
    460
    My Cars
    ‘97 M3/4/5 ‘99 M Coupe
    Nick, the car looks awesome. What are the offsets for the wheels and what suspension setup? Do you have pics of the car with the splitters on?

  8. #33
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    McLean, VA
    Posts
    4,632
    My Cars
    02 MC, 01 MR, 99 Z3C
    Saw this car today in person at the meetup in PA. Beautiful car and an impressive build.
    Kelvin

  9. #34
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Houston, TX
    Posts
    100
    My Cars
    '85 M635csi, '84 545i, 88 M3
    Nice car Nick! I have the same car, 02, BSM over Black. I’ve done a few things over the last 5 years or so I’ve owned it incl:

    - carbon fiber intake with csl dme. If you get one I can only speak of the very high quality John from S14forum does them. Not sure how other brands are but this one is top notch. I also have one on my e30 M3. He’s the go to guy for e30 m3 crowd...
    - stepped headers with high flow cats and eisenmann race exhaust
    - coil overs
    - Kinesis K58 in the exact same setup you have

    The csl intake and related items make the car at least 100x more fun to drive. Highly highly recommend them. Between the intoxicating intake sounds and the power increase you can’t go wrong.

    I have a 3.73 that I’ll put in soon and depending on how that feels rpm wise I’ll get a six speed to compensate.

    Stock...



    Csl intake...



    Today...



    I’ve enjoyed reading your progress...Keep up the good work!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

  10. #35
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    361
    My Cars
    2002 BMW Z3 M Coupe
    Quote Originally Posted by ThatZ3Guy View Post
    Love it. I didn't realize you were a college student. Nice to have some more young people around here!
    Yeah I'm super young haha. I bought my first coupe when I was 16, just had to have it.

    Quote Originally Posted by MrDangles View Post
    Nick, the car looks awesome. What are the offsets for the wheels and what suspension setup? Do you have pics of the car with the splitters on?


    Here's the only picture I really have with the splitters. Its just a mock up but they will be painted and installed this weekend! My suspension is a custom coilover developed for m coupes by John Thayer. wheels specs are 18x9 and 18x11. unfortunately I don't know the offsets. I bought them used and previous owner didn't remember.

    Quote Originally Posted by KBH22102 View Post
    Saw this car today in person at the meetup in PA. Beautiful car and an impressive build.
    Thank you so much! was an awesome day, cant wait for next weekend. I hope you can make it back again

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by smokinm6 View Post
    Nice car Nick! I have the same car, 02, BSM over Black. I’ve done a few things over the last 5 years or so I’ve owned it incl:

    - carbon fiber intake with csl dme. If you get one I can only speak of the very high quality John from S14forum does them. Not sure how other brands are but this one is top notch. I also have one on my e30 M3. He’s the go to guy for e30 m3 crowd...
    - stepped headers with high flow cats and eisenmann race exhaust
    - coil overs
    - Kinesis K58 in the exact same setup you have

    The csl intake and related items make the car at least 100x more fun to drive. Highly highly recommend them. Between the intoxicating intake sounds and the power increase you can’t go wrong.

    I have a 3.73 that I’ll put in soon and depending on how that feels rpm wise I’ll get a six speed to compensate.

    I’ve enjoyed reading your progress...Keep up the good work!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    Wow, what a stunning m coupe you have. It has so many things I plan to do with mine including the Carbon Airbox. I haven't really figured out which is the best one yet and how to make them run right. If we could chat some more about the details That would be so helpful! Gorgeous coupe, well done!
    Last edited by moupe54; 05-03-2020 at 04:04 PM.
    Sapphire Black / Black S54 M Coupe

    https://www.instagram.com/nickmdominguez/


  11. #36
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    361
    My Cars
    2002 BMW Z3 M Coupe

    Off to Paint / Schuh Syndikat Meet up

    I finished the car up 2 days before my deadline. I have dropped the m coupe off for paint yesterday and I'm stoked. I will be shaving my front bumper, Installing ACS Replica splitters, Repainting the passenger door, mirrors, 3rd brake light, rear bumper and quarter panel. After this the car should look ace with very little flaws on the exterior.

    While I was down in Philadelphia, I figured it would be cool to round up a few m coupes in honor of Schuh Syndikat which was cancelled because of Coronavirus. What started as me just dropping my car off for paint has turned into a roundup of 8 Special M coupes, an m roadster and an E46 M3.



    Everyone's cars were looking excellent and it really was the most special group of m coupes I've been with. 2 out of 6 LSB slick tops, an Evergreen, A sterling gray repaint, and an assortment of other pristine coupes ripping down backgrounds sure was a sight to see. It was so great we plan on doing it again when I pick the car up next week!
    Last edited by moupe54; 05-23-2020 at 12:00 PM.
    Sapphire Black / Black S54 M Coupe

    https://www.instagram.com/nickmdominguez/


  12. #37
    Join Date
    Feb 2020
    Location
    Lone Star Republic
    Posts
    94
    My Cars
    Z3 3.0i Roadie
    Jealous! That meet up sounds like fun

  13. #38
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    361
    My Cars
    2002 BMW Z3 M Coupe

    Final Quarantine Update

    The m coupe is back from paint and it's more perfect than It's ever been.
    I ended up going even further and decided to do the passenger door, making the body of the car near brand new. At this point Ive repainted the whole car except for the roof, hood and trunk. I feel like I should have resprayed the car when I bought it haha.
    Along with the paint, I got two little extras which are chrome door locks and a license plate tint from my buddy Marty. the New York plate is a hideous yellow so I feel it at least mutes the color a little.




    When I picked the car up, the splitters weren't installed yet because of some issues mounting. I wanted to get a rubber gasket between the bumper and the splitter to avoid scratching the fresh bumper. After 3 days of being unable to locate a gasket I grew Impatient and installed them.
    I mounted them by drilling them into the bumper along with 3M double stick tape to separate the two materials. once I tightened the hardware these replica splitters fit way better than I thought. It really sucks the two panels together resulting in a perfect, tight fit.





    Only took a few minutes and they were solid and ready to mount on the car!




    I'm super happy with the way the car looks and drives.
    This has been a really productive couple of weeks between fixing the glovebox, fixing all the leaks, dialing in the paint and adding a few cool little extras. In all of my years of m coupe ownership I've never been truly content with the state of my car and I finally think I am. I just hope it lasts in this condition!
    Last edited by moupe54; 05-23-2020 at 11:59 AM.
    Sapphire Black / Black S54 M Coupe

    https://www.instagram.com/nickmdominguez/


  14. #39
    Join Date
    Feb 2020
    Location
    Lone Star Republic
    Posts
    94
    My Cars
    Z3 3.0i Roadie
    I like the front splitter. You’re making me want one!

  15. #40
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    466
    My Cars
    '20 X3MC, '01 Z3M
    what did you use to clean up the underpan?

  16. #41
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Northern Va
    Posts
    11,565
    My Cars
    E36/8, K12R, E91
    Impressive attention to detail. Clean car!

  17. #42
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    361
    My Cars
    2002 BMW Z3 M Coupe
    Quote Originally Posted by ThatZ3Guy View Post
    I like the front splitter. You’re making me want one!
    Thank you! I never thought Z3's needed them but I'm happy now that I did it

    Quote Originally Posted by kolosy View Post
    what did you use to clean up the underpan?
    various grits of sandpaper to smooth out all of the scratches and trim paint to make it all one color.

    Quote Originally Posted by clintjg View Post
    Impressive attention to detail. Clean car!
    Thank you, I'm just trying to keep this thing as nice as possible!
    Sapphire Black / Black S54 M Coupe

    https://www.instagram.com/nickmdominguez/


  18. #43
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    361
    My Cars
    2002 BMW Z3 M Coupe
    Some of the plastic trim on my car has shown its age so I plan on pulling off various pieces for restoring.
    starting with the most important pieces and in most need of help: my mud flaps.



    These are hurt, as I got them used and they were for probably 10 years.
    I used only 220 grit sandpaper to get off the peeling plastic along the edges and sharpen up the corners. I didn't taper down the grits because I didn't want them to be smooth due to the nature of the mud flap's texture. For paint I used 3 coats of duplicolor black plastic trim paint on the hardware and the flaps.





    Not like new, but looking much better!



    This worked out great and I'm happy with the finish that resulted. I will probably end up doing my door handles, windshield wipers, and windshield Cowl.
    Last edited by moupe54; 05-23-2020 at 11:58 AM.
    Sapphire Black / Black S54 M Coupe

    https://www.instagram.com/nickmdominguez/


  19. #44
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    361
    My Cars
    2002 BMW Z3 M Coupe
    My headlights have always been in 8/10 condition. They had clear lenses with little yellowing but had some marring and a few scratches. My yearning for perfect lenses never really went away but I refused to pay the $1,700 for new ones.
    I saw on a Facebook group someone wet sanding their headlights, which is something I was always kinda scared to do. I did a test spot on my buddy's MKIV supra he bought new headlights for and it turned out perfect. This was enough to convince me to give it a go.
    I gathered various grits of sand paper ranging 600, 800, 1500, 2000, 3000 along with a cutting pad and a polishing pad.



    At the conclusion of wet sanding I was rightfully nervous because I don't have spare lenses at the moment. Next was the compounds I use for my paint: Meguiar's 105 compound and 205 polish.



    WOW. Not only do they look like glass but the finish left them feeling incredibly smooth. I couldn't be more happy with the results!
    Onto the next one!




    I cant believe I didn't do this sooner. Highly recommend to anyone if you have the right materials.
    Last edited by moupe54; 05-23-2020 at 11:58 AM.
    Sapphire Black / Black S54 M Coupe

    https://www.instagram.com/nickmdominguez/


  20. #45
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Arida Zona
    Posts
    30,108
    My Cars
    z3
    Ive tried a lot of methods for restoring lights (AZ is very tough on plastics...). Including professional detailing equipment and many stages of grits and various plastic polishes and clearcoats on top. The best Ive ever found is the 3M "Ultra" kit. Comes with a clearcoat wipe you apply on top which adds UV protection and makes the lens look like glass. $20, O'Reilleys carries it (I couldnt find it at Autozone). Highly recommend it next time you need to do a set of lights to give it a try

    Car looks great so far, nice progress!

    Going into my TENTH YEAR of providing high quality reproduction BMW fabrics!

    PRICE CUT on ALL FABRICS
    Offering the best prices on the best quality reproduction fabrics!

  21. #46
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    1,518
    My Cars
    E368 / E30 M3 / 997 GT2
    Good to see this forum is still alive and well. Nice work Nick! Looking forward to joining you on some drives soon.

  22. #47
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    East Bay, CA
    Posts
    363
    My Cars
    01 M Coupe, 11 E90 M3
    Quote Originally Posted by BimmerBreaker View Post
    Ive tried a lot of methods for restoring lights (AZ is very tough on plastics...). Including professional detailing equipment and many stages of grits and various plastic polishes and clearcoats on top. The best Ive ever found is the 3M "Ultra" kit. Comes with a clearcoat wipe you apply on top which adds UV protection and makes the lens look like glass. $20, O'Reilleys carries it (I couldnt find it at Autozone). Highly recommend it next time you need to do a set of lights to give it a try
    This is the key step, if you don't reseal the plastic, it will cloud back up very quickly. The factory headlights have this coating that prevents slows the clouding. Other option is to put PPF over the headlight. That is how mine are and it has not clouded due to the UV protection.
    01 BMW M Coupe
    20 Porsche Macan Turbo
    11 BMW M3
    18 Porsche GT3
    16 Porsche GT4 *sold*
    98 BMW M roadster *sold*
    11 BMW M3 *RIP*

  23. #48
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    361
    My Cars
    2002 BMW Z3 M Coupe
    Quote Originally Posted by f50nut View Post
    Good to see this forum is still alive and well. Nice work Nick! Looking forward to joining you on some drives soon.
    Appreciate it Larry, Still kickin!
    Sapphire Black / Black S54 M Coupe

    https://www.instagram.com/nickmdominguez/


  24. #49
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    361
    My Cars
    2002 BMW Z3 M Coupe
    It's been a pretty uneventful past few months of coupe thankfully. I've just been stacking on miles and enjoying the car. The only thing that needed replacing was the alternator that thanks to FCP was free!



    Some pretty serious modifications are in the very near future! Will update as things start to pick up again
    Sapphire Black / Black S54 M Coupe

    https://www.instagram.com/nickmdominguez/


  25. #50
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    361
    My Cars
    2002 BMW Z3 M Coupe

    The Carbon Airbox Begins

    Yesterday I made one of the coolest purchases for the M Coupe that I'll probably ever do. I have gone back and fourth with weather or not to pursue a CSL Airbox for this car since before I owned it. I've heard too many times that it sacrifices partial throttle drivability and low end torque enough times to steer me away from it. After months of research, talking with people who run shops who do this install and finally driving a car equipped with one, I decided it was time to consider this.
    For those of you who don't know the complexity or question why you cant just throw it in the car and drive it like an aftermarket filter, I'll do my best to explain the challenges and solutions that come along with the airbox.
    Alpha N vs MAP Sensor
    M Coupes and Ordinary E46 M3's run off of a mass air flow sensor which regulates airflow, targets AFR's and manages the amount of air introduced into the engine when the itb's open. The E46 M3 CSL runs off of a MAP sensor designed to sense manifold pressure which sends a signal to the computer to regulate AFR's. The reason this causes an issue for Aftermarket airbox users, is because they do not convert the car to a MAP sensor and run a tune commonly known as "Alpha N". This tune does not require the MAP sensor and is created to manage the air to the best of its ability specifically at WOT. Many airbox users are happy with this method of management because they drive their cars mainly on the top end of the RPM's and usually are hard on their cars when they drive them. The effects of Alpha N is lack of drivability of partial load and highway driving.
    The CSL Flap
    Another small, but forgotten detail when installing the airbox is no use of "the flap". On the E46 M3 CSL, there is another butterfly valve on the end of the carbon airbox, that as the itb's open with throttle input, it regulates the amount of air being let into the manifold to avoid an over saturation of air. This smooths out the torque curve, fills in flat spots around 2000-4000RPM and limits the fuel cutting due to poor AFR's. With the combination of The MAP sensor conversion brought on by the MSS54HP DME, and the addition of the CSL Flap, The torque curve and drivability under any load is supposed to mirror that of a stock M3 CSL.
    Forgive me if I did not explain things as well as other more knowledgable people can.
    Now, for the set up I will be running:

    1.) Karbonius CSL Airbox
    2.) ITG CSL Airbox Filter
    3.) BMW OE CSL Intake Flap
    4.) MSS54HP DME with MAP sensor conversion
    5.) 8200RPM Redline
    6.) Dyno tune for the purpose of adjusting AFR's and timing to increase torque usually lost below 4000RPM. This is also necessary because the M3 CSL has different cams which causes adjustments needed for the m coupe's cams.

    All of the work being done will be performed by Kassel Performance in PA
    For those wondering, The total cost comes out to $4,688.00.
    Unfortunately the wait time on the Karbonius Airbox is about 2 months so it will be a little while until this is done.
    I will also update this thread as I learn new information about it and will add it if I find it helpful or necessary.
    cheers!
    Sapphire Black / Black S54 M Coupe

    https://www.instagram.com/nickmdominguez/


Page 2 of 15 FirstFirst 123456789101112 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. 1995 BMW M3 Coupe Build Thread
    By E39 Expert in forum 1992 - 1999 M3 (E36)
    Replies: 42
    Last Post: 03-05-2016, 09:39 PM
  2. **Official** s62 z3 m coupe build thread
    By drdre0728 in forum 1996 - 2002 Z3 (E36/7, E36/8)
    Replies: 103
    Last Post: 06-20-2012, 08:28 AM
  3. My 1976 BMW R90/6 Build thread
    By lmyamen in forum BMW Rides & Events
    Replies: 32
    Last Post: 03-12-2012, 10:44 AM
  4. FS: 2002 S54 APW M Coupe
    By MCpeS2k in forum 1996 - 2002 Z3 (E36/7, E36/8)
    Replies: 26
    Last Post: 03-27-2008, 11:11 PM
  5. Turbo M Coupe Build Thread - BlownEuroz.com
    By fmcfad01 in forum 1996 - 2002 Z3 (E36/7, E36/8)
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 07-04-2007, 09:51 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •