He is the guy who recommended the pilot sport 4s to me and my car completely changed from great handling to amazing

I'm glad I found your channel. I'm in the States with an '04 SMG in Titanium Silver with long term plans for a CSL clone as well. Currently at 86k miles, and the only mods are reinforced rear subframe & Frank Smith flashed SMG tune. When I upgrade the wheels, I'm looking at doing a squared stance on 18's running 265/35's with a 10mm spacer for the rears. Great looking car! For seats, I want to keep it German & go with Recaro's.

@stoneautomotive

6 жыл бұрын

Glad your enjoy the blogs, Recaros are now fitted so will be on the next video which will hopefully be live in the next week

@deplorabledave1048

6 жыл бұрын

Use 12mm spacers for the rears.

2.55 quick rack from lock to lock is a csl upgrade option available from the factory. Rare to find but 2.7 is available from a few places like either status gruppe or agency power

Hi. Im looking at purchasing a m3. I wanted the manual but a smg has come up with all the extra goodies im after at a good price. Watching you videos has made me feel a lot better about the smg. Also i have come from a 2005 s2000 and as you say loved the manual gearbox on that car. I hope i dont regret getting the smg. loving your car and im hoping the car im purchasing will look pretty much the same.

@stoneautomotive

5 жыл бұрын

Hi, the SMG is certainly not for every one and once you become familiar with it it's very addictive/ raw to drive! It's certainly worth installing the CSL SMG software as if this wasn't available I wouldn't own an SMG.. it's certainly worth trying the car in shift mode 6 (traction control will need to be off) as it's brutally fast/aggressive for such an old box - love it 😎 ps - you'll miss the S2000 gearbox/v-tec but the e46 M3 is something special, enjoy!

You have hit pretty much all the main points for improvement mainly by updating rather than upgrading. You can over do it though, especially with suspension and geometry settings. Tyres make a huge difference good to bad as do the pressures

I have over 20 years of bmw racing (driving and building the car) always in a M3 E30 to e92 and currently a e46 supercharged road car and race car 528bhp on the road car and 557bhp on the racer. The biggest upgrade you can do to this m3 or any e46 is to get the body roll under control. I have tried every size and combination of sizes to find the best possible ride /performance and eventually I found it, but nobody sells them in a kit of the 2 sizes. You need a 23mm rear at least preferably a 25mm but not as aggressive up front or you will induce understeer, 23 is plenty for a neutral feel and the best of both worlds. I have a Turner rear and H&R front

Great video, I have play at 12 o”clock and very annoying and changed my coupler for a new oem one and as much as it improved the general steering feel I still have this annoying play at 12 o”clock, I have just purchased a purple tag so glad you said it’s a positive thing, hope it fixes my issues as it’s sort of ruining my driving experience with the car👏🏻

@stoneautomotive

3 жыл бұрын

It did make a big improvement for mine but I would also suggest investigating/ upgrading the “lollipop bushes/ front wishbone rear bushes” my next video which will be out soon will detail all this 👍

@rabmc

3 жыл бұрын

@@stoneautomotive Scary I was literally just thinking earlier when I watched the video that I will be best to replace the lollipop while I’m in there taking it apart. 👏🏻

For bang for buck and all the right boxes ticked I have to recommend ground control coilovers and 2 way adjustable top plates too. The best daily driver ride quality and when needed adjustment to focused track tool is a revalation for the money. I have tried everything and bilstein have proven time again to be the best on track and road... But not with the same set. Unless you can change the suspension when you get the feeling for a blast, you'll need the ground control setup

Great work mate, I have a smg m3 with csl software, I was told not to lift my foot when charging up. It is smooth at low rpm changing what to you think. That csl air box is so loud 😍

@stoneautomotive

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks 😊 yep foot stays flat even on SMG mode 6 - it's where this gearbox just feels perfect 👌 haha yea the air box does make some noise, sounds so good it would be weird driving one without it fitted!

Get a pair of Porsche boxster or 911 996 rear brakes from ebay, 4pot BREMBO as oem and the necessary adapters are available from Turner or just about any of the big names

9:45 - pure joy of owning an E46 M3 :) I miss it

@stoneautomotive

6 жыл бұрын

It's such a great piece of kit, smiling every time I take it out 😁

good vid and info... i love the smg box with csl software on my m3.. i have a 815bhp 2021 rs7 c8 with a modern box ..so for me when i jump in the m3 to feel it bang through the gears adds to the fun.

@stoneautomotive

Жыл бұрын

Cheers Lee, old one this one, hopefully you can see the video/ audio quality improvement compared to the current ones 😅 Exactly that, everyone manual swapping them but there’s certainly something cool with the thud through the changes in S6 😎

@leekindell9937

Жыл бұрын

@@stoneautomotive Ive seen later vids too. My car currently having boot floor plated. I’m trying to decide if I just refresh bushes with oem or with yellow poly too. I don’t track it. I hear varying opinions

@stoneautomotive

Жыл бұрын

@@leekindell9937 black series the subframe and trailing arm bushes with powerflex - don’t do the diff mounts as it’s really noisy for road use 👍

@leekindell9937

Жыл бұрын

@@stoneautomotive I was thinking yellow as won’t black series be so harsh ? Then oem on diff

@stoneautomotive

Жыл бұрын

@@leekindell9937 have the black series in mine including the engine mounts and drives lovely on the road 👍

I have a manual. I wish I'd got the smg.

Also not too impressed with the crashy-ness of the standard dampers and springs ('02 M3). I'm also looking for a set of dampers that can bring some more compliance to the ride after anti-roll bars, Pilot Super Sports, and shorter springs! Let us know

@stoneautomotive

5 жыл бұрын

Hi Gerard, more plans for the e46 this year with the 4.1 diff but unsure if Nitrons will be going on this summer as plans for a new work shop build are on the list of to do’s but fear not I will get them done eventually

Can you comment on the steering feel of the original steering wrack and the the new one? I'm afraid it'll be less "premium". Not that the OEM feeling is anything extraordinary

@stoneautomotive

Жыл бұрын

The purple tag improves the steering feel & speed, in my eyes no draw backs and I have no intention of refitting the original green tag rack 👍

Hi, I was thinking of fitting either the Turner or H&R uprated antiroll bars, but someone said to me that this makes the car tramline a bit. Have you found that with yours? I’m only driving on the road no track work. Many thanks

@stoneautomotive

5 жыл бұрын

Hi Barry, the anti roll bars added no noticeable tramline effect to the handling, the spacers had more of an effect on the tramling than anything else. Was really impressed with the Turner kit, combine that with Eibach springs on stock dampers & Michelin super sport tyres it’s been a fantastic road & track package (see the alps video where I cover road & track)

@barrywakefield4942

5 жыл бұрын

Stone Automotive Hi - many thanks for getting back to me. I’d like the Turner kit but Mirrorjohn doesn’t do these any more so looks like I might have to go with H&R antiroll bars. Many thanks

If a close ratio rack is super sensitive at high speeds the z3m would be highly unstable which I doubt. Even ‘modern’ cars have a quicker rack and do 150mph speeds. The 3.0 ratio just means less big steering input. The output stays the same.

@stoneautomotive

4 жыл бұрын

I’m not saying it’s unstable, the CSL runs an even closer ratio rack than purple tag rack unit I’ve fitted. I can’t think why they didn’t fit the purple tag as standard other than making the CS & CSL a reason to upgrade?

@becomematrix

4 жыл бұрын

Stone Automotive my response was to the point you were making at 17:11 that someone argued the ‘slower’ m3 rack would be less nervous on the motorway at high speeds. But like you said the m3 was a car with a broad buyers range and I reckon it would be perceived as a hardcore racer if everything had been tightened up. Buyers could opt for the more racer like csl. Imagine the e46 compact having a slow rack then it wouldn’t feel as nimble as it’s a ‘small car’ I am in the process of swapping mine out for a 3.0 rack as well so I’m doing my homework tbh. Someone on an American forum made the case that e46’s have different hub steering knuckle offset and the racks protrude different lengths so they correspond to each other. Turning circle for 316ti is smaller than a 328 for instance. If the car would feel wobbly or vague at high speeds my educated guess would be the suspension is the issue rather than the steering.

Hey what front bumper did you go with? Thanks

@stoneautomotive

5 жыл бұрын

SSDD - check out the video on the channel “CSL replica body kit fitting”

Super sports are not exactly crap in comparison to 4s, you are only going to notice it when you are pushing at 90 percent or more

Staines 👌🏻

@stoneautomotive

2 жыл бұрын

No no no.. all filming has been done in Mexico 👀

brilliant video dude i have picked up a whole load of mods i'd like to do to mine or knowledge to know when certain parts fail i should change them for better options i.e. the steering rack after watching the vid but i am so gutted all these changes need doing as its going to cost a shit load too lol, QQ are these the antiroll bars you were referring too? www.turnermotorsport.com/p-338370-e46-m3-turner-motorsport-frontrear-3025-sway-bar-upgrade/?pdk=AgIB

@stoneautomotive

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed the video 👍 yep money pits lol! You should check out my 4 year re-cap video on the e46 M3 (in the playlist) Yes they are the anti roll bars - made a massive improvement over stock, front was very easy to fit but the rear was a little more agro - would advise buying new rear drop links whilst apart too

@HardeepSF

3 жыл бұрын

@@stoneautomotive cool will give that vid a watch as well

Smg v 6sp is a personal choice and I have lapped the ring in pretty much identical times so both have pros and cons. The bad rep comes from people who don't use it properly and instead of getting advice on how to drive it obviously they are the best driver in the world so it must be the cars fault

@stoneautomotive

6 жыл бұрын

Hi, thanks for your comments, suspension is currently the weakest link on mine as it stands currently, certainly plenty of choice but with the car being majority fast road I'm swaying towards the KW's. are you based in the U.K. MWORKS? Would love to experience a super charged e46!

@mworx6446

6 жыл бұрын

Stone Automotive in Bristol mate just down the m4

@mworx6446

6 жыл бұрын

Stone Automotive check us out on Instagram @strait6ix

@mworx6446

6 жыл бұрын

Stone Automotive you are welcome to pop down anytime at all, and you can take the M3 for a blast and do a review on it or something you would like to try

@mworx6446

6 жыл бұрын

Stone Automotive take a look at the ground control setup for coilovers really really good in my opinion, smooth at legal speed and they are quite a progressive firming as you need more out of them

E46m3 legend is on Instagram @strait6ix, check him out, great guy who is cool with answering questions or giving advice about anything e46 m3 and csl road to race