Hello all!

[BigKevP79]

Hello everyone. I am now an owner of a 1995 BMW M3. I got it from a friend of a friend for a steal, 5K for it with 91,000 miles, and I was doing some work to it to give it the TLC she needs. The stock radio was dead so I slapped in a cheap Pioneer deck and wired an auxiliary jack in the back of the radio to a blank on the panel in front of the shifter. I replaced the brakes all around since the sensor was tripped for them. One question I had is I thought the M3's came with a drilled vented rotor from the factory. The rotors on the car are worn pretty well, there is on deep groove where the pads make contact. I do not have a micrometer at this time but the rotors on the car are not drilled so I was wondering if they were replaced with a cheap rotor at one time. Also I am missing the lens from the front right fog lamp and was curious to know if theres a good place to get used OEM parts or if I should replace them with new or aftermarket parts. I was also debating on installing the european epsillion HID headlights on the car and was wondering if its a worthy upgrade for the price or not, also do they come with a different fog lamp assembly then the North American factory ones? Lastly the speakers and amp are ok for now but I was going to be building and installing a carputer with a touch screen interface and was wondering if I have speakers in the door panels, did they also install speakers in the kick panels or was it one or the other.

[BigKevP79]

Oh and I was also wondering if there was a rebuild kit for this motor. Theres nothing wrong with it and it is running very strong but I was interested in having a kit on hand so I can do a full rebuild when needed or when I get bored during the long winter months in Minnesota...:rolleyes

[Kyle M3]

Welcome and congragulations. 1. The car did not come with drilled rotors from the factory. I'd almost venture to say that with the mileage on the car they may be the originals. 2. There are many good places to buy used parts. I just don't think I'm aloud to mention anyone that's not a supporting vendor. So, suffice to say there's a good recycler in Southern Indiana. If you do a Google search you'll find them. 3. I have upgraded my headlights and I feel they're worth the money. If you're on a budget, Depos are an okay upgrade. 4. What color is your new car?

[Kyle M3]

Oh and I was also wondering if there was a rebuild kit for this motor. Theres nothing wrong with it and it is running very strong but I was interested in having a kit on hand so I can do a full rebuild when needed or when I get bored during the long winter months in Minnesota...:rolleyes

With the mileage on your car, You'll not need a rebuild anytime soon. I do not know of any kit persay, however the parts needed to do so would run in the neighborhood of 1,000-1,500 dollars.

[Veedubbvr6]

Congrats on the purchase and welcome to the forum. :wave

^and what he said. :)

[BigKevP79]

Its Black on Black. The other question was the rims. Theres a few blemishes on one or two of them and was wondering if they can be resurfaced without going to extreme. I think I found a pic of them...

http://www.wheelcollision.com/wccpix/59202.jpg

[Ffroggs]

Those are terrible wheels! You should just give them to me to get rid of them.

Where are you in Minnesota?

Oh yeah -- I was going to mention the lighting. Foglights and headlight housings on these cars can get pretty scratched up from road wear. The stock headlight housings are especially crappy when they get all scratched up. The euro ellipsoids are a great upgrade, and they throw a lot more light on the road. As for foglights, there are some vendors on here that sell them for a reasonable price. I would recommend replacing both at the same time because they look funny when one is so much clearer than the other.

Congrats and enjoy.

[99GREENM3]

Welcome, look in the wheels for sale section somtimes you can find a good deal.

[timmytimm3]

You have nothing to worry about at 90k miles! Keep the fluids fresh and enjoy it. You got yourself one hell of a deal! Make sure to check all the rubber mounts and bushing and replace ones that are cracked and worn out.

[BigKevP79]

Also. Any good recommendations on motor oil? The previous owner said he ran synthetic and I have always been a fan of Valvoline, but I know there are different tiers of synthetics. Any pointers? P.S. I have a friend who is an assistant manager of a Valvoline Rapid Oil Change and I think I can get filters and Valvoline products fairly cheap through him...

[Veedubbvr6]

Also. Any good recommendations on motor oil? The previous owner said he ran synthetic and I have always been a fan of Valvoline, but I know there are different tiers of synthetics. Any pointers? P.S. I have a friend who is an assistant manager of a Valvoline Rapid Oil Change and I think I can get filters and Valvoline products fairly cheap through him...

I would use Mobil 1 synthetic and use a BMW filter...or equivilant.

[Ffroggs]

Also. Any good recommendations on motor oil? The previous owner said he ran synthetic and I have always been a fan of Valvoline, but I know there are different tiers of synthetics. Any pointers? P.S. I have a friend who is an assistant manager of a Valvoline Rapid Oil Change and I think I can get filters and Valvoline products fairly cheap through him...

Lots of people here use Mobil 1. For some people it works well, for others it seems to burn up really quickly. In general, your oil choices are limited to what passes the BMW longlife testing, LL01 I think it's called. Not all Mobil 1 synthetic products meet this requirement, and I'd wager that not all Valvoline products will meet that requirement. When you pick up a quart of it in the store you can read the back of the container and it'll say what standards the oil meets. I don't know how you would do the same check through your friend, but he may have that info somewhere.

"BMW LL Approved" is your friend.

[BigKevP79]

So Ive noticed the last few weeks, theres seems to be a small bit of lifter tick. I know I have to change the oil right now and I was wondering if that was due to the health of the oil. Is some tick normal? Is this something I should be concerned about? FYI when the engine has been running a while and everything is warm, I the tick is so faint you almost cant hear it over the regular engine noise... As for oil, I guess I'll try the mobil 1 stuff. Any weights I should steer away from? Im not driving it in winter, just summer up here. Its in the 50's to 60's right now but it gets hella humid and in the 90's+ during the summers.