Hi all, I just wanted to post a bit to document what my 95 M3 looks like right now, as it just hit 200k (9/94 build). I want this to serve as:
A) good documentation for noobs looking for a used M (what to look for/watch out for - there have been a lot of 'should I buy a 200k+ M3?')
B) as a little 'thanks' to my M - it's been an amazing car, and I can't wait to try for 300k.
BE WARNED, SCARY PICTURES BELOW (below the pretty-er pics)
(all pics taken after 200k)
Exterior:
Interior:
...are you ready for it???
...?
This winter it's hopefully getting some underbody work. The car grew up in Lower Michigan where salt is used (judging by the mileage it had been winter driven).
Maintenance Needs/Issues from 150k - 200k (my ownership time period)
-water pump
-tstat
-fan/fan clutch
-plugs
-$$$$$$$ into royal purple...
-trans mounts
-light switch
-door panel re-glue
-LCA/LCAB
-tie rods
-rack (z3)
-slave cylinder
-RTAB
Current Issues
-vaders are just starting to rip on drivers bolster
-diff/DS are going.
-bent rims seem to happen way too often
-Rear toe camber bolt is stuck, need adjustable arms
-headliner starting to fall on the sides of the sun roof
-need nose panel
Hopefully this will be helpful for some people looking for a car - watch out for rust!!
**Edit**10-12-11
Here's some more recent pics...it's now at 215k..going strong!
(yea I had some fun with some parts...but I know they can be transferred or sold if/when this car is done).
(new bumper/lip/decal/wing/fogs/ZKWs/Sparco wheel)
Last edited by Moron95M3; 10-13-2011 at 09:51 AM.
Yowza!
At first I thought the worthless Sparco strut bar was bad...but
Yeah part it out and go to CA and get yourself a 99% rust free E36. That's what I did.
I'm sure glad they don't spread salt on our roads here in Colorado. My car (09/96, 208,xxx) has been driven through the winter for all of my ownership and doesn't have anything to show for it.
Chris
97 M3
94 325is
12 Jeep SRT8
I love the clear hood pic you made. The rust is becoming familar with mine @ 170k in the rust belt. I've already sand blasted and sprayed a couple panels.
Good luck with the battle this winter. Lets see this hit 300K!!!
95'///M3 Cosmos Black with AA intake, Gen III Exhaust, AA chip, BMP Front strut bar, Koni S/A's, H&R OE springs.Origin ID: RomCommm
Glad I'm in Texas and have a southern Cali car. Whew!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Graham
1997 M3/4/A
AST 4100s (Sportline)/Vorshlag Front Camber Plates/M X-brace/Rogue Strut Brace/Vorshlag Wheel Studs/Vorshlag Spacers/Vorshlag RSM's/RTAB Limiters/Motion Motorsport Underpanel/RallyRoad Gauge Mount/Ferrea Valves/Supertech Valve Springs and Ti Seats & Retainers/ARP2000 Head Studs/ASC Delete/Custom Velocity Stack Intake/3.91LSD/M Floating Rotors/Stewart H2O pump/Aluminum Radiator/3 Speed Electric Fan (viscous delete)/Dinan Trans Chip/DEPO's with 35w Digital HIDs/Hot Air
What size are your Flintstone big brakes?
Sorry, but what a pile of crap. Doesn't anyone wash their cars in the winter? How the hell does anyone let rust get that bad in the first place?
No matter where you go, there you are...
I have the 330mm (aka size 11 shoe) flintstones BBK.
BTW, I have stored the car every winter I'ved owned it (and kept it cleen when stored).
and lol at the 'how do you let it get that bad' ...you've never lived in a salt belt have you? if you look at 15 year old cars and older, maybe 3% are 'rust free' and that's on the outside - underneath they're all shit. Welcome to the area. My Dad is a corrosion engineer at GM - our area of SE MI was actually the worst area for rust in the US.
and the rust has been an ongoing issue that I haven't had time/money to do right while I was in college. I didn't want to half-ass it then, and would rather either fix it now or just drive the car into the ground.
Rememer, I'm not looking for advice here, this is just a post to warn potential new buyers that even if the body looks decent, it can have it's downsides underneath.
LoL at negitivity on this board. Same people with not much positive to say
(even though I expected some flaming from the rust)
Last edited by Moron95M3; 11-04-2010 at 11:10 AM.
No kidding. I'll gladly put up with faded paint and interior bits to not worry about rust. I grew up in Michigan and salt is hell on a car.
I've looked at 15 year old Texas cars and the paint is still fresh on the underside and frame. Nobody here gets extra rustproofing, which used to be part of the ritual of a new car up north.
-Mike
Are you kidding me? I'd get triple rust proofing if I ever bought a new car. Doesn't matter where I was living, it'd get done.
Spoken like a southerner.
If you drive your car in the winter in the rustbelt this will happen. You cannot wash it enough. Some extra rustproofing, applied when the car is new will help, but only a little. The only Northern cars that look nice all over are winter garage queens, not the ones that work for a living. Rust is just a fact of life in Michigan, Ohio, Penn, etc...
-Mike
Last edited by TXRFan; 11-04-2010 at 10:45 AM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
Okay, so you buy a new car in Texas, career advances, and you move to the rust belt. Bet you wish you had rust proofing then. Makes no sense to skip out on something that really can only be done once in the life of a car and to skip out on it because you live in a place you don't have to worry about it at the time of purchase is kinda silly if you ask me. Maybe if you were 50-70 and living where you have retired to that'd be one thing.
And yes my car hasn't had any rust proofing that I can see. And as long as it stays garaged in the winter I won't have to worry about it.
Waste of money in Texas and will make the car harder to work on. Near the Gulf Coast maybe, but Houston and further inland, nope.
The rust on cars I brought down from Michigan stopped when I got here.
I does not look like your car has been rustproofed beyond the factory and it looks fine. If it had been, the underside would be all black except for the exhaust.
-Mike
Yeah, my car is about to hit the garage for the winter in a couple of weeks.
Dude you have no idea. I see you live in MD, I grew up in MD and now live in Michigan, it's a completely different world of winter driving here. You would need to wash your car every day to keep the salt off, and keep in mind that would sometimes be in sub-zero temperatures where the water freezes on the car (fun trying to open doors that way). Some winters the roads turn white from all the salt, and there's still salt in parking lots in May. If you commute to work you'd have to wash the car at work and again when you got home.Sorry, but what a pile of crap. Doesn't anyone wash their cars in the winter? How the hell does anyone let rust get that bad in the first place?
Thats some pretty bad rust damage on the bottom. I've seen some rusty e36s in Michigan, but I think that is the worst I've seen. I'm guessing someone tried to fix it a while ago and didn't get it sealed back up well enough. I'd be tempted to find another shell. Mine doesn't look like that at all underneath and I drive it in Winter.
I used to live on the west side of the state, and comparatively I think the metro Detroit area is particularly hard on cars. They salt the bejesus out of the roads around here and we go through several thaw and cold periods during winter. The thawing creates salty water that gets into every crack and part of the unibody. These warm periods also accelerate rust because chemical reactions happen faster at higher temperatures.
I spent a lot of time looking for another car to drive in the winter last year. Most of the cars had too much wrong with them and/or too much rust. I ended up buying a 328i from a guys daughter who was currently going to school in ohio. The car is a texas/cali car. It was pretty interesting to see how much rust it picked up in one winter. I plan on getting under the car soon to cover what little surface rust there is with paint to prevent progression.
These cars, like most other cars are designed to last 15years/150k miles. Since your car is 15+ years old and has 200k+, i guess it has done its job.
sun-roofless artic silver 97 m3, Squid Industries custom SSK, Vogtland club spec springs, Ground Control street camber plates, Bilstein sports, OEM RTABs w/limiters, 8.5 x 17" DSII's, Safety wired oil pump nut, Sway bars (27/stock), conforti tune
I don't know. St. Louis, MO did not seem to be far enough South, but I was only there for 3 years with relatively new cars.
It can't be worse than further north.
Having dealt with rust repairs, you may want to heed the advice of buying a southern sample in good shape and transferring your parts over. At least be careful about the budget.
Good Luck
-Mike
[ETA: It's good to see another Tech Grad here. If I ever get the urge to bitch about the heat and humidity in TX, I just think I'm not shoveling snow. Normally mind tricks like this do not work for me, but its been 12 years and it still works. I've never bitched about the Houston weather, well other than Hurricane Ike.]
Last edited by TXRFan; 11-04-2010 at 12:34 PM.
rust is something your used to when being in the "salt belt" ma's got a 6 year old mazda 3 rusted fenders, it just happens and you cant do shit but cry or say fawk it
Don't care where you live. Rust sucks
Wow, that is pretty sad. A winter daily car is definitely in order for you.
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