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Thread: "Do you need someone to take that to the scrap yard for you?" The $800 M3 project

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
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    The $800 M3 project.

    About three weeks ago I was driving by a diesel repair place where I live. They had this 1995 S50 E36 M3 with a 5 speed manual sitting out front.

    Somebody had come in to have their car repaired, and couldn't afford it, so they gave this as payment.

    I've had a few cars, but nothing in the FR layout besides my 1979 Mercedes 300 SD daily driver. The other car taking up space in my driveway is my 2000 Impreza with an EJ257 STI swap.

    So here we go.




    Last edited by cemmett; 11-12-2018 at 04:50 PM.

  2. #2
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    Pulled it off the trailer into my driveway to get the work started. Car currently has 125k miles.

    Got it started up; runs and drives fine as-is, no CEL's, no bad noises, nothing.

    Started with a complete flush of all the fluids - oil, coolant, trans, diff.

    I knew there had been a rodent of some kind living in the car, and I finally found its nest living underneath the plastic cover on top of the injectors. Bleached any droppings/nest areas and cleaned it up. It had used the insulation under the hood for the nest (luckily), so all wiring looks fine.

    Pulled out the coil packs and there was quite a bit of oil on the end of the coil pack, so it looks like the valve cover gasket will need to be replaced.

    Began prepping the interior; took out sound deadening, plastics, stereo, etc, all from the trunk. Got the seats pulled and found beer money, one condom wrapper, and a bunch of trial bottles of men's cologne. I think a teenager owned this before - heh.

    Pulled off the fan and the thermostat housing; replaced with aluminum housing and Wahler thermostat.

    Also found out that the car had been non-op'd, so no back registration fees.

    Pulling the valve cover tonight to get it sand blasted and powder coated, and I'm staring at a very big receipt from Turner for a brake and suspension refresh. I"m hoping the car will be ready for March 22nd NCRC track day at Thunderhill raceway.










  3. #3
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    Fresno, CA
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    Great find! Good luck with the project, should be a fun car once itsall sorted.

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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
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    Wow, great find! With that change in there you'll almost break even :-)

    Little jealous of that deal. The motor alone is worth $1000 all day.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by dmw16 View Post
    Wow, great find! With that change in there you'll almost break even :-)

    Little jealous of that deal. The motor alone is worth $1000 all day.
    Agreed! It actually turned into a $600 M3 last night because I sold the entire interior to some kids for $200.

    Got some more interior stripping done last night. Door cards, rear seats, floor mats, dash, airbags, steering wheel, rear sound deadening. Somebody went through a lot of work (and money..) to install DynaMat in every door panel, and in the trunk. It's REALLY heavy and dense stuff, and it's a b**** to get it off of any bare metal that it's stuck to.




  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by cemmett View Post
    Agreed! It actually turned into a $600 M3 last night because I sold the entire interior to some kids for $200.

    Got some more interior stripping done last night. Door cards, rear seats, floor mats, dash, airbags, steering wheel, rear sound deadening. Somebody went through a lot of work (and money..) to install DynaMat in every door panel, and in the trunk. It's REALLY heavy and dense stuff, and it's a b**** to get it off of any bare metal that it's stuck to.
    That's people who are into car audio for ya...I just don't get it.

    The OEM stuff is bad enough, but with an E36 you've had years of it drying to help. The Dynamat is sticky as sh!t if I recall.

  7. #7
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    Feb 2015
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    Quote Originally Posted by dmw16 View Post
    That's people who are into car audio for ya...I just don't get it.

    The OEM stuff is bad enough, but with an E36 you've had years of it drying to help. The Dynamat is sticky as sh!t if I recall.
    Yeah, it's bad! Also, it's layered with aluminum on the outside which is really thin. I cut myself really bad trying to pull it out.

    Got a bunch of parts, which should all be here between Wendesday and Thursday next week.....

    Bilstein PSS9's, Hawk DTC70 pads, slotted rotors, braided steel brake lines, new fluid, strunt mounts and reinforcements front + rear, Kirkey seat + harness, fire extinguisher, momo steering wheel + hub, all that good stuff.

  8. #8
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    Got the valve cover off today. No sludge, which was nice. Valve cover spark plug gaskets had definitely failed.





  9. #9
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    Wow nice score!!! I dream to find something like this! Personally though, I would've fixed it and sold it for 7k haha

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    bmw e36 328i 4dr saloon
    Sweet find! Keep the build coming
    1996 328i (m52B28US) OBD1 euro ZF 5spd. 3.23LSD conversion / Chem. PnP Head/ DINAN stg.2 CHIP/ VAC race valves/ S52 cams/ A/C delete/ fan delete/ Washer Fluid resv delete/ ARP head studs/ Cometic 140MLS / VAC Solid Engine/trans Mounts/ CAI / 2.5"Borla race exahaust/ NGK R spark plugs, M50 Mani, S50 Oil Res, Riot Racing HFTB, SAMCO Hoses, JBR FW, X-Brace, Mtech Front Bumper, RE RSMs, stoptech SS lines, Bilstein sports, H&R Race Springs, S52 Reinforcement plates, Kosei K1 w/ bridgestone RE960as, Brembo/stoptech slotted rotors, M3 Trailing arms, M3 Calipers, M3 Axles, ACS strut brace, weight reduction.

    http://mbuild.blogspot.com/

  11. #11
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    Hold the phone do I spy TechnoViolet on the door panel?? Please tell me its just the one door that was resprayed green.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by emagdnim33 View Post
    Hold the phone do I spy TechnoViolet on the door panel?? Please tell me its just the one door that was resprayed green.
    Yep, it looks like one door was violet, then resprayed in green to match after an accident or something.

    It looks like a beautiful color.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Sorry for the slow progress... Been waiting for parts to ship and my welder just had shoulder surgery so the cage is on hold for another two weeks.

    Still stripping the interior. I am in awe of how much sh*t they manage to cram in there! Sound deadening, adhesive, padding, carpeting, etc

    The good news: Found around $10 in change (no joke). Also, there was an in-dash DVD unit which is definitely going in the Merc.

    Pulled off the calipers and decided that it was time to go with the solid guides while they were out. Also, replacing the water pump with a Stewart pump so I never have to worry about it again. Decided to go with the fan delete mod, so ordered the obligatory water-wetter and the lower temp fan switch. I already have a 71 degree Wahler thermostat so between those three, my cooling system should be solid.

    Reaching that tipping point where I almost have everything I need, and almost all the old parts are off the car and ready to be replaced in a busy weekend.

    Also talked to three different powder coating places in town, who wanted 2+ weeks to powder coat my valve cover. All of them wanted more than $250 to soak it in a chemical bath to help with the outgassing as Magnesium is very porous. They also all told me it would likely bubble, and one flat out refused to work on magnesium. Ya'll are going to hate me but I'm just primering it with VHT ceramic primer, then putting the VHT silver 2000* paint and baking it in a buddy's oven. If it peels, it peels. That's what I like about race cars. Doesn't have to look good, just has to work.





    Started pulling the rear struts and brakes.

    Last edited by cemmett; 03-04-2015 at 01:34 PM.

  13. #13
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    With daylight savings time and the weather getting warmer, I'm excited to get this thing on the track! I don't have a garage that I can work in, so coming home from work and wrenching in the dark and the cold was getting old....

    Cage came today, pre-bent and pre-cut. Probably going to do that last after I get a seat mount for the Kirkey seat fabricated.

    Got the valve cover back on, and the new water pump arrived today.






  14. #14
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    Sorry if I missed it but, where did you get the cage from?

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by zeyers View Post
    Sorry if I missed it but, where did you get the cage from?
    It's an Autopower weld in cage. The cheapest way to get pre cut and bent 1.75" Dom steel. I'll be gusseting it and adding nascar door bars to the drivers side. The Autopower bolt on cages are pretty unsafe for sure, but the foot pads included with the kit are really beefy and other than that it's just pre cut and bent steel. Cage costs around 900 bones shipped.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Replaced thermostat, thermostat housing, water pump, and accessory belt tonight. Stewart water pump, uroparts housing, Wahler thermostat, and continental belt.

  16. #16
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    2002 BMW 330i
    Damn thats a good car for $800!

    Quote Originally Posted by cemmett View Post
    Yeah, it's bad! Also, it's layered with aluminum on the outside which is really thin. I cut myself really bad trying to pull it out.
    I hope you got you tetanus.
    Current:
    2002 BMW 330i 5-speed

    Looking for:
    1982 Mustang GT T-Top 4/5-speed

    Had:
    1984 Mustang GT T-Top Bare Chassis
    1984 Mustang GT350 5.0, 5-speed
    1984 Mustang LX 5.0, 5-speed

  17. #17
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    Got new plugs (NGK BKR6EQUP) in, filled it up and burped coolant + water wetter, and started the car for the first time in a month or so. The gas in the tank is more than 5 years old so I will definitely need to siphon out the last of the 1/4 tank, and refill with 91 and the Redline injector system cleaner. I've heard that the system cleaner doesn't do much but hey, the car's been sitting for a while, couldn't hurt. Making a bit more progress on the interior but I'm putting it off because I hate dealing with wiring.


  18. #18
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    This is an awesome find! 800 bucks for an M that you're going to strip into a track car? You could not do better! The engine looks very nicely maintained from the looks of under that valvecover as well! Where are you located and which tracks do you plan on taking it to? I have a Boston Green E36 track car as well (328is though) and am located in Charleston, SC! Keep up the awesome work!

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by SalahHH83 View Post
    This is an awesome find! 800 bucks for an M that you're going to strip into a track car? You could not do better! The engine looks very nicely maintained from the looks of under that valvecover as well! Where are you located and which tracks do you plan on taking it to? I have a Boston Green E36 track car as well (328is though) and am located in Charleston, SC! Keep up the awesome work!
    Thank you! It is a really awesome find, everything appears to be in great condition from what I've seen under the car as well.

    I'm about 45 minutes away from ThunderHill raceway which is now (I'm pretty sure) the largest road course in the US at over 5 miles. I could be wrong though.

  20. #20
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    Wow 5 miles it definitely a long track - about double most of the tracks I run. Unfortunately you're on the opposite coast from me bc I'd love to see your car in person. The valvetrain looks prestine in the pics with no signs of varnish or sludge whatsoever.

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by SalahHH83 View Post
    Wow 5 miles it definitely a long track - about double most of the tracks I run. Unfortunately you're on the opposite coast from me bc I'd love to see your car in person. The valvetrain looks prestine in the pics with no signs of varnish or sludge whatsoever.
    It is a huge track; they can run two different sessions on it at once and split it up until a 3 mile and a 2 mile loop, it's pretty cool.

    I was shocked too! I can't wait to get some good gas in it and see how it runs. I have experience tuning OBDII turbo cars to run E85 (because CA 91 octane is shit) so at some point I might consider that an option - not sure how it's done on OBDI cars without standalone engine management.

    I'm sitting at work now, it's a beautiful day outside, and I can't wait to get home and start turning wrenches!!

  22. #22
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    I'm interested to see how the autopower cage goes together. That cage cost more than your track car purchase price btw

    I spent $1,100 on a 328is - I feel like i overspent haha

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by SalahHH83 View Post
    I'm interested to see how the autopower cage goes together. That cage cost more than your track car purchase price btw

    I spent $1,100 on a 328is - I feel like i overspent haha
    haha this was a gamble for sure! I pretty much bought it sight unseen.

    the Autopower weld in cage is really just pre cut and bent still. It has to be tweaked and cut to fit, so it's just naked steel at this point. The rest will depend on the guy that's doing my welding.

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by cemmett View Post
    so it's just naked steel at this point. The rest will depend on the guy that's doing my welding.
    Not sure how long til you install the cage, but you may want to wipe the tubes down with some oil to prevent a bunch of surface rust. That could save you a lot of prep time when you go to paint

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zxc4 View Post
    Not sure how long til you install the cage, but you may want to wipe the tubes down with some oil to prevent a bunch of surface rust. That could save you a lot of prep time when you go to paint
    thanks; do you mean olive oil or actual motor oil?

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