Back in a BMW

**Zed Sump** · 06-06-2016, 03:10 PM

Hey all. Back in a BMW after a 15 year hiatus. Had a 1998 Z3 2.8L back in the day. Narrowed my new fun car searches to E36 M3s after driving a friends on a mild winter day early this year. Also needed something with a back seat as we take an annual family trip to the Tail of the Dragon and the family is now 3.

Was looking seriously since about Feb. I had been looking at a few other similarly priced sports cars after getting out of a 2004 VW R32 last summer. I basically restored it to OEM plus condition after finding a fairly beat one spring of 2010.

Had a seller renege on me in STL last weekend on a black one and thankfully because the stars aligned for me last Wednesday as I had been looking for Estoril or Hellrot and mulberry/modena respectively. Popped up on autotrader late at night and I had text alerts on, so I was first to call. Deal agreed to and flew out to get it Saturday. Will use this thread as a build thread as it does need some reconditioning and have a lot of plans for a minty OEM+ example like my R was.

Car details:
1999 Estoril on Mulberry
81,500 miles (after about 700 home Saturday)

I'm the 4th owner. Originally a 3yr lease in WI where a guy used it as a summer car. Sold in central MS where a guy had it for 6 months and traded back into BMW dealer, then sold to the guy I bought it from in spring of 04. He was way into it until about 2008 and basically stopped driving it. It's been in storage at his parents since 2012 and he did a decent amount of work getting it ready for market this spring.

Car is stock minus a Stromung cat back and Eibach pro-kit springs with Bilsten sport shocks. Got all the paperwork from seller which is full documentation since 34k miles and a spreadsheet of all maintenance performed.

Car passed PPI with just an airbag light, looking like pass seat buckle based on the code. Since it's been sitting it needs a good amount of reconditioning. Leather photographs well but is dirty, carpets are dirty, little bits here and there. Feels solid mechanically (minus bald/old tires) but having my local guy take a look and will put a suspension plan together. I basically will modify to make our annual trip to NC as fun as possible. Will get all cosmetic and suspension sorted then maybe a few performance add ons here and there.

Ordered a bunch of stuff today, can't wait to get started and put some miles on her!

**McGyver1906** · 06-06-2016, 04:33 PM

Nice congrats I just finished restoring my 97 estoril coupe modena int been on the road for a little over a week. enjoy subbed

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**CblockM3** · 06-06-2016, 04:59 PM

Pics aren't working but it sounds like a nice car with a great color combo!

**Zed Sump** · 06-06-2016, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by CblockM3

Pics aren't working but it sounds like a nice car with a great color combo!

Sorry didn't know Imgur was blocked. Fixed the original post.

Most of the initial goodies are on their way, highlights are motorsport door sills (stock ones were shot), ZHP knob, new fogs (both were cracked), new OEM M3 mats.

Restoration/refresh started today. Begun with the carpet. Drivers area was all stained/gray/grimy. Cleaning up well so far!

**TH3 Shifty** · 06-06-2016, 09:30 PM

nice pick up... estoril all day....

**1clean335i** · 06-06-2016, 10:33 PM

Congrats Matt. Looks really clean!

**notMpowered** · 06-07-2016, 01:15 AM

Congrats. I LOVE mulberry.
Looks like missing out on that cosmos paid off.

**poorhouse** · 06-07-2016, 09:04 AM

Saw that on Autotrader, looked like a really good deal.

Glad it found a good home - Congrats!

**boarder2k7** · 06-07-2016, 10:50 AM

Very nice! I love Estoril, I'm having a hard time convincing myself it's too much work to color change my M3 that desperately needs paint.

**MchoMnAndySvage** · 06-07-2016, 11:31 AM

Great pick up, that color is gorgeous!

**usedunderwear** · 06-07-2016, 12:08 PM

Looking good!! Congrats on the purchase

**Kingu** · 06-09-2016, 03:10 PM

Sadly I must part with my '98 Estoril/ Dove coupe. Starting to put out feelers. It's got 75K miles. I'm the 3rd owner. I'd call it an 8 or 9 out of 10 inside and out. I plan to detail and photograph it and officially put it up for sale this weekend and post it on the forum. I'd like to go to an enthusiast who will appreciate it. Let me know if there's any interest!IMG_0593.jpg

- - - Updated - - -

Not sure what happened there. Anyway, I'll get more pics up asap.

**Brown9348** · 06-09-2016, 04:02 PM

nice find for sure! enjoy it.

**The sage** · 06-09-2016, 09:17 PM

I saw your post over at TCL. I just sold my r32 as well. car car looks good. Its funny i sold my deep blue pearl r32 but my e36m3 is silver. I prefer the blue on your m better.

**propcar** · 06-10-2016, 08:20 AM

very clean car, congrats on the purchase also saw it in TCL

**andyh1** · 06-10-2016, 11:57 PM

Awesome color!

**CblockM3** · 06-11-2016, 11:37 AM

Hate to be the old guy but wtf is tcl?

**The sage** · 06-11-2016, 08:35 PM

Originally Posted by CblockM3

Hate to be the old guy but wtf is tcl?

TCL aka The Car Lounge. Located in a demented area of the internet known as vwvortex.com. There are some verygood threads but mostly bad ones. worth a look.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/forumdisp...The-Car-Lounge

**Zed Sump** · 06-13-2016, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by The sage

TCL aka The Car Lounge. Located in a demented area of the internet known as vwvortex.com. There are some verygood threads but mostly bad ones. worth a look.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/forumdisp...The-Car-Lounge

Lol yeah I've been on vortex since I knew really about car forums after college. Bought a GTI in 06 with that "Fast" advert campaign after my first few real paychecks.

Weekend #1 was fun. Installed most of shipment 1 minus the cabin filter as it's kind of a pain. Busted out the P21S and the power washer and did the underbody/suspension/etc.

Also started on paint correction. Got most of the tar spots off the car. Estoril hides blemishes/stains surprisingly well. Car looked super clean when I bought it but my claybar>polish pads said otherwise!

New foglight was defective. Looks like someone sprayed white spraypaint all over the inside after 1 drive at night.

**The Producer** · 06-14-2016, 12:46 AM

Nice car! I need to keep my eyes peeled for some clean contours.

**tmswell** · 06-16-2016, 04:39 PM

Looks great! That shipment has all the right stuff!

**Zed Sump** · 06-21-2016, 12:41 AM

Thanks everyone. Been working away. Little bits here and there and cleaning it up.

New cowl and detail

New sills. Motorsport were only a few bucks more than oem. Gotta have some homage to the LTW which is one of my fav cars.

Finally did the plastics

New PSS rubber. New door handle gaskets/surrounds too.

Ready to roll minus the bushing fest in a few weeks. Time to start looking into performance stuff too like brakes, camber plates, etc.

**TH3 Shifty** · 06-21-2016, 03:08 AM

looking good

**Zed Sump** · 08-16-2016, 12:00 PM

Well it's been 2 months. Had her in the shop for some suspension/bushing work/full inspection. Everything really checked out better than I had hoped. The end result was going to drive it for a while on the stock stuff and see what I want to upgrade as I put on some miles.

Did all the fluids/filters, UCC clutch kit/clutch stop, few other tune up items, new pilot super sports. Still need to do a full paint correction but looks pretty good from 5 feet!