A boy gets his dream car: My life with a 1995 M3 coupe

[typed by ben]

I remember the very first time I saw one in the showroom. When I was a kid my dad and I used to drive around to dealerships on the weekends just to look at all the neat cars that were out there. I collected brochures for the ones I liked and looked at them before bed, thinking about what it would be like to own them and drive them, what they sounded like, what it felt like to be behind the wheel.

When I was 14 I saw the E36 M3 for the first time. At Casey BMW in Newport News they had an Estoril coupe with a black interior. I thought it must be the most beautiful car ever made. It just looked right. I must have asked for a job there 20 times when I got old enough to work but they didn't want a kid. I promised myself then that when I was older I wouldn't just work around M3s, I was going to *own* one. I might be 75 years old but I'd have my M3.

Well, it only took 20 years. I saved lunch money and made a few good decisions (including selling my 540i at a once in a lifetime price) and bought my 1995 Boston green M3 coupe in November. It's not a blue blood, it has a rack of miles and all the wear and leaks you could want, but it's mine!

the day the PO dropped it off


It's funny when you buy things, especially on a car that you are invested in emotionally, you look over or downplay the nuisances. Not only did I fall into that trap but I was also somewhat mislead about the car's issues. That's why I'm here now. I want to make a realistic journal of the things I encountered.

Here's the car tonight. I haven't even gotten it inspected yet and in Virginia that means you can't drive it without a fair amount of risk. It's nearly February. I've owned it for nearly 3 months and haven't driven it in daylight once yet. But that will change.


- - - Updated - - -

I bought it knowing it wasn't perfect- and after all I bought the 540 as a no-start and had to have it brought back to the house on a rollback. I have a daily and this car is just for fun, sooooo as long as this one ran and drove it must be all right...

It came with this stuff:
Ground Control/Koni coilovers
Stainless steel brake lines
Pagid red pads
Bimmerworld CAI and elbow
24# injectors
Turner mail order tune
3.5" MAF
polyurethane transmission mount
20,000 mile old water pump

Also communicated was a seeping oil leak that had "never dropped on the ground"
A bad coolant level sensor
Airbag light
"City" wear/dents
Recent valve cover gasket replacement
New battery

What I actually needed to fix:
[ ] Airbag light
[ ] Bad expansion tank sensor
[ ] BAD oil leak. Bad enough that it burned on the exhaust manifold after the first night I took it out
[ ] BAD power steering seepage. The entire driver's side of the engine below the reservoir was black with grit and fluid
[ ] Coolant leak from passenger side
[ ] Shifter knob wouldn't stay on
[ ] Squeaking steering wheel
[ ] Interior worn (some cracking and discoloration)
[ ] Vent window trim replacement
[ ] 4-5 small dents (hopefully can be hot glued out)
[ ] Fuel pump housing crack- horrible fuel smell in the cabin the first time I topped it off

I decided to take a flying leap on a state safety inspection after I registered the car. I am not much on waiting, plus in my mind I'd already waited 20 years.

;(


Not so fast. That little red airbag light will fail your safety inspection in Virginia. Some places are looser than others on the regs but apparently my shop goes by the book. In a way it was a good thing because it slowed my roll. Driving this car, even as a third car, with all its problems, would have been irresponsible. I made the commitment to fix everything and get the car right before I take it out.

[propcar]

really nice car, I always like those dark greens on these cars.

[Brandon28]

That's awesome man, congrats! I really like that color combo. We must be the same age as I have a nearly identical story.

I picked up a Cosmos black 99 a little over 2 years ago for all the same reasons. It's been a ton of fun, but it had several of the issues your does when I picked it up. The good news is, most of these cars have the same issues so it's easy to sort them out with a little research. Plus, compared to newer cars they are easy to wrench on if you have the time and tools.

The squeaky steering wheel was a very simple fix in my case, a little lithium grease on the steering rack joint.
Here's a DIY for you:
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...wheel%20squeek

Mines served me well for the 20k miles, just minor issues related to it's age. Still fires up and pulls hard every time...lots of smiles per mile.

Have fun!

[Ex36]

Same story applies even if you're a poor young man when these cars came out--I wanted one for years after reading about them as a recent college grad without money. Now I'm a middle-aged guy with no money (3 kids instead). But at least I've got my M3/4/5! When people find out I'm a "car guy" and ask what my dream car is I just point to the M3. No lie and I guess I'm lucky because it's a humble, affordable dream car. And thankfully I hate all the new stuff so there's nothing to lust after.

I bought a cheap-ass, reverse-engineered Chinese/eBay SRS code reader and reset tool. It has been worth its weight in gold (yet only cost something like $30). I get an intermittent airbag light because of the switch in my seat belt receptacle. And I've removed the seats and steering wheel and not sweat turning the ignition on because I can clear the codes. I'd recommend getting one.

Good luck sorting things out. They all sound "typical" and relatively minor in the grand scheme of things.

[Reprisal]

Congrats on the purchase OP, hope you get those problems worked out in due time and have her back on the road.

When people find out I'm a "car guy" and ask what my dream car is I just point to the M3. No lie and I guess I'm lucky because it's a humble, affordable dream car.

I know that feel. Having owned my e36 for over ten years now, I'm pretty smitten that I've been able to keep it after the baby, marriage, and going back to school.

[btheo]

Good stuff. Back in '97 as a freshman in hs I remember an older kid down our street had a '95 in alpine. Daily I'd see his car as I'd wait at the bus stop. I envied him knowing that he was a spoiled and "bad" kid. Nevertheless I was in love with his car.

[Lukitas]

the PS is easy to fix took me 15 mins, also the airbag light I disconnected from the back of the dash (I don't have state inspections).

[VaTechE36]

Welcome to the forums and great looking car.

I'm also in Richmond, out in the West End. I've been in the e36 game for a number of years now so if you need some help, let me know =)

Also, check out the Richmond BMW Owners group on Facebook. We're pretty active and are a good local community that is more than willing to help you get your car back up and running.

I also have a scan tool if you want to try to read the Airbag codes or if you want a second set of eyes on your car, I'm around on Sunday I think unless I'm messing with my M3.

Welcome again!

[CblockM3]

Congrats, I love that Boston/Champaign color combo!

[M3C]

Congrats on E36 M3 purchase, stay on top of it and complete the to do/fix list.

[DocWyte]

Congrats on the car. They're easy to work on and parts are cheap. I actually just bought a airbag/SRS scan/reset tool on eBay for $15. Figured it was so cheap I had nothing to lose...

[Nate047]

Nice pick up man. Always wanted one as a kid too, got mine last April. Things about these cars can be a real pain in the dick and balls but the nostalgia is worth it, not even mentioning how good a driver's car the E36 M3 really is.

[typed by ben]

Nice pick up man. Always wanted one as a kid too, got mine last April. Things about these cars can be a real pain in the dick and balls but the nostalgia is worth it, not even mentioning how good a driver's car the E36 M3 really is.

lol that is pretty much the perfect way to describe my ownership experience.


Updates coming!

- - - Updated - - -

Welcome to the forums and great looking car.

I'm also in Richmond, out in the West End. I've been in the e36 game for a number of years now so if you need some help, let me know =)

Also, check out the Richmond BMW Owners group on Facebook. We're pretty active and are a good local community that is more than willing to help you get your car back up and running.

I also have a scan tool if you want to try to read the Airbag codes or if you want a second set of eyes on your car, I'm around on Sunday I think unless I'm messing with my M3.

Welcome again!

Thanks dude once I can keep some fluids in this thing I will bring it around. I will check out your fb group too.

Congrats on the car. They're easy to work on and parts are cheap. I actually just bought a airbag/SRS scan/reset tool on eBay for $15. Figured it was so cheap I had nothing to lose...

Here's the link to my airbag troubleshooting.

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...th-an-emulator

In summary I had a occupancy mat fault that would not go away. I bought the Peake R5/SRS which was really very valuable in the sense that it helped me to poll all the sensors to see which one was giving me trouble. In my case my occupancy mat MIGHT be bad but my fault was cleared by replacing the under passenger seat SRS control module and using an emulator, NOT by replacing the mat.

I will dig deeper on the mat/module error when I take the seats out again to refurbish the leather.

[Bill837]

Welcome to the forums and great looking car.

I'm also in Richmond, out in the West End. I've been in the e36 game for a number of years now so if you need some help, let me know =)

Also, check out the Richmond BMW Owners group on Facebook. We're pretty active and are a good local community that is more than willing to help you get your car back up and running.

I also have a scan tool if you want to try to read the Airbag codes or if you want a second set of eyes on your car, I'm around on Sunday I think unless I'm messing with my M3.

Welcome again!

Now this is what I'm talking about. Since my daughter moved to Richmond near the Legend brewery recently, I expect my son in his silver 99 vert will be down there on a regular basis, and once I get the Red Devil, my 98 vert up and working so will I. First thing I noticed in the parking lot of the apt building was a 740 and a E38 wagon.

OP, I did sort of the same thing with a 1987 GLHS, but ended up having to kill the poor thing, since it was a Michigan car that had been "rustproofed" and was therefore rotten to the core. I'm inot my 98 328 convertible in sort of the same position as you, while I don't have as many individual items to fix, I am swapping the engine that turned out to have a bad head, have a seat that needs a new switch, a trunk lid, steering wheel, and glovebox to swap. Taking my time like you, since we have enough cars it's not killing me to not have this done right away.

About the power steering, I fixed that on my sons first car pretty easy, was a simple matter of cutting of the BMW crimp clamp sections and replacing them with real hose clamps. Oh, and the cleanup, of course. For that, since I have a recycled asphalt driveway, I laid down four or five layers of newspaper under the engine bay, sprayed degreaser liberally about, and did some carefull scrubbing with a toilet brush. Keeps forces low to minimize the chances of harming anything, gets into a lot of places, cleans large areas pretty fast. To do the best job, you will need to tackle some of it from underneath. See, I think the fans blows a steady seep around that area so bad, it looks like you have a massive leak, but it's just really spread around.

[typed by ben]

Mail's here!
New water pump, appropriate tools, power steering hoses and reservoir. This will solve the power steering leak.



Also slapped on a new windshield cowl. The old one was fairly well rotten


The coolant leak troubleshooting as I see it is just a matter of sourcing the leaks. That's all you have to do! Simple! Right?! You guys know better than that.

Right now I have 3 main sources:
1. Water pump weep hole
2. Bottom of expansion tank or hose
3. Bottom passenger side of radiator

For the water pump I just have to install a new pump.

The expansion tank is a little trickier. The part is I believe friction welded as two halves and lots of times you end up with flashing where the two parts were joined. That gives you two ridges on the hose barb. The hose will probably seal around it for a little bit but the constant heating and cooling and vibration means it won't last long. I think I need to replace this hose too. Look at all the dried up coolant on it and look how bad the sealing surface is worn


The radiator is still trickier. It leaks basically without a point source- I just get a drop of coolant at the bottom of the passenger end tank here and there with no obvious origin. I don't want to replace it if it doesn't need to be replaced. Since OEM rads are 3 piece they can be serviced to an extent so I dropped mine off at a shop in town called Kenny's Radiator Service, across from the Diamond in Scott's Addition. Kenny is a knowledgeable guy. He does intercoolers and fuel tanks as well. Anyway, he pressurized it with both water and air after recrimping the end tanks and said he could not get it to leak. He also flushed it and cleaned the exterior, all for $48.50. I'll reinstall and if I still get leaks I'll just move on to an all aluminum unit, but I wanted to give the OEM one a last chance.

[DocWyte]

It's not worth putting any money into an old OEM style radiator. Either buy a new one, or buy a new all aluminum one.

[typed by ben]

It's not worth putting any money into an old OEM style radiator. Either buy a new one, or buy a new all aluminum one.

Hope this is extremely pessimistic but I get the feeling you are correct.

Out with some more old, in with some more new



I never provided a before but there was about .125" worth of grime and power steering fluid covering everything under there. All the metal you can see was grit and grime when I got the car.

Hit the steering wheel with a solution of Tide, warm water, and a paint brush with the bristles cut short. I actually had no idea the steering wheels came stitched with M accents. My stitches were black, black I tell you, at least until I cleaned it.


Here's my new shift knob. OEM for this trim level is wood grain but the snap ring is broken and I'm not doing a concours restoration. I LOVE how this looks and feels. I got it off eBay from a guy in Latvia for $30. PERFECT color match for the champagne leather.

[Reprisal]

It's not worth putting any money into an old OEM style radiator. Either buy a new one, or buy a new all aluminum one.

Hope this is extremely pessimistic but I get the feeling you are correct.

Here's my new shift knob. OEM for this trim level is wood grain but the snap ring is broken and I'm not doing a concours restoration. I LOVE how this looks and feels. I got it off eBay from a guy in Latvia for $30. PERFECT color match for the champagne leather.

Ditto on what Doc was saying about the radiator. Stock ones are a lost cause if they show any sign of problems.

Shift knob is probably the same guy I bought mine from. I was really impressed for the price. M stitching and all.

[EricH]

I am original owner of my '99 dream car. Just tonight my airbag light came on for the first time.

Time for a quick search to find out how to fix it. I love this place.

[typed by ben]

Water pump: installed but with reservation. The new one is has a welded impeller; the one I took out was a huge milled billet bastard with a pretty small orifice. Not sure what to make of that but in any case its seals were going. No drips from this car is the goal.


I think I figured out why the back of the cam cover was leaking. One, there were remnants of 2 gaskets ago on the cam cover; and two, there was no sealant applied on those sharp corners in the back. The head mating surface was remarkably clean. The cam cover, not so much. Took a little scraping and a little emery cloth on a long block to get it flat again. Hopefully that part is sorted.



Looking spiffier already. One thing I have to say about these cam covers is the castings are terrible. Light weight but full of pits and runs. I have a blast booth so I cleaned up the front where I painted. The rest just got a soak in hot water and degreaser. Worked really well


So now I'm just waiting on the lower expansion tank hose and I can actually put the whole thing back together. Might have this joker back on the ground by this time next week.

[VaTechE36]

Awesome! Let me know if you need a hand. I might have some free time on Saturday to help out. Shoot me a PM if you'll be messing with it. Same with Sunday I think.

Nice progress on the car! Where are you located? That garage, from one pictures, looks oddly familiar to a friend's garage that moved out. Is it detached from the main house and down a hill a bit almost in the woods? A simple single car construction?

Edit: Do you have a picture of the old water pump? That sounds like a stewart piece which is actually a really nice upgrade for these cars.

[Ex36]

I also recently replaced my WP with a Graf unit from FCP. I liked the price, but I didn't like the impeller formed of a bunch of small pieces all tack-welded together. The thought of one piece letting loose and circulating through the engine is enough to keep me up at night. So I don't think about it! Slapped it in there and it works fine. BTW, I think there are many offerings with a single impeller casting and don't think it necessarily indicates a Stewart....

[typed by ben]

Awesome! Let me know if you need a hand. I might have some free time on Saturday to help out. Shoot me a PM if you'll be messing with it. Same with Sunday I think.

Nice progress on the car! Where are you located? That garage, from one pictures, looks oddly familiar to a friend's garage that moved out. Is it detached from the main house and down a hill a bit almost in the woods? A simple single car construction?

Edit: Do you have a picture of the old water pump? That sounds like a stewart piece which is actually a really nice upgrade for these cars.

I have a two car attached garage in Hanover. That's about as far into detail as I'll go. I have the old pump up in a cabinet, just in case!

The thought of one piece letting loose and circulating through the engine is enough to keep me up at night. So I don't think about it! Slapped it in there and it works fine

Exactly. The radial velocity that thing hits during just normal driving....... Hope it is up to the task.

[typed by ben]

Got it all buttoned up last night. So now I'm working with a new lower expansion tank hose, serviced radiator, new water pump, new cam cover gasket, and fixed ABS monitoring.


Started it for a few minutes to look for major leaks and got nothing. Put the wheels back on, sat it down on the ground and got it up to temperature 3 times, still nothing. Hope I'm onto something. Still gonna be cold here for another 2 months but I will be glad to get this project wrapped up so I can move on to the cosmetic stuff.

[VaTechE36]

How did your bleeding process go? Sometimes a complicated process, but 100% required on these cars otherwise you'll end up overheating. Lots of documentation on that process.

And no, that is not where I was lol. Sounds super nice though!