My first M car...

[fasteddie313]

So here is the M3 I bought..
let me start off by saying that I know this car is not a collectable example, it's not perfect..
This car is hopefully to be driven another 100k-200k, and that is just what I want..
The very good thing about this car is that it only has 103,000 miles so with decent maintenance it should serve me well for quite a long time.. It's a 95 coup with a manual trans.. It comes with the set of 18" e46 M3 wheels you see on the car with like new tires.. The rear fenders are slightly rolled for them and I'm not a big fan of the slight stretch on the rear tired, not my style, but it is extremely slight and acceptable to me I suppose.. The wheels do look very good.. It has an extra front in the trunk for a spare so 5 of these..
It also comes with a nice set of 4 LTW type 24 iirc BMW MOTORSPORT stamped 17" wheels that are body color match painted.. I like these wheels a lot too and may run them but the tires on the rears are absolutely gone..

On to some bad.. Car needs a VANOS already, the sunroof mechanism is pretty screwed but I have a parts car with it all, the car was hit and the left rear quarter was replaced, it looks great from 10 feet but it isn't perfect.. The rear window on the drivers side isn't quite right because of it but it is what it is... The door sills on the bottom are a bit rough, the door seals have some smal holes in them but are fine, the headliner hangs and the sunroof panel headliner also, and the door cards are screwed on but look ok except they are missing the handle trims.. The drivers Vader is worn a bit on the left bolsters as you can see but I hope I can reblacken it a bit somehow.. Front bumper lip has a little crack in it, missing the tow hook and some tools, it has an aftermarket stereo that sounds like ass through the original speakers, has a dent in the floorboard behind the passengers seat from a misplaced jack that should pop back down ok, chips in the paint here and there etc.. Oh and I have to put a passengers side block mount on it too, it is cracked where it bolts to the block..

But other than that the car drives perfectly straight and feels very solid and tight.. No noises in the suspension, lots of clutch and shifts great other than the wiggly plastic clutch pedal..

Like I said it's a driver and I feel I got it for a decent price for the low miles and for my intentions of driving it it should have a lot of life left in it..

I got it for $4,300 cash but it showed no signs of needing a Vanos until I got it home, but for the low miles and my
intentions of driving it a lot I think I did ok..

This has been a bit of a pain to do on my phone but I'm pretty big into forums so now that I have a BMW again you guys should be seeing me around a bit though I don't think I'll be big into modding this car but intend to keep it up pretty decent..
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Anyone know what rear wing this is??

[The sage]

Nice. Is that a pontiac grand am spoiler??pontiac_grand_am_gt_spoiler_1427402040_615x306.jpg

[fasteddie313]

Nice. Is that a pontiac grand am spoiler??pontiac_grand_am_gt_spoiler_1427402040_615x306.jpg

Wow, it sure does looks like it.. That's crazy...

[lbennyboobool]

good buy! I like the mud flaps. You don't see that very often

2nd on the spoiler, looks very similar

[LockDots]

Ugh, those poor LTWs

[fasteddie313]

Ugh, those poor LTWs

Other than them being painted if that's what you mean, they are actually pretty nice, in good shape.. They just have like moth nests, spider webs, and dust all over them..

[in4lee]

Nice pick up! A great car to daily IMO. And yes... those poor LTW wheels

[LockDots]

Drop them off at a wheel shop and have them refurbished back to silver/polished/whatever-isn't-original-looking

[JitteryJoe]

Great car for the money you paid. It needs some love to bring it back. Have fun with it!

[Pelican Parts]

Congrats on the M3 purchase, the E36 is one of my favorite platforms. If you're going to be doing the maintenance and repairs yourself then take a look at the link below to our site's DIY tech articles on the E39. Please let us know if you have any questions!

BMW 3-Series E36 (1992-1999) Technical Articles

[Nate047]

Not half bad for $4300 man. Should be a fun little project. That wing is hilarious lol you should keep it just to bother people on this site.

[fasteddie313]

Not half bad for $4300 man. Should be a fun little project. That wing is hilarious lol you should keep it just to bother people on this site.

Ha, actually I don't think the wing looks completely terrible myself and don't want to be getting into paintwork so it is likely going to stay..

I'm going for reliable DD with this car so probably wont get much into modding it, maybe a few things..
The cats are cut out of the pipe and replaced with straight sections, nothing but straight pipes from the headers to the rear muffler.. I may cut the rear muffler off and replace it with 2 straightthroughs or something like a dual in/out flowmaster.. Not sure yet..
I also think I might swap the exhaust manifold for a better header.. Maybe one of the ebay stainless ones or a stock one from a s30b52.. I haven't really dug into the research yet but I am open to buying one of someone has one laying around, let me know..
I also might do something about a CAI..

I'm probably going to DIY something about the headliner and sunroof cover material, and figure out something to reblacken the drivers seat where it is worn white a little.. Open to any suggestions..

Headlights are pretty foggy so I'd like to replace them with 6000k HIDs or something behind glass lenses but further research is needed on that also.. Open to suggestions..
What's up with those headlights that have the corner markers built right into them? What should I get?

Also you guys might be able to help me out a ton and identify what color this car is so I can buy some correct touch up paint for a couple chips here and there... It is supposed to be an "E46 color" says PO.. That would be awesome..

They really did a very good job repainting this car including under pretty much all the trim and under the hood etc but messing around in the interior I see some estoril blue under the carpet I do believe..
The drivers door has a different vin and the key doesn't work in it, both front fenders, passengers door (key works), and trunk all have the original vin, and the drivers rear quarter has been replaced and the drivers rear window isn't quite right but it probably is what it is unless its possible to install that quarter window 1/4" too far forward by accident somehow and it can be scooted back..

The car isn't perfect, reflected by the price I paid, but oh my god does it drive.. She drives and shes tight..

I have no intention of tracking the car or getting all racey with it, I just want to keep it reliable and put another 200k on it

[notMpowered]

The wing is genuinely horrible, but the rest of the car looks good.
I'm sure you don't see estoril under the carpet, as it never came in that colour in 95. Unless this is the second repaint. Colour looks like topaz blue from the e46 maybe, but also kind of looks avus. Post up your vin, or search it and you can find what the stock colour was if you are interested.
As for the driver seat, look into leatherique. Lots of people have used it around here.
For headlights, DJ auto are the best budget option. All the one piece corner and headlight combos are trash.
Sandblast those blue style 24s and you could probably make some money on them if you don't want to run them.

[LockDots]

I'd buy them as is for cheap

[fasteddie313]

Fixed the sunroof with pieces from my old 318 but it doesn't stop in the right position.. Going forward from open it stops with the back of the panel still down and I have to level it up manually by pushing the button forward some more.. At first it wanted to go too far forward for the sunroof lift position almost breaking the slider tab things so I backed it off a bit to stop that and now it wants to be in the closed position too far back from either the up position or not far enough forward from the open position..

I can't find a happy medium.. What's the trick? Try the other motor? IDK..

I took the under panel off too and removed the orange foam and glue from it where the fabric came off, it looks much better in just black paint.. Brake fluid is what I found to remove the glue the best.. Brake cleaner, gasoline, paint thinner, lacquer prep, zippo fluid, nope.. Brake fluid, yep..

I probably won't run the 24s anytime soon as they need 2 new tires but I'm in no rush to get rid of them..
I think they will look fine blue, go along well with my wing.. They are so light I had to hurry and get them in my shed before they blew away in the wind..

Did the VANOS, did an oil change, getting an idler pulley, lots of little details getting better..