FS: 2000 BMW Z3 M Coupe E36/8 - Oxford Green/Oregon Beige, Sunroof Delete, 66k miles

[Chamberlin]

Selling my pride and joy 2000 M Coupe. It's also my longest ownership car out of 24 BMWs over the last 10 years. Tons of stuff refreshed, repaired, and upgraded. NO REAR SUB-FRAME ISSUES WHATSOEVER.
65,7xx miles
SOLD

Purchase History
I acquired this E36/8 M Coupe from a BMW/MINI dealer in Austin Texas in September of 2015. The dealer had taken the car in on new MINI trade from the original owner who had purchased the coupe at the same dealer almost 16 years earlier. The in-service date for the car was 1/31/2000. The single previous owner was an older woman who worked at the University Texas at Austin. She did not drive the car much at all early in her ownership, with BMW service records showing only 17,000 miles accumulated by October 2008. Unlike most car dealership interactions, this time I was lucky enough to get some contact information of the son-in-law of the lady, and I have a copy of the brief email exchange we had. It seems she really loved the car from first sight, but overall really didn't do much to the car other than put gas in it. The original wheels are pretty rashed, and had 4 different tires, each of different ages and wear. There are some clear-coat splotches where blackbirds dumped on the car around the university that she didn't take care of soon enough. There are some door dings/dents that need to be addressed by a professional PDR tech. The real shocker to me was that the dealer took it upon themselves to partially 'refresh' the car during the course of the sale... and they should have just left well enough alone. Whomever re-did the headliner did a decent enough job, but the front and rear bumper re-spray job is pretty poor (underneath areas only, with bumpers still on the car is my guess, as the upper parts of the bumpers look original). The real bummer was the seats, as they sent them off to an upholsterer who had no business trying to re-furb M Coupe seats. The work was good, however they replaced some rare Oregon beige panels with plain dyed leather, and then when they were done, the right and left seats didn't even match in color/design! They were an abomination. After all of this piss-poor cosmetic refreshing, they didn't even change the brakes (or tires), which were original and down to near nothing - to the point of it being a safety issue in my opinion. Yet they made sure to replace the airbag module before releasing the car, as they're not allowed to sell a car with an airbag light on (which delayed the shipment of the car until they sourced a new module). Needless to say, I raised hell with the salesman and the dealership; but the damage had already been done, I took delivery of the car. I knew the car was so lightly used, never tracked, and was 100% original so I began my commitment to restore and refresh the little M.

It wasn't soon after I got the car that we decided to drive it to Oktoberfest 2016 in Monterey California, for the 100th anniversary of BMW, and as it turns out, Dorkfest 2016, my first. Thanks to Jon's awesome website, I already had a 3.0i Oxford/Beige Z3 Coupe 5 speed which I did a fly'n'drive trip with a few months earlier. At the time, I also had an S52 M Roadster and an S54 M Roadster, both in Oxford green (yes, I'm a big fan of dark metallic greens!). But now all attention turned to the M Coupe, so that it would be ready for the 1600 mile round trip to Monterey. The following sections outline all of the items I addressed before the trip, as well as the many additional things over the course of my 4+ year ownership. It's been a labor of love for sure, but can be quite challenging when having as many as 7 BMWs at once, which all need attention on some level. So after 10 years of collecting BMWs, I've decided to sell everything off and go in a different direction (TBD!). After sending off about 8 cars in the last 12 months, I'm now down to just my 8 series and this M Coupe (and my E53 X5, which I'm keeping for the time being).

Refreshments, Repairs, Replacements, and Upgrades
I will try to keep the line item details brief here, as some will be obvious due to the fact the car was basically all original with 63,100 miles as received. I will expound on some items if warranted for clarity and transparency.

Cooling system

• new radiator
• new primary hoses and some secondary hoses
• new heater valve (I tried overhauling the valve myself, but they don't make a seal kit for this particular unit)
• new fan
• new fan clutch
• new E36 M3 88°C thermostat with bleed hole drilled (I was contemplating doing a fan delete, and even installed an Innovate digital temp sensor in the head for a while, combined with throttle body coolant bypass, but ended up putting things back to stock)
• new fan switch in radiator
• new expansion tank/cap etc.
• new Stewart water pump
• new BMW blue coolant 50/50
• new metal thermostat housing
• new drive belts

Ignition system

• new spark plugs
• new coils

Engine

• new valve cover gaskets
• new air filter
• oil change/filter with Amsoil 5W-40 Euro Formula (I would be happy to change the oil again before the sale if the buyer would like, as the oil is now 3 years old, even though it only has less than 3,000 easy miles on it)

Fuel system

• new fuel filter

Brake system

• new rotors [twice] (replaced in 2016 with Brembos, but ECS sent me two coated rights, and two uncoated lefts, but since I was in a rush for the trip, I left them as-is... obviously one side rusts the other doesn't, so I just recently replaced 2500 mile old rotors with another new set from ECS, all black coated this time, and they now have only 5 miles on them)
• new Hawk performance ceramic pads
• new StopTech stainless steel brake lines
• new brake pad wear sensors
• new brake fluid
• new master cylinder reservoir gaskets

Driveline

• CDV delete via Z3 3.0i clutch hose installation
• replaced manual transmission fluid (I believe Amsoil 75W-90 synthetic)
• replaced differential fluid (I believe Amsoil 75W-140 Severe Gear)

Suspension

• used K-Sport coil overs (acquired from my S54 M Roadster, only had 500 miles on them)
• new OEM rear spring perch riser pads (to increase the rear body height in addtion to the K-Sport adjustable lower perch)

Exhaust

• used Dinan stainless steel 'grapefruit shooter' muffler (acquired from my S52 M Roadster; 74000 miles on the exhaust which was installed when the M Roadster only had 75 miles on it according to BMW records)

Seats/Belts

• repaired all seat rail bushings with Delrin kit
• new UUC front seat height riser kit on both seats
• new OEM driver's seat belt complete assembly
• new OEM driver's and passenger seat belt receivers and pyro tensioners
• used seat skin leathers for 3 out of 4 cushions (after 4 years, and thanks to my buddy Mark here on the forums, I finally found a set of M Coupe replacement seats - the only original seat leather still in the car is the driver's seat back, which used to be the car's passenger seat back; all other seat leathers came from Mark's used seats - the refurbished motorized seat bases are original to my car however... the used leathers aren't perfect, but they are leaps and bounds better than the botch job leathers I got with the car!)
• repaired seat occupancy sensor wires (no airbag lights for the moment!)
• cleaned and treated seats with Chemical Guys cleaner and conditioner products

Interior

• refurbished passenger door card
• replaced driver's door card (the Oregon point beige leather is sensitive to yellowing with prolonged contact with sweat, lotions etc., so it was easier to replace the door card than try to remove the staining)
• replaced polymer door handle pulls with leather version from S54 M Coupe
• replaced both under-window trim pieces in trunk area (these are two very expensive yet fragile interior trim pieces that often break or crack near the seat belt spool slot; I even received one broken in shipping from ECS)
• replaced headliner fabric (this was performed by the selling dealer as mentioned above)
• removed caustic chemical from rear-view mirror (obviously the auto-dimming function does not work anymore)
• removed un-used factory cell phone antenna amplifier and related wires from circuit
• installed a new factory OEM alarm kit (done better than the dealer installations I've seen; the seller of the kit had been using the key fobs for his car, but the rest of the alarm kit was brand new)
• replaced various plastic trim covers and parts throughout the car
• new OEM illuminated shift knob (installed by the selling dealer)
• repaired HVAC control knob (installed a stainless 4-40 screw into servo arm to replace broken plastic ball joint head - should never be a problem again)
• installed white led light bulbs into the gauge trio (they're much brighter than the stock mini bulbs)
• replaced original glove box with a new European OEM low profile, lightweight glove box (huge improvement in function and look over stock, and no sag!)
• replaced original driver's knee panel and crush box with new European OEM low profile, lightweight driver's knee panel
• new OEM throttle cable bushing on gas pedal
• new Po-boy clutch pedal stop
• new OEM black ///M floormats
• cleaned and treated all interior leather with Chemical Guys cleaner and conditioner products
• cleaned carpets with seats removed

Windows

• overhauled, cleaned, repaired and lubricated both driver and passenger door windows (typical broken white window drive dogs and hardened factory lubricants)
• overhauled, cleaned and re-aligned both driver and passenger door quarter windows

Exterior

• replaced front hood struts
• replaced hatch struts
• refurbished and rebuilt ///M side gills with OEM clips (NeverDone ///M badges)
• replaced headlights with very nice used amber versions
• replaced tail lights with new amber versions
• new amber side turn signals
• new amber front bumper parking lights
• new door handle gaskets
• repaired trunk locking mechanism/latch
• new windshield wipers
• full professional paint correction with Opti-coat ceramic coating applied (8/11/2016)
• new ///M badge on trunk
• new OEM European front license plate holder
• new gas door rubber bumper [replaced twice already!]
• new OEM rear underbody air deflectors (in front of the rear wheels)

Wheels/Tires

• AC Schnitzer Type-III Monoblock Staggered [front 18x8.5 ET43, rear 18x9.5 ET21.5] (purchased as new from a forum member, very rare fitment)
• Hankook Ventus V12 EVO [front 245/35R18, rear 285/30R18] (purchased as new mounted and balanced on the AC Schnitzers)
• AC Schnitzer 20mm spacers on rear wheels
• AC Schnitzer extended lug bolts and lock bolt on rear wheels
• ECS Tuning 5mm spacers and extended lug bolts on front wheels

Current Condition, Needs, Wants, Projected Service Items
Below, I will try to list all of the items that I feel still need attention, either because I just never got around to it, didn't feel the cost vs. benefit was worth it, or that it's now just time to take care of it due to age. Please keep these items in mind if you are contemplating buying my M Coupe! The car is perfectly driveable as-is, and essentially 'needs nothing' as they say, but these cars are ALL project cars no matter what anybody tells you...even more so, if you are obsessive about cosmetics, all OEM parts, and having a concourse grade show-car. On the other hand, if you are the 'driver' type who believes these cars are meant to be driven (into the ground - LOL), this car is probably a bit nicer than what I would want to pile the miles onto...but of course that's completely up to you. Heck, you could buy a 10K mile S54 M Coupe for $80,000 and drive the wheels off of it, nobody can stop you! Point being, I think my car (in its current state), is a very solid M Coupe that's in considerably better condition than a 'thoroughly enjoyed' shoe, but not so much that you couldn't drive it without feeling guilty about some added mileage. There are still plenty of things to take care of as well, if you're so inclined, and you like refurbishing BMWs as much as I do.

• would benefit greatly from a PDR expert to pull a round ding out of the drivers door and a vertical ding out of the passenger door - not really that many other dent or dings to mention on the car
• the paint correction and ceramic coating rejuvenated the car like nothing else could (truly amazed every time I get another car done), however there are some destroyed clear coat splotches from the bird droppings from the previous ownership, and as mentioned, it probably would be best to have the front and rear bumper covers pulled, sanded, filled and re-painted to address the selling dealer's piss poor work underneath - it's really not a huge issue, but I know it's there and it bothers me
• might be time for an oil change due to age of oil (not miles)
• might be time for new tires due to age of rubber (not miles, as you can still easily read the Hankook on the center strip of the front tires!)
• would be nice to have the whole undercarriage pressure washed and the wheel wells scrubbed, as there's still some Texas dirt lurking
• suspension bushings seem fine, but should be inspected as they are all 20 years old now (aside from the new coilover mounting points of course)
• a suspension setup and alignment check might be nice to have done (my buddy and I set the car up by hand for a perfectly straight, no camber, no toe-in, neutral alignment, which I must say seems spot on to me; great for long distance even tire wear, but not as good as it could be for spirited corner carving)
• repair of curb rash on the front right ACS wheel (so after driving 1600 miles to Monterey and back without a single incident, the following weekend I went to breakfast with friends after our local Cars N Coffee, and carefully parked the car away from the restaurant, but next to one of those stupid curb planter peninsulas... when we left, I turned the wheel right into the curb as I was backing out...I could have killed myself right there in the parking lot that day)

What does and doesn't comes with the car
I collected a ton off BMW parts for all types of 'E" series cars over the years, and I do have some pieces that are specific to the M Coupe that I will plan to include with the car, but I also may have other bits and pieces that are E36/8 compatible that I might also sell to the buyer of the car upon delivery... That said, I don't exactly know what all of those pieces are at the moment, off the top of my head, and would prefer to only list the specific items that I would like the new owner to take with the car; of course it's not mandatory to take them, but they are items that I'm ok with including with the purchase. I will continue to update this list as I work through the items in my garage bins. Please note that I no longer have the original suspension nor the original 4 outlet exhaust muffler. I've been casually looking to find those pieces just to have them, but for the cost, shipping, and storage of those items, it's a hard commitment to make, just to have them on-hand in case I wanted to put the car back to stock. I also no longer have the left over seat parts and leathers from the re-furb process, as a forum member has already purchased them. The nearly new Brembo rotors are also spoken for at this time.

• original M Coupe wheels and tires (not in the best shape, but serviceable if you shod them with new rubber)
• original M Coupe Oregon beige door cars
• used CoverKing outdoor car cover
• original clear headlights
• original clear tail lights
• original glove box and drivers knee panel

Purchase details
I have the clean Arizona title in hand, ready to be notarized. The car has passed Arizona emissions without issue, every time. Happy to accept cashier's checks, cash, or other certified bank checks for payment. I will also happily work with your shipper for arrangement of transport; I've shipped in and shipped out dozens of cars and motorcycles over the years, and can help with the process. I really prefer that you see the car before buying, but I'm happy to answer questions, take more photos, and answer any questions you might have. That said, I am NOT a fan of PPI's for various reasons, and although I wouldn't flat out reject a request to have one done at a local indy shop, I would strongly try to talk you out of it, and would be happy to discuss over the phone my reasoning. On the other hand, I have had buyers send or bring over their own mechanics to my location, which I openly welcome. I have a QuickJack onsite that I can lift the car with as well, if my photos aren't telling enough. Test drives for serious buyers are welcome too, as I've already had one potential interested party do.

[mbonder]

Oxford madness! What exhaust is on there?

[Chamberlin]

Oxford madness! What exhaust is on there?

That is the Dinan grapefruit shooter exhaust... Polarizing looks, but fairly universal praise with regard to sound.

[Chamberlin]

Vehicle information

VIN	WBSCM9346YLC61806
Prod. Date	2000-01-14
Type	MCOUPE (USA)
Series	E36 (3 Series)
Body Type	RCOUPE
Steering	Left Hand Drive
Engine	S52
Displacement	3.20
Power	176kw / 239hp
Drive	HECK
Transmission	Manual
Colour	OXFORDGRUEN 2 METALLIC (430)
Upholstery	NAPPA M.OREGON POINTBEIGE E36 SAND (R3SN)

S710A	M leather steering wheel
S785A	White direction indicator lights

S413A	Trunk room net
S442A	Cup holder
S481A	Sports seat
S494A	Seat heating driverpassenger

S640A	Preparation f telinstallation universal
S658A	Radio BMW Business CD RDS
S674A	HiFi System Harman Kardon
S692A	Preparation BMW 6CD changer Ibus

S530A	Air conditioning
S540A	Cruise control

S260A	Side airbag for driverpassenger
S209A	Differential lock 25
S243A	Airbag for front passenger

S314A	Door mirror drivers lock heated
S354A	Green windscreen green shade band
S845A	Acoustic belt warning
S853A	Language version English

S992A

Control of numberplate attachment

[rgao007]

Beautiful car, GLWS!

[bmwahba46]

Wow. If I could add this to the garage.....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mightydave]

I'd love to buy a car from Joe - mainly because I know how anal he is. He'd have already done all the things I would want done. Would save my sanity.

Good luck Joe! If I win the lottery tomorrow, I'm your guy.

[Chamberlin]

Thanks for the nice words guys! And Dave, I'd love to see the car go to you! But you already have your Estoril '99, so I completely understand buddy! (give the lottery a shot either way though

As you said Dave, I do have a LOT of stuff done to the car, but having an average of 5-7 BMWs at once, family, and working a full-time job, I never seem to get *everything* done on any one car... there's always a few things I have to leave for the next owner. This, even after 4+ years of ownership. I do have to say though, this M Coupe probably is the closest I got to what I'd call "done". I know there are other guys out there that will take the motor out down to the block and have every suspension nut and bolt re-plated before assembly... I wish that was me, and maybe if I only ever owned one car at a time that might have been a possibility. But this car still has plenty of (mostly cosmetic) stuff for the next owner to do, if they want to. If you just want to drive it, it's *more* than ready for that task, as well as looking pretty damn nice at your Cars N Coffee.

I promise I will get more photos and info posted on the car soon. I've got a crap ton of new underbody photos, some interior shots, and a whole bunch of the wheels/tires (removed) too. I'm just waiting for an opportunity to do a new photo shoot for the exterior. Normally, I wouldn't bother posting the car unless I had all the photos ready, but it's been a hard enough decision to sell this car as it is. So, the other day when I was feeling brave, I just decided to write up a quick for-sale post and get it out there. Otherwise, I would just keep making excuses to delay listing it. It's like paying off a big credit card balance when you don't really have to... you've got the money just sitting there, and all you have to do is take a deep breath and click on the pay now button! If you read the article in one of the recent Roundels where the guy was talking about his regret for selling his Z3 Coupe, I'm terrified that's going to be me. Just trying to stay focused on selling my collection, so I can move on to the next thing, trying not to think about it too much!

Stay tuned for more stuff soon. Alternatively, if you have any specific questions I'd be happy to email you or talk on the phone, just send me a PM.

P.s. I do want to give a huge shout-out to Jon Martin who has helped me buy and sell four different Z3 roadsters and coupes over the years, including the car listed above. Jon, I appreciate the nice words that you've said on your website, and for providing the absolute best M Coupe enthusiast resource one could ask for. You, Mark, and Graham have been great 'clown shoe buddies', and I hope me letting go my Oxford won't change that!

[seannwalsh]

You know, I'm not even a big fan of the M Coupe, but yours looks absolutely amazing. In my opinion you should hold on to this one...It seems you've had such an amazing collection of special BMWs over the years, it'd be nice to hold on to at least one for old time's sake. Ten, fifteen years, or even four or five years down the line I think you will for sure wish to have it around. The color combo as well is something you will likely not be able to track down again in the future, so if you have any major sentimental attachment I'd keep it...Though I'm a bit of a hoarder so take my advice with a grain of salt In any event, really stunning car, good luck with whatever you do!

[Chamberlin]

You know, I'm not even a big fan of the M Coupe, but yours looks absolutely amazing. In my opinion you should hold on to this one...It seems you've had such an amazing collection of special BMWs over the years, it'd be nice to hold on to at least one for old time's sake. Ten, fifteen years, or even four or five years down the line I think you will for sure wish to have it around. The color combo as well is something you will likely not be able to track down again in the future, so if you have any major sentimental attachment I'd keep it...Though I'm a bit of a hoarder so take my advice with a grain of salt In any event, really stunning car, good luck with whatever you do!

Thanks for the nice words Sean-I definitely thought about just keeping one collector car, and you're right, I will certainly regret letting this Shoe go.... My dad actually wants me to keep the 8 series as I've had 4 of them now, and a '97 850Ci was my very first foray into BMW-land. Start with an E31 and end with an E31... but I think even that car is going away soon also... 24 cars over the years is a lot of fun, but I'm really fixated on the next big thing (whatever that ends up being), and that means cleaning the slate unfortunately. But no doubt it's going to be really difficult to watch this Coupe ride off into the sunset with somebody else!

[520740IL]

Congratulations to whoever winds up buying this car - I have been lucky enough to have purchased a BMW from Joe, and I could not have been happier.

He is very thorough, detail-oriented, and honest. You will not find a better seller on here. Buy with confidence.

-Joe; Best of luck in your future "big thing"!

[Chamberlin]

Congratulations to whoever winds up buying this car - I have been lucky enough to have purchased a BMW from Joe, and I could not have been happier.

He is very thorough, detail-oriented, and honest. You will not find a better seller on here. Buy with confidence.

-Joe; Best of luck in your future "big thing"!

Thanks for the nice words Harrison! Hope all is well with you and your E38 loving family!

[Chamberlin]

Took 378 photos over the last two weekends guys and I am going through them now, hoping to post a bunch today... please stand by.

[Chamberlin]

[sealbeach740]

Beautiful car Joe!
Too bad you have to let this one go. I bet it was a pretty hard decision to make.
Someone is going to get a fantastic car that's been extremely well taken care of.
I still stay a well prepped Oxford Green car, with it's metallic base is a thing of beauty!
I also wanted to add, if you're thinking of purchasing this car, you can be sure Joe is an honest & upfront guy. You should have no doubts about buying from Joe.

[jake93854]

We share the same love for green. Love your cars Joe, and I appreciate you keeping me in the loop on your sales. If I had cash ready I'd be all over this thing. GLWS

[Chamberlin]

Thank you for your very nice and heart warming words guys, it's great to know I've got such genuine green beemer buddies out there.... I've got the first visitor coming to see the car this week...getting scared!

[DeathKing]

My 740i came from Joe (previously owned by sealbeach). If I could I'd only buy cars from him! Best of luck with the sale.

[Chamberlin]

Thanks for the endorsement JP! I hope all my cars go to guys like you!

BTW all, so sorry for the delay in the description; I promise I will get the details written up soon... I had a possible buyer a couple of weeks ago, so I was hesitating writing up one of my usual epic novels on the car's history! The buyer is still active, but I've been getting a lot of other questions on the car, so I need to get the description written up ASAP. In the meantime, please PM me here for any specific questions, and I will get back to you, usually within in minutes.

[Chamberlin]

Just got back from Oktoberfest 2019 to visit the birthplace of my M Coupe! Anyway, I finally got a description started, but I still have a few more things to add when I get a chance... please check the 1st post in this thread- Thanks for your patience!

[Chamberlin]

Car is now sold, thanks for all the interest!