Noobs! Introduce Yourselves!

[misk]

Hello all. I'm in the St Louis, MO area, new owner of a '97 light blue roadster. Like James Bond's.

I looked for a small, fun sports car for quite a while (since before last summer), until I spotted the z3 roady on craigslist. Reasonable mileage at 55k, one owner, garaged its whole life...I bit. It probably wasn't the most intelligent decision given my college budget, but its fun dammit! Its only a 1.9, but that's perfect for me since the car is my daily driver; the gas mileage is awesome. And it's still quick enough to suit my country road needs.

[Rapacz]

Aloha from Maui. I recently bought a 99 Z3 Coupe, 80K mi., Cosmos Black, all stock but for stereo. I've been a long-time fan, passed up an 00 M Coupe a few years back (when I bought my 03 Boxster S) and have been looking ever since. Rarely for sale in Hawaii, never on Maui, until this year. I think there's one, maybe two others on the island.

It's in good shape overall, and has a few quirks. I don't know whether they are "normal" or things that need tweaking, but nothing major.

I'm a little spoiled here on Maui, with some world class mountain and back roads, the Coupe, the Boxster, an autocross-prepped (CSP) miata and an 04 Suzuki VStrom 650. That's one Sunday drive each, per month, if I'm lucky.

I look forward to being a forum member, and hope to be able to someday share advice, as well as seeking it.

[bcrider]

Spotted this 99 M Roadster on autotrader, added the randy Forbes mod to the sub frame. IE subframe bushings. Bilstein shocks all the way around. RSM, front control arms, bushings and assorted trim pieces. It all started out on Saturday morning, I was cleaning out the garage and when I was finished I realized I had just enough room for a small sports car. The rest is history. Its got 117000 miles on it but runs like a champ. Changed all of the fuilds bled the brakes and all is good.

[Z3z]

hey guys and gals. my name is dain, and as you can tell i dont often use the shift key. I'm from Ft. Worth, and I just bought my first bmw... a '98 z3.

I found it on the irs's auction website and it is being driven here as i type. it was listed as an M, but after checking the vin i found out it was not. But, i bid on it anyways. it still has the 6 cyl, auto. convertible top, and I look forward to seeing if it at least has the M interrior. I'm guessing that's how the confusion was made.

Anyways, I'm going to need some help with the car, as I hear it needs a few various parts. My first car was a '73 mach 1, and I completely restored it, but this is my first chance driving a car of this caliber.

It is dark blue, with tan/wood interrior. As of now, I know it will need the driver's side rear tail light assembely, a new shift knob, possibly new carpet, and a good buffing/waxing. Who knows what I'll add when it actually gets here. OH YA! The catalytic converter was removed, so I'll need a new one.. I may just get a whole new exhaust system. any sugguestions?

[ken_vs_ryu]

hai guyz i need a z3.

[Dhan]

hey guys, quasi new i guess. Had the coupe for a while.

99 m coupe! 52k miles when i bought it. the car is a classic. I just washed it today.

[BrightViolet]

My name's Claire. One happy day in the mid 1990s, I saw Pierce Brosnan driving a Z3 in a trailer(?) for Goldeneye, and I said: Some day I will own that car. (Nevermind that I wasn't even old enough yet to drive a car.)
Skip forward to 2007.
After spending every single day looking at a beautiful Atlanta Blue Z3 sitting in a parking spot near my work, I finally decide to have a look online to see how much I might expect to spend on one. To my surprise, it's much less than I had anticipated. The search begins.
August 2008: I finally find one I like, a 1998 Atlanta blue, manual transmission, only 49K miles on it, and $10K. Victory.

So now I have mine, and I'm looking to add to it a little bit. I've been thinking about a spoiler (lip or modest wing), and possibly a dash kit, though a lot of people seem to object to these. I decided to join the forum, since I'd been looking at it off and on over the last year, to see if I could take advantage of more people's expertise, before I make any serious decisions.

[adonnan]

I forgot to introduce myself. Make it a sticky so new guys will see it.

Played with hondas for 10 yrs, wanted a change. Something that didn't require so many mods to make it 'nice'. That said here was my old car.

If you see it in Philly and it's in good shape let me know. If it's in bad shape don't tell me. Too many hours wrapped up in that custom wiring job.

It was on nice coilovers, swaybars, bars everywhere, recaro seat, uk gauges uk lights, hid the works.

I've always wanted an m coupe, but until now I couldn't afford it. Found it in Ohio via autotrader.


Really don't plan to do a lot. Lower it, put some wheels on it, keep it clean.

[ckpitt55]

Hey everyone, my name is Chuck. I'm 20 years old and major in engineering at Pitt. My dad has been driving the 3 series for as long as I can remember, so kinda inherited my obsession from him.

Anyway, I drive a '95 325i with 187,xxx on it. Still runs like hell. Borla exhaust, UUC short shift kit, Bilstein sport shocks, e46 style 44 17 x 8" rims. Right now I'm just going through all the routine maintainence stuff like trans/diff fluid change, brake bleed, new bushings everywhere. Also I've got some rust in the rockers that needs cut out and replaced, along with some other smaller spots that need taken care of (damn you winter). I'm trying to do as much of this DIY as I can to save money and BF.c has been tremendously helpful. Thanks to everyone. I also plan on repainting the car myself eventually (jet black ftw), so we'll see how that goes. see ya around

[MCoupeVet]

Hi - My name is Don. I live in new Hampshire and just purchased a 2000 Z3 MCoupe. See my new thread http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1257140

I am a mechanical Engineer and work for an Optics company that makes Thermal Imaging (night vision) Cameras. Cool Stuff.

My son Andrew has a '95 E36 M3.

[pputre]

Hi - My name is Peter, I live in Vermont and just purchased a 2000 2.5L Roadster silver/black with 52k miles. I lurked here for awhile to learn about the z3 before buying. This place is great and I appreciate all the info that people have shared here.
I'm a software engineer for a Electronic Medical Records company.
Peter

[jkirogen]

Hey, i have been posting asking questions but i will introduce myself.
My name is Jeffrey or Jeff i dont really care which you call me. I live in Greenville SC and work as a Paralegal. im only 19 and i do attend college still gettin double major in accounting and macro economics (only cause its easy) and minor in business admistration. i recently bought a Z3 roadster this week and got it on wednesday for 6,500 with 78,000 miles on it.
My car is brown, but i plan on changing it in the future, with a convertable top and brown hard top. i love my car, everyone stares when they see some 19yr old kid drivin a car they have never seen. but i thank everyone for the help in this forum and hope to show what i can do with my car!

[cruix3r]

Hi - I too have a few post count here, but have been quietly monitoring the site for the past 3 years...like they always say searching the forums always gave answers to the common problems of these cars, as many enthusiast are very willing to provide possible solutions to problems. My name is Rex, the first Z3 owned was a 1997 1.9 purchased in 2007, which ended up with my eldest son. This was then replaced by a 1999 M Roadster purchased in 2008. Here is a thank you for all your solutions in the past and for the future.

[mccalebr]

Hi, all,
I'm Ray from Athens, GA, USA. I'm a British sports car fan and have a couple, BUT, needing something a bit more comfortable to enjoy on the longer trips. I did some research, watched the cars trading on Ebay, and found this forum. I settled on a 1998 M Roadster that I found almost in my back yard, Marietta, GA (65 miles). It's Imola Red with the red/black interior and is as near stock as any car I could find. The serial number is LC85046 making it the tenth N.A. spec roadster to roll off the line. I bought it in Sept., 2009 with 38,300 miles. Pics and details are available at:

http://www.raysmg.com/rays_mg_midget_98_m_roadster.htm

Love the car and am having a ball in it!

Oh...demographics...I'm in my late fifties and have been retired for three years. These days I spend most of my time "playing cars".

[Kdow1]

Hey all, i'm Katie. Just bought my 2000 2.5 5-speed in September. Only 40k miles upon purchase and the car is in immaculate condition. I got lucky since my guy works for the dealership I got her from. He's on this thing somewhere as well with his e30 infatuation.

[akreis]

Hello. I have already posted on the forum a few times, but when I saw this thread, I felt an introduction would be appropriate.

I purchased my 2001 M Roadster (Black Sapphire Metallic/ Dark Beige Oregon) in late June '09. I used to have a '99 M3 (Fern Green/ Dove Grey) that I loved to drive, but sold in order to add on to my house. I fell in love with the BMW straight 6. I also loved the retro look of the z3 (reminded me of modern AC Cobra). I had began the search for an S54 Roadster and I finally bought one in great condition with only 11,700 miles from a collector.

I have learned quite a bit by lurking on this forum. I would like to thank all of you for your knowledge/experiences and your willingness to share them with others.

[coupefan]

Just realized I've never done an intro - I'm Joe and live in Marin, CA. I joined the forum this summer as I got serious about finding an M Coupe. Bought an estoril '99 in July with 60k on it - clean and stock. So far the forum has been a big help - I learned to do basic maintenance/fixes, and found parts such as roof rack and interior bits. Plan to keep the car stock for now - no stranger to the mod bug though.

[pfrangip]

Name's Phil, I live in Northern VA. My dad bought a '96 z3 six years ago, and let me drive it occasionally. I fell in love with the car. My dad graduated and got an '06 3.0 z4. Two months ago, after starting my first Real Job, I got a British Racing Green '97 2.8L z3 with 108,000 miles for $5900. I love it like a son, but I've had to put some work into it.

[jessicias]

Hi my name is Jessicia (im sure I'm on of the few girlies on here) I have a 1998 Z3 pretty much stock. After market chrome wheels and clear markers and tail lights.... thats it!

[witty1]

hi all, this is my first post on the forum. My name is Kelvin, and I am from down under in South Australia. I have been watching and reading the posts for a few months now after finally picking up an estoril blue 1998 m roadster. It has 69k kms (aprox 43k miles) on the clock, and seems to be in top notch condition
There aren't too many of them that made it to our shores, so it takes a fair amount of time and traveling about to find one. I want to hang on to this one for a long time, so was a bit fussy too!
I want to keep it as stock as I can, but I admit I absolutely love the Whalen shift knob that the PO had invested in. He also has put in the seat bushes.

[clintjg]

Congrats to all of the newbs (lotsa girls though... )

Regarding internet diagnosis of problems you may post: Please remember everyone will help you if we can but you must be as descriptive as possible. Most folks here speak from experience. Also learn to use the boards 'search' function for key terms and you'll be surprised how many other people may have asked very simmilar questions!

If we're local lot's of folks don't mind helping out a fellow Z3er and having a look - provided we have the time but please keep in mind we've all got day jobs.

Regarding styling suggestions non-performance parts: Please remember - everyone has an opinion (and most are more than willing to share) but at the end of the day - it's your car! If you like it - do it!

Congrats and welcome.

[LoCal22]

Can I join in? I consider myself a noob!
I'm Lauren-- just moved to San Diego.

I scored a killer deal on my 98 Z 2.8 because this old gay guy broke his legs falling out of a tree and had no hope for recovery. his loss, my gain.
LB motoring was the friend who introduced me to this site. I'm 99% lurker, 1% FTL posts. but i'm hoping to change that, by reading up in order to have more insightful posts.
I've put a lot of aesthetic work into my car myself but I'm pretty sure i'll sell my Z in the next year and get a e46 m3. I love my convertible here at the beach but its an autotragic. and the m3 keeps calling me...

I like this thread, btw! Everyone in the Z forum is so nice as well, glad to formally meet you all.

[clintjg]

I scored a killer deal on my 98 Z 2.8 because this old gay guy broke his legs falling out of a tree and had no hope for recovery. his loss, my gain.

[AK M3]

I'll introduce myself here also. My name is Kevin. I've been doing research on this forum for a while and purchased an M roadster about a month ago. I live in Alaska but keep the car in the Lower 48 (Montana). It is put up for the winter but can't wait for spring.

[08GlideRider]

Hello. I posted sort of a mini intro with my first question but came here to do it right. My name is Loney, I am a 47 year old service manager. I also am a photojournalist for a local bike rag here in the Kansas City metro area. I bought a 2000 Z3 roadster for my wife a couple weekends ago and intend to slowly go through it top to bottom. I came here primarily to learn and for help when needed. I have been riding Harleys for 30 years and am fairly good with a wrench. The wife's car has approx 53k on it so i have ordered a new water pump, hoses and and resevoir tank for my first project. The air bag light is on so I ordered the peake tool for it as well as the peake tool for the other lights as well. I also ordered and received a BMW service manual/trouble shooting guide/ parts catalog on cd and it looks like it might be very helpful. I will use the search feature and try not to pester folks unless I have to.