So I'm finally a worthy forum member..

[BillyBob]

Yo gents..

I know I've been threatening and promising to get a BMW for nearly a month since joining the forum...

And I'm pleased to report, it's finally happened. :joy:

The bloody Honda hasn't sold yet, so my GSX-R 1000 had to go to help fund this, but I'm not going to cry too long and hard about it - I can always go shop for another bike once the Honda's sold - or maybe buy Rick's M5 if he still has it.. :rollsmile:

Went and picked her up this afternoon..

An Avus Blue 1995 German Spec M3 Coupe - 113320 km on the clock when I went to pick her up... History would point to it being accurate - and the pedals, carpets and bodywork reflect it - It's not all happy times and roses though - there's gonna be a lot of work on the car, as she's been standing for quite a while, and needs a lot of TLC.

On the positive side:

Body's straight and paintwork's in good nick - I can't find a dent on the car. It looks really good - and with a bit of paint treatment, and cleaning up of the polish ingrained in the rubbers, it'll look fantastic.

Engine is sweet and runs very well - when it's not exposed to water (more on that in a bit)

OBC works perfectly

Sunroof, electric German spec seats, electric windows and mirrors all original, and everything's working / adjusting / sealing as it should.

Issues and to-be-dones:
Car needs a full service - she's been standing for quite a while, so that means a full fluid drain all round, checking wiring and stuff underneath, and replacing all filters and service items for peace of mind.

Rear diffuser and passenger side front M3 beading are missing - need to find replacements... that beading worries me, they're scarce.

Motor has a dodgy coil pack / MAF / plugs, as it developed a miss after getting washed this morning - taking it tomorrow to get diagnosed and hoping it doesn't kill my wallet - though I'm pretty confident it's something small and relatively insignificant.

Gearbox has a slight whine in 1st and 2nd gears, and 5th gear can be a bit tricky to engage - will see if the whine subsides a bit with fresh oil, otherwise it might need some work. At the very least, the shifter mechanism needs to have the bushings / balljoint changed to shift correctly.

Driver's seat is a friggin wreck - someone somewhere along the line has had absolutely no respect for the bolsters - gonna have both front seats recovered. That being said, at least all the electric mechanisms work as they're supposed to.

Rims are in a bit of a state - paint flaking off in a few spots, and they just look dull and lifeless... considering changing them to a set of 18" CSL reps, or just having these properly refurbished and polished. There's a shimmy at 110-120 km/h, which could be down to poor balancing, but could very well be suspension components - lower control arms, etc. Will have those checked out and start replacing them as we go along.

All in all, I see about R25-30k to be spent on the car to get it to where I want it - most likely more things will crop up as we go along, which will eventually become a monthly expenditure on the car - but it comes with the territory of a 16-year-old M car...

All I know - it makes me smile whenever I look at it, and every cent spent will be a labour of love.

Excuse the crappy BlackBerry pics - snapped a few shots in dying light when I got home with her this afternoon.

 

[rick540]

Congrats!

That is a awesome buy, enjoy the car and fixing her up.

Having just been down this road, I reccomend first thing you do is change ALL the fliuds, don't wait because it's scary what drains out.

Your coil packs are probably just fine they just dont like water and need a good dry out. Personally I trust nobody to diagnose my car and do it all myself as guys just lie lie lie or don't know how to diagnose properly. I really do suggest getting LZ (dent doctor) to diagnose the car first as he wont bulls*^&t you.

You need to clear all the codes, and go for a nice drive, then read the codes again which should give you a more accurate idea of anything wrong.

Take the fixup slow, not like me who did too much at once and overspent.

Dont worry about the seats/pedals etc it's just cosmetic and thes cars are pretty tough

 

[moranor@axis]

looks really good :rollsmile:

 

[msm]

Welcome dude and that's a nice ride you have.

Half the fun in having this car is fixed her up too - a true fanatics car is always work in progress :thumbs:

 

[herr bmw]

welcome,car doesnt look to bad,but as rick points out,drain all fluids.

so you joining us tomorrow night for the midnight run?

 

[Twinz]

Congrats on the ///M...:joy:

Many happy motoring and i am sure you will get plenty help on this forum :thumbs:

 

[Jandre]

Awesome BillyBob.

Got true potential to turn into a perfect specimen.

 

[Henry330i]

Congrats hope you have many happy miles.

And take Rick540s advice of what I've read here he knows

 

[Sankekur]

Very nice buy, congrats :=):

Looks like it has been lowered quite a bit from the pics.

 

[Karthik]

Looks good , need a picture of the back though , what exhaust is that ? Looks bigger than normal , just from observation . Also looks dropped but congrats with the beautiful ride , and happy pampering and miles .

 

[Philip Foglar]

Welcome and congrats! Good luck with the fixing and enjoy! M3's like this are getting fewer and fewer, so glad to see in good hands!

 

[BillyBob]

Thanks for the positive comments gents.

Yeah, as mentioned in my post - fluid drain is essential, but hearing it a few times more just reinforces the notion.

Yes, the car's been dropped quite substantially - ride is a bit crashy, and will inspect exactly what's been done when she's up on a lift. Dreading the fact that I might find cut stock springs in there - but luckily a mate of mine has a set of Tein springs from his old M3, so if the current setup needs to be replaced, I'll just need a new set of shortened shocks.

Didn't want to post pics of the rear - it's got a twin-63mm exhaust system throughout, but then some jap ricer wannabe kiddy put a converging pipe with a fat 100mm single tip on there.. In conjunction with the missing diffuser, the rear looks totally Brakpan.. I've actually got the car parked with it's back to the wall - I'm somewhat ashamed of that exhaust. Tip is definitely getting changed to twin OEM-look staggered tailpieces, albeit in a slightly larger diameter...

The exhaust note is another matter - it barks on throttle blips at idle, sounding like the love child of a 4-cylinder race engine and a big-six Cortina, but once you're on the go, it actually smoothens out and lets out the signature BMW straight six howl with quite some gusto.. Sounds pretty cool from inside the cabin, albeit a tad droney, and can be heard from quite a distance outside the car... Attracted some glares from a metro road block busy setting up this afternoon as I passed through. I'm tempted to try out a carbon intake and see how the noise gels together - but in all likelihood, I'll change the exhaust system to sound a bit more discreet - especially if it looks to be losing power instead of making more.

Doubt I'd make the midnight run - even if I get the miss and a worn left rear tyre sorted out tomorrow, and service the engine, I doubt I'll get around to replacing the gearbox and diff oils myself - unless someone's got the tools and goodies laying around and is willing to help out?
Then there's also the shimmy - if it's not down to balancing, I'll have to wait for next week to get the LCA bushes and whatever else is wonky down there sorted out - so I'd rather not take it on a run until I've got all the basics sorted out.

 

[Philip Foglar]

Yep, on the second pic can see something "strange" is going on back there. :nonono:

Keep us updated! :thumbs:

 

[zabbo]

Great car .. and good luck with the refurbishment:thumbs:

 

[rick540]

"the rear looks totally Brakpan"

Sounds all too familiar, when I got the M5 I had to hide it because the LED crystal tails, monster boot spoiler and numberplates that had "BMW racing" written on the top :facepalm:

I still have the ricer parts I took off in the garage we will use to start the braai next cpt meet.

 

[BillyBob]

Lol - sounds like our cars had the same owner at some point in the past. :rollsmile:

At least, mercifully, my tail lights and bootlid are still standard, and looking lekker in fact... just lower down that the horror starts..

Rick, I've asked a few questions elsewhere with regard to OE part manufacturers, the right oils, etc - could you please shed a bit of light if possible? I'd like to get quite a bit of work done tomorrow if possible.

http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=26535&page=2

Oh, and also have some detailing and interior cleaning questions - will post a link to the thread in question.

 

[rick540]

Almost forgot, dont be shy check every single vacuum pipe on the engine they are more age dependant than mileage, also PCV replace em all and the engine will run awesome for years to come. This is the most overlooked thing on BMW's the paint might be like glass but they are usually sucking air where they shouldnt be under the bonnet.

I'm very jelous here and an M3 is what I actually wanted, the M5 is a bit too much of a brute.

 

[BillyBob]

Ta for the tip Rick - been thinking of doing exactly that as far as the vacuum hoses go - but didn't even think of the PCV valves - how many are there and where to get replacements? Agents only, I'm guessing? Or is it more of a generic part?

Still taking the car for a checkup tomorrow, but will have a chat to Leonard as well. I know the whole "clear faults and drive it for a while to see which new ones get logged" song and dance, but the chap I'm taking it to knows his E36 M3's and I trust him - also want him to remap the ECU later down the line.

Eish bud, I'd offer a deal on the M3 for the M5, but you'd curse me for asking a cash diff on the M3, and then having to pour more money into it. :rollsmile:

Lemme sell that bloody Civic - I still maintain I'll see you soon, cash in hand.

 

[rick540]

Ta for the tip Rick - been thinking of doing exactly that as far as the vacuum hoses go - but didn't even think of the PCV valves - how many are there and where to get replacements? Agents only, I'm guessing? Or is it more of a generic part?

Still taking the car for a checkup tomorrow, but will have a chat to Leonard as well. I know the whole "clear faults and drive it for a while to see which new ones get logged" song and dance, but the chap I'm taking it to knows his E36 M3's and I trust him - also want him to remap the ECU later down the line.

Eish bud, I'd offer a deal on the M3 for the M5, but you'd curse me for asking a cash diff on the M3, and then having to pour more money into it. :rollsmile:

Lemme sell that bloody Civic - I still maintain I'll see you soon, cash in hand.

Well whilst you are waiting on the Honda, I am continuing work on the M5, yesterday I bled all the brakes, and clutch nice clean new DOT4 fluid, replaced front pads and rear pitman arms replaced diff oil today, flippin castrol Syntrax special BMW LSD oil (Four bottles at like R150 each)

Tomorrow I'm removing the entire gear shifter linkages hauling out the welder and metal tools and fabricating my own DSSR (Double Shear Selector rod). Them gears are going to be snick snick like a precision instrument by Monday. I'm sick of throwing the lever approximately at North South East or West to find a gear.

If all turns out right I will start selling the DSSR rods because they are far superior to the original rediculous rubber single pin bush design.

 

[BillyBob]

Rick - I applaud your dedication dude... If you were in Joburg, I'm sure we'd be spending a lot of time together - you sound like my kind of person.

First dibz on a DSSR for the M3 if your design goes well on the M5 - and good luck!!

PS - here's a link to the detailing / reupholstering query thread from hell... those who click, be prepared for some serious reading. *keyboard happy*

http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=26882