The time has finally come to resurrect the m3 after sitting in various states of disrepair for 4 years.
I first picked up the car on January 1st 2001. In the twelve years I have owned her, I have made so many modifications that I can't remember... Some I will list below with some pics for the timeline to the best I can remember and then talk a little bit about where it's going from here. The good news is that the more that I think about the plans going forward, the more I realize that the majority of what I want to do is already done - so definitely not starting from scratch. Here is a little timeline:
Circa 2002:
Car was pretty stock minus the wheels. Had a chip/intake/exhaust/short shift... Pretty basic stuff. Paint was not perfect but it ran well and I loved driving it.
Circa 2003:
Started changing some things up. I can't believe I ever thought that steering wheel was cool *forehead slap*
Evo parts:
DTM mirrors:
Minor interior stuff:
So at this point in spring of 2003 it turned into this:
That's when things started changing big time. Did a full 2.5 liter rebuild with all the bells and whistles - literally everything was new but the block and head casting. Lots of custom work - this is a serious 2.5 liter. I think my rebuild thread is somewhere in here but after about 9 months it came out looking like this:
This was probably the pinnacle of the car at this point. The 2.5 liter screamed. The paint, though not perfect, was reasonable but in need of attention. The sport evo wheels looked great. It was damn near an evo 3 knock off. This all culminated in this picture of the car which is probably my favorite shot of it in approximately 2007:
Then shit got weird.
I decided that the car would be "done" if I could get a DTM air box and alpha-n then repaint it - all set right? Right.... So I started the projects:
Carbon box:
And as I waited for some other parts for that, the prep began for paint:
Seems like things are going ok right? Wrong. About a year later, it looked like this stuffed in the garage:
Basically, it was raped. Unfinished.
Why? I can't remember. It literally just stopped. So I had an m3 that needed paint And had an untuned alpha m system with a brand new motor.
So I did collect some parts (cf hood for instance) to have sprayed with the car. Summer 2008 I went to a meet and had these pics taken after I somewhat put it back together to make it driveable. At least after all of my work, the engine bay looked awesome:
I got distracted with the m5 about 6 months ago, and the m3 sat. This is where it stood last week:
Now it's time to fix it.
This thread may take a while, but this thing is getting rehabbed. I'll post the intentions for the car shortly. I have been gone from the site for a long time, but it's time to be back in the game and get this car back on the road!
I first picked up the car on January 1st 2001. In the twelve years I have owned her, I have made so many modifications that I can't remember... Some I will list below with some pics for the timeline to the best I can remember and then talk a little bit about where it's going from here. The good news is that the more that I think about the plans going forward, the more I realize that the majority of what I want to do is already done - so definitely not starting from scratch. Here is a little timeline:
Circa 2002:
Car was pretty stock minus the wheels. Had a chip/intake/exhaust/short shift... Pretty basic stuff. Paint was not perfect but it ran well and I loved driving it.
Circa 2003:
Started changing some things up. I can't believe I ever thought that steering wheel was cool *forehead slap*
Evo parts:
DTM mirrors:
Minor interior stuff:
So at this point in spring of 2003 it turned into this:
That's when things started changing big time. Did a full 2.5 liter rebuild with all the bells and whistles - literally everything was new but the block and head casting. Lots of custom work - this is a serious 2.5 liter. I think my rebuild thread is somewhere in here but after about 9 months it came out looking like this:
This was probably the pinnacle of the car at this point. The 2.5 liter screamed. The paint, though not perfect, was reasonable but in need of attention. The sport evo wheels looked great. It was damn near an evo 3 knock off. This all culminated in this picture of the car which is probably my favorite shot of it in approximately 2007:
Then shit got weird.
I decided that the car would be "done" if I could get a DTM air box and alpha-n then repaint it - all set right? Right.... So I started the projects:
Carbon box:
And as I waited for some other parts for that, the prep began for paint:
Seems like things are going ok right? Wrong. About a year later, it looked like this stuffed in the garage:
Basically, it was raped. Unfinished.
Why? I can't remember. It literally just stopped. So I had an m3 that needed paint And had an untuned alpha m system with a brand new motor.
So I did collect some parts (cf hood for instance) to have sprayed with the car. Summer 2008 I went to a meet and had these pics taken after I somewhat put it back together to make it driveable. At least after all of my work, the engine bay looked awesome:
I got distracted with the m5 about 6 months ago, and the m3 sat. This is where it stood last week:
Now it's time to fix it.
This thread may take a while, but this thing is getting rehabbed. I'll post the intentions for the car shortly. I have been gone from the site for a long time, but it's time to be back in the game and get this car back on the road!
Comment