A brief story to begin... I traded a 1990 325i Coupe for the car in 2014. The 318i was in poor condition (no interior, blown motor). However, the trade came with a 1998 totaled m3 with a low mileage drivetrain. I spent several months doing a fairly complete overhaul on the car. Once up and running the car became my daily driver for one year. At this time I decided to sell the car to a man in Seattle. He drove the car off and on for 4 years before selling the car back to me (upon my request which he kindly granted as he had not planned on selling the car).
Once I had the car back in my ownership I redid some things that I had not been happy with to get the car in near perfect order. Below is an overview of what has been done to the car in the last 18 months.
When the interim owner had the car he replaced the rear end suspension bushings (I was happy to skip this job!). Other than that he did regular maintenance but left the car unchanged. When I bought it back 18 months ago I replaced the springs and shocks with H&R Race Springs and Bilstein shocks. I replaced the e28 motor mounts with the swap specific poly mounts (much better IMO). I replaced the entire front end suspension components with factory parts and even replaced the entire front subframe with a reinforced one because the swaybar mounts had bent. I upgraded swaybars front and rear and added a front strut bar. I replaced the power steering rack with the z3 steering rack to maximize turning performance (at this time I also replaced all the hoses with a variety of factory and aftermarket to maximize fitment). I replaced the whacky intake setup I had originally designed using factory parts with the beautiful intake now on the car. During this period I replaced filters and did other minor improvements (many of which I am forgetting at this time but can be viewed in my build thread https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...ullet?t=287724 ).
I replaced the factory headlights and grills with the Euro ones. I sourced a set of Euroweave wheels and put brand-new tires on them. I sourced a set of excellent condition sport seats to replace the worn out ones I had salvaged years ago. Hmm.. I think that covers my basis on what has been done to the car since the swap was completed. The 318i had well over 200,000 miles when I first became the owner. The m3 had close to 100,000 miles when totaled. The cars odometer still ticks like it did in 1991 and reads over 300,000 miles. The drivetrain and interior do not show the mileage. The paint does. The paint is the con of this car. The paint is by no means in horrible condition, but it is not a show quality paint job either. The paint is great for a daily driver or a weekend warrior sleeper edition.
I should mention that my car was featured on this months (November) Car of the Month found here https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...the-month-link
As it reads there:
Factory options: Power windows, fog lights (keyless entry installed and functioning)
Color: Silbermetallic
Interior color: Black Leather
Engine modifications: s52 swap
Exhaust: 3in hack job done in my garage (works fine but not the prettiest thing)
Transmission: 1998 m3 5 speed manual transmission
Differential: 3.25 LSD
Suspension: H&R Sport Springs and Bilstein Shocks, e90 lowering hats
Wheels: Euroweaves 15x7 et24 European Factory Wheels
Exterior modifications: Truck Lip, Eurosmilies, Euro Grills
Interior modifications: M-Tech 1 Wheel, Cup holders, Houndstooth Door Panels, black sport interior, premium rear speakers, analogue clock
Cons:
Paint as mentioned above (paint is not show quality but plenty pretty for daily driving or sleeper weekend warrior status.. or maybe Autocross? I have never raced the car)
Minor rust/rot in rear battery tray, no other rust or rot issues found on this car (Carpet has been replaced and floor was thoroughly cleaned, painted and sound deadened with no rust issues)
Front seats shocks do not work well (I have replacements but have not had time to install)
The part everyone is waiting for... price: $12,000 (Fairly firm though I am open to reasonable offers.. "if you don't ask the question the answer is always no")
At this time not very interested in shipping the car... never have dealt with that and don't really like the idea.
Title is CLEAN (never wrecked or any other issues with the title)
Once I had the car back in my ownership I redid some things that I had not been happy with to get the car in near perfect order. Below is an overview of what has been done to the car in the last 18 months.
When the interim owner had the car he replaced the rear end suspension bushings (I was happy to skip this job!). Other than that he did regular maintenance but left the car unchanged. When I bought it back 18 months ago I replaced the springs and shocks with H&R Race Springs and Bilstein shocks. I replaced the e28 motor mounts with the swap specific poly mounts (much better IMO). I replaced the entire front end suspension components with factory parts and even replaced the entire front subframe with a reinforced one because the swaybar mounts had bent. I upgraded swaybars front and rear and added a front strut bar. I replaced the power steering rack with the z3 steering rack to maximize turning performance (at this time I also replaced all the hoses with a variety of factory and aftermarket to maximize fitment). I replaced the whacky intake setup I had originally designed using factory parts with the beautiful intake now on the car. During this period I replaced filters and did other minor improvements (many of which I am forgetting at this time but can be viewed in my build thread https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...ullet?t=287724 ).
I replaced the factory headlights and grills with the Euro ones. I sourced a set of Euroweave wheels and put brand-new tires on them. I sourced a set of excellent condition sport seats to replace the worn out ones I had salvaged years ago. Hmm.. I think that covers my basis on what has been done to the car since the swap was completed. The 318i had well over 200,000 miles when I first became the owner. The m3 had close to 100,000 miles when totaled. The cars odometer still ticks like it did in 1991 and reads over 300,000 miles. The drivetrain and interior do not show the mileage. The paint does. The paint is the con of this car. The paint is by no means in horrible condition, but it is not a show quality paint job either. The paint is great for a daily driver or a weekend warrior sleeper edition.
I should mention that my car was featured on this months (November) Car of the Month found here https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...the-month-link
As it reads there:
Factory options: Power windows, fog lights (keyless entry installed and functioning)
Color: Silbermetallic
Interior color: Black Leather
Engine modifications: s52 swap
Exhaust: 3in hack job done in my garage (works fine but not the prettiest thing)
Transmission: 1998 m3 5 speed manual transmission
Differential: 3.25 LSD
Suspension: H&R Sport Springs and Bilstein Shocks, e90 lowering hats
Wheels: Euroweaves 15x7 et24 European Factory Wheels
Exterior modifications: Truck Lip, Eurosmilies, Euro Grills
Interior modifications: M-Tech 1 Wheel, Cup holders, Houndstooth Door Panels, black sport interior, premium rear speakers, analogue clock
Cons:
Paint as mentioned above (paint is not show quality but plenty pretty for daily driving or sleeper weekend warrior status.. or maybe Autocross? I have never raced the car)
Minor rust/rot in rear battery tray, no other rust or rot issues found on this car (Carpet has been replaced and floor was thoroughly cleaned, painted and sound deadened with no rust issues)
Front seats shocks do not work well (I have replacements but have not had time to install)
The part everyone is waiting for... price: $12,000 (Fairly firm though I am open to reasonable offers.. "if you don't ask the question the answer is always no")
At this time not very interested in shipping the car... never have dealt with that and don't really like the idea.
Title is CLEAN (never wrecked or any other issues with the title)
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