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Finally bought my dream car! Half of an e30

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    Finally bought my dream car! Half of an e30

    Almost 20 years ago I was supposedly set up to buy an e30m3, alpine on cardinal ~123k miles for something like $7k in Missouri. Sells it to someone else in the middle of the night, literal hours before our planned transaction. E30m3 prices went obviously where they went after that.

    I since had an m roadster at one point and dug it, was recovering from the size of my previous e39m5. The only thing I didn't like was the convertible part. Not very practical. Especially now that god (darnit) forced me to start shaving my head. Figured if I was going to lust after a reasonably expensive old bimmer, the clown shoe would be the one. More power than the s14! Has the sports car layout and feel like my 240z where you have to step into the car, over the sill, and sit down on the floor. Hatch would have ample room for my dog. Bingo. And the haunches. Oh those rear arches are what dreams are made of. But then those prices started soaring too. I settled on a lovely e46m3 and have been quite happy with it, even though it wasn't "the one."

    Flash forward to a couple weeks ago. A r3vlimiter who became a good friend over the years, Andy T3rd Ferguson sends me an ad for a $19k m coupe in a very cool colorway about 50 min away from him in NJ. It's whooped, 207k miles, rust on the doglegs and subframes, but holy shit it's an m coupe. In an amazing colorway. For $19k. I messaged the seller who appeared to be bombarded with messages, thinking there was no way I'd be lucky enough to win the purchase.

    2 days later it was mine. I rented a car and drove 6 hours to NJ, slept in that car overnight. In the morning the M Coupe was mine! As it turns out I was literally 5 minutes from Levent @ZMBlueDevil so I stopped by and we grabbed coffee/lunch, a fitting hang for this significant trip.

    It has the wrong motor (s52) so I'm on the hunt for a wrecked s54 m roadster. That way I can swap subframes while swapping the motor, and right all the wrongs at once. Have a buddy who also has a clown shoe he's lsx'ing, he welded the Randy Forbes kit into my old m roadster after a friend bought it from me, agreed to do mine once I find a donor car and buy the RF kit. I also need to sell my e46m3, wrong time of year for that. But I finally have my clown shoe, and I could have never done it without R3v!

    WTB: wrecked s54 m roadster
    FS: 2003 M3, titan on black, 113k, no accidents no rust

    Love y'all!

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    Originally posted by blunt
    can you get me a deal on cases of their (fiji) bottled water? i wash my 02 in that shit

    #2
    Thats an awesome color. Why not just keep the S52. I think with a few mods it will make more than enough power... but thats me. Id love a M54 clownshoe as a daily, but with a kiddo and not a doggo its a tough sell to the wife.
    Simon
    Current Cars:
    -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

    Make R3V Great Again -2020

    Comment


      #3
      what a winning color combo. congrats to you. having owned and beat the living piss out of an S52 powered M-coupe, and now owning an S54 M-roadster, they are both equally as much fun, in different ways.
      '72 2002 pickup | '88 M5 | '89 330is | '89 M3 | '01 Z3M | '11 328xi-t

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by e30austin View Post
        what a winning color combo. congrats to you. having owned and beat the living piss out of an S52 powered M-coupe, and now owning an S54 M-roadster, they are both equally as much fun, in different ways.
        I feel like after having the s54 m3, the s52 in the m coupe leaves something to be desired. About 100hp lol
        Originally posted by blunt
        can you get me a deal on cases of their (fiji) bottled water? i wash my 02 in that shit

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by ColdAccord View Post

          I feel like after having the s54 m3, the s52 in the m coupe leaves something to be desired. About 100hp lol
          true. though, i really appreciate the simplicity of the s52 and the lower maintenance costs. nothing quite like the powerband of the s54, on the flip side.

          the s52 just enough power to have fun with, imho. i drove like such a fucking maniac in my coupe, and it definitely made me overconfident in a lot of ways, but i really learned a lot from it. miss that one a lot.
          '72 2002 pickup | '88 M5 | '89 330is | '89 M3 | '01 Z3M | '11 328xi-t

          Comment


            #6
            You could always pull that S52 and rebuild it and put it in another project. That way you get both engines into something cool.
            Awesome color, I love greens.

            88' Seta 2.7i Zinno

            https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...430-my-88-seta

            Comment


              #7
              Sweet color. Why not rotrex supercharge the S52? adds 100 HP... Z3M coups are so fun driven hard and the S52 is up for that.

              Comment


                #8
                Lovely!!!

                I regret selling my s52 couple somewhat often.

                I know s54s are cooler but the s52 was enough for me.

                You scored one of the best colours imo.
                Project Thread | Instagram | Phoenix, Arizona Events Thread

                Comment


                  #9
                  Sexy!!!! What a color.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by OSAH racing View Post
                    Sweet color. Why not rotrex supercharge the S52? adds 100 HP... Z3M coups are so fun driven hard and the S52 is up for that.
                    The s52 needs to come out anyway, bay needs to be sprayed. And it's got 207k on it, many gaskets should be replaced.

                    I like the s52. Hydraulic lifters so no valve adjustments, single vanos to maintain. I'm not opposed to a supercharger, but I do feel like if I were to supercharge I'd might as well turbo. But I don't know if I want forced induction. More work, more to maintain. Maybe I'd just get an RHD ITB kit. But at that point, why not just put the s54 in? I don't really care about numbers matching, I just want a reliable fun car for trackdays and sunny days. After having an s54 car I don't think an s52 would be as fun on a track unless it were forced induction. Watkins Glen is my home course and has a lot of elevation change. It's fun in the e46

                    (I don't know how to embed the youtube video sorry)



                    Last edited by ColdAccord; 09-26-2022, 08:14 PM.
                    Originally posted by blunt
                    can you get me a deal on cases of their (fiji) bottled water? i wash my 02 in that shit

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by ColdAccord View Post
                      After having an s54 car I don't think an s52 would be as fun on a track unless it were forced induction. Watkins Glen is my home course and has a lot of elevation change. It's fun in the e46
                      You convinced me. S54 or bust
                      Simon
                      Current Cars:
                      -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

                      Make R3V Great Again -2020

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I have one too! It's also an S52! Coming from my M42 powered 318i, I really enjoy the extra horses and torque.
                        Picked mine up for 20k. Lifelong Western and Southern car (meaning no rust!) with 188k on the clock. It's due for a subframe reinforcement and needs to get the headliner sorted - it's sagging around the rear speakers.
                        The interior is mint otherwise. I bought this car as a replacement for my E30, but I have yet to sell it. I don't have a good price in mind and I do need to sort out some minor things here and there.

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                        Last edited by ube91; 09-26-2022, 09:28 PM.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by ube91 View Post
                          I have one too! It's also an S52! Coming from my M42 powered 318i, I really enjoy the extra horses and torque.
                          Picked mine up for 20k. Lifelong Western and Southern car (meaning no rust!) with 188k on the clock. It's due for a subframe reinforcement and needs to get the headliner sorted - it's sagging around the rear speakers.
                          The interior is mint otherwise. I bought this car as a replacement for my E30, but I have yet to sell it. I don't have a good price in mind and I do need to sort out some minor things here and there.

                          Click image for larger version Name:	IMG_20220922_190023470.jpg Views:	0 Size:	120.3 KB ID:	10069711
                          Awesome, congratulations!

                          I'm with you, my headliner needs to be done too. Glad these things are hatchbacks so the windshield doesn't have to come out to remove it!
                          Originally posted by blunt
                          can you get me a deal on cases of their (fiji) bottled water? i wash my 02 in that shit

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by ColdAccord View Post

                            Awesome, congratulations!

                            I'm with you, my headliner needs to be done too. Glad these things are hatchbacks so the windshield doesn't have to come out to remove it!
                            TBH, I'm not too sure if you can get it out of the hatch. The opening is pretty small.

                            You're still able to do it without removing the windshield - a few guys on Bimmerfourms say to just remove the seats, undo the headliner and pivoted it through the passenger door. I would probably do the headliner myself if it was a bit easier.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by ube91 View Post

                              TBH, I'm not too sure if you can get it out of the hatch. The opening is pretty small.

                              You're still able to do it without removing the windshield - a few guys on Bimmerfourms say to just remove the seats, undo the headliner and pivoted it through the passenger door. I would probably do the headliner myself if it was a bit easier.
                              Good chance to get rid of these crap seats

                              They look so good with the two tone. But I don't think I have it in me to leave them in, regardless of how good they look
                              Originally posted by blunt
                              can you get me a deal on cases of their (fiji) bottled water? i wash my 02 in that shit

                              Comment

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