Mike's Cosmos Black 1998 M3 Sedan (M3/4/5) - Project Concord

[mike.bmw]

I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to catch you at the show! I was super-unprepared for the sheer number of cars, and my 'youngest' and I were hoofing around most of the day trying to see as much as we could before we had to leave around 3.

Sorry to hear about the E36 - it's a good reminder that tools/jacks/stands are always handy to have. I didn't pack anything as my coming to both the Alpina event and the main show were a bit of a last-minute thing (I registered way back, but we've had some family complications lately that made getting there doubtful until it wasn't).

I think I saw your car while I was there!

I came prepared as best I could, which worked out. It'll be leak-free in a couple of weeks and I'm definitely handing this off to a shop to do.

Yesterday, I re-torqued the oil pan bolts (including the rear bolts accessible through transmission housing). It still leaks while running, so it's not the oil pan gasket. Likely the rear main seal or rear main seal housing, which requires the trans to come out. Otherwise, it has been running quite well! :-)

[mike.bmw]

Here's an update! I checked the rear oil pan bolts last week and they were fine.

Earlier this week (Tuesday), I dropped it off at my go-to shop for a proper diagnostic and repair. The shop confirmed it was in fact the rear main seal (RMS) leaking and may have used the name "Exxon Valdez". Speaking with the previous owner and looking at the service records, the clutch, flywheel, RMS, and a bunch of other items were replaced about 35,000 miles ago. The shop said that everything else looked good, had plenty of life left, and only needed to replace the RMS, so that's what they did.

I got the car back yesterday, running great and leak free. I took it out on an enjoyable long drive last night. I love this car.

Whoever joked, "At least you'll have some BimmerLife.com content," was right. I just finished writing a story about this little adventure, so it'll be published in a few weeks. :-)

PXL_20250527_121001979~2 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[Reichart12]

I never got to check out RRT in person but they sponsored the CCA autocross and I won one of their shirts. It's about all the way worn through as a garage shirt. Good to see them still putting out great work for ya.

[mike.bmw]

I'm still in shock, but last month I opened my mailbox to find this:

PXL_20250503_162926050~2 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

I've been a member of BMW Classic Car Club of America for a few years and I occasionally write for their quarterly magazine, The Ultimate Classic. When the Editor reached out in early April and asked for some of my E36 Cherry Blossom Photos, I wasn't expecting to see one of them on the cover of the magazine.

[mike.bmw]

Today, I swapped in the stock airbox. The previous owner was nice enough to include this along with a bunch of other extra parts with the car when I bought it, I just needed to order a new filter, a couple of nuts used to mount the box to the cruise control bracket, and the rubber isolator that mounts to the frame rail.

Installation was pretty straightforward, though I did have to move the radiator slightly so I could fit the factory snorkel.

I believe it was running a little rich with the AFe intake and this should also help with some of the heat soak I was experiencing.

And if I hate it I can easily swap it back in minutes.

PXL_20250626_200253364~2 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20250626_200420879~2 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20250622_163330097 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20250622_170553442 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20250622_170633484 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20250626_185859128 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20250626_185854369 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20250626_190856338 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20250626_190938877 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20250626_185908840 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20250626_193624819 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20250626_194120502 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20250626_192115770 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[2mAn]

Was that an AFE that was removed?... why? Looked legit

[mike.bmw]

Was that an AFE that was removed?... why? Looked legit

Yep, AFe intake for the E36. The car has been running a bit rich and experiencing some heat soak, which I'm thinking is caused by the intake. So, I'm trying out the stock setup, which flows well and can handle way more power than I'm making. The sound difference is negligible.

[mike.bmw]

I drove this car a good amount this past weekend and have some updates regarding my recent factory airbox swap.

• Cold start stumble gone! With the aftermarket intake, I used to experience a cold start stumble when backing out of my driveway. A couple of revs would clear this up and I'd be on my way. With the factory airbox this no longer happens.
• Occasional popping on deceleration gone! With the aftermarket intake, I would occasionally get a popping from the exhaust on deceleration. This is now gong with the factory airbox.
• A little less top end power. It seemed to pull a bit harder above 5K RPM with the aftermarket intake. Less so with the factory airbox. This is probably due to it running rich with the aftermarket intake. Similarly, with the aftermarket intake there would occasionally be a bit of black smoke (another sign of running rich) during second-gear pulls, this seems to be completely gone now.
• A little less induction noise. Yes, there's a little less inline-six induction noise with the factory intake, but it's not enough to make me want to reinstall the aftermarket intake. Induction noise is much more noticeable on ITB-equipped engines, like the S14 or S54. With the US-spec S52, there's not a huge difference in sound between aftermarket and factory intakes.

After a couple hundred miles, I'm happy with my decision to install the factory intake.

Some photos from a Sunday evening drive:

20250629-DSC_0483 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

20250629-DSC_0330 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

20250629-DSC_0425 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

20250629-DSC_0415 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

20250629-DSC_0449-2 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[mike.bmw]

We're a day or two away from hitting 258,000 miles!

Recently the glove box button decided to eject itself from the dashboard. Thankfully that was an easy fix. I made a silly video about it:

https://youtube.com/shorts/PH5UPev42R8?si=jfS2rE7x-126kTFA

I also decided to replace the trunk seal, which had a chunk missing. Again, another silly video:

https://youtube.com/shorts/FWQG5AeM-uo?si=dNmARAi3VI_D0fqC

BMW M's Instagram account showed some love recently:

Screenshot_20250801-092302 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

And again this morning:

Screenshot_20250806-080359 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

We took a trip into Washington DC:

PXL_20250727_161324209~2 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

And it rained. A lot:

PXL_20250727_171810958~2 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

And some random photos from the past few weeks:

20250727-DSC_2852 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

20250727-DSC_2838 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

20250727-DSC_2831 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[2mAn]

Always good pics here!... my buddy is certain he wants a M3/4/5. Not sure there is anything unexpected to look out for. We found a local one thats a slicktop, so were leaning that way.

[mike.bmw]

Always good pics here!... my buddy is certain he wants a M3/4/5. Not sure there is anything unexpected to look out for. We found a local one thats a slicktop, so were leaning that way.

Slicktop is the way to go for any car. My sunroof is still broken, since the day I got the car. :-)