Hi guys.
Since I have completed a project and moved on, I would like to share the story of my Mtech2.
Back in 04 and early 05, I was a very proud owner of a 1991 VW Cabriolet, hence my user name/email/gaming name. This car changed my life.
It was my first German car and I learned what handling is from her. My sister and I would ditch college and go for drives up in the hills and she would egg me on to pass sports cars and break the speed limit like an idiot. Anyways, back on topic. The body kit on the car is what I really loved. It made the 80's body style look new but not too new. So when my friends showed me their 325es and what it could do, I was hooked on BMWs, but I always hated how the underside of the doors sank in to the abyss.
After getting a perfectly maintained 86 325es from a coworker, it survived the worst treatment any car should have to endure - lost a wheel on the freeway, was rear-ended and overheated. The day I sold her, she could beat my mtech2 in a quarter mile race and was able to do 133mph, no chip, no mods.
I had heard about the mtech2 body kits. Then seeing their price tags I was sad. Finally after refreshing my eta, one came into my price range - this car hard started off at 7k and fallen to 5k. 98,000 miles, automatic and everything worked. I finally talked my parents into letting me blow the rest of my college fund on it and that’s when things went wrong. I bought the most un-maintained car of all time. On the drive home, the front shocks were so blown that I was catching air on hwy 880. The power top broke that night as I was showing it to my friend.
I had bought Dinan springs and Koni's from a friend that totaled his car, and those were swapped onto my convertible about a week after getting the car. After saving up, I replaced the cracked windshield and then a week later the car started.
The car and I had a great time for about a year. I did my first autocross, engagement photos and audio overhaul.
But when I was at my poorest, the car kicked me like a man kicking a dead horse. At this point the power steering was leaking, the water pump was shot and the auto transmission was slipping. My good friends loaned days of work to help me refresh an engine and clean every part.
It took me, my dad, Mike and Chris two weeks of work to get everything done. This was one of my proudest moments - my first full rebuild.
A few weeks later I landed a hardtop for $150. It wasn’t perfect, but all the rubber was great.
I used it a grand total of 10 times in two years.
Anyways, the car was there for my biggest moment.
But then it was Christmas again and that meant the previous year's rebuild had failed. Thx Victor Reinz and your shit head gaskets.
This time, nothing was gonna leak! ARP studs and a BMW head gasket fixed the engine issues and a rebuilt driveshaft made the ride smooth again.
Then springtime--upgrade season--came along, and HR race springs, GC top hats, ellipsoids, and new fog lights made her a fun car to drive. At this time, I also had the front end straightened on a rack. I was sick of the car pulling to the right and the lowered suspension made it pretty rough to drive on the freeway. To this day, I still have no clue why it was so far out of alignment.
Shortly after Oliver joined r3v, I had him paint my plastics, refinish the air damn and spoiler. He also painted a ton of parts.
Now I started to get crazy. I had heard of people doing the battery swap to the trunk and I had to try. 8 hours of work later and I had no more battery in the engine bay. This wasn’t done for pure vanity. I had ordered my German Audio sub box and this was the best way to get power in the rear.
I even mod-ed a sedan box to give the car an OEM feel.
Now, Bimmerfest 2012 was staring me in the face and after six months of waiting, Kevin Chin mailed my front seats, and TD325ic did an amazing job walking me through the install on the front seats.
I wanted the closest to OEM leather seats that I could get.
My friend Mike finished, just in time, the painting of the hardtop. He wanted some experience working with the fiber and I gave him a shot at it. The paint he used didn’t mix well with the top and it out-gassed really bad - causing the top to bubble. Live and learn right.
Luke mailed my power top convertible sub box and my god, the install of that was hell. I should have bought an angle grinder but I only had a sawzall and that was a terrible thing to use on sheet metal.
Had a great few months, problem free with the car. Then bam, thanksgiving was here and maybe I was doing 110 on the freeway. Bye bye rings. So the car sat and I dailyed the M3. Until Christmas, when I pulled the engine and this time I got a completely different engine. Well that had a blown head gasket that I found after first start.
Then we go back to the back seats. 75 calls/txts later and 16 months of waiting from first order, the back seat arrived and Todd once again stepped up and helped me install it.
Now the time has come. I need to let her go and let someone else enjoy her like I have.
Thank you to everyone on R3v for the support, questions answered, direction to go with the car and general taste decision.
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