jaimzthedrummer

Thanks guys. I can feeeeel the love. When the previous owner swapped out the suspension for the Koni Ground Effects set (about 10 years ago) he did all the bushes etc, powder coated all components and sealed the underbody. Bonus. See you guys at the next meet. I see there's a dyno day this Saturday but I don't think the car will arrive in time! James

Good spotting. Yeah the driver's side door trim is missing. Looks like it's body colour rather than the black I've seen on yours and other M3s. Any idea if this was a factory option? The car ended up scraping along a tyre wall at Taupo at some point (previous owner's wife at a track day!). Don't think the door was replaced but can find out from him. And yeah, restoration is the name of my game. Not interested in big horsepower. I'm sure it's enough as it is (and only going to the back wheels... I'm used to all-wheel drives!) I'm looking forward to learning a decent heel-toe technique too. None of my previous cars' pedal boxes have been easy to do this on. I've heard the 3-series pedals are excellent for it. Bottom-hinged accelerator probably helps. Fun and games! Can't wait!

Yeah, I'm restless as! I've driven a few BMWs before but nothing higher spec'd than a 320 or so. Can't wait! Ben, I was pretty surprised at the price too. Made me wonder why it hadn't been snapped up sooner - hence getting a full and proper check done on it. About 90% of the problems are superficial. Door trim, Aircon, stone chips, headlining. Stuff like that. When it was brand new it was stolen from the dealership in UK and had the engine stripped out. When it was recovered it had a new VIN number put on (because...er... that's what they do..?) so maybe some potential buyers got put off because if they checked, it didn't have an M3 VIN. Who knows. Your M3 looks very tidy! James

Hey everyone, So, this Saturday I'll take ownership of my very first BMW. An E36 M3 in beautiful Avus Blue. Attached photo is from the TradeMe auction, so some of you may have recognize it. I bought it site unseen but had a good friend test drive it for me, and had Coombes Johnston go over it with a fine tooth comb. Quite a list of things to fix up, but nothing serious... and this is a keeper for me so I'm in no hurry. :-) Turns out I know the guy who imported it in '97, so I have some good insights into about two-thirds of its life. Hopefully this will bury a few "fun car" demons for me. My last attempt was importing an R32 GT-R from Japan myself. It looked good on the auction paper, but when it landed I discovered it had serious structural rust so I had to let it go. I'm looking forward to showing up to a group meeting at some point. I've already spent some time at the BMW Race Series and it seems like a really tight nit group with lots of support and knowledgable peeps. Take care! James Edit: Oh yeah, I'm an Aucklander. :-)