Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

During all the commotion of Mother's Day Kyle and Joyce found a little time to pay us a visit. It was so good to see them again. While they were here Kyle fixed a rock chip in my windshield and I swap a polish set of headlights onto his car. I still believe Kyle owns the cleanest Dakar M3 I have ever seen. Can't wait to drive through St. George, or work miracles with my schedule to make it to Bimmerfest in California.

Spontaneous Photoshoot

I decided to take advantage of today's good weather and wash my car which was covered in dust. As I was getting things together Rachel returned home and pulled into the spot I normally wash the cars. Now my quick chore was doubled, but with Rachel's help we were moving very quickly. Not quick enough though. Before we finished Christopher called as I was waving the chamois across the surface of my roof. Our group just grew to three people. After we were done it only seemed right to use the evening sun and take a couple of pictures. On our way were stumbled across this great looking 1975 2002. I saw it as it came off the south side of the railway viaduct heading towards the highway. The owner swung around and met up with us. Here are some pictures of our BMW rendezvous.

Zach, the owner of the 2002, is a really nice guy. His 2002 was really unique, and Rachel and I fell in love with it instantly. The smoke show at his departure was also great.

BTW- Notice something different about my wheels?

DIY: Modena Vader after Leatherique Treatment

I conducted a search to find the best products to recondition leather products. During my search I stumbled across Leatherique products. I was intrigued and decided to give it a try. Here are some pictures to document the restoration.

Before:

As you can see the seats were pretty nasty. Rachel and I decided to drive out to Denver to pick up these seats and upon arrival found them in a filthy garage so we knew we were going to be cleaning them right away. These pictures as of the work done on the passenger side Vader seat.

During:

After:

I thought the seat cleaned up really nicely. It was a relatively easy process, but time-consuming.

It was well worth all the work for the nice clean smell of the leather after the cleaning process was over, as well as getting rid of the sheen across the surface of the leather.

Picture of the cars before the end of the semester and before there seperation for the summer.

Mass Exodus and Mirrors

So, my brother and sister left last night for home to make some money before the start of fall term next year. I was pretty bummed because that meant that not only was Kyle moving, but Christopher was too. I would have loved to have gotten all the parts on my car before they left just so we could go on a cruise and take some pictures. Plus, now I don't know who to talk BMW with. My wife is getting really good at just agreeing with my fanatic ramblings.




Before Christopher headed off I wanted to make sure that I got the mirrors. They look amazing! I wish I had done it much earlier. The power works great, and the paint matches beautifully, thanks to Kevin at KC's Bend 'n' Mend. It will take a little while to get used to the littler mirrors, but the convex lens towards the outside of the mirror (a european M3 feature) makes it easier to see objects in a more peripheral position than the US M3 mirror offers.

A lot of work for .75" of drop

Yesterday I helped Kyle lower his car. He chose to put H&R OE Sport Springs on his M3 to bring it modestly lower. In order to do this Kyle also had to purchase '95 M3 strut hats and rent strut spring compressor. With all of my tools, a little elbow grease (provided by Kyle's gym membership), and an occasional reference back to the insufficient Haines manual, we got it all put together. I think it looks great--although Christopher's Estoril is still lower. It was a lot of fun putting the suspension in, especially since it was...

• the last day of finals,
• the day my brother and sister were planning to drive home for the summer,
• no one seemed to have a spring compressor in stock,
  
• and a handful of really good friends dropped in to say hi unexpectedly.

I have some pictures here to chronicle the momentous occasion for Kyle. Plus, now he can lower his wife's car.

All-in-all, it took us from 2:45p-5:45p. (That was the time that my last final was, and thus the deadline for working on bimmers.) Things would have gone a little faster if I had remembered how it disassemble the strut like I had done with Chase's '92 318i. At the end the drop was much lower than the original stock springs. He took it on a test ride to make sure that all the parts were going to stay on the car, and to bring me up to my final. Kyle noted that there was a noticable difference in the way that the car rode. I believe him, although it could all be in our heads from working in a wheel well for the last three hours. Regardless we all enjoyed ourselves.

Back from the paint booth!!

I have collected parts when I have found them for a great deal. Over the years I have gotten...

• M3 "Twisty" Side Skirts (Euro-Spec)
• M3 Mirrors (Euro-Spec)
• M-Tech front bumper with removable lip (DDM Tuning)
• M-Tech rear bumper (DDM Tuning)
• Fog Light Deletes (courtesy of Chase)
• 96-99 Nose Panel (courtesy of Kyle)

Well, it's been a long time coming, and a nice chunk of front bumper started the whole thing. All the parts went into the paint shop just this last week. And as a great scheduler, it has fallen right during finals week. I have been able to get to the booth and have gotten sufficient amounts of studying.

Here are the before, during, and after shots.

Before:




During:



After:





I was very pleased with how they turned out. I still have to go back to the shop to get a couple runs and imperfections cut. In a couple of days I am planning on getting together with Kyle to help him install his new suspension on his '97 Dakar M3. I might try to snag him and have him help me install the lip, bumpers, and drill for the side skirts.

The Best E36 Interior Shot I Have Seen Yet

I have to promise myself that I will not browse the internet for BMW things so that I can focus on my upcoming finals. I have found that when I tell my wife I will do something, it happens. Last night she left for the grocery store. Before she left I told her, I will not browse anything other than "The ethical implications of placebo-based clinical trials." She smiled. Then I stated, "unless Christopher sends me a link." I struggled through three journal articles. Then... Christopher delivered. He sent me a link to craigslist.com in San Francisco. Here are some of the best pictures my eyes have beheld of an E36, mostly the interior.

To learn more about Brad visit his website at bradthephotog.com.

The last and ultimate mod: The M3 Sunroof!!

The last couple of days of the semester does something funny to a person. For my brother and I we spend a lot of time in the library. To escape from the mundane studying we browse around craigslist. This entails hunting for parts, wheels, and gags. Just tonight we stumbled across this beauty... which has spurred a new blogging post entitled "The Last and Ultimate Mods."

From Seattle:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/car/638117222.html
I can only imagine what this guy was thinking...

Does anyone know where I can get me one of these?

I have the blue flame racing seat covers. I have the 'tainted windows', and 'spedometer' to boot. I thought that the 'brand new teirs' would tip me over the top. But, it was nothing until I got the M3 sunroof.

The M3 sunroof has got to add a ton of horsepower.

Is it worth it?

Well, now that the M-technic body parts are all in the auto shop and ready for paint I started to look for the finishing touches to the exterior of the boston green. I purchased a LTW Motorsport flag (you can see what the flag looks like at this earlier post). The lights are great for now... in fact, I experimented with my extra set of HID's and the fog lights. I got them to wire up correctly, but I learned that although both bulbs are fine, one of the ballasts is shot. The only things that I have left to do is lower the car. Then I am done... Then I could use a sweet set of wheels to perfectly accent the M3 look and feel to the exterior. Then I would be done for sure... But, then I would need to tint the windows, so that others could not see inside the car to see if it really was an M-technic or an M3. Then for sure I would be done. Or, then I would continue to put all clear corners on... and lastly a UUC adjustable spoiler. No matter how I look at it. The modding will always continue until I will eventually get rid of the car. It is inevitable.

Tuning on a College Budget

After four years of searching the wait is now over. DDM Tuning has offered an E36 M3 bumper for $112.25. I would definitely recommend checking out their website (click here to learn more). And I, needless to say, am jumping on the bandwagon for this one. Plus, I found out that I can replace my non-M3 front bumper and also get an M3 rear bumper for a better price than just to replace my front bumper with an aftermarket 3-series one. This will transform the exterior of my car from a 3-series to a Boston green M3. While I was at it I am replacing the fog lights and adding Lamin-X to insure that they will be around for longer. My brother is up-dating his headlights on his estoril M3. This means he is adding DEPO brand glass headlights, with 6000K HID's and installing angel eyes. He will also use yellow Lamin-X on the fog lights to turn them into French fogs. I can't wait. The shipping arrival of the bumpers is March 31.

Club Stickers are in Coming Soon!

I have been tossing the idea around for a while. I think we should get some stickers made up soon. I have a design company, Whitefield Design, produce them. I need your input to know what design or opinions your all have. Thanks Here are some ideas that i threw together on photoshop.