Bought One of My Dream Cars on Monday... M3

zilla

zilla

New member
You know, it's funny how the allure of certain cars overwhelm us. There are certain vehicles that just do it for me... Ferrari F355... Mercedes E55...Porsche 911 Turbo (993 version) etc. When I first read about BMW's vaunted M3 back when I was about 16 years old, I was captivated by the power, grace, and sexyness of the car. In the 11 or so odd years since then I've always paid special attention to M3's... they've always caught my eye, and I've definitely felt envious of their driver's. I was perfectly happy with my G35... it was perfectly clean, fully loaded with navigation, and very much fun to drive. But when I saw this M3 on the 'net last week, I knew I was going to have to go drive it. B/c it was in my price range, and seemed to have been well taken care of (low mileage).

Welp... I drove it, listened to the dealers very good offer (which was only about 1 grand over trade in... and they offered me $1,500 more than KBB trade in for my car) and decided to consider it. Over the weekend I pondered over the pros (the power... the look) and cons (space, little backseat). And finally decided to go drive it again, and see what the dealer would do.

After counter offering and haggling a little back and forth, I finally relented, figuring that what with their offer for my car and the low price of the BMW (literally about 4 grand less than the KBB dealer retail price). They threw in tax and tag (this place doesn't use doc fees or any mumbo jumbo garbage like that) and bam, she was mine.

It's an '02, Carbon Black Metallic (which looks pitch black in the shade and a deep metallic blue/black color in sunlight), SMG tranny, loaded with every option cept navi and back up assist.

Well here she is freshly detailed today....

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** Disclaimer... that isn't break dust in the pic above, just the wheels showing a little wear and tear in the spokes. :)
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**promise that mat is clean, the lighting got me on that one :)

I couldn't be more pleased with this car, it's an absolute blast to drive. I'm going to add a post in the paint care section showing the swirls the car started out with, and how SSR2.5 tackled them... as well as final after shot with SSR1 and EX-P being the finale. :yay

My Finals:
Wash: Foam Gun w/ Megs GC
Wheels: HiTemp wheel cleaner
Tires: HiTemp tire cleaner
SSR2.5 via PC with yellow edge 2k pad
SSR1 via PC with blue edge 2k pad
EX-P via PC
Megs Endurance Gel on tires
Interior: Wipe down with HiTemp APC cut 10:1
PB Leather Stuff everywhere :)
 
Very nice! If you don't mind me asking how much did it set you back? I would like to find a used one in decent condition.
 
Congrats on the realization of your dream at an age where you can still appreciate it and enjoy it :)
I too used to dream about sporty low to the ground cars, but once your back goes and age creeps up, comfort and ease of entry become the #1 factors:cool:
 
Congratulations on your purchase. Stunning looking vehicle.

I did an M3 two years ago in Fairbanks. The owner was happy with the detail. We then took it out on the road. We were on the road that comes from Anchorage. About 25 miles from Anchorage. There is a hill that is about six percent grade and several miles long with long gentle curves. Have trasveled it many times at 70 miles an hour in an eighteen wheeler as well as my pickup.

Well he started up this six percent grade going seventy miles per hour. It seemed like an instant and we were going 145 miles an hour. Going up hill. I was impressed to say the least. To be truthful I was frightened out of my mind but strangely excited all at the same time.

Just be careful. It is a whole lot of car.
 
Poorboy said:
Congrats on the realization of your dream at an age where you can still appreciate it and enjoy it :)
I too used to dream about sporty low to the ground cars, but once your back goes and age creeps up, comfort and ease of entry become the #1 factors:cool:
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Thanks much. I hear ya on ease of entry. I'm a bigger dude, built like a football fullback or linebacker and so getting into and out of the car takes a little more effort than I'm used to. :)

cwcad said:
Congratulations on your purchase. Stunning looking vehicle.

I did an M3 two years ago in Fairbanks. The owner was happy with the detail. We then took it out on the road. We were on the road that comes from Anchorage. About 25 miles from Anchorage. There is a hill that is about six percent grade and several miles long with long gentle curves. Have trasveled it many times at 70 miles an hour in an eighteen wheeler as well as my pickup.

Well he started up this six percent grade going seventy miles per hour. It seemed like an instant and we were going 145 miles an hour. Going up hill. I was impressed to say the least. To be truthful I was frightened out of my mind but strangely excited all at the same time.

Just be careful. It is a whole lot of car.
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Thanks man. You're completely right, it is alot of car. The.. hmm, 1st night I had it I flipped traction control off while approaching a 90* turn. Figured I'd see how easy it'd be to drift out of the turn. Ha. The car nearly came all the way around on me. Hehehe. Me thinks I'll be leaving the traction control on from now on...hahaha. I had it up to 120 in my initial test drive on a backroad highway. In 4th gear. 2 more to go...180mph is on the speedo, and while the car is limited to 155, I bet it could get pretty close to 180 uninhibited.

Thanks again guys.
 
That's a great car, but I've never been a fan of the SMG tranny. Congrats on getting your dream car.
 
audiboy said:
That's a great car, but I've never been a fan of the SMG tranny. Congrats on getting your dream car.
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Having driven a 6 speed M3 in the past, I think I would have preferred it to the SMG. However, the more time I've driven the SMG the more I like it. Its such an unusual transmission, there's definitely a learning curve involved with it. :)
 
Nice M3 But the only M3 I'd own has a couple less cylinders...


Beutiful car either way
Smg is fun isnt it



Hunter
 
^e30 m3 is the absolute best. it wont be overthrown. e46 is very nice though and ive come around to liking the smg tranny. just so you know, its only limited in the final gear! so you can get it to around 170 in 5th
 
Kelso said:
^e30 m3 is the absolute best. it wont be overthrown. e46 is very nice though and ive come around to liking the smg tranny. just so you know, its only limited in the final gear! so you can get it to around 170 in 5th
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Ha... I didn't know that. Never driven an E30 before, the E36 was pretty nice :)
 
zilla said:
Thanks much. I hear ya on ease of entry. I'm a bigger dude, built like a football fullback or linebacker and so getting into and out of the car takes a little more effort than I'm used to. :)
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Me too and even getting in and out of a 330 is an adventure, especially when the owner doesn't want you to use the outside paint for leverage :D
Don't forget to get some wheel sealant on those wheels or you'll be doing a lot of extra work to maintain them;)
 
gmblack3 said:
Like Steve said BMWs have about the worst brake dust. So seal them soon!

Great looking car and congrats!
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You're definitely right, this sucker has massive brakes in general. Dust galore!
 
bmw's stop incredibly well, thus the dusting. just try to use the gears to slow down and only use the brakes sparingly. thats how i drive unless im cutting up some corners hehe.. i use DP wheel glaze, its good stuff, makes them easier to clean

oh and get some black spraypaint and paint the front grills, makes it look much meaner than the chrome, something i will be doing soon
 
Kelso said:
bmw's stop incredibly well, thus the dusting. just try to use the gears to slow down and only use the brakes sparingly. thats how i drive unless im cutting up some corners hehe.. i use DP wheel glaze, its good stuff, makes them easier to clean

oh and get some black spraypaint and paint the front grills, makes it look much meaner than the chrome, something i will be doing soon
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I use the tranny religiously to slow down... :)
 
congrats man:bigups:carbon black metallic is defiantly the way to go with those.

ive had my 335i for a little over a month now, and lemme tell you...PB's wheel sealant is making my life A LOT easier...even though ive got the 5 spoke sport wheels, so cleaning them was never too tough to begin with...but those e46 m3 wheels definatly dont look fun to clean...although, youre cleaning m3 wheels, so you cant really complain lol.
 
2drtahoez71 said:
congrats man:bigups:carbon black metallic is defiantly the way to go with those.

ive had my 335i for a little over a month now, and lemme tell you...PB's wheel sealant is making my life A LOT easier...even though ive got the 5 spoke sport wheels, so cleaning them was never too tough to begin with...but those e46 m3 wheels definatly dont look fun to clean...although, youre cleaning m3 wheels, so you cant really complain lol.
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Oooh a 335i... niiiice. I'm looking forward to driving one of those soon. Yeah, the first cleaning was a xxxxx, but it was a labor of love :)
 
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