Bought an old BMW M3, filled with regret...

[TW]Fox · 19 Nov 2016 at 23:16

mrk said:
I could have really done with heated seats today lads.

Said no mrk ever

Don't worry, in 2021 mrk drives an E93 V8 with heated seats and continually posts about how they are un-missable.

mrk · 19 Nov 2016 at 23:18

Impossible, the interior styling of the E9x simply is not to my preference. I'll have the E46 until the day I die most likely. It will be Best46 until then.

Ricochet J · 19 Nov 2016 at 23:18

mrk said:
Impossible, the interior styling of the E9x simply is not to my preference. I'll have the E46 until the day I die most likely.

I'm sure [TW]Fox said this about his E39...and he's god tier BMW fan.

mrk · 19 Nov 2016 at 23:19

Ricochet J said:
I'm sure [TW]Fox said this about his E39...and he's arguably god tier BMW fan.

He also moved to diesel, so I'm not sure such things are reliable statements

Edit*
In other news, my PDC module is confirmed faulty. Had the bumper off at mate's body shop, wiring all fine, all 4 sensors plugged into a pdc tester were all fine as well, seems a used module is around £15, will contact Cotswold on Monday to see how much a new one is given how low used prices are, would rather have a new one. Tomorrow I'm dropping the car off to a local detailer for a few days. And an oil service is imminent. That will make it the 3rd service since ownership.

I also have a slight annoyance with the roof canvas. Where it's been up and down so much, the material has indents on the areas where the frame folds onto the canvas and presses on it. This is permanent as it's flattened the pressed area. Another downside to a softtop...

Skillmister · 21 Nov 2016 at 09:28

Walked past a white E46 M3 convertible in awful condition yesterday which had a sheet of A4 in the window with "£2700" written on it.. I've seen it about quite a lot and (to my complete lack of BMW knowledge) never gave it a second thought. Looked right and sounded right.. Seeing the price, I thought it was for the "M3 ###" number plate but I've just checked and it's a 320ci

I've been had.

Failed its last MOT for both rear tyres below 1.6mm, and had an advisory last year for them both being close to legal limit. Has pretty much failed every MOT first time round since 2008!

Housey · 21 Nov 2016 at 09:31

Skillmister said:
Walked past a white E46 M3 convertible in awful condition yesterday which had a sheet of A4 in the window with "£2700" written on it.. I've seen it about quite a lot and (to my complete lack of BMW knowledge) never gave it a second thought. Looked right and sounded right.. Seeing the price, I thought it was for the "M3 ###" number plate but I've just checked and it's a 320ci I've been had.

Failed its last MOT for both rear tyres below 1.6mm, and had an advisory last year for them both being close to legal limit. Has pretty much failed every MOT first time round since 2008!

Sounds like one to own that. Offer 3K to ensure you get it is my advice.

Skillmister · 21 Nov 2016 at 09:36

If it was actually an M3 it would be worth it

The amusing thing is there's an excellent condition (possibly even by mrk standards) grey coupe (real) one 10 houses up the road

mrk · 21 Nov 2016 at 09:45

Skillmister said:
If it was actually an M3 it would be worth it

The amusing thing is there's an excellent condition (possibly even by mrk standards) grey coupe (real) one 10 houses up the road

The moment the fake one's owner saw the grey one was probably the moment the fate of the fake car's fate was marked. I mean, how can you maintain a fake one knowing that the genuine article is sitting on your same road, laughing at you every other day?

One Vision · 21 Nov 2016 at 13:48

Took my M3 out for a drive on saturday after 2 weeks of not driving. The heated seats were nice on the lowest setting and definitely welcome. However there not essential although is nice to have them.

My car is due an MOT and replacement of rear springs which i will get done by a pro (lol).
Anybody know how much this will cost roughly? (not going to Sytner)

mrk · 21 Nov 2016 at 15:12

Springs are cheap, plus you're looking at an hour labour rate to do them both, again will be cheap at any decent garage.

Note that you'll want a new 4 wheel alignment done after having any suspension components worked on, and that could cost more than the labour rate. A couple £hundred all in I'd expect.

One Vision · 21 Nov 2016 at 16:53

Cool thats not too bad. I can live with that, gonna take it too NCB AutoKraft. The guy that owns NCB is Noel Butler and was Chief Technician of the BMW racing team at the Sytner before it became Sytner (i forget the name now) so i should be in good hands for a reasonable price. Thanks mrk for the wheel alignment as ill mention that to Noel

Ricochet J · 22 Nov 2016 at 08:05

Mrk have you come across the M Sport tax yet?

Mrk: "I want to book my car in to fit widget y please. I will supply part."
Garage: "Sure, which car is it?"
Mrk: "An old 3 series"
Garage: "Sure that'll be £100. Can I have your reg plz"
Mrk: "Yeh, it's MRKLOL"
Garage: "Our system says that's an M3. Price to replace widget y is £400"

mrk · 22 Nov 2016 at 08:26

Nope, there are only two specialists I use down here that I supply parts to. Usually source parts with discounts from BMW or ECP. I only pay their standard labour rates.

One Vision · 22 Nov 2016 at 12:05

mrk said:
Nope, there are only two specialists I use down here that I supply parts to. Usually source parts with discounts from BMW or ECP. I only pay their standard labour rates.

So you get the parts yourself and then ask a mechanic to fit them?

mrk · 22 Nov 2016 at 12:30

That's correct.

Update!

Picked the car up tonight from two days away at the local detailer, he's a busy guy and sponsors on detailing world/does shows etc so was quite pleased to have booked in so soon. Had some swirls removed, and ceramic coating applied (SiRamik SC HR, SC Ultima + SC Mist) after the full detail. He says I won't need to wax the car for 3 years, just wash as usual and that's it.

I had a Glasscoat Cosmic ceramic applied after the rear end repair, but having had the front and back bumpers repainted in recent months from being dented and scuffed by other people :rolleyes:

, that coating had to be removed in order to blend in the paintwork with the rest of the car, hence this new detail.

A few (under 10MB each!) gifs:

badgeruk · 23 Nov 2016 at 12:55

Looks very shiny indeed. Now my car is no longer my daily I really need to find a place near me to detail it.

mrk · 23 Nov 2016 at 13:25

Detailing World have a list of regional specialists iirc, might be worth a shout?

badgeruk · 23 Nov 2016 at 14:00

Was yours done by Envy ? Just looked on there twitter page and they mention a carbon black M3 has just been picked up after having the same coating applied.

Their prices don't look to bad, the only place in Kent, KDS "bronze" level correction starts at £385.

mrk · 23 Nov 2016 at 14:04

Yes indeed! The CLS63 they did before mine (you can see it in the background above) was apparently horrendously maintained having been to dodgy bodyshops and having poor quality paint put on all the panels. Said it was one of the worst cars they've ever corrected, and even still was only as good as it was going to get due to the above.

Such a shame seeing a car like that live a life like that, still, it is in better shape now :cool:

They seem to get some serious metal in to be corrected and coated too.

badgeruk · 23 Nov 2016 at 14:23

Shame they are almost 2 hours away from me but it might be worth it as I'm guessing they would get your recommendation ? Being half price of the only place in kent (at least on Detailing world ) also helps.