patsbimmer1

All those accolades and none of them have the nickname of hallway
#number1inmybook

This last weekend I got the opportunity to go to the Rolex 24 with Michelin and it was absolutely amazing!  The race was awesome but the people we got to watch it with made it even better.  Our hosts were Paul Gerrard (The American Stig, Grand Tour), Didier Theys (Winner of Rolex 3x, Sebring 2x and 3x Lemans podiums), Butch Leitzinger (2x Lemans winner, 3x Daytona winner) and Kelly Williams (CASCAR driver and Pfaff motorsports driving coach).  We got to do a lap of Daytona with Paul in an M5 CS which was absolutely insane!  You think you've driven fast until you drive with a professional driver 🤣.  Doing 165 around the oval and 100+ through the infield was an experience I will never forget.  These guys did corner tours with us and had us looking at the driving in a whole new light.  The way they can diagnose what's going on and verbalize it is seriously impressive.
 

This last weekend I got the opportunity to go to the Rolex 24 with Michelin and it was absolutely amazing!  The race was awesome but the people we got to watch it with made it even better.  Our hosts were Paul Gerrard (The American Stig, Grand Tour), Didier Theys (Winner of Rolex 3x, Sebring 2x and 3x Lemans podiums), Butch Leitzinger (2x Lemans winner, 3x Daytona winner) and Kelly Williams (CASCAR driver and Pfaff motorsports driving coach).  We got to do a lap of Daytona with Paul in an M5 CS which was absolutely insane!  You think you've driven fast until you drive with a professional driver 🤣.  Doing 165 around the oval and 100+ through the infield was an experience I will never forget.  These guys did corner tours with us and had us looking at the driving in a whole new light.  The way they can diagnose what's going on and verbalize it is seriously impressive.
 

This last weekend I got the opportunity to go to the Rolex 24 with Michelin and it was absolutely amazing!  The race was awesome but the people we got to watch it with made it even better.  Our hosts were Paul Gerrard (The American Stig, Grand Tour), Didier Theys (Winner of Rolex 3x, Sebring 2x and 3x Lemans podiums), Butch Leitzinger (2x Lemans winner, 3x Daytona winner) and Kelly Williams (CASCAR driver and Pfaff motorsports driving coach).  We got to do a lap of Daytona with Paul in an M5 CS which was absolutely insane!  You think you've driven fast until you drive with a professional driver 🤣.  Doing 165 around the oval and 100+ through the infield was an experience I will never forget.  These guys did corner tours with us and had us looking at the driving in a whole new light.  The way they can diagnose what's going on and verbalize it is seriously impressive.
 

This last weekend I got the opportunity to go to the Rolex 24 with Michelin and it was absolutely amazing!  The race was awesome but the people we got to watch it with made it even better.  Our hosts were Paul Gerrard (The American Stig, Grand Tour), Didier Theys (Winner of Rolex 3x, Sebring 2x and 3x Lemans podiums), Butch Leitzinger (2x Lemans winner, 3x Daytona winner) and Kelly Williams (CASCAR driver and Pfaff motorsports driving coach).  We got to do a lap of Daytona with Paul in an M5 CS which was absolutely insane!  You think you've driven fast until you drive with a professional driver 🤣.  Doing 165 around the oval and 100+ through the infield was an experience I will never forget.  These guys did corner tours with us and had us looking at the driving in a whole new light.  The way they can diagnose what's going on and verbalize it is seriously impressive.
 

This last weekend I got the opportunity to go to the Rolex 24 with Michelin and it was absolutely amazing!  The race was awesome but the people we got to watch it with made it even better.  Our hosts were Paul Gerrard (The American Stig, Grand Tour), Didier Theys (Winner of Rolex 3x, Sebring 2x and 3x Lemans podiums), Butch Leitzinger (2x Lemans winner, 3x Daytona winner) and Kelly Williams (CASCAR driver and Pfaff motorsports driving coach).  We got to do a lap of Daytona with Paul in an M5 CS which was absolutely insane!  You think you've driven fast until you drive with a professional driver 🤣.  Doing 165 around the oval and 100+ through the infield was an experience I will never forget.  These guys did corner tours with us and had us looking at the driving in a whole new light.  The way they can diagnose what's going on and verbalize it is seriously impressive.
 

$180

I am seriously impressed with the inspection report.  That's so cool and I can only see that business continuing to grow as buying site unseen becomes more popular.  That's a great spec too!  That color combo is timeless!  I'm also really jealous of your ski trip!  Have fun out there!

Figured I'd start with more interior work.
Firstly started with installing the Never Done glove box sag fix.



I then moved on to removing the seats and center console. This is to prep for the dash replacement and to install the restored Z3M center console pieces.


Center console painted and assembled with Z3M center pieces and new VDO classic gauges. 

The time has come to replace my wife's W body Impala and we both wanted a SUV as a replacement. I kept in mind that I wanted to go used BMW over newer economy because while I find the interiors nice in newer economy cars the road noise still speaks to the quality underneath.  It's the curse of growing up with these fine used automobiles knowing how things could be. The goals for this vehicle were really for long trips on vacations or at least day trips. After being impressed with that F10's condition I rented off Turo and @timmer's diesel thread, a E70 35d was the only vehicle we considered looking at. The desire also formed long ago when I worked at the dealership too, I loved driving the E90 and E70 diesels when they were new. They were my go-to errand runners when I had the choice. Father @andyhundley also told me they regularly service 10 of these at his job with no major issues after the EGR is "fixed".
I know its a pretty crazy car market right now but I don't feel like the prices on these have inflated much if any. The v8 X5's are the bottom because of their reliability and the diesels are just above that because its different. I saw many 80-120k examples for $12-15k on the market. CoPart auctions were often going for $8-10k as well for clean titled vehicles. Cinnamon Brown Nevada Leather interior was a must for me so that narrowed my search by quite a bit though. I initially looked in November and prices were a little lower on average then but I didn't see any winners at the time. Around the holidays this popped up in New Jersey though and after a week of contemplation I finally made the call. 
Being a 1 owner, clean carfax with recent service and being at a Euro specific car dealership really sweetened the deal. I'm really glad I looked back on @suspenceful's E70 thread as well because he mentioned using Lemon Squad for a PPI. Jeff at Torch Light Motors was happy to have them come out and inspect the vehicle and I was impressed with their report. I've attached it for those interested, really detailed and 94 pictures all around and under along with 3 short videos. 
Timing worked out pretty perfectly too as @BMWben is currently stationed out in Newport, RI for training before he moves to Japan. Along with a few other things out east I wanted to do, I figured why rent when I can buy? That and along with the Impala giving my wife some more trouble we decide to pull the trigger. Im flying out to Newark, NJ on the 28th and I'll spend a week out east and drive home on the 6th after a weekend of skiing in upstate New York at Whiteface. 
2013 BMW X5 xDrive35D
Deep Sea Blue Metalic
Cinnamon Brown Nevada Leather
Convenience Package (ZCV) - Comfort Access was a must for me
Cold Weather Package (ZCW) - Same with heated seats, heated rears was a bonus. 
Premium Package (ZPP) - All included in ZCV - The Rear view camera with top view I always loved using. 
Option 300 Space Saver Spare, not originally equipped but it has it! Thrilled this doesn't have run flats anymore. 
New Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires

LemonSquad460341.pdf

I absolutely love this car!  Factory mint paint AND it's a euro spec s50b32!  It's so 90's and I love it.  I think they fucked up by putting out a "coming soon..." craigslist ad advertising it for $96k though.  The auction has a reserve and I won't be surprised if it doesn't hit that reserve.  The story they're telling is neat about finding the car, storing it, etc.
https://www.pcarmarket.com/auction/euro-spec-1996-bmw-m3-mint-green/

The car still pulls to the right a bit.  We'll replace the calipers next and take it from there.  Really need to be able to text and drive with work and with this pull, it isn't ideal. Tires might be to blame too.
Cooling, 3rd pedal, clutch/flywheel, 4.10 wavetrac and boost bits incoming!  Stay tuned!

I'm not usually a fan of mint but that is stunning on that car

Connor rebuilt the driver's side rear jacking point and Jon at Optimum Coatings in West Allis helped with the rust repair. 

You are oh so correct about there being thousands of posts and debates about what is best. 

I avoided coated bearings as it seems they are typically coating stock sized bearings, which is extra not good. 

I went with BE bearings and bolts, as it seems they are the most consistent in sizing and you are basically paying for them to check and provide matched sets over something like ACL's where you want to mix shells to get extra clearance but not too much. I don't want to have to be in there twice so the extra couple dollars for QC is worth it to me.

In looking at the journal dimensions and bearing tolerances I quickly understand why these have bearing failures, that's a damn tight clearance!

We got a bunch of snow recently, had to move the M3 out of the garage to work on other things. She didn't like the cold. 

Ordered rod bearings, motor mounts, and exhaust gaskets.
I really enjoy this thing. I have neglected all other vehicles since obtaining the M3...

LOOOOOOOONG overdue update on this car. 
I got all the parts I need to swap the brake system(I think). I called Wilwood and figured out the exact calipers I got from @DrLeadFoot because I needed to get an idea of what size masters I should run with the pedalbox and the calipers front and rear. Despite everything I read on the internet(5/8ths F&R), I wanted to be certain. It turns out, due to the size and stroke if the rear Calipers, Wilwood suggests a 3/4th master for the rear. The front calipers are an older design (cast with raised Wilwood logo) which I actually prefer but still utilize the same parts as the new design (cast with printed logo) and wilwood said a 5/8ths is perfect for them.  
So here is what I ended up getting;
Wilwood 4 piston Forged Superlites Wilwood 11.75" Ultralite 2 pc rotors Wilwood BP-20 pads Wilwood 340-11299 pedal assembly Wilwood 5/8th master for the front Wilwood 3/4th master for the rear  Wilwood 3/4th master for the clutch Garagistic mounting bracket Wilwood bias valve
Size comparison of the rotors 

The old brake setup

The new brake setup

And a test fit with my wheels

Super stoked that these fit with ample room left 

It took me about a good 3 hours to fit everything and trim the heat shields and find hardware that would work for mocking up.

As of now I only have the rotors and calipers installed just to mock them up. They will be coming back off and the new rotors will go on, the hats and calipers will be painted and rebuilt before finally assembly.
The next steps now is to get the pedal box to fit in the car. It says on the garagistic site that I need a non-airbag steering column, which I am going to soon learn the reason behind. 

You're welcome!  The GTA shirt had your name on it as soon as I saw it!

You're welcome!  The GTA shirt had your name on it as soon as I saw it!

Non car related. Scored some free cabinets from a house my parents' are renovating. Just need to build an exhaust hood and I'll have a place to keep all my brewing stuff and start doing that again! My wife got me the Northern Brewer electric brew kettle to make indoor brewing possible. 
 
 

Fixed.
https://www.xdelete.app/

Fixed.
https://www.xdelete.app/

Here’s a quick startup clip of before/after the muffler. Both clips have the fabspeed headers installed, which honestly didn’t make a big difference in tone or volume in my opinion. Definitely feels loud, but didn’t test out revving yet since it’s in the garage. Will have to get some take off clips in the spring once the X pipe is added!
before: 
after: 
 
 

Scooped up a top speed muffler for the M3 for a great deal. I know it’s not in the upper echelon of mufflers, but it’s all part of a combo I want to try out. Installation was super easy, just have to pop off the diffuser to access all the hangers. Stock muffler is a UNIT! Has to weigh close to 60lbs. Top speed one is about 20lbs, so should be about 40lbs off the rear end. Pretty happy with how it lined up too, tips stick out an additional 2” or so, protrude the same on both sides and sit at the same height.