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From Green Bay!


CHRIS

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Hey guys, i'm Chris and I live in Green Bay. I drive a 1997 M3.

The car itself is pretty rough, bought it last year in march with 199k miles for only $3000. The car has plenty of rust, but engine runs strong and the car is a blast to drive.

I'm going to attempt to learn how to weld coming up pretty soon, and hope to sort out all the rust issues. I've also got a new trunk lid to paint, so we can all see how bad that turns out.

 

1997 Cosmos Schwarz Metallic M3

Black interior, original heated Vaders

 

Pretty much stock:

98+ steering wheel

Raceland Ultimo coilovers (I know)

Euro taillights

Broken DDM splitters

Drilled/slotted rotors

Zionsville aluminum radiator

 

Car is sitting on some 17x8 Mille Miglia MM II's

Sorry it this gets too picture heavy.

Small timeline. Few days after I brought it home:

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Oh God... Why...

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A few months later, after lots of cleaning and wax.

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Further into last summer, mid-wheel paint. I hate these wheels.

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End of summer. Finally got a lip and some splitters.

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Random interior shot

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And the last time I took a picture of it, about a month ago after a brutal winter.

Car just rolled 206,500 miles.

That's about it. I hope this summer I can get a lot done with it and learn, and this forum seems like a good place to share/get some advice.

 

 

 

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Welcome. I thought the car looked familiar. Have you been on the underside of the car yet? Lots of learning how to weld to be done down there

Yes. I knew something was up when I saw the sheet metal riveted to the right-side passenger floorboard of the car. After pulling the carpet up, I had a panic attack and almost passed out. I keep telling myself I will eventually fix it. I'm pretty determined. I was pretty surprised that the rockers were clean for the most part after removing the skirts. 

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Welcome, This looks like a fun car.  I haven't done much with my lawn ornament lately.  I have taken tons of pics as I disassemble so I will be able to get everything back correctly.  What is your time frame on restoration?  I would recommend some engine maintenance in the meantime, unless you know what has been done, the cooling system is a good place to start.  Poor maintenance leads to a big paperweight.

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Welcome, This looks like a fun car.  I haven't done much with my lawn ornament lately.  I have taken tons of pics as I disassemble so I will be able to get everything back correctly.  What is your time frame on restoration?  I would recommend some engine maintenance in the meantime, unless you know what has been done, the cooling system is a good place to start.  Poor maintenance leads to a big paperweight.

I don't really have a timeframe, it's my only car, so i'm going to try to fix it up as I go. Your build on the Arctic Grey is looking pretty sick! So far the car has the Zionsville radiator, all new coolant hoses, new expansion tank, new fuel filter, new ignition coil boots, and newer rear control arm bushings. Oil, filter and spark plugs changed every 3k, just put in some 15w50. Also just replaced transmission fluid with some Royal Purple Syncromax.That's about it for maintenance. I'm hoping to do the valve cover gasket and brakes this weekend. Both post-cat o2 sensors are throwing codes, so probably those soon along with new front lower control arm's because the right side balljoint is bad. 

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Sounds like your cooling system and other maintenance is good to go then.  Check carefully for vacuum leaks, the o2 sensors may be bad, but codes may be caused by the ecu encountering unexpected conditions. 

 

Also I like the wheels, and there is no such thing as too many pictures.

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  • 4 years later...

Hey it's 17 year old me.

I couldn't have been more lucky to have a M3 at 16 years old, weird to think I took it to high school everyday for 3 years, moved out and went to college with it and took it everywhere. Enjoyed every mile of the 30,000 I put on it.

I should be studying for finance but instead I'm in my feels 😞👌

Day 1, March 2013, the car looked like an abomination. I remember wanting to return the car to oem, and scrubbing the turn signals with acetone that night to de-tint them.

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2014

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early 2015 ft. @Rekpoint current wheels

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fall 2016

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Fall 2017

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Spring 2018

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Summer 2018 ft. @SteelBlue

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Fall 2018

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Summer 2019 coming out hot

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RIP

 

 

 

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