My BMW E36 Coupe

My second BMW (and car, ever) is E46 M3 Coupe! Bought used from Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

I saw the advert on www.mobile.de and asked my friend Matti (same guy who helped me to buy my previous car from Berlin few years back) to call the seller about the car. It was agreed that I will come to see the car on next friday. So, on Thursday I boarded train in Copenhagen main railway station and headed to Essen where I arrived 02:30 in the morning. I walked to my hotel in Essen (from where I had booked a room trough internet) and tried to get some sleep.

Next morning I went to see the car in Gelsenkichen (some 10 km away from Essen) by taxi but initially I headed to wrong address. Matti called the seller who agreed to come and pick me up. I waited for a while and decided that the whole advert was just a joke and I took taxi back to Essen. As soon as I arrived to train station, Matti called and informed that the seller was in Gelsenkirchen with the car looking for me. Doh!

It was then agreed that the seller would come and pick me up from train station. After a 20 minutes I spotted roof of Phoenix Yellow coupe on traffic. 20 minutes after that I finally met the seller. We agreed that we go to nearest Dekra station who would then asses the condition of the car.

Dekra report (just 70€, well worth the price and something I can recommend!) said that car has not been crashed or if it was crashed it had been fixed by very professional people indeed. They even measured thickness of paint on multiple locations around bedywork to see if there was any overpainting done. Normal things like oil leaks, brakes, all the electronic gadgets were inspected and nothing was found to be out of ordinary. Quite promising!

Only reason for complain were tires on 19" wheels that were already past legal condition so they would have to be changed before registering the car. More on this later...

I also inspected the car visually and only imperfections I found were a small chip in paint in left rear fender (1 cm long barely showing undercoat) and few cm long crack on front bumper near tow loop hole. I heard that car had to be towed after it had alternator failure which was fixed by BMW. Also 3 of those 19" wheels were scratched and I thought they should be replaced to new ones later.

As nothing was found to be wrong on the car we negoatiated about the price (Matti saved me 800€) and after that I paid a small amount of price as cash to close the deal. it was agreed that I send rest of the sum trough my bank to sellers bank and then come to pick up the car a week later.

This was quite risky... I had to asses if the seller was trustworthy so he won't just disappear or declare bancrupcy as soon as he receives the money (after sending the money I spend few nights with not much sleep). All I had was a receipt telling that I had paid the small sum and VIN number of the car. I considered requesting the Fahrzeugbrief (shows you are owner of the car) but that was very unlikely to happen so I didn't bother.

After closing the deal the seller dropped me off at Essen railway station (where I took few photos of the car, look below) and I went to have a well earned Pizza Calzone as I was getting mighty hungry. Only train back to copenagen that day was to leave 23:45 so I had 8 hours to spend... I had a short walk around the city and then headed to bar for few drinks that turned out to be few Galliano Hotshots and undisclosed number of pints of local weissbier. I still wonder how I did found my way back to railway station in time!

Next morning I woke up in copenhagen main railway station with a proper hangover. After dragging myself to home I unloaded photos from my camera to computer and noticed that I had took few photos of my sneakers on the Essen railway station while waiting the train (apparently, judging by the time of shot). Strange indeed...

First photos taken just after closing the deal, place is at the front of Essen's main railway station.

On monday I sent rest of the agreed sum to seller trough my finnish bank as EU money transfers and started hoping the seller would not disappear. The seller was a small company selling used luxury cars, mostly to scandinavia (they had just sold a Mercedes CLK to sweden few days earlier). Their small office looked quite tidy and they had some quite new looking Audi and Mercedes luxury cars on their parking lot. So I considered them to be quite serious. Also, M3 had spend it's entire life in Essen so if it had been stolen from there I bet the seller would not be driving there :)

I also arranged car insurance (from my finnish insurance company) to start from the day when I was to pick up the car.

Week and a half later on sunday I again headed back to Essen by train where I arrived again at the middle of the night. This time I had reserved hotel from Gelsenkirchen where I headed with taxi.

Next morning (monday) I called the seller and asked him to pick me up which he did after few hours of wait. We headed to office where papers were done quickly so we would be able to go to german registeration office in time so I could head back home the same day.

Seller took care of all the paperwork which included taking the car off from german registry and buying export plates and traffic insurance. At this phase I noticed that somehow the 19" alloy whees were replaced by 18" wheels. I had been just in too big hurry to inspect the car properly before signing the papers... Mistake that I will not make again!

After brief negotiation seller was not very keen to change the 19" alloys back. I considered the situation for a moment and thought that it was not worth to make big issue out of it. After all, the 19" tyres I had seen were already worn to illegal level and had to be replaced ASAP while tires on 18" wheels were new, they would be good for few years (with very careful driving :). So I could postpone that 900€ investment to atleast next summer which would be very good news after paying such a sum for the car...

Also, 3 out of 4 of those 19" wheels were badly scratched and 18" wheels seemed to be in better condition as both rear wheels were in immaculate condition. As I already had contemplated getting new and pristine 19" wheels this was not a big issue, I could sell those 18" and buy perfect 19" tires later.

After the negotiation and attachment of export plates I decided to head back home. I loaded CD changer with some of my favourite CD's and then entered address of my workplace in Copenhagen to navigation system and soon it was ready to give me all the needed driving instructions.

Before heading to public road I made few practice rounds on the parking lot, after all I had only driven a car 11 months earlier! On top of that, this car with SMG gearbox and 343 hp with aggressively biting brakes was quite unfamiliar beast for me. Also, I had to rely on navigation unit (I had never used one earlier) to guide me home. Then I set SMG to auto mode and headed home!

Sun was shining from cloudless sky and as soon as I arrived to a proper autobahn I played the Rock'n'roll Star by Oasis and believe me, it was done loud enough! It was a wonderful feeling, a culmination of years worth of saving money, planning and sorting out the details... And I had pulled it off, alone! Well, Matti did help a bit.

I'll take my car and drive real far
You're not concerned about the way we are
In my mind my dreams are real
Now you're concerned about the way I feel

Tonight, I'm a rock 'n' roll star
Tonight, I'm a rock 'n' roll star

Oasis - Rock'n'roll Star (second verse)

I arrived to copenhagen around 02:30 in morning. I parked the car at my workplace, took a train to home and slipped to a well earned sleep. On the morning I received few SMS's from collagues who had noticed the car on company parking lot.

So far only 900 kilometers driven from Germany to Denmark, after that the car has been parked on my workplace until I get it registered to somewhere... I have a dream car waiting on parking lot with tank full of gas, I have the keys but I cannot drive it. Just how frustrating is that?

I just had to take few photos when the car was first parked near my workplace... Notice 18" wheels

Driving and handling... Can't say much about engine yet but it seems to work! Initially very jerky driving due huge power reserves (and I haven't driven a single meter for 11 months). Brakes also have lots of bite compared to earlier 325i Coupe. SMG was mostly on auto mode but I tried few manual changes. In autobahn traffic SMG does not offer much but on cities it is very nice to have, automatic clutch works faultlessly. Of course it will be best on track or twisty road.

Satellite navigation and Harman Kardon sound system... Navigation works like a dream, it guided me from Gelsenkirchen to Copenhagen without any troubles. One bit of autobahn was under repairs so I had to drive past one turn but the system instantly calculated new route, most impressive. I already bought newest BMW Scandinavia CD-ROM but unfortunately is does not cover finland that well, only are limited by Tampere, Turku and Helsinki is available. Harman Kardon sound system sounds suprisingly good, quite tight bass and it also goes relatively low so no need to tinker with it.

Consumption and cruise control... Fuel consumption suprised me very pleasantly! I drove trough Denmark with cruise control at average speed of 120 kmh. On board computer reported avegare consumption to be only 7,9 l/100 km, which is about what I managed with my 325i Coupe.

Car has not been registered yet. Few times a month I run the engine to charge battery and then do few brisk accelerations and brakings on parking lot to clear the brakes from rust.

By the way, BMW has finally sent out a service action for '00 - '03 built M3's. Crankshaft bearings will be inspected and changed free of charge. Hopefully this will fix the problem for once.

Seems like I'm going to move to Malmo, Sweden before registering the car to there. After that I can drive the car anywhere, including Denmark.

I bought an original BMW front strut brace for the car from ebay, it should arrive any day now. All 2003 and later model M3's had this fitted in factory. It's an easy and cheap (190€ with shipping) upgrade.

Strut bar arrived and I promptly installed it. Easy job that took no longer than 10 minutes.

I also had opportunity to try out the M mobility kit on empty front tire. I did not use the liquid that is supposed to fill the holes but first tried to inflate it with kit's compressor to see if that alone does the trick, which it did. I upped the pressure to 2,3 bar and after few days it seems that the air is still there.

Almost half a year since last update... Well, the car is almost in use! After last update I have moved to Sweden so I can register the car there, avoiding attrocios car taxes of Denmark. Also, it is actually possible to get the M3 insured in Sweden, unlike in Denmark. Somehow danes think it's not right that "young" chap like me has sporty car like that so I would go to high risk category meaning very high insurance costs. In sweden the insurance costs are about 30% of those in denmark...

I hoped to have the car registered before end of april but long queues for registration inspections in sweden might prevent that. Let's hope for the best.

Yesterday I properly drove the car (with danish temporary plates) first time after bringing it home from germany. Everything worked well altough fuel tank pump made faint whirring noise I haven't noticed before and right front tire still loses air slowly, not sure why. Maybe it's time to invest to those 19" rims and 245/275 tires... I could not resist urge to play with the SMG and I must say the automatic throttle blips on downchange are intoxicating... As is the acceleration!

I have been looking for various CSL bits for the car. Most useful would be CSL front bumber but I haven't seen any of those yet. Original CF roof would be around 500€ but attachment would be a lot more. CF part around exhausts is 400€ but fitment is easy. Not a single sight of CSL bootlid yet...

Well, this project is now completed. Car was finally registered this morning after passing registration inspection in Ystad town car inspection station and I insured it right after that in IF Sweden. I will get the new plates next week and after that is just lots of driving.

I must fix the navigation unit before any serious traveling, it went black after failed firmware update.

No driving around yet due work... I did wash the car again and took some photos with recently acquired Canon 10D DSLR. I also received the register plates and attached them to car. And filled right front tire which keeps deflating slowly... So now it is finally ready! Next weekend there is season's first STCC race in sweden not that far away so maybe I go there before wandering any further.

- BMW OEM engine airfilter (to replace K&N filter)
- BMW OEM left side trunk tray (current one has a crack)
- BMW OEM towing hinge
- BMW OEM Phoenix Gelb paint touch up pen set (paint + lacquer)
- BMW OEM aluminium brake and throttle pedal covers

I asked the price for new SMG gearknob as current has bit of chrome missing but price was around 100€ so I will see if I can get it from ebay, there's one on sale now.

Also, I ordered ///M and 3 emblems to brother's M3, it's disgrace to have M3 without proper markings!!!

Still not much driving... It seems that first proper use will be vacation trip to finland trough sweden. Right front still leaks. I have to get it fixed on vacation.

I did get all the stuff I ordered from BMW service yesterday. New aluminium pedals look very nice but I will install them when I get to finland and have access to proper tools.

Just won bid for set of used (85% of thread left) Yokohama tires from german ebay. Their size is 245/35R19 for front and 275/30R19 for rear. This is the biggest size you can fit to standard 19" M3 or M3 CSL rims without having to take a new inspection.

Fucking awesome! I drove 7000 km on holiday, to finland and then back to denmark. First chance to get feel of the car... I was bit nervous, maybe the car was not as good as I had dreamed after all the trouble I had endured?

No need to worry, it was just perfect in every way. It had more performance than I ever can use with my driving skills, it was still comfortable after 800 km drive during one day. Three persons and their vacation luggage can travel 600 km and you still feel relaxed when you are in your destination.

I am now also sure that I did right choice with SMG. It shifts much faster than I ever can and you always have option to slip it to automatic mode if you are feeling REALLY lazy. Engine did not stall a single time.

After having the car to stand in mercy of the elements I cleaned the car properly. It took me three days to clean the engine, vacuum and wash the interiod, treat the leather seats and of course wash and wax the exterior. I bought full set of Autoglym products and I love them. I only had waxed my friends Saab once and the wax was very sticky and hard to get away from car so I was bit apprehensive. No need for that, Autoglym red & gold just fell away from the car, it was so easy. I think once per month on summer is no stretch for a waxing schedule.

I touched up stone chips and installed aluminium pedals which look very nice. I also changed the K&N filter to genuine BMW item. The K&N filter was absolutely filthy! I doubt it was never cleaned in services or otherwise... There was a sticker on filter cover that said it should not be thrown away so of course mechanics haven't touched it.

I also got first damage to the car... Something or someone dented the car's left side just under the rear window :( Fortunately no paint was damaged and straightening will only cost about 100€, I will get it done when I get back to finland.

First service on my ownership was still 1500 km away but I decided to took the car to an oil service which cost 190€ and gave me 25000 km before next service. Brakepads should be ok until next scheduled service, altough trip to Nordschleife might change that.

19" tires also arrived. They are in good condition and have lots of km's left in them. There are few strange marks inside two of the tires but only on one side so they have not been run flat. Outside looked ok and sides felt stiff so I'm not worried. I just need to buy wheels for them, I guess it is next driving season when I do that.

Just got back from belgium and germany after one and a half weeks of fun and work. Fun part was Spa F1 race and Nordschleife, work part was finding a car for my friend Anssi... And find we did! Estoril Blau 1998 BMW M Coupe, a very nice car.

Steering wheel started to vibrate badly during the trip and I took the car to nearest BMW service on thursday, suspecting worn out lower front suspension arm bushings which had caused similar symptoms on my previous road trip to Germany with my 325i Coupe. The true cause turned out to be badly worn front brake discs and pads which were then replaced on friday for a reasonable price of 825€. Ouch! Well, atleast the vibration was gone for good and I would not have been able to same much by doing it by myself since parts alone costs were around 550€.

While in service, service manager told me that my M3 had 3 outstanding recalls to be performed, two related to SMG unit and more seriously, connecting rod bearing change... They would be free of charge job lasting about 2 days. We agreed that I would bring the car on monday and they will then do the repairs. I had no illusions of getting the recalls performed by any qualified BMW service in finland so I gladly grabbed the opportunity.

After spending weekend on Nordschleife photographing cars (I did not drive myself, too much traffic for my taste), I took the car to service on monday morning and then I went to look for a hotel in Bitburg town. I spend rest of the monday and tuesday morning shopping and resting. I got a call after midday on tuesday saying my car was serviced and ready for pickup. I took a taxi from Bitburg center to Autohaus Schaal, a short, few minute trip. Service personnel said that car was ok but I had to drive it like it was new for next 2000 or so kilometers so no revving above 5000 rpm. Bummer but I was kind of expecting it.

I asked them about proper oil for M3 and told them that finnish service had "checked from their computer" that 0W40 would be ok for M3. They said that that was totally incorrect, only suitable oil is 10W60 and engine should newer use anything else! So much for my trust for service capabilities I had for my local dealership...

I was most pleasantly suprised to find out that they had washed the car and also vacuumed and cleaned the car from inside! It practically looked like new! I felt almost good for paying over 800€ for the brake job. Almost.

It was tuesday afternoon and I was already one day late from work so I headed to Norschleife which was about 50 km north of Bitburg, right on route to Copenhagen. After arriving there I found out that track would be open from 16:45 until 19:00. While waiting I went to have wienerschnitzel on Grune Hölle while looking industry pool cars blasting past on Dottinger Höhe. Sun was shining from a cloudless sky and everything in the world was just perfect.

Before the track opened, I went to office to buy a two lap ticket. Then I had a chat with older gentleman from Australia who was touring Europe with his wife. he told me that he raced on australia with his BMW and his friend had told him to visit Nordschleife.

I also met two finns who were returning from Goodwood Festival of Speed Revival on Jaguar convertible. They torned out to be writer and photographer and they generously promised to take few photos of me on track if they had a change.

Opening time was closing and I lined up to gates with my M3. When gates opened, few BMW Fahrer Training M3 CS's and bikes got ahead of me but I did not consider that a hindrance, I was not going to rew the engine over 5000 RPM anyway...

It is difficult to describe the two laps I drove since I have barely memory from either of them... I remember intense consentration and the fact that I really knew the track even if I had not driven there myself, ever. I had only a few passenger laps exactly two years before but I had hundreds of laps with Gran Turismo 4.

Traffic was almost zero, I got passed only twice, by bike and a aforementioned Fahrer Training M3. It felt like I had the track all for myself. Only hindrance was sun that was shining just barely over the horizon and being blindingly bright. Despite self imposed rev limit, I managed to hit around 190 km/h in Schwedenkreutz.

After two laps I took a cooling trip to public roads and nearby fuel station where I met two more finns. They had filled up their 996 Porsche but station's card reader did not accept their card and they were out of cash. I borrowed them 50€ and told that they could pay it back on the Norschleife gate after they had got some cash from ATM machine near Nurburgring GP track's hotel.

I went back to gate (after buying few Ring stickers and poster and checking out extensive model car selection) where I met the reported and photographer. They had managed to take few photos of me and promised to send them to me on e-mail. Great! They also had one lap left on their ticket which they were not going to use so they gave it to me. What can I say, top blokes!

I quickly headed for a last lap (since closing time was approaching). Strange feeling of somekind of fullfillment took over me... There I was, driving on greatest track on the world, completely alone, on my own M3 while sun was setting behind the hills. A moment that I will remember forever.

After I had completed the lap, track entrance was closed and straightaway I started my long journey to Copenhagen. Nothing special happened and I arrived home around 04:30 in the morning. Few hours of sleep I headed to work.

Year 2005 and before