[Goyo]

Hi to all !

Short story: Got my first BMW, an E46 ‘05 M3 stock w/ 62k miles !!!


OK, now for those that have the time to read:

Back in the late eighties, my mom’s partner had a bimmer. It was a 3 series, I remember that much. Do not now the exact model or year, but it was a great car. He used to have German cars, like once he had a VW Sirocco. Nowadays is different in my country, but back in the days, owning import cars, and more Germans, was a big deal, it was not cheap, and they were less common than today. There is where I started to like BMW’s. Some years after, now in the nineties, mum and I moved to a bigger and nicer flat. The building belonged to a series of constructions made by a well known group of architects. Well, it just happened that the main office and lounge room was at the first floor of the building where mum had her flat. I used to walk every morning to school, or to get the bus, same in the afternoon to get back home. Every day there were two nice BMW’s parked in front of the building: one was red and the other one was white. They were definitively a 3 series. Today I know they were E30, and if my memory serves me well, I think they were E30 M3’s. They were absolutely outstanding cars, wonderful lines describing such beautiful machines. How the architects’ story fits here? Well, the “bocadillo” pair like I used to call them BMW’s, belonged to the two brothers that started the architect firm. They were guys in their thirties, or maybe very early forties. They were always dress up, and well behaved. Always getting in and out of those Germans… I used to hang around in the main reception of the building, right there where the security guy stands and ask every guest where they were going, just to see the bimmers. I am telling you, I loved those cars.

Time passed, we moved from that city, then I move to another one, and then moved out of the country. Started grad school and bought my first car, a never forgotten Nissan Altima of ’96. He served me well, and never gave me any troubles. Got married, family man I became, so to a RAV4 we went. Again, she never let me down, and took good care of my family. Meanwhile the BMW wheel was always spinning in my big head. But opportunity got to my door to buy an excellent condition ’96 Lexus LS400 which was my boss mum’s car. I am telling you, the car was absolutely outstanding, I couldn’t let got this chance. Time pass, moved overseas, and got back to Houston. Those Japanese are just good memories, and now is the time, gotta have the bimmer. Well, this is not going to sound right, but advertisements and the “new” smell got me out of guard, and bought a nice ’08 G35. Now, this is a fast, nice, well made car. I liked the car, zero problems, and even maintenance was free (trying to emulate The Germans, they offered free maintenance for two years). This itchy felling in my head, and honesty through all my body, never let me live in peace. The decision is made, the G had to go, and off to jumping into a German I would be, yes sir ! Wife not to happy, are your crazy? The G is great, and you are going to loose money ! Yes madam, you are right, but I will try to minimize the impact by having a good sell, and finding a nice used bimmer I said. You gotta understand, this is the car of my dreams, this is the one…I promised you, I said after. Well, my birthday was close, and the G was in the open for about a month. Low offers now and then, but wait, this guy really wants to buy it. Sell went through smooth, and with the Benjamins in the bank, out to the wild chasing my child’s dream.

Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston…Craig’s list, Autotrader, Cars, and the like. The search was intense, and I found two candidates, both black but one of the Carbon breed. The Carbon was not convincing, and although manual, his owner did not seem right to me. Nice aftermarket sound and other little things, but I just did not know, something was not right. The Black Jack on the other hand, was a nice 62k miles well maintained ride. Her previous owner was a doctor, and although the front have so many little chirps, the overall silhouette is great. No whirls when the direct light hits her curves. Inside still has some of that new Nappa smell, and although marks on the left trim exist due to the daily releasing of the seat belt, the overall inside is near perfect, for a 4 years and 9 months old lady. Really do not know too much about M3’s, but reading here and there, and you guys, were my friends. Neighbor was my first consultation as he has a Carbon and he does almost everything to his car. He came along to check her out, and after his positive recommendation, for a PPI she went. Back with some previous fault codes in the CPU, and need (according to the shop that PPI’ed her) of front rotors and pads. Other than that, she seemed in good standing. No signs of subframe phantoms, or body work. Books are there, some maintenance receipts, three keys, and the sticker came along. Carfax and Autocheck were good as well. Used to drive manuals back in my country and in the UK, it seems the right choice. SMG made me nervous and anxious with its behavior and well described issues, but I liked it. And I liked her overall, she was a one owner and appeared to be in good standing. Dipped in, talked the guy down a little bit, and signed the check (biggest check I have ever signed in my life).
Now, here I am sharing my child’s dream, and got my first BMW, an E46 ‘05 M3 stock w/ 62k miles !!!

Thank you,



K.

PS: I will get better pictures later, for now, here she is.

[mugenh22a4]

Thanks for the life story...and no pics??

[christopherp]

Originally Posted by mugenh22a4

Thanks for the life story...and no pics??

lol +1

[mugenh22a4]

She's looking good. I wish I got jet black instead of carbon black

[NorthJersey M3]

siiick! check one dream car off the list! drive safe and good luck w her

[Waitwhat]

Very nice, I'm glad you got your dream car. I hope you have many safe miles with it.
What does the wife say now that you have it?

[maveric23]

What were the previous fault codes? Watch out, they can return. In my case they were VANOS-related and are now causing me headaches.

[Krehtan]

Isn't that a nice feeling, to finally achieve one of your dreams/goals? And good luck with the car make sure you keep DSC on for the first couple of months while you're getting used to her.

Originally Posted by mugenh22a4

She's looking good. I wish I got jet black instead of carbon black

Blasphemer!

[Goyo]

Originally Posted by maveric23

What were the previous fault codes? Watch out, they can return. In my case they were VANOS-related and are now causing me headaches.

Thanks a lot,

They were:
"Driver/relay, fuel pump
Recorded as 2th fault in fault memory.
Note:
With a clocked fuel pump, low fuel levels can cause a fault to be entered because the pump has run dry.
Type of fault at 1the occurrence
No signal/open circuit
OBDII code: P0625
The fault is not currently present.
Detected 1 times
Kilometre reading 98330 km, on occurrence 1 times
Engine speed 0 rpm"

and,

"Signal, engine temperature implausible
Recorded as 1th fault in fault memory.
Select next ambient conditions
Type of fault at 1the occurrence
Implausible value
OBDII code: P0128
The fault is not currently present/
Detected 16 times
Kilometre reading 94850 km, on occurence 1 times
Engine speed 1080 rpm
Engine load 36.8%
Coolant temperature 41 degC
Supply voltage -12.1V"


Cheers !

Originally Posted by Waitwhat

Very nice, I'm glad you got your dream car. I hope you have many safe miles with it.
What does the wife say now that you have it?

She was happy that I am happy. "A coupe? You must be crazy now that we have our 14months old with us...but, if it is what you reeeaaallyyyyy want..." followed by a nice lovely kiss. Now, I need to buy another baby car seat, as I guess I will get tired of changing his seat every time from the SUV to my M3.

Cheers !

[Mr. Wolfe]

Wow, that is a whole bunch of story. I feel like I know you now. Nice car and congrats!

Mr. Wolfe