99 Fern on Black M3 Intro

[m3f_Polaris15]

Hey guys, been reading and lurking here for awhile but never properly introduced myself. Figure after putting in 3 hours of exterior detailing now may be a good time! After being into E30's for a long time I decided to cross the e36m3 off my bucket list. Picked this honey up of C-List from the original owner. She's got 186,000 miles on her. Right away I replaced the Giubo, CSB, driveshaft and RSM's. As she sits she is bone stock. I'll be slowly refreshing everything while I drive and enjoy the car before I start with the modifications. Here are some pics, I apologize for the crappy iPhone camera.

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[m3f_cblock]

Welcome! That is a cool color combo.

[m3f_haus]

Congrats and welcome!

[m3f_Tmswell]

Agreed -- looks good!

[m3f_Evtron]

Very Nice! Welcome to the forums. I don't think I've ever seen that color combination before.

[m3f_Anubis]

Nice color and nice car. Swap out your trunk ///M badge for a new one, yours is faded (common problem for '99s, mine had the same issue when I bought it in 2007).


I see you're in MA - whereabouts?

[m3f_Polaris15]

Thanks guys! Def picking up a new M badge in the near future and a zhp knob to replace the worn shift knob. I also need to contact an upholstery shop and get the drivers seat bolster repaired, it's just starting to split a little at the seam. I'm also going to be replacing the headliner and pillars with alcantara. Right now I'm using the binder clip clip trick to keep it in place after it pulled away from the sunroof trim.


As far as rare combo's go I read in another post that my car is 1 of 37 in Fern on black. Looks like a lot of the Fern car's got magma interiors from the factory.


I live in Salem, MA.

[m3f_M_Parallel]

Nice color and nice car. Swap out your trunk ///M badge for a new one, yours is faded (common problem for '99s, mine had the same issue when I bought it in 2007).



I see you're in MA - whereabouts?

Common for 99's? They all fade, right...? Not that '99's had a different one or anything.





Welcome and nice car. Fern is a classy color.

[m3f_CheckABS]

Do you still have the E30?



Thoughts on the E36 from the E30?



Nice purchase!

[m3f_Anubis]

Common for 99's? They all fade, right...? Not that '99's had a different one or anything.

For some reason I've only ever seen the faded red stripe on the M badge on '98-99s. Never seen it on any other year. Always noticeable in classifieds. The part number is the same but I suspect they had a slight change in their production resulting in a more susceptible-to-fading red stripe on the badge. Not confirmed, just a hunch based on what I've seen.

[m3f_M_Parallel]

Ha ok. Interesting theory, but totally plausible.


I hardly ever see old M3's here. Maybe 2 per year, let alone I can check the badges.

[m3f_Polaris15]

Do you still have the E30?



Thoughts on the E36 from the E30?



Nice purchase!

Unfortunately I don't have the driveway space nor the time to own three BMW's that need my attention. (notice the 535i in the background) The E30 had to go and it was the most profitable to sell.



It's so difficult for me to compare the 2 cars because of how different they are. Both car's were and are on stock suspension so the driving experience was very different. I prefer the looks of the e30, probably because it's the car that got me into BMW's and I also love almost any car with a double headlight set-up. The sport seats in the e30 were way more comfortable than the vaders on long trips.



The M3 puts a smile on my face every time I drive it. It feels much more connected to the road than the E30, much more refined and the sound of the s52 is grin worthy even from the stock exhaust. When I upgrade homes and have a garage I'll add another E30 project.

[m3f_Polaris15]

Welcome! That is a cool color combo.

I've read on the forum that this is 1 of 35 made. Someone had a fancy chart made up but I have heard BMW isn't into releasing their production figures...

[m3f_M_Parallel]

I've read on the forum that this is 1 of 35 made. Someone had a fancy chart made up but I have heard BMW isn't into releasing their production figures...

Correct. MMMGP made a few topics about production numbers on US spec M3 models, when there still was a way of doing some kind of batch VIN lookup.



Here's the topic



http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...S52-B32-coupes