What did you do for your M3 today?

[ucrhamann330ci]

This built will be insane

I removed my motor to reseal and take care of the big 2 that are prone to this engine, refreshed all the seals and threw in some fresh coil packs.

[0-60motorsports]

I'll be doing my CMP rear subframe reinforcements this week!

Awesome! Please post pics. Are you doing the topside too?

[Nate047]

I hope you don't mind me asking and if you do, no problem I don't mean to pry. But, how/why did you go from California to Germany?

It’s no problem and I’m happy to answer. The “how” part is straightforward; I’m American and my wife and our daughter both have dual US/German citizenship, so for me it was very easy to get a residence permit, essentially like a US green card. We flew over in March with a bunch of suitcases, and sent two containers with cars and all our household goods. We sold off or gave away a good amount of stuff, but it didn’t make sense for us to literally start from scratch. The moving logistics were very expensive but nowhere near the cost to replace everything.

The “why” part is much more complex, we didn’t come to the decision quickly or easily. I had visited Germany and Western Europe a ton of times so I knew broadly what it’s like here. Still, there’s a huge difference between visiting someplace and living someplace. We had thrown around the idea of a major relocation for a few years, and the scenario where it made sense finally came to be.

The key points for our family are a big beneficial change in the cost of living index and work / life balance. That is by far the biggest part. A sense of grand adventure for me, proximity to extended family, new potential work opportunities, and a dash of midlife crisis are also contributing factors. The reasons don’t stem from not liking California or the US, we may return in a few years, or maybe not. Really just depends on how things work out for us over here and how the world changes. I’ll leave it at that for now. If anyone is interested in a more personal perspective, what it’s like here IRL, anything else, I’m an open book so feel free to DM me.

On topic! Cars are here, the shop needs a lot of setup and organizing, but we’re making progress. The cars are going to need a lot of work and changes in order to be legal here. TBH it’s a lot to wrap my head around for three cars. I need to maker a road map for each project and get started.

[Casa de Mesa]

Nate047 holy hell man, what an experience. I've been wondering the same thing as PSUEng so thanks for asking!

That shop the cars are in is incredible. What a find. Do keep us updated and if your posts start coming thru in the motherland's tongue, I'll whip out Google translate.

[AmandaB]

You may have received yours by now, but posting the requested pics for others that may be curious

I just installed the delrin knob from Garagistic - it has a great feel to it. Went delrin because it's about to be hot summer here. I also wrapped the bezel, as it was gnarly. Shift boot coming soon.

[PSUEng]

Thanks Nate047 I'm maybe having similar feelings of a big move, but to Japan (I'm tied to it for work and been there many times, so it's easy). Hope it all works out for you guys! I'm headed to San Diego tomorrow for a work trip and will probably check out the Toyota truck scene, kind of my alter-ego at the moment.

[Nate047]

Thanks Nate047 I'm maybe having similar feelings of a big move, but to Japan (I'm tied to it for work and been there many times, so it's easy). Hope it all works out for you guys! I'm headed to San Diego tomorrow for a work trip and will probably check out the Toyota truck scene, kind of my alter-ego at the moment.

That’s awesome man, Japan is truly an extraordinary place. If there’s a work connection that’s going to be very helpful!

[Kipjames3]

Finally got around to putting all my CSL parts on. Front bumper and rear diffuser are Gt4 Miles End products and the trunk was OEM. I replaced a status grappe diffuser and karbonius trunk. My bodywork guy said all the parts were excellent and fit great. Only little hiccup was I also had the antenna removed and unfortunately the paint was too faded for the spot to blend so there's a little spot where the antenna was that doesn't match the rest of the roof. Debating getting a respray or just going down the rabbit hole and going full carbon. We'll see.

[AmandaB]

Looks great!

[AmandaB]

I wrapped my lower steering wheel trim today. Turns out "Avery Dennison SW900 Satin Metallic Spy Grey Vinyl Wrap" is a really close match for the original titan gray. Better than spending $200 on a new piece of trim!