Dreams do come true: '05 Alpine White Introduction
On December 31st I bought my childhood dream car, this 2005 Alpine White E46 M3. Ever since I played NFS: Most Wanted on my older brothers PS2 back in the day, I knew I had to get one someday, and now I own one. Even amidst the pandemic, everything seemed to fall into place for me this year-- I graduated college, got a job, and was finally able to put away some money.
I wasn't too picky when I was searching for "the one". I had a solid budget of $20k, wanted something with excellent service history, good bodywork, Coupe + 6-Speed, and a color different from the standard Carbon Black/Titanium Silver. I wanted something with lower mileage (around the 100k mark) but wasn't opposed to higher miles with good history (this is key).
Two weeks ago, 02_lsb told me that a friend of his was going to sell his Alpine White soon and gave me his number. The seller is the owner of GT Performance, a Porsche race shop in Maryland. The first time I laid eyes on the car it was parked next to his Guards Red 997.1 GT3 and I knew I had to have it. We got the ball rolling and I was able to bring this beauty home.
Full Specs:
2005 BMW M3
- Alpine White on Dove
- 6-Speed Manual
- 143k Miles
- Business CD, PDC, Power Seats (Non-Heated unfortunately), Xenons, Anthracite Headliner, Sunroof, and a few other goodies.
- NO RUST 😎
Mod List:
- KW V2's
- Short Shift Kit (Unknown Brand)
- Supersprint Lightweight Section 3 w/ Rasp Eliminator Pipe
- Dice MediaBridge w/ Bavsound Speakers
- Could have gotten BBS CH's but 02_lsb snaked me out of them LOL
Sent it through a PPI and it was pretty clean, but there are a few issues I need to address:
- The OEM 19's need tires immediately
- Left front control arm ball joint has play
- Oil Pan Gasket is leaking (see more on this below)
- Motor/Trans mounts are old and starting to mushroom
- Not major but the driver's Dove seat is in pretty rough condition (why is every single Dove Grey interior in poor condition?) All of the other seats, door cards, and dash are in great condition though.
The rod bearings were allegedly done (by the owner before the one I bought the car from) around 130k miles but the seller couldn't find the service records. From my research doing the oil pan gasket is 90% of the rod bearing job so I should probably just do them again, correct? Beisan Vanos upgrades were also supposedly done but similar situation-- I will probably get the valve cover off soon to check the Vanos.
My Indy and I inspected the subframe up on the lift and there were no visible cracks at the moment. I know everyone is going to tell me it's definitely cracked, but I'm kicking that can down the road until later in 2021
Besides those issues, I do believe I've scored an incredibly clean car and I'm so excited to truly be apart of "the club" after lurking and posting on both here and the OG M3Forum for so many years. Dreams really do come true, and hard work certainly pays off.
I wasn't too picky when I was searching for "the one". I had a solid budget of $20k, wanted something with excellent service history, good bodywork, Coupe + 6-Speed, and a color different from the standard Carbon Black/Titanium Silver. I wanted something with lower mileage (around the 100k mark) but wasn't opposed to higher miles with good history (this is key).
Two weeks ago, 02_lsb told me that a friend of his was going to sell his Alpine White soon and gave me his number. The seller is the owner of GT Performance, a Porsche race shop in Maryland. The first time I laid eyes on the car it was parked next to his Guards Red 997.1 GT3 and I knew I had to have it. We got the ball rolling and I was able to bring this beauty home.
Full Specs:
2005 BMW M3
- Alpine White on Dove
- 6-Speed Manual
- 143k Miles
- Business CD, PDC, Power Seats (Non-Heated unfortunately), Xenons, Anthracite Headliner, Sunroof, and a few other goodies.
- NO RUST 😎
Mod List:
- KW V2's
- Short Shift Kit (Unknown Brand)
- Supersprint Lightweight Section 3 w/ Rasp Eliminator Pipe
- Dice MediaBridge w/ Bavsound Speakers
- Could have gotten BBS CH's but 02_lsb snaked me out of them LOL
Sent it through a PPI and it was pretty clean, but there are a few issues I need to address:
- The OEM 19's need tires immediately
- Left front control arm ball joint has play
- Oil Pan Gasket is leaking (see more on this below)
- Motor/Trans mounts are old and starting to mushroom
- Not major but the driver's Dove seat is in pretty rough condition (why is every single Dove Grey interior in poor condition?) All of the other seats, door cards, and dash are in great condition though.
The rod bearings were allegedly done (by the owner before the one I bought the car from) around 130k miles but the seller couldn't find the service records. From my research doing the oil pan gasket is 90% of the rod bearing job so I should probably just do them again, correct? Beisan Vanos upgrades were also supposedly done but similar situation-- I will probably get the valve cover off soon to check the Vanos.
My Indy and I inspected the subframe up on the lift and there were no visible cracks at the moment. I know everyone is going to tell me it's definitely cracked, but I'm kicking that can down the road until later in 2021
Besides those issues, I do believe I've scored an incredibly clean car and I'm so excited to truly be apart of "the club" after lurking and posting on both here and the OG M3Forum for so many years. Dreams really do come true, and hard work certainly pays off.
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