I've been wanting to make one of these for a while now and what better time than now...
I have been into cars since high school and the E46 M3 is what started it all. At the time, that was my dream car. I ended up getting my dad's hand me down 1995 Mazda 626, which was black and had a 5 speed manual instead. Definitely not the same caliber car, but it had me hooked on manuals and I loved it for what it was. I soon moved on to other "achievable" dream cars and the Acura TL Type S was next in my head. I thought about this car for 4 years and made plans to buy one when I graduated college and had saved up enough money. In 2010 after college, I bought a 3 year old TL Type S, black with a 6 speed manual.
I loved that car. I drove it until it had 175,xxx miles on it and it was time for something new. I hadn't thought much about M3's since high school, figuring they were out of my league but a co-worker suggested I buy one. At first the thought was a little crazy to me, but I justified the idea by telling myself that manuals were a dying breed and I better buy a cool one now while I could still get one. Also, I was planning to propose to my (now) wife around the same time, so it added reason to buy it now while I was still the sole decision maker (ha!). So, after a couple of months of waiting to get an allocation from the dealer, I ordered a 2015 M3 in Black Sapphire Metallic with Black Extended Merino leather and a 6 speed manual. I sprung for the extended leather dash and the Adaptive LED headlights, which are still two of my favorite features about the car.
I still have the F80 M3 and it is my daily driver, it is an AWESOME car! But, a few years ago I started yearning for that E46 M3 again. I spent countless hours looking at forums and Instagram pictures of different people's cars. I wanted some form of silver or gray with Imola Red seats and a manual. This was a hard combo to find. Then in 2018, my college roommate who lives in Kansas City (I am in St. Louis, MO) texted me that he knew a guy who was selling a "clean" 2001 M3. I looked at the Craig's List post and it looked pretty decent and the price was right ($12,000). It had 122,xxx miles on it and was Titanium Silver. Andrew volunteered to go look at the car for me and when he did, he said it was ok but his review wasn't glowing. I was disappointed because I had hooked myself on the idea. My wife suggested that I make the trip to go look at it anyway and visit my sister who lived there (how cool is that?). I figured I could at least drive the car and get a feel for what it was like on the road and I made the trip.
When I got to KC, the car was parked right outside my wife's favorite store in the world, called the Painted Sofa. It's a 3 story home goods store and actually pretty cool. It felt like it was meant to be.
The car had some imperfections but I knew it was high mileage and thought I could look past that. Then I drove it and it was very underwhelming. It had no torque, but the seller said he knew the Vanos needed to be done. The tires rubbed in the rear and there were a lot of imperfections (dent in the side, curbed front bumper, badly cracked clear bra, gummed up interior plastic parts) and it didn't have the Imola Red interior I wanted so bad. BUT it was a Titanium Silver M3, with a manual, and it was right in front of me. I was pretty torn. I drove back to STL and couldn't stop thinking about the car. I spent all night looking up prices of parts that I knew I wanted to replace and came up with a an estimate of what I thought it would cost (which I would later find out would be a VERY gross underestimate!!!). I agreed to buy the car the next day and sent it to a local KC shop for the next two weeks to have an inspection and repairs (including Vanos and valve adjustment) done.
Items repaired during visit:
Two weeks later and my wife and I drove back to KC to pick it up! My intention with the car was to clean it up and enjoy it for what it was and fix a few things. I was super excited.... but that excitement quickly faded when I realized there was more wrong with the car than I initially realized. I knew about all the cosmetic stuff, but a check engine light and misfire on the way home started to rain on my parade. My repair list was starting to get longer:
(note: I hope to catch up to present day through the course of several posts but this will take some time 😅)
I have been into cars since high school and the E46 M3 is what started it all. At the time, that was my dream car. I ended up getting my dad's hand me down 1995 Mazda 626, which was black and had a 5 speed manual instead. Definitely not the same caliber car, but it had me hooked on manuals and I loved it for what it was. I soon moved on to other "achievable" dream cars and the Acura TL Type S was next in my head. I thought about this car for 4 years and made plans to buy one when I graduated college and had saved up enough money. In 2010 after college, I bought a 3 year old TL Type S, black with a 6 speed manual.
I loved that car. I drove it until it had 175,xxx miles on it and it was time for something new. I hadn't thought much about M3's since high school, figuring they were out of my league but a co-worker suggested I buy one. At first the thought was a little crazy to me, but I justified the idea by telling myself that manuals were a dying breed and I better buy a cool one now while I could still get one. Also, I was planning to propose to my (now) wife around the same time, so it added reason to buy it now while I was still the sole decision maker (ha!). So, after a couple of months of waiting to get an allocation from the dealer, I ordered a 2015 M3 in Black Sapphire Metallic with Black Extended Merino leather and a 6 speed manual. I sprung for the extended leather dash and the Adaptive LED headlights, which are still two of my favorite features about the car.
I still have the F80 M3 and it is my daily driver, it is an AWESOME car! But, a few years ago I started yearning for that E46 M3 again. I spent countless hours looking at forums and Instagram pictures of different people's cars. I wanted some form of silver or gray with Imola Red seats and a manual. This was a hard combo to find. Then in 2018, my college roommate who lives in Kansas City (I am in St. Louis, MO) texted me that he knew a guy who was selling a "clean" 2001 M3. I looked at the Craig's List post and it looked pretty decent and the price was right ($12,000). It had 122,xxx miles on it and was Titanium Silver. Andrew volunteered to go look at the car for me and when he did, he said it was ok but his review wasn't glowing. I was disappointed because I had hooked myself on the idea. My wife suggested that I make the trip to go look at it anyway and visit my sister who lived there (how cool is that?). I figured I could at least drive the car and get a feel for what it was like on the road and I made the trip.
When I got to KC, the car was parked right outside my wife's favorite store in the world, called the Painted Sofa. It's a 3 story home goods store and actually pretty cool. It felt like it was meant to be.
The car had some imperfections but I knew it was high mileage and thought I could look past that. Then I drove it and it was very underwhelming. It had no torque, but the seller said he knew the Vanos needed to be done. The tires rubbed in the rear and there were a lot of imperfections (dent in the side, curbed front bumper, badly cracked clear bra, gummed up interior plastic parts) and it didn't have the Imola Red interior I wanted so bad. BUT it was a Titanium Silver M3, with a manual, and it was right in front of me. I was pretty torn. I drove back to STL and couldn't stop thinking about the car. I spent all night looking up prices of parts that I knew I wanted to replace and came up with a an estimate of what I thought it would cost (which I would later find out would be a VERY gross underestimate!!!). I agreed to buy the car the next day and sent it to a local KC shop for the next two weeks to have an inspection and repairs (including Vanos and valve adjustment) done.
Items repaired during visit:
- New Vanos unit from Dr. Vanos
- Valve Adjustment
- Spark plugs
- power steering hoses/reservoir
- lower control arms/brackets
- transmission drain/fill plug
- rear axle seals
- oil filter housing gasket
- shifter/bushing replacement
- straighten the bent exhaust
Two weeks later and my wife and I drove back to KC to pick it up! My intention with the car was to clean it up and enjoy it for what it was and fix a few things. I was super excited.... but that excitement quickly faded when I realized there was more wrong with the car than I initially realized. I knew about all the cosmetic stuff, but a check engine light and misfire on the way home started to rain on my parade. My repair list was starting to get longer:
- Sound system didn't make any sound
- head lights flickered at night
- aftermarket Angel Eye's had LEDs that were out
- 5th and 6th gear felt squishy/soft when I would shift into gear even after replacing the bushing
- dash showed a tail light error
- Exhaust, which I initially thought sounded pretty mean and cool had a ton of drone on the highway
- trunk struts were weak and wouldn't hold the trunk open
- interior leather was in good shape but all plastic was nasty
- rear headrests were missing
- pillar covers were all falling off
- all emblems were very faded
- kidney grill tabs were broken and grills were secured with zip ties
- Engine cover ///M3 emblem looked melted
- Seat belt red buttons were faded
- Car rode too low for my liking and I couldn't stand the rubbing
- headlights were clouded
- Key fob didn't work
- Check engine light came on and car would intermittently misfire
(note: I hope to catch up to present day through the course of several posts but this will take some time 😅)
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