[318 IS Cosmos]

Well I suppose it's time to start a thread on this newly acquired motor of mine:happy:
I had been on the lookout for an M3 the last year or two and it's safe to say that I missed out on one or two very clean ones. At the same time, there are an awful lot of dogs out there too, and I wanted to buy a well cared for example, ideally from one of the BMW forums.. So when this particular M3 came up, I knew it would be mine as I know the car very well! Picked it up last Sat, 15th Feb.

The car itself was imported from the UK in '07 by DaveD. I think he owned it for about 3.5 years and added some tasty bits to the car before selling it on. It was sold to a forum member who in turn sold it on to Mossie so it should be well known.

It's a very well spec'd car. I think the only extras it doesn't have is sunroof and rear blind and it's just hit 77,800 miles. Some additional goodies include:

- StopTech BBK 4 pot brakes up front
- Eisenmann exhaust with Supersprint Resonated X-pipe
- Genuine CSL wheels
- 10mm H&R spacers front & rear with extended bolts
- Lowered on Eibach Pro Kit
- Alcantara Steering wheel
- Intravee iPod kit
- CCFL Angel Eyes

Some photos from the day I purchased her. I will get some more when the weather improves and I get a chance to wash the car.

I don't have a lot of plans for her as of yet. Right now, I need to replace the passenger door actuator, get rid of the German plates and put back the chrome slats around the grilles.

Potential plans include:
- CSL bootlid
- Respray the wheels back to OE Silver (haven't made up my mind fully on this though)
- Some sort of airbox but that wont be happening for awhile

Words cannot describe how different the M3 is to the 325..it just feels so raw in comparison and the noise it makes once you go above 5k revs..it's addictive to say the least! More on this later!

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

Some old photos back when Dave owned it: really like the OEM Silver..i'm so undecided!

Mr Healy fitting the exhaust

 

[mike murphy]

Whatever about the colour of the wheels I'd def refit a csl bootdoor they really make a big difference to the car.

 

[cezar]

i love m3
very nice example..
good luck!

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

Whatever about the colour of the wheels I'd def refit a csl bootdoor they really make a big difference to the car.

Yes it's definitely on the cards anyway. I'm just enjoying the car as it is at the moment

 

[Big H]

Lovely indeed - well wear !

I'd leave the CSL wheels as is - they go really well with the car colour and give it a real stealth bomber look.

I'd leave the chrome slats off the grill too.

 

[Nige]

Beautiful car. Best of luck with it. I think it was great value aswell in that condition. Considering the extras, I'd almost call it a bargain!

 

[Bart]

Nice on Shane.. Nice bit of kit with it too. I'd leave it and enjoy for the moment.. But do remember boot lids will be NLA sooner rather than later

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

First wash

Right so today I was off work, so was lucky enough to get some decent weather to clean the car!

Wheels were a little dirty:

As were the exhaust tips:

Few bits to sort this out:

They cleaned up well with some AG Metal polish and steel wool:

Changed the grilles to chrome slats. Polished them up before hand. They look much better

Went for a spin down the road for some photos...

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

All cleaned up:

 

[Bart]

Wheels look well.... Take off the no plate surrounds

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

Rear surround will be coming off for definite..not sure about the front one though.

 

[barr-e30]

Looks great Shane best of luck with it, here's a few pics of it when I had it, spent more time cleaning the feckin thing than driving it,

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

Cheers Barry! I have to say, i'm loving the look of the OEM 19's. Might have to pick up a set:smile:

 

[Ford 2]

Must send you your burnout nomination

 

[Stevo]

Looks great Shane , all the best with it

 

[chillipepper]

Just got back into mine today after winter storage. Oil air and pollen filters picked up along with oil. Ben O Brien doing a service tomorrow and I'm on the road!!! Hopefully I'll put more than 1500 miles on her this year!

 

[john85cw]

what an absolute beauty of a car original alloys looked great on it

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

A few updates on this!

Left the CSL's with Chris as they are going back to OE silver finish.
To be honest, I really like the current finish, BUT I think I will prefer the silver. We'll see what happens

So I threw on the 18's in the meantime. Cleaned the rear arches while the wheels were off.

With the rear jacked up, we discovered that the diff has developed a slight leak. It's not really a major issue and seems to be a common problem with the M's. I picked up a 500ml bottle from BMW to keep me going in the short term. It took a little less than 100ml so it really is a slight weep.

Today I ordered all the seals, gaskets, washers etc. associated with the diff (including new fill and drain plug) and 1 litre of oil and I will be leaving the car in the capable hands of Valdas next week. Exhaust and diff have to come out and I just dont have the time at the moment to work on it.

I also picked up new wheel caps, M logos, dustcaps, M3 badge for the boot and some bolts and door clips too.

 

[318 IS Cosmos]

Right so this morning I collected the car from Valdas. All the diff seals were replaced and new diff oil replenished so no more leaks thankfully. Big thanks to him:nod:

Unfortunately, Valdas discovered the dreaded boot floor cracks on my car so I plan on getting this rectified in the summer as they aren't too bad yet. The subframe bushes can be replaced when this is getting done and I might aswell replace the rear brake lines too!

I also sent the CSL's to Wheel Wizards to get sprayed back to OE Silver. Collected them yesterday and fitted them to the car today. Got new badges, 'm' emblems and dust caps. I'll try and get some better photos tomorrow when (IF) weather improves

New caps

Arches cleaned and brakes

Voila

Thanks for looking