[greyflyer]

New member here saying hello and asking for a little input. Say you have a '98 M3 in virtually 100% stock, clean condition. Say you just sold off some stuff and have around $500 to play with. What would you do?

It still has the original water pump and plastic bridge pipe, so those are definitely going to be replaced asap. (can't believe how cheap BMW parts are, totally different world for me) Also the brake pads are due, Akebonos going in. Beyond that it's a "needs nothing" car, so it's toy time.

Euro sport steering wheel, recovered by Tainik?
Cat-back?
SSK?
Intake?

I'll probably get to all of them over time, but this is round 1.

Oh and a few more questions. What's the best oil to use? And the best exhaust? Who makes the best headlights? What's my car worth? How much power can I expect from changing the blinker fluid? I'm sure I'll come up with more.

[greyflyer]

Oh and here's the supermodel in question. Hope she's less temper-mental than the last one.

[enderw88]

Originally Posted by greyflyer

New member here saying hello and asking for a little input. Say you have a '98 M3 in virtually 100% stock, clean condition. Say you just sold off some stuff and have around $500 to play with. What would you do?

I would pocket the money and wait at least six months, so you can discover all the things the PPI didn't turn up...that is of course if I didn't spend $600 upgrading my cooling system with stewart water pump and a good radiator.

[greyflyer]

Originally Posted by enderw88

I would pocket the money and wait at least six months, so you can discover all the things the PPI didn't turn up...that is of course if I didn't spend $600 upgrading my cooling system with stewart water pump and a good radiator.

LOL. PPI. er...it consisted of me looking under the car and saying "yep that's a car." Let the begin.

[enderw88]

Originally Posted by greyflyer

LOL. PPI. er...it consisted of me looking under the car and saying "yep that's a car." Let the begin.

Mostly what mine consisted of as well. It has been an adventure. My car's PO was quite the ghetto engineer and I keep finding presents in the electrical system...

[FrankMM]

Maybe spend some of the dough on a proper inspection. Then you'll know what you've got.

[egebhardt]

There are at least 20 maintenance items you are missing. If this "perfect" car has anywhere near 100,000 miles on it, you've got some work ahead. Spend now in preventative work, or spend a lot more later.

[greyflyer]

I bought it with 49k miles and a stack of maintenance records two inches thick. I know what everyone says, but believe it or not there's damn little this car needs. Yeah I said it. Probably regret it too. Where's a piece of wood when I need it?

I should mention this isn't my first rodeo and I do all my own work, so I know pretty well what I'm looking for. I also had a couple M3-proficient friends give me a hand before buying it. This is a car a BMW dealer would have on their lot, even at 14 years old. If it needs something maintenance-wise, I'll take care of it no question about it, and I do things the right way the first time. Too many (ugly) lessons in the past!

Back to the question, what toy would you buy?

[MMMGP]

Shortly after picking up my sedan at 68k miles, I found a used Dinan cat-back on Craigslist for under $300. It weights about 40lbs less than stock and has a very deep low tone.

[enderw88]

Originally Posted by greyflyer

I bought it with 49k miles and a stack of maintenance records two inches thick. I know what everyone says, but believe it or not there's damn little this car needs. Yeah I said it. Probably regret it too. Where's a piece of wood when I need it?

That's a horse of a different color. You may have gotten the deal of the century. I would spend my money on suspension, but $500 doesn't really go very far with these cars.