IT'S NOT OVER.
On 6/6, I was hesitant to build another E36 street car, M3 clone or not. Well, on 6/10, my wife found a house listing that included a 2-car oversize garage for daily drivers, along with a workshop with 2 car bays and another bay for lawn tractors/motorcycles, all with its own separate driveway from the daily driver garage. The price was low enough that a "last and best" bidding war ensued, and we came out on top. Meanwhile, I also changed jobs, landing a position that not only requires more field work (something I've been looking forward to, got tired of being trapped in the office) but is 20 minutes from the new place. The new place would have moved us another 10-15 minutes away from my old job, which was already 1 hour/50 miles one-way to begin with.
Once the dust settled, I started thinking about how to enjoy my daily commute again. My wife's Mazda3, reliable and TFL-approved as it is, was not cutting it. So I asked myself what I wanted to get. I'd like a Mk7 GTI, with LSD and leather (so, and SE or Autobahn), but those are approaching $30K OTD, even used. I've already done the WRX thing, and I don't want to get into another Miata just yet. Earlier iterations of the GTI also weren't doing much for me either.
Which brought me back to the E36. One of the things I loved about my car was that it never let me down because it always gave me enough warning (head gasket windows, brakes, hubs) that something wasn't happy. The interior was comfy and had everything (Bluetooth, heated seats, working A/C) that I want. The only bad thing about my current one, was the creeping rust and of course, the accident that re-branded the title and made it subject to CT inspections - a process that I really didn't want to get into bed with.
So, I started looking for any E36. I still preferred the sedan, so my search was limited to sedans. I was open to any color, but found I wanted to keep to the silver on black of my current car.
After a while, I came across a silver sedan in Westchester, NY. It just so happened I was going to be down there for a Global Entry interview at JFK, and then pick up a chest freezer from my grandparents' house. So, I hooked up the car trailer in case we struck a deal, and hit the road in the trusty Frontier...at 4AM. You can probably already guess what happened next.
It's a 1998 M3 sedan, 203K and best of all - CLEAN TITLE. I splurged for the M3 because while I could have swapped the axles, diff, hubs, etc. from my current car...why not get one that's already got all that? This one also has a Schrick intake manifold, Dinan intake, 3.5" MAF (which is currently throwing a CEL) and couple other goodies. The car spent a good amount of time in a rust free climate (IIRC according to the seller, the car was in CA? before it was in NJ for the majority of its life) so it has very little rust. The car also doesn't leak any fluids, starts right up, and runs smooth.
So, why was it in my budget for a relatively-cheap shell? Well, first, it's auto. The transmission is fine, but it's still an auto sedan which limits its desirability. It has had a single owner, but he was mixed in his level of astuteness in terms of his care - he took care of it, but was also not afraid to mess with it. The car has had a couple spoilers in its life, and wears its warts proudly. The front and rear panels have been touched up, badly. He put terrible-quality heated M3 rep side view mirrors with turn signal repeaters, again badly painted. The staggered Contours have a pretty hectic bend in the front right - at least the tires and newer and hold air. The interior is a bit rough and wears a fair amount of sun damage. And the suspension is shot.
But...
All of those things can be solved with parts from the old car. For now, I might stick the motor and trans (with a new clutch) from the old 1997 car, even though the 1997 has more miles on it and doesn't have the Schrick/Dinan goodies on it. It's a known quantity with me, and thus I know what's done to it. The 1998 motor looks clean (seller had some pics from under the valve cover) and runs such that it will be a good back up motor - or, would be a good donor for my buddy's recently-acquired E36.
The Dove interior will be swapped out for the black. The stereo in the 1998 will be ripped out for the 1997 one as well. Both cars have sagging headliners, so something will have to happen there too.
As far as the mechanicals, I'll probably swap pads and clean up the rotors from the 1997 car and put them on the 1998. The Schnitzers will go back on as well, although I'd like to re-finish them again in either a darker grey or a lighter silver (probably the latter). Being an auto, the diff should still be a 3.15, don't know if it's an LSD though, have to check the tag. The 1997 car had a 3.15 LSD in it as well. The 1997 also had poly bushings in the rear, but we'll see how much I want to swap subframes. The front bushings and control arms will probably swapped in from the 1997 as well since they're a known quantity. For starters, the old Bilsteins and H&R cup kit will go in from the 1997, but eventually I'd like to run a coilover system, or at least refresh the shocks since they're on the old side.
But enough with the words...let's get to the pictures!
