My E36 evo goes ifor full respray today...

[VinceFox]

So i had three choices, go for an e46 m3 for a bit more, go for a 996 for quite a lot more, or keep my estoril evo coupe and give it a spruce. Tightarse that i am i chose the third option.

Some before pics, for posterity...











Alternating between excited to see results and wondering if i'm mental for sinking money into an old car at the moment. Hope it looks ok :s

[vsonix]

I felt a bit like that when I got my two done, especially since the cost of body work very quickly mounts up to the value of the car! Maybe less so with an M3 but certainly with other E36s. However they look so much better now and at least you feel a bit more like you belong at meets and shows when your car is looking nice and minty-fresh.

[vsonix]

however, you will cry real tears every time you hear a stonechip hit you, drive over a top-dressed road or pass a gritter.

[VinceFox]

Î had my capri bare metal resprayed years ago and then put it in the garage and never used it again. Got to try and strike a better balance with this.

I've man mathsed this as actually saving me money. The car owes me next to sod all (gave 3500 for it four or five years ago) and the spray job isnt cheap, but not ballbreakingly expensive. Sprayer has an m3 so hopefully sympathetic to it.

The bill for trim clips and stuff is mounting up tho!

[vsonix]

If it was me I'd consider having the arches properly done at the same time. Fit any wheels up to about ET10, remove the classic Arch rust traps at the same time. If the chap knows his stuff, the body won't appear any different at all. Except I am guessing you probably want to leave yours standard...

[VinceFox]

The arches themselves are really solid, that pic is a bit misleading. It'll be right when it comes back and i'll be treating and sealing everything very thoroughly before it turns a wheel.

[melvster]

Looking forward to the outcome..... it could be a smart move as E36 M3's are getting so hard to find in tip top condition..... their time will arrive and prices will increase eventually.

[VinceFox]

melvster said:

Looking forward to the outcome..... it could be a smart move as E36 M3's are getting so hard to find in tip top condition..... their time will arrive and prices will increase eventually.

Cheers melv, yeah so i keep hearing. Mine looked reasonably straight before, just think past a certain age they need to be mint. I'm a fussy git like that.

[melvster]

I just hope they don't jump up too much in value before i can get my mits on one Hope next summer i can get into one.

[bmthnick1981]

I think you are doing the right thing, good ones of these are beginning to creep up in value now.

Who is doing the work?

[VinceFox]

bmthnick1981 said:

I think you are doing the right thing, good ones of these are beginning to creep up in value now.

Who is doing the work?

Nuffield body. Seems to be pretty good, i've looked round a couple of his cars and theyre pretty well done. I'll stick more pics up when i get it back.


You done any of these recently?

[Leins]

You've definitely made the right decision IMO, best of luck with it

A certain degree of man maths are required here I think i.e. all you're doing is investing the guaranteed future increase in value of these cars so as to help ensure there's a guaranteed future increase in value of these cars

[VinceFox]

Leins said:

You've definitely made the right decision IMO, best of luck with it

A certain degree of man maths are required here I think i.e. all you're doing is investing the guaranteed future increase in value of these cars so as to help ensure there's a guaranteed future increase in value of these cars

You can't argue with that. That's science.

[Output Flange]

Wise decision to have it sprayed.

I had mine done back in the days when they were worth buttons, and the respray cost more than the car.

They do look good when they're done though:



>goes off to classifieds<

[VinceFox]

My favourite colour, that's what i wanted.

What's the drop on that one?

[Output Flange]

Can't remember to be honest - it was on Intrax coilovers at that point (quite a few years ago now).

[e46acs]

They look soooo much better without the spoiler....

[VinceFox]

Aye, mine came with a mint estoril rainbow spoiler but i still wanted it off. They really date the car badly.

[sparks_E39]

Have seen you driving around Poole a couple of times, I already thought it was one of the tidiest looking M3's I've seen, so looking forward the outcome. Also If that place in Nuffield is good I may use them for some paintwork too, as I live a couple of minutes away.

[VinceFox]

sparks_E39 said:

Have seen you driving around Poole a couple of times, I already thought it was one of the tidiest looking M3's I've seen, so looking forward the outcome. Also If that place in Nuffield is good I may use them for some paintwork too, as I live a couple of minutes away.

Cheers sparks, i'll let you know how the job turns out.

Mine had looked ok, but needed a lot of attention just to look passable. The paint was very tired and had a lot of stone chips. There were a few tiny bits of grot starting to creep in, so hopefully now it'll look soooooooper shiny and straight.