My BMW M3 Evolution Imola Individual GT2 Journal

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So I have not seen the car for a good month. Been told by my mate she is under some dust and has a flat battery. I purchased these from BMW to tidy the rear side window seals up

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Went to see the car today.

This is what I was greeted with, looks OK from this far away



But when you get up close you can see the dust and fibres





So I did a couple things in preparation for tomorrow (if the weather is right) First things first, I removed the battery and put on charge as she was dead again.

Next up was replacing the drivers side front wheel arch.... As the car would not start and I couldn't be arsed to move it out I jacked it up but found I could not get it right up to remove the wheel so fitted the arch lining with the wheel on. It was prob as easy to do with the wheel on as off



And next up was some much needed fuel. This is the first fuel I have put into the car. And when did it cost the best part of £8 to fill a 5 litre fuel can!!!



I also did some research on this, it would cost a few pence off £80 to fill a E36 M3 fuel tank, and only 30p per litre is not tax!!! Robbing bds this country!!! The cheapest place to buy fuel would cost me under 50p for a tank of fuel! Rant over

I am trying to hunt down a new set of these as well...



Or can I just get the rubber bits on the sides as the main kick plate is in good condition?

I plan on getting her started tomorrow, out and cleaned down. I also plan on putting her on the road at the end of the month and use it on some dry days but will have to see how that goes

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WHAT A DAY!!!!

Today is the first time I have properly seen the car. I had all intentions of getting it out the garage and cleaning her down and getting back on track with the car.

So I removed the front splitter and GT corner splitters



Good to see genuine BMW items as well

After this I went to Halfords, got some satin black paint and returned to the car, put the battery on and decided to check the fluids before I started. I popped the bonnet and my heart sank! Jaw hit the floor.













I had a good look around and although was unlucky, must of been one of the luckiest people going... No electrics had been touched!!!! Just the pipe going to the washer jets and the washer bottle!

I did have views of just offloading the car. Such a kick in the nuts. after double checking everything, hovering the engine bay out and having a fire extinguisher to hand I turned her over and she fired fine. No issues with any electrics and the damage was not too bad

So I cracked on with taking the bits off the car and looking for replacement parts

Removed some bits





So I started with re-spraying the front splitters





Got the car out and started to wet her down. I am impressed with the wax I used. The water just fell off the car.



I jacked the rear up and cleaned the back arches out while cleaning her

And then my little helper turned up in her matching coat



Already a better driver than me.

I then got this one to work... bloody thing. Turned out it was just stuck



And some of her cleaned up and ready to go back in the garage



















And a couple my mate took with some setting on his camera

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Also just after I cleaned it and took some photos... a bird took a st all over the bloody thing! Someone is trying to tell me something I think.

I also took this little walk around video. You will have to click on it to watch it

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For some reason I cannot upload pics to this anymore?

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Whats that?

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I have been promising myself for a few momths now about putting her on the road. Just signed up to get her insured for the road :-) End of this momth she will be taxed and bought out to play.

£314 a year!!

Happy days

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Cheers guys. Looking forward to it now

I have been tempted with a E90 M3 but regrudge paying the tax on it

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I finally got the old girl on the road.

One tax disk, the last one this car will have due to the changes by DVLA



She started first time which was nice, drove her back to mine and had a look around the car. Everything looked in shape

A couple snaps of our BMWs before I cleaned the GT







And some after a clean and a drive. These photos are at Haynes Motor Museum just up the road from me. Spent a fortune tarting this place up, looks really good













And a couple videos of her being driven. Nothing crazy just getting her used to the road again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V8L6oBuH94&fe...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j40_wNrT2rc&fe...

I can also report back the car drove spot on! Think I have a very slight sticking caliper but could not hear it by the end of my 25 mile trip. Seems to pull as you would expect, handles well and no knocks or bangs.

Got a few looks and some numpty in a Toyota Corolla with a dump valve try it on. I just laughed at the fool. All in all... a good day

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They are doing away with the tax discs this year. All be electronic

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WARNING... PIC HEAVEY!

So walking home from work Thursday the weather looked nice, so took a gamble and went to get the M3. Got it home, loaded the family in and headed off for Weymouth/Portland in Dorset.

Car was faultless again, parked her up and off to the beach we went.

Couldnt help but take a photo of her parked next to the mundaine stuff we have on the roads now


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Just looks so cool in my eyes

Anyway we got some chips and headed up behind Porltand Prison where you can find this view!!


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We moved on to Portland Bill Lighthouse which is always nice. Weather was spot on!


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And on the way home I seen this sunset! Decided I had to get a photo of the car in there somewhere. Such a lovely evening


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So ended up taking the car to work Friday and out after for a blast. Ended up parking behind this


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Old and Older


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And today I popped into Haynes Motor Museum as something was on. Lots of police presence and some cracking kit they have to play with


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And this!!! Which is used by my local police. Gone have the days of getting away


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Noticed this in the carpark as well


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Had a quick clean over the engine bay today, still need to get the M Power cover painted.


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Cheers

Mark

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My opinion of the GTii.

As some will know, this is my third E36 M3.

I started off in a 3.0 Saloon in Cosmos Black. I was 19 at the time of purchase, the car had full BMW history and 95,000 on the clock.
My second was a E36 M3 Evolution Convertible in Estoril Blue and black leather. I was 26 when I bought this car. This car was a one owner Full BMW history with 107,000 on the clock.
And my current E36 M3 Evolution GTii with 115,000 on the clock. 30 years old when purchased.

I had so much control of the saloon, kicking the arse out and holding it was easy, you could put it anywhere you wanted. The chassie was perfect. No nanny in the 3.0 so spinning the wheels up in the lower gears was easy. Biggest downside to the car was no 6th gear and the bus like stearing wheel. I really did love this one, if I could have it back now in the condition I sold it in, I would. Would I have another 3.0 after the Evo? I think if I could find a black on black with a healthy engine then yes.. or a GT.

After covering 200 miles in the GTii over the last couple weekends I do think it is a better handling car than the other two, front end just stays where you want it and enough power to kick the arse out if you want it. Suspension is just the right mix of handling and comfort. The vadars, although look stunning really do not hold you in the seat that well... that said they are very comfortable and being full electric is a nice touch.
Biggest downer is that bloody nanny again. I honestly thing my third gear pulls better than 2nd When third is select the car really takes off but you are approaching 100mph in third and that is license loosing territory.

The convertible was the only one I didnt want to ring its neck, getting that roof down and listening to that straight 6 engine purr was lovely. Scuttle shack was the biggest issue but avoiding big pot holes would keep this down to a minimum. Car was faultless in my ownership and the mechanics showed it was a one owner full BMW service history car. Handling not as good as the other two but considering no roof it was more than capable of pushing through the country lanes.

The biggest issue with all of them. The slow stearing rack. I would love to have a quicker rack in this GT but trying to keep her OEM.

I am happy with the GT and the more I drive her, the quicker she feels. I am getting used to the engine and the revs needed to get her going.

Would I buy them all again... Yes I would, if I could have them all I think I would. All great cars with different positives and negatives.

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I want too but going to stay OEM. My old.Escort Cosworth stearing was so quick compared to this

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UPDATE:

I decided I would clean the washer bottle and fit to the car no thanks to the mice.

This is what it was like before


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And after a bit of elbow grease


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Time to fit it back on the car


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And as per bloody usual, nothing goes straight forward... Wrong connector on the sensor... Any ideas how to get around this? Can I replace just the sensor on the washer bottle or is it another washer bottle needed?


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Replacing the actual pipework was alot easier than I thought it was going to be. Just removed the pipework from the washer jets and gently pulled it out, pushed the new one back in which was easy and plugged it in. Had to use a couple cable ties to hold the cables up where the under bonnet cover would of have been.

Not put any water in it yet, making sure the connectors are 100% dry before I try that.

Just one a couple more things under the bonnet and we are done.

Can anyone tell me if this is supposed to have a bolt in?

This is the left hand side of the vanos


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Getting there now


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UPDATE:

OK been working hard on cars this weekend/week. Our 330i Sport had an alternator fail, so replaced that, noticed the Oil filter housing gasket pissing oil so replaced that, replaced the power stearing cap o ring and checked the car over.

After doing all of that in one evening, I get a phone call the day after from my mum telling me her alternator had failed on her E39!!! So removed that and waiting for the parts to arrive.

So between this I have managed to do a couple little bits to the GT.

I started with ordering

5 x vanos cover bolts
3 x o rings for the power stearing caps (One for our E46, the GT and my mums E39)

I fitted the washer bottle and found the sensor was incorrect, removed the old one from the old washer bottle

Removing the old one


20140618_185843 by mboon, on Flickr

Replacing with the new one


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And the sign I wanted...


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So that clears any errors on the check control.

Next up was the vanos bolt, sadly this has snapped off in the housing. It has snapped quiet far out so should be able to remove the casing and get a pair of plyers on the end of the bolt and turn it out.

Pics of the vanos bolts (I expected these to be bigger, and the o rings)


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A cheeky little MPG shot...


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My little girl riding shot gun with me


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Brave with these seats as well haha

And a couple shots of our BMWs being worked on


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And at last, I have got all the spare parts and cleaning stuff out of the boot


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I have still got to fit the power stearing cap o ring to stop that from leaking and clean the area.

Car needs a clean now as has been used a bit more because the Mrs car broke down. Cleaned and going back in the garage

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UPDATE:

OK one of the things that was not working... and that list is getting much smaller now, was the sunroof.

I cleaned the car and was in a "tinkering mood" so pulled the panel down on the sunroof motor cover and found the switch was not plugged in. Something in my head said text the previous owner and ask if this has been disconnected for a reason but in the end just went for it


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So plugged in, ignition on and pressed the buttom. Sunroof opened fine, closed fine, tilted fine. I thought this is spot on, must of just worked itself loose!! Wrong. Openeded it again and it clicked just before it fully closed, tilted the sunroof again and it opened about 1/2 an inch and stopped. Motor was still spinning but had come loose and clicking. I put the allan key in just to make sure and turned, nothing moved. Thought the cable had snapped or something and it was a sunroof out job.

Old motor


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I removed the old motor and found my problem


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This should be on the spindle


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And should sit in the hole on the left and spin the cables to make the sunroof move


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So I thought I would try the scrap yard as I wanted the car to be secure incase I wanted to use it... on the way to the scrap yard, this happened


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Admittedly I was hardly accelerating and reset when in motion but when I got back it was still around 36mpg which was nice. This Evo is more economical than our 330i.

So found my part in a touring which had a E46 on its roof and paid £10 Happy days! I also found a E38 (I think) 728i with 4 pot Brembo calipers on... anyone know if these will fit straight on the E36 M3? They looked really big! I liked.

Got home and fitted the part on the off chance it still worked (Expected to remove the cog and put onto my motor) and low and behold, it worked!

Plugged it all back in and bolted to position and made sure I was closing the roof just in case and it worked spot on I opened it right up and closed again and it made the clunk/metal on metal sound again about an inch before closing so left it closed and disconnected the button again, might just replace the cartridge at some point. It is not a priority at the moment.

New/old part fitted


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And it opened


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And a couple from up above


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Thanks

Mark

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Having serious thoughts of selling this car. Anyone got a decent spec 2010 plus 318d M Sport with a good spec (xenons, black leather, Nav) they want to swop?

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Been out at 10.30 polishing the car


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As we all know the car had been keyed in previous ownership and this has been driving me crazy. If I end up keeping the car I think it will get a full respray and new rubbers/seals etc.

So the scratch started off like this across the passanger front wing, door and rear quater. Down to the metal and I polished the car which has put white residue into the mark and made it look even worse.

Went to Halfrauds and found some of this stuff.


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Some photos of the key mark


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This was the first stage, putting the lipstick wax into the key mark


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And this was after a filled the marks and used the red polish over the top

Front wing


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Door


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Rear quater


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Overall


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Not bad for a tenner