In June 2004 my first car, and first BMW, was an E36 3 Series, a 1995 318i LSD (09/95 prod. date) Calypso Red Metallic.
I paid $5,500 and it came with 132,009 miles. I knew little about BMW Stealerships and by the end of that summer I had spent $3,000 at BMW Of Manhattan fixing and replacing everything that I thought was broken, dirty, and wrong on that car which I later found out would have cost me $500 DIY’ing it myself. I was in my early 20's living alone and didn't know any better until August 2004 when I discovered an amazing thing called the BMW Forums. By August of 2008, as I result of the forums, I completed over 30 various maintenance projects, modifications and upgrades to the original car. This included a full retrofit of all the door panels and seats to leather, roller blind sunshade, bluetooth/sirius/mp3 cd head unit and cd changer, cupholder lights, upgrade to premium speakers, etc...)
SEE MODS HERE:
http://directory.e46fanatics.com/use...rMod&UcId=7918
Sadly the last weekend of that August my car was total is a front end collision with a unlicensed but fully insured drunk driver. The car was gone but by the end of that weekend I was out the hospital and holding a large check from the insurance company to buy myself a new car. This was the end of one chapter but the beginning of a new chapter. The E46 Chapter.
A month later in September 2008 using the funds from the accident I paid full on a 2001 330i E46 sedan (06/01 prod. date).
It was Topaz Blue Metallic and came to me from the original owner with only 37,035 miles. This car was much newer and much more powerful than the E36 but there was a lot that needed to be modified before I would be happy.
By January of 2016 I had performed nearly 100 DIYs and Mainatance Projects and Upgrades to this car. These included under the hood work such as oil filter gaskets, Stewart Water Pump, cooling system overhaul, Alternator/battery, fan delete, belts, etc... I also did in-Cabin OEM upgrades to bring in OEM Navigation, SiriusXM Satellite radio with Full Lifetime Package, Intravee 2 iPod, Aux-In, Rear Electric Sun Blind, Rear Cup Holders, EuroTray, Homelink SOS Compass Mirror, Heated Steering Wheel, Shift Paddle M Sport Steering Wheel, DCT Shifter, Full BMW Bluetooth Retrofit w/ Voice Command, etc...
SEE MODS HERE:
http://directory.e46fanatics.com/use...rMod&UcId=7917
That brings me to my E90 chapter. This year after 8 great years in my E46 I decided to sell the car for what was initially going to be a 2011 - 2013 535i xDrive. But I couldn't find one that I wanted and with a new baby in my home and the fact that me and my wife want to buy a bigger house this year I decided to spend less on a car. We have a 2015 Mercedes GL SUV that we lease so there was no need to have two expensive vehicles parked in front of our Condo. So I picked up my third 3 series a 2011 335i xDrive Deep Sea Blue (04/11 prod. date).
Car came to me from it's original owner with 42,600 miles on the clock on my birthday March 3rd, 2016. So far I've done only a few modifications to this car with much more to come.
SEE MODS HERE:
http://directory.e46fanatics.com/use...Mod&UcId=20832
