I guess I should really create a thread for my Zed and mods so here's a pic to start off with. The plate has changed since as I got rid of the rest of my BM's and put my main plate on it. I've had it for over 11 years now and no intention of letting it go!
OK quick update/history of how the M came about before I start playing with some extras for the forum
I bought my first BMW at 21 ('92 E36 318 Cosmos Black) which got me into the whole BMW thing and never looked back. I found out that I could get a '99 316 Compact (the one with the 1.9 engine +a few extras) in on our company car budget so that was it, one was on the order books with my name on it. I don't think anyone else had bothered to check what they could get from BMW as they assumed it would be out of reach but my passion for them meant that was the first place i started looking. Anyway, that lead to the car being serviced regularly at BMW and a whole range of courtesy cars ensued. One day they offered me a 1.9 Z3. Until this point I hadn't been a fan of the model and also hadn't driven a rag top with the roof down before so I took the keys and off we went. That was it, loved it immediately and over a few years I got my hands on various versions, 2.0 and 2.8 but never an M
I had been hanging my nose over a Blue M in Sytner Leicester but the sales guy wasn't interested in showing me the car, pretty much pointed to it and said there it is if you want it, so that put me off for a while. Maybe it was the fact i was only 25 and didn't take me seriously but his loss. Then it was around September 2000 when we had the fuel crisis and the job I was on was too far away to get there and back on the fuel i did have so had the day off, shame. I did, however, have enough fuel to get to Sytner Nottingham as I had spotted a Black M Roadster up for sale and thought I might be able to blag a drive in it. I'd been looking at TVRs as well as I knew someone who sold them but they just didn't quite do it for me and i wanted something that would work when I wanted it to, not when it wanted to. Anyway, I went in scruffy jeans and T shirt to see what response I got compared to Leicester. The sales guy moved 5 cars out of the showroom (including a lovely Z8) so we could go for a run in the M :-bd . I think it was about an hour later and we shook on it, I couldn't quite believe it was mine. 5000 miles on the clock and never been out in the wet. Cosmos Black, Kyalami Orange/Black Leather, HK Stereo, wind deflector and I can't remember what other extras now but was awesome. It had been a demo car for a dealer and had one owner since so I was number 3.
Since then I have added:
Tarox fast road discs and pads (when ordering them the guy said, "now they do squeal a fair bit when cold and some people complain about that", I said, "I don't care as long as they don't fade and stop quickly" to which he replied, "excellent that's the kind of answer we like!")
Hamann Pedals
Strong Strut
Aerial has gone from the rear wing (used to bug me flapping about in the corner of my vision at times)
HK Sub removed and new one installed
Pioneer head unit installed (one of the pro series and can't remember the model now )
Boot rack - needed to get my kneeboards and wakeboards transported about - drilled and fitted it myself
Chrome door handles
Shadow Chrome wheels
Chrome door pins and light switch
Goodyear eagle F1's which I always run on everything I have had since my first E36
Drinks holder from my old E36 which fits in nicely but need to add an arm rest now
Tracks I've taken it on:
Bruntingthorpe - not a track as such but still worth a mention as had it flat out on the limiter.
Cadwell Park - standard M discs only lasted one or two laps at the most, tyers were bubbling after a couple of laps drifting about too
Donnington Park - Can't remember the name of the corner but the one on to the straight with the Dunlop bridge (which has probably gone now) was awesome, 3rd gear as far as i remember and accelerate all the way through and the car just drifts on the line perfectly to the outside with little steering intervention.
Full BMW service history right up until this year. The last two visits to the stealer were very disappointing as they had no idea what they were doing with the car which worried me a lot so now found what seems an excellent specialist in Lincoln who did the oil service this year. It's a family business and they have been servicing BMWs for many years, I found one recommendation from a guy that used to drive from Kent to take his 5 series back there. They had plenty of high end BMWs outside when I went which was good to see, some very recent models too. They checked everything and complimented me on the condition of the car. Much more comforting than being amused by the "Retro key fob" at the Soper Dealership in Lincoln after trying to connect the 3GS alarm to their computer and being puzzled as to why it didn't bring up any diagnostics, followed by telling me i needed to rip out the whole alarm system as there was nothing they could do (there is much more to this story which is quite amusing now but wasn't a happy chap at the time!). A simple adjustment of the bonnet switch stop fixed the problem they were looking, or not looking for.
That's a brief overview of the 11 years of fun
(Sorry for any typos and grammar errors - was done in a rush so i'll check it later) #:-s
Back to seeing what modifications everyone wants to the forum and see which ones I can do quickly with little effort
OK quick update/history of how the M came about before I start playing with some extras for the forum
I bought my first BMW at 21 ('92 E36 318 Cosmos Black) which got me into the whole BMW thing and never looked back. I found out that I could get a '99 316 Compact (the one with the 1.9 engine +a few extras) in on our company car budget so that was it, one was on the order books with my name on it
. I don't think anyone else had bothered to check what they could get from BMW as they assumed it would be out of reach but my passion for them meant that was the first place i started looking. Anyway, that lead to the car being serviced regularly at BMW and a whole range of courtesy cars ensued. One day they offered me a 1.9 Z3. Until this point I hadn't been a fan of the model and also hadn't driven a rag top with the roof down before so I took the keys and off we went. That was it, loved it immediately and over a few years I got my hands on various versions, 2.0 and 2.8 but never an M I had been hanging my nose over a Blue M in Sytner Leicester but the sales guy wasn't interested in showing me the car, pretty much pointed to it and said there it is if you want it, so that put me off for a while. Maybe it was the fact i was only 25 and didn't take me seriously but his loss. Then it was around September 2000 when we had the fuel crisis and the job I was on was too far away to get there and back on the fuel i did have so had the day off, shame. I did, however, have enough fuel to get to Sytner Nottingham as I had spotted a Black M Roadster up for sale and thought I might be able to blag a drive in it. I'd been looking at TVRs as well as I knew someone who sold them but they just didn't quite do it for me and i wanted something that would work when I wanted it to, not when it wanted to. Anyway, I went in scruffy jeans and T shirt to see what response I got compared to Leicester. The sales guy moved 5 cars out of the showroom (including a lovely Z8) so we could go for a run in the M :-bd . I think it was about an hour later and we shook on it, I couldn't quite believe it was mine. 5000 miles on the clock and never been out in the wet. Cosmos Black, Kyalami Orange/Black Leather, HK Stereo, wind deflector and I can't remember what other extras now but was awesome. It had been a demo car for a dealer and had one owner since so I was number 3.
Since then I have added:
Tarox fast road discs and pads (when ordering them the guy said, "now they do squeal a fair bit when cold and some people complain about that", I said, "I don't care as long as they don't fade and stop quickly" to which he replied, "excellent that's the kind of answer we like!")
Hamann Pedals
Strong Strut
Aerial has gone from the rear wing (used to bug me flapping about in the corner of my vision at times)
HK Sub removed and new one installed
Pioneer head unit installed (one of the pro series and can't remember the model now
)Boot rack - needed to get my kneeboards and wakeboards transported about - drilled and fitted it myself
Chrome door handles
Shadow Chrome wheels
Chrome door pins and light switch
Goodyear eagle F1's which I always run on everything I have had since my first E36
Drinks holder from my old E36 which fits in nicely but need to add an arm rest now
Tracks I've taken it on:
Bruntingthorpe - not a track as such but still worth a mention as had it flat out on the limiter.
Cadwell Park - standard M discs only lasted one or two laps at the most, tyers were bubbling after a couple of laps drifting about too
Donnington Park - Can't remember the name of the corner but the one on to the straight with the Dunlop bridge (which has probably gone now) was awesome, 3rd gear as far as i remember and accelerate all the way through and the car just drifts on the line perfectly to the outside with little steering intervention.
Full BMW service history right up until this year. The last two visits to the stealer were very disappointing as they had no idea what they were doing with the car which worried me a lot so now found what seems an excellent specialist in Lincoln who did the oil service this year. It's a family business and they have been servicing BMWs for many years, I found one recommendation from a guy that used to drive from Kent to take his 5 series back there. They had plenty of high end BMWs outside when I went which was good to see, some very recent models too. They checked everything and complimented me on the condition of the car. Much more comforting than being amused by the "Retro key fob" at the Soper Dealership in Lincoln after trying to connect the 3GS alarm to their computer and being puzzled as to why it didn't bring up any diagnostics, followed by telling me i needed to rip out the whole alarm system as there was nothing they could do (there is much more to this story which is quite amusing now but wasn't a happy chap at the time!). A simple adjustment of the bonnet switch stop fixed the problem they were looking, or not looking for.
That's a brief overview of the 11 years of fun
(Sorry for any typos and grammar errors - was done in a rush so i'll check it later) #:-s
Back to seeing what modifications everyone wants to the forum and see which ones I can do quickly with little effort
