Welp. Pretty much what the subject says. I’ve been mulling over fun cars for nice days up here a while, and have been looking at roadsters. A customer of mine pulled up in a BMW z3 and we started chatting about it. I told him I’d never considered a z3 because I didn’t think I’d fit. He offered to let me take it for a test drive and wow, it was a blast and I for perfectly! He was trying to sell it to me but it was an auto and if I’m going this far I might as well go the whole way!
Tried to get someone to cannonball run it with me from Florida to Washington in 3 days but my friends are weenies and I don’t have 5 days to do this on my own unfortunately. Shipping it to Washington, then will fly down and drive it onto ferry in Bellingham
I am looking into how to circumvent my local chemical distributor because they are just awful. If I can find a way to barge it, have them use a forklift to put it on a flatbed trailer, i just might do that because they are just the effing worst.
Sienna is what the better half wants. Awd hybrid. Told her well get her one this upcoming summer. Have about half saved up for it currently. Man they are EXPENSIVE
That engine in those is great. Inline 6, sucker will last 250k miles and has plenty of pep for that car… Same one as I have in my 02 530i. One of the best engines ever built by anyone. All the Z3’s were made right here in Greenville. I had a prototype of the M version of it back in 99. You’ll have fun with it. Looks like some old guy has had garaged and not driven much. The only thing with them is the rear window is vinyl so they get cloudy after awhile as most convertibles from that time were.
The top is brand new so I might have to wait a while for it to cloud up. Im wondering if it’s got the zip in windows or not. I have seen some videos of guys bugging out those cloudy windows with some sort of compound. Not sure. Havent seen it in person yet it’s supposed to be arriving in Washington around the 21st.
I bet that m was a lot of fun. When I test drove that other z3 I had a grin on my face that didn’t go away for like 2 days it was such a blast. I had a Miata probably 13 years ago for a week before I was hit by a drunk driver in a truck but it was so anemic. This 3.0 definitely has some more grunt. From what I’ve seen this engine and car in general is relatively easy to work on as BMWs go.
Nice car, I’ve never driven one but they look like a blast. That engine is super reliable, but also pretty easy to work on if you need to. I had a 2001 330xi that had about 200k on when I sold it. Dipstick tube had a slight leak, alternator needed replaced, and I rebuilt the DISA valve in the intake. That was the only issues I ever had with it. Sold it and got a 2008 328i that I ran to about 180k and now for the past 5 years I’ve been driving a 340 M-sport. Absolutely love the way BMWs drive! My 340 has a stage 2 93 octane tune with catless downpipe and makes about 420hp to the wheels. Love the B58 engine so much I got the wife an X7 with it.
Nice! Congrats. Wish I’d known - I would have done a cannonball run with you - I’m in GA and Florida is a hop and a skip - I have a lot of time right now
Probably not long at all the good news is that I am renting space from a guy who works on performance cars for at least the winter in his shop to store my box truck that’s climate controlled and am getting to be pretty friendly with him. I might be able to pre emptively swap some different stuff out on her like bushings and such to keep the trunk welds from popping out, cooling system, etc. And have someone that knows what they are doing watching me struggle, but that’s how you learn
I always anticipate the worst. That way I’m pleasantly surprised. I think it’s just the way I think. I try to be a million steps ahead of disaster, and living up here, at least have the parts on hand so I don’t have to wait 3 years for them to get here when I need them
2001.
