Turning wrenches.

Since buying my M3, I didn’t do much outside of maintenance besides the headliner restoration. I never really thought about modifying this car because I wanted to enjoy the car as it would have come from the factory. Because of this, I finally set out to put the car as close to its original spec as possible.

One thing about the car I did not like was the drop-in HID kit along with the aftermarket angel eyes that did not even work. Not only did the HID kit’s output blinded other drivers, but the wiring was subpar, with a lot of the wiring being hastily tucked into areas of the engine bay. I decided that it was time to address these things.

Facebook marketplace scores. These were polished before going in.

I need to have more pictures with Gilbert. After Enzo left this dimension, I feel like I should have taken more pictures with him.

After taking a look at the tail end of the car, I was very happy to have the car how it would have been when it rolled off the dealer lot in 1997. My friend asked to photograph the car as part of his project, so I obliged. I’ll be covering that in an upcoming post.

A year with one of my dream cars.

Last year, I had earned enough money from buying and selling cars. After some late nights exploring Craigslist, I found out that the E36 M3 was now within reach. I was specifically looking for a manual sedan, or the M3/4/5 as it’s known in enthusiast circles. I spent the next month looking for a nice example in my budget and even went to look at some coupes. I found a very clean example with 141,000 miles, but because the pricing was out of the budget I had set for myself, I book marked the car to keep an eye on it. Within a couple of days, the price was lowered to the point where it was within a stone’s throw of my budget.

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Picture from the original ad.

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Picture from the day of the test drive.

I looked through every picture that was in the ad. It appeared to be a Luxury Package car, as seen in the side skirts and in the interior’s wood trim. After much back and forth in my head, I emailed the owner, and scheduled a time to meet up on a Sunday. I met with him, Harold, and we went for a drive around the San Francisco State University campus. Harold told me that he had purchased an S2000 and that he only had room for one fun car. When we returned, he pulled a folder with records going back to 1997. This was not featured in the original ad, so it was a pleasant surprise. It highlighted everything from yearly registration to transmission services. It was not without its faults - the car is missing the Luxury Package lower grille, missing wood trim around the shifter, and sagging headliner. With all of this, I gave Harold an offer that I figured was fair and stuck with it. Because I was under his asking price, and we went our separate ways.

A couple of hours later, Harold rings me up, we agree on a price, and we schedule for a time for the sale. The following Monday, I obtained a cashier’s check, met with him at my office, and we made the exchange. I drove it straight home and detailed the car. Thankfully, the car was well taken care of, so I did not have to do any iron decontamination or compounding.

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Downtown San Mateo.

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The trim must be removed to pull the headliner.

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This was the hardest part of the job.

I have done a number of restorations since then, including fixing the headliner and sourcing the incredibly hard to find Luxury Package trim around the shifter. The car has been reliable, with the only issue being the brake light switch throwing a fault and then being replaced. I’ve put roughly 3,000 miles on the car since taking ownership and while I’ve enjoyed my ownership, I’m wondering what to do next. I’ve been considering selling it via Bring a Trailer as this is the type of car that does well on that site. However, after this COVID-19 pandemic, I figured I’ll drive the M3 more and revisit the idea later this year.

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Fixing odds and ends

The reason I picked up this Corolla was for the ease of access of parts through my place of work. What I did not realize was that these are a dime a dozen at the local junk yards. I had to fix the cracked tail lights as well as the torn driver’s seat. I was lucky in that there was a Corolla S in the yard that day with the interior still present. You see, the S trim had a black interior, so not just any plain Jane Corolla would do.

Rather than purchase the entire driver’s seat, I took the bottom section. It was much cheaper to do this.

Pretty straight forward. The Corolla is pretty much ready to be sold, although I do not currently have a beater to leave in bad areas and parking garages. Perhaps I’ll restore more of it and hold on to it for a bit longer.

My first non-Honda in years.

I’ve always been a fan of basic cars. Compact, low-horsepower cars with simple running gear and an inviting aftermarket. Because of the aftermarket component, my taste skewed to Hondas. After having started at San Francisco Toyota, I was being teased–in good fun, of course–for not owning a Toyota. After some research, I decided I’d purchase an 8th generation Corolla and ended up with a clean title, 170,000 mile Corolla S.

The Corolla is in decent shape. There’s some sections that have been re-painted, but overall, you wouldn’t know it unless you were told to look. With this project, I’m looking to just keep it clean and close to original spec, something that I’ve been known. I’m looking forward to learn from this car, despite putting my other projects on the back-burner.