JohnH
11-06-2006, 11:39 AM
Well, sadly it's time to sell my 1997 M3 sedan, which I've owned for the past 5 years. It's been a great car that I've put a lot of love into. I've owned the car since it had around 45k miles on it. It's got approx. 106,000 miles on it at this time, and I've only been driving it about once a week since buying another car a little while ago.
This M3 is an Arctic Silver, 5-speed manual with black leather luxury interior, with the wood trim package and heated power front seats. I did replace the lux front grill slats with the black plastic mesh piece that comes on the sport package. It has staggered M-Contour wheels with Michelin PS2's all around. Summer tires have about 20k miles on them.
Over the years I have had the more major maintenance done at a local independent shop, such as a new clutch at around 95k miles, and new brakes (including new front calipers) about a year before that. Other than those items, I've done most of the lesser maintenance myself, such as a new water pump, thermostat, belts & hoses at around 95k miles. Ever since that first $100 oil change at the stealer :eek: I have changed my own oil every 3k miles with Mobil 1. The engine and transmission feel rock-solid. In fact I like the shifting feel in this car better than my E39 M5. I replaced the RTAB's using Koala's rental tool when I changed out the suspension, at about 90k miles. Changed the fuel filter and spark plugs (NGK Iridium) in summer of 06.
Mods/adds include: X-brace, ECIS intake (filter re-oiled once a year), Koni SA's, Eibach Pro-Kit springs, GC RSM's, clear corners, ZKW headlights with 4500k HID and Stongard on all front lights, two sets of floor mats (the new set has the M3 logo on them), factory keyless entry and alarm.
Exterior: There is no rust on this vehicle. The paint is in excellent shape other than a few stone chips on the hood near the front grilles, and about a 3-inch scratch where a piece of tire flew up from a car in front of me on the freeway and hit me on the front end near the right turn signal. There are also a few scratches on the underside of the side skirts where it appears a previous owner tried to drive over a curb or something. There is about a one-inch gouge on the front end between the left headlight and the kidney grilles, where it looks like someone pulled a hit & run on me in a parking lot. Not too noticeable from a distance but it's there so I thought I'd mention it.
I've used P21S wax and polish on it twice a year. I use Black Again on the trim about every other month, and Meguiar's Vinyl and Rubber treatment on the tires. In between washes I've used Griot's speed shine. The wheels are not perfect. Two of them have some curb rash but the other two are fine. There is also a full-size spare with one of the original Michelin Pilot Mxx3's on it in the trunk.
Interior: I used the 2-part Leatherique treatment on the seats this past summer, but before that I used Meguiar's gold class leather conditioner twice a year. There are the usual wear areas on the side bolsters (especially the driver's side) but not bad for a 9.5-year old car, especially after rejuvenating with Leatherique. I use Lexol Vinylex on the dash, and Griot's glass cleaner on the windows. I use a UVS100 sun shield in the front window year-round.
It has the 18-button OBC, which works perfectly, no display problems. The radio display, however, has the common "dim display" problem, where I need to re-flow some of the solder connections on the display board. I have the printed out instructions on the fix, and I bought a new resistor and light bulb to fix it but just haven't gotten around to doing it yet.
Living in Minneapolis, I have driven this car sparingly in the winter when the roads were clear and dry, on separate winter wheels and tires which are also available to the buyer if desired.
I'm asking $13,000. The car is located in Minneapolis, MN.
If interested, send me a PM and we can talk.
Thanks for looking. Here's a few pics for now, I'll try to get some more up later.
Edit: added more pics. Price reduced as of 1-17-07.
This M3 is an Arctic Silver, 5-speed manual with black leather luxury interior, with the wood trim package and heated power front seats. I did replace the lux front grill slats with the black plastic mesh piece that comes on the sport package. It has staggered M-Contour wheels with Michelin PS2's all around. Summer tires have about 20k miles on them.
Over the years I have had the more major maintenance done at a local independent shop, such as a new clutch at around 95k miles, and new brakes (including new front calipers) about a year before that. Other than those items, I've done most of the lesser maintenance myself, such as a new water pump, thermostat, belts & hoses at around 95k miles. Ever since that first $100 oil change at the stealer :eek: I have changed my own oil every 3k miles with Mobil 1. The engine and transmission feel rock-solid. In fact I like the shifting feel in this car better than my E39 M5. I replaced the RTAB's using Koala's rental tool when I changed out the suspension, at about 90k miles. Changed the fuel filter and spark plugs (NGK Iridium) in summer of 06.
Mods/adds include: X-brace, ECIS intake (filter re-oiled once a year), Koni SA's, Eibach Pro-Kit springs, GC RSM's, clear corners, ZKW headlights with 4500k HID and Stongard on all front lights, two sets of floor mats (the new set has the M3 logo on them), factory keyless entry and alarm.
Exterior: There is no rust on this vehicle. The paint is in excellent shape other than a few stone chips on the hood near the front grilles, and about a 3-inch scratch where a piece of tire flew up from a car in front of me on the freeway and hit me on the front end near the right turn signal. There are also a few scratches on the underside of the side skirts where it appears a previous owner tried to drive over a curb or something. There is about a one-inch gouge on the front end between the left headlight and the kidney grilles, where it looks like someone pulled a hit & run on me in a parking lot. Not too noticeable from a distance but it's there so I thought I'd mention it.
I've used P21S wax and polish on it twice a year. I use Black Again on the trim about every other month, and Meguiar's Vinyl and Rubber treatment on the tires. In between washes I've used Griot's speed shine. The wheels are not perfect. Two of them have some curb rash but the other two are fine. There is also a full-size spare with one of the original Michelin Pilot Mxx3's on it in the trunk.
Interior: I used the 2-part Leatherique treatment on the seats this past summer, but before that I used Meguiar's gold class leather conditioner twice a year. There are the usual wear areas on the side bolsters (especially the driver's side) but not bad for a 9.5-year old car, especially after rejuvenating with Leatherique. I use Lexol Vinylex on the dash, and Griot's glass cleaner on the windows. I use a UVS100 sun shield in the front window year-round.
It has the 18-button OBC, which works perfectly, no display problems. The radio display, however, has the common "dim display" problem, where I need to re-flow some of the solder connections on the display board. I have the printed out instructions on the fix, and I bought a new resistor and light bulb to fix it but just haven't gotten around to doing it yet.
Living in Minneapolis, I have driven this car sparingly in the winter when the roads were clear and dry, on separate winter wheels and tires which are also available to the buyer if desired.
I'm asking $13,000. The car is located in Minneapolis, MN.
If interested, send me a PM and we can talk.
Thanks for looking. Here's a few pics for now, I'll try to get some more up later.
Edit: added more pics. Price reduced as of 1-17-07.