Nick's garage

well, I post it in here as well:




My first car, was an EG8 with D15B2, almost stock.




I tried to keep it stock, since I was still in school. One day some a**hole backed into me.
After the cops arrived, he insisted that it was my fault andthat I rear-ended him... unfortunatelly
they believed him.




It took me some time, but I fixed it.




And it took me about a week to crash it again. This time it was my fault. Even tho I was driving really
slow and had almost new winter tires, the ice on the road was just everywhere. I've hit a lady in
her brand new Audi A6 and totalled it. I was going downhill, doing about 5mph, when I realized the car
wasn't responding. I've hit the brakes and tried to steer but it was too late to do anything. The hill
was just too steep and when I hit her, I was probably going somewhere around 15-20mph. Nobody was injured
during the accident, but as soon as she got of her car, she slipped and broke her leg.




After that, I've decided to move on. I bought a Mazda Xedos 9 (Millenia in states). It was an amazing car,
but it had too many technical problems, so I sold it a year later.








I've spent the next year with our company car, Skoda Fabia 1.4 TDi. Worst car ever...




I got rid of it, drove some more company cars (new Fabia, Skoda Octavia, Ford Mondeo etc.), had some rentals,
like Mazda BT50:








I got bored with cars I couldn't touch and "improve", so I've decided to fix the eg one more time.
We started to strip it down.






A few days later I was pretty much sure, I didn't want to deal with so much rust, so the car had to go.
You probably can't tell from those pictures, but almost the whole left side was gone. And the right side wasn't
much better.






So I went back to using a company car. My buddy bought an Opel Astra, but his car was always dirty as hell. One
night we decided to remind him to clean it:



an hour later:





And then, it happend. My other buddy crashed his bmw and I was helping him fix it.








I felt in love with that car, handling was amazing and I knew I had to buy one. 2 months later, I was a proud owner of
bmw e36 323i coupe. Amazing handling, decent power and awesome sound of 2.5liter straight-six engine.
















2 days after I bought it, it started to overheat. I wanted to kill myself... What's wrong? How is this possible? Will
I get my money back?...

As it turns out, it wasn't that bad. Old bmws had plastic water pumps and this one was simply too old. I've replaced it with
a metal one.




It was amazing. I've loved the car more than anything.




Also the bmw scene around here is awesome. I made many new friends,
went to almost every local meet I could find and almost every day I went for a ride just for fun. I tried to keep the car as
stock and clean as possible.

After a month, it was time to replace some bushings and other stuff and finally inspect the undercarriage closely. It didn't
look bad at all. Of course, there was some rust and a little oil leak (after all, the car was made in 95), but nothing serious.









The only bigger problem I had, was leaking water around the thermostat housing, but that was an easy an cheap fix.






A few weeks later, the interior looked like it needed to be cleaned.


























I started to feel like there's something wrong with my rear dampers, so out with the old, and in with the new.








I also wanted the car to look a bit younger, so I've replaced taillights and headlights + installed HIDs.














After that it was time to change engine oil, fuel filter and brake fluid.










Winter was coming, so I bought new tires as well.






Lucky me, the front brake piston broke. And I also needed a new brake line. (which was incredibly hard to replace without
taking the engine out)












During the winter I was probably having a bit too much fun with the snow, so I did some damage, but nothing serious.








I also bought I new co-driver




After the snow was gone, I bought new wheels (225/45 R17). They weren't exactly what I was looking for, but I got them almost
for free.




And that's it. I drove the car, did some maintenance and didn't take anymore pictures. Last fall I had make a tough decission.
I needed to pay off all my debts, so I could buy an apartment. The car had to go. I know it was the right thing to do, but
I miss the car every day. I had so much fun with it I can't even describe it. But oh well, that's life...

I've managed to live 2 months without a car, but when my buddy decided to sell the old Nissan Sunny his father used to own,
I couldn't resist. The car wasn't quick, but I've enjoyed it. It was some limited sport edition. And because it was really
light and most of the weight was in the front, It didn't take much to make it go sideways. Unfortunately I don't have
any pics of it. Maybe I'll take some later, since it's still sitting in my garage. I don't own it anymore, but since my buddy
has no use for it and doesn't want to get rid of it (it's probably the only thing he has left from his dad) I still drive it
sometimes.

 

Anyway, I knew I needed a bmw. I just couldn't imagine myself driving anything else. I knew, I couldn't afford anything new,
but I wanted to have fun again. After a few weeks of searching and almost giving up, I found something, I just couldn't
resist. The ad said "used BMW 5 series, V8 engine". I opened youtube and looked for some video just to hear the engine. I felt
in love in like 5 seconds. I had to buy it, no matter what.

I went for a test drive and loved it. The only problem I saw, was that the car had something around 220k miles. That's why it
was so cheap. I was scared of it, because it was a Steptronic, an automatic transmission with a sport mode and a manual shift function.
I've many horror stories about AT with this milleage. The car had a complete service history. But it's not uncommon in here,
that it's fake, so because I know a girl working in bmw, I took the VIN nr. and went to see her to check it. As it turns out,
it was even better than I thought. The car had a small accident a few years ago (just front bumper and one headlight) but the
previous owner was insane. He changed almost every worn out part on the car. No rust, perfect engine condition and an amazing bonus...
He installed a brand new transmission only 60k miles ago! With a smile on my face I went back and bought it. I'm pretty sure,
that if they knew how good the car was, they would double the price.

So here is my last car, BMW E39 535iA. It's a 3.5liter V8, nothing special, it needs work, but I wouldn't find anything better
for that price.








I drive it daily, even after almost a year I still jizz in my pants every time I hear the engine. I didn't have much time and
money to play with it, so I just did some maintenance. Changed all fluids, all filters, new tires etc.





There only one thing wrong, the valve cover gasket was really bad and it was leaking oil. It was a cheap fix, but not exactly
easy. I took me a few hours to figure out how to take it off without pulling the whole engine out. Since it's so big, there are
many things in the way. ABS, brake lines, fuel lines etc... I'll never do it again, next time I'll pay someone to do it.












And that's all for now. I have some plans with it for next year, but we'll see. I want to build a "drift car" and also
already have another bmw project in my mind, but I want to keep this one as my daily. It all depends on my job now, cos
it's not exactly cheap to drive a V8 daily. (but it's worth it... )





If you made it this far, I have a little "bonus" for you. Last video I've made with my old e36, the day before I sold it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hImSgOR4-uU


edit:
I almost forgot, I went to Germany a few weeks ago to test the top speed with a gps. 173mph isn't bad at all.

-Nick

 

Wow that is some thread! I lol'd at the toothbrush posing pic.

 

Wife is on the computer...I can't see all the pics on my iPhone. Will have to wait.

 

looks great!! bmws are amazing machines!!

 

hi,


nothing new, I just decided to drive the nissan this week, cos it's been sitting in the garage for a few months. So I took at least one pic with my phone: