Kevin Y's AW E92 M3 Journal

[kevinyong]

Figured I would make a thread here to just document the journey with my newly acquired M3. I've always been a fan of the M3 but it's always been just out of reach for me. Flashback to last September, I made the decision to sell my Civic Type R (FK8) and buy a 08' E92 M3 from a good friend of mine. It had higher mileage than what I wanted and more door dings/rock chips that I would have liked but he was meticulous with his maintenance and that's what gave me piece of mind in purchasing this car. And to be honest, I'm a bit OCD to the point where I'm always chasing perfection on my previous cars. To the point where I never actually drive them for the fear of them getting damaged. So it made so much sense to buy a drivers oriented car that already had its battle scars, and I could just enjoy it knowing that it's not perfect nor it is supposed to be.

Before I get to the M3, here's some photos of my previous cars.

2001 BMW 325i



1998 Acura Integra Type R




2014 Mazda 3


2007 Honda Fit Sport


2007 Honda S2000



2018 Honda Civic Type R




Now, onto the M3.

2008 BMW M3
127,000KM
M Drive
EDC
Folding side mirrors
Comfort access
Rear sun shade
Smoker package
Memory seating
PDC
Light package

The car also came with the following parts already installed:

M Performance steering wheel
ZHP shift knob
Eibach lowering springs
Black kidney grilles
OEM 359M wheels
DEPO LCI style tail lights
CCC retrofit

So far I've only really focused on maintenance and some very minor mods such as a GTS style lip, Mjunkee GTS armrest, thinkware F800pro dashcams, and matching alcantara boots. I don't have a potential mod list this time around as I just wanted to enjoy the car first. I tend to dive off the deep end right away and end up spending more time adding parts instead of just driving the car. So with that said, here's some photos of how the car sits today. Just your run of the mill alpine white E92 M3.

[kevinyong]

When I bought the car I noticed that the was a little bit of oil seeping from the valve covers. The easy option would have been to just replace the gaskets and call it a day but my paranoia from reading the forum and the FB group lead me to the decision of purchasing brand new OEM valve covers to avoid the risk of warping from refinishing and leaking again. Along with the new valve covers, I also purchased a set of Slon Workshop vanos covers since I was already going to be working in that area. Again, the horror stories on this forum scared me enough into picking up a set of the Slon covers. After about a month wait due to shipping, the covers arrived and the repairs could finally begin. It definitely wasn't cheap but the piece of mind was worth it for me.

The repair included replacing the following parts:
Valve covers
Spark plug tubes
NGK spark plugs
Drei bond
Camshaft position sensor orings
Cam sensor bolt
Crankcase vent valve seals
Timing cover gasket
Slon workshop vanos covers
Oil separator seal
Fuel breather valve
Thermostat
Coolant temp sensor
Power steering cover gasket
Coolant flush
Oil change

Excuse the photo dump below. I had to make sure I took enough photos of the valve covers and Slon covers before they get hidden.

[kevinyong]

Photo dump from a random pitstop on my way to work

[DanMpower]

Nice start on the maintenance items. You should also replace that oil cap with the newer style one, that's also a potential area for oil seepage. The car looks great and very nice photography work.

[wyatth]

Fantastic photos and a great way to kick off ownership!

Lived in Vancouver for 5 years, man I miss the food and boba in Richmond!

Pagani in back - SR Auto Group?

[Drifter2090]

Welcome! That FK8 is so nice!!

You're very similar to me, when I have a low km nicer car I always want to keep it nice and I end not driving it as much and get bored.

This time around on my 3rd M3 I got a 180k KM example, very well maintained. Hope to keep it longer and drive it more.

I always order a ton of parts when I first get a car too and it delays my driving and enjoying the car lol

Keep us updated!

[Helmsman]

Welcome onboard Kevin! WHat a great start. interesting stuff and good photos. Car also look lovely, can't see any of mentioned dents and scratches from here...:-

[SSied08]

Very nice!

[kevinyong]

Originally Posted by DanMpower

Nice start on the maintenance items. You should also replace that oil cap with the newer style one, that's also a potential area for oil seepage. The car looks great and very nice photography work.

Thanks for the tip on the oil cap. I'll look into it. I didn't see any seepage on the old valve covers with the cap so it never crossed my mind.

Originally Posted by wyatth

Fantastic photos and a great way to kick off ownership!

Lived in Vancouver for 5 years, man I miss the food and boba in Richmond!

Pagani in back - SR Auto Group?

Yea, Richmond is filled with good places to eat and drink.

Good eye, that is SR Auto Group. It's where I work.

Originally Posted by Drifter2090

Welcome! That FK8 is so nice!!

You're very similar to me, when I have a low km nicer car I always want to keep it nice and I end not driving it as much and get bored.

This time around on my 3rd M3 I got a 180k KM example, very well maintained. Hope to keep it longer and drive it more.

I always order a ton of parts when I first get a car too and it delays my driving and enjoying the car lol

Keep us updated!

Thanks! I loved the FK8, it was my pride and joy but the fact that I was too scared to get it damaged just drove me insane. So it made more sense to just let it go and find a drivers car that I don't have to nitpick over. I'm hoping to keep the M3 for a lot longer this time around.

Originally Posted by Helmsman

Welcome onboard Kevin! WHat a great start. interesting stuff and good photos. Car also look lovely, can't see any of mentioned dents and scratches from here...:-

I had the dents removed during my second week of ownership but recently just got another door ding which took off some paint as well. Not much you can do if you want to daily drive the car.

[BOOF-M3]

Congrats Kevin nice journal. This should be on the front page. Blackline oil caps are worth looking at. mashimarho has them on his website https://mashimarho.com/products/copy...tank-cap-cover

[MisterClutch888]

Originally Posted by wyatth

Fantastic photos and a great way to kick off ownership!

Lived in Vancouver for 5 years, man I miss the food and boba in Richmond!

Pagani in back - SR Auto Group?

You asked the perfect person related to SR.

kevinyong lets meet up with all other E9x when summer comes and have a cruise together. And as always, please bring your camera please. But most importantly, i need to find an E90 first

[kevinyong]

Originally Posted by BOOF-M3

Congrats Kevin nice journal. This should be on the front page. Blackline oil caps are worth looking at. mashimarho has them on his website https://mashimarho.com/products/copy...tank-cap-cover

Thanks for the advice. I'll do some research on those caps.

Originally Posted by MisterClutch888

You asked the perfect person related to SR.

kevinyong lets meet up with all other E9x when summer comes and have a cruise together. And as always, please bring your camera please. But most importantly, i need to find an E90 first

Lol, you have 4-5 months to find a E90. Plenty of time

[Beemer892]

Love the quality of the pictures!

[DirtyM3]

Beautiful car. Definitely a great start. I have to tackle my vanos as well. I have almost everything to attack this project. Going to redo my valve covers as the paint has chipped away from the oil cap leak.

[Rino924]

Car looks great, pics look great!

Look forward to following. Love your old ITR. I miss my 1997 ITR the most out of all the cars I've owned.

[kevinyong]

Originally Posted by Beemer892

Love the quality of the pictures!

Thanks! I need to find more time to take photos again. Used to do it all the time and then life got busy

Originally Posted by DirtyM3

Beautiful car. Definitely a great start. I have to tackle my vanos as well. I have almost everything to attack this project. Going to redo my valve covers as the paint has chipped away from the oil cap leak.

Thanks! This is how my old valve covers looked.

Originally Posted by Rino924

Car looks great, pics look great!

Look forward to following. Love your old ITR. I miss my 1997 ITR the most out of all the cars I've owned.

I definitely have moments of regret when I think about the ITR. It was such a great car but I was desperate for money at the time and it was the easiest thing to liquidate. Who would've known the values would sky rocket the way they have.

[Redd]

The valve covers are magnesium so be careful removing the original coating.

[kevinyong]

Originally Posted by Redd

The valve covers are magnesium so be careful removing the original coating.

I didn't reinstall the old flaking valve covers. I purchased new OEM ones.

[kevinyong]

[Rino924]

Originally Posted by kevinyong

I definitely have moments of regret when I think about the ITR. It was such a great car but I was desperate for money at the time and it was the easiest thing to liquidate. Who would've known the values would sky rocket the way they have.

I'm a Honda guy at heart. I have seriously considered getting the Mugen/Recaro fixed back for my car since it would kind of go with the melbourne red/bamboo seats. I'm sure people would hate a Mugen branded item in an M3 but I don't think I'd care lol

[kevinyong]

Originally Posted by yohan verdic

the M3 is great ! looking clean and sharp

Thanks

Originally Posted by Rino924

I'm a Honda guy at heart. I have seriously considered getting the Mugen/Recaro fixed back for my car since it would kind of go with the melbourne red/bamboo seats. I'm sure people would hate a Mugen branded item in an M3 but I don't think I'd care lol

Same. I debated installing them into the M3 after I sold my FK8. I still miss those seats.

[Rino924]

The sides look low enough that the belt going over the top isn't a problem?