$12.5k Alpine White E90 M3 Rescue l 6MT Mini Restoration and Refresh

I stumbled upon this deal through a friend who works at a dealer and got this car in on trade. They know I am an E90 fanatic although they said they would not touch this car with a 10' pole, they know I would.

The previous owner(s) clearly enjoyed driving it, but cosmetically it has been neglected for years. The paint was heavily swirled, the interior needed a lot of attention, the headliner was sagging, and it was obvious the car deserved better. Mechanically the car was solid, so I knew it had a solid foundation. I decided to bring it back to life instead of letting it go to auction.

The goal of this thread is just to share and document a mini restoration- not a full concours build, but a careful refresh to make the car look and feel the way an E90 M3 should.

Car Specs:
- 2008 E90 M3
- Alpine White
- 6 Speed Manual
- Single Hump
- Bamboo Interior

Purchase Price:
- $12,500

Completed so far:
- Throttle actuators while it was at BMW
- Full exterior decontamination
- Paint enhancement (Single step 3D One to give it gloss)
- Leatherique Leather Treament (Currently on day 3 of applying the treatment to the front seats. Back seats/cards only needed (2) days and they look brand new again.


Plans:
- Pull the headliner and replace.
- Rod Bearings (ordered)
- Driver side actuator
- Rear strut shock mount replacements
- Pinion leak in diff
- Headlights need to be sanded down and cleared.
- Install better condition steering wheel.

Pictures will be uploaded once I can figure out how to share without getting error messages.

this car sold for 12.5K and i struggle to sell my 2011 M3 for 20K with Suspension/BBK/ etc lmao.

anyways following this thread as i look forward to doing the same resto project some day. Since I'll most likely keep this car for another 7 years.. on top of the current 7 years at this rate.

omgzirra_exe wrote

this car sold for 12.5K and i struggle to sell my 2011 M3 for 20K with Suspension/BBK/ etc lmao.

anyways following this thread as i look forward to doing the same resto project some day. Since I'll most likely keep this car for another 7 years.. on top of the current 7 years at this rate.

I assume I probably picked up the cheapest E90 M3 with the miles and spec. For $20k yours should be an easy sell. Would post it on here and M3list. I just sold my 09 E90 for $39k a few months back and it had 155k miles. Assuming when I’m done with this it’ll sell for around $28k-$30k. I already have a buyer at $30k who’s very serious as soon as I’m done with the rod bearings.

SunDevil_M3 wrote

I assume I probably picked up the cheapest E90 M3 with the miles and spec. For $20k yours should be an easy sell. Would post it on here and M3list. I just sold my 09 E90 for $39k a few months back and it had 155k miles. Assuming when I’m done with this it’ll sell for around $28k-$30k. I already have a buyer at $30k who’s very serious as soon as I’m done with the rod bearings.

tbh, im too lazy to actually make a for sale thread LOL.

It's off market listing, because im up in the air. if it sells it sells.

Please keep this thread updated with any changes to this E90, it helps motivate me to resto and I am looking forward to see where it ends up.

Valve Covers , VCG, OFHG, Water Pump, Thermostat would easily raise this value as well, Updating the Intake from a Pre-LCI setup to LCI set up would also make things easier if sticking with OEM, since the filters are different and the intake box is different.

This is going to turn out looking great! It seems all it really needs is an ultra deep clean but otherwise is in very nice shape.

Got around to finishing off the detail and rather than ceramic coat it, went ahead and tried out Armour Coat Supply Ceramic Spray Sealant. After the decontamination, the light paint enhancement, and then topping it with this sealant... the paint feels so nice again and has a pop to it that had been missing for quite some time.

The interior is going to be as good as it is going to get. That is a total of 72 hours of Leatherique baking in the Arizona sun into these seats. Driver seat is a lot better but obviously has still seen better days.

Rod bearings should be arriving any day now and will be getting replaced at HTP Motorsport in Tempe, AZ.

Headliner is next up. Debating if I want to attempt to pull it myself or pay a shop $750 to pull it and replace it as that sounds a lot better... I heard the removal is not the easiest especially with the sunroof application.

Waiting on materials to arrive to take care of the headlights but those will be done by Friday.

More to come!

Nice project, good luck with her.

Ya, those seats are toast & certainly cooked. I really wish the covers were still available in the BMW / OEM catalogue. That's an easy fix though. Just find a new set on E-Bay & bolt them in. As for the headliner, that's also pretty easy. Once you have gotten the A, B & C pillar trim free, the rest is a pure breeze. I've also restored an F97 X3 M from the ground up & it's a walk in the park once you see how simple it is to remove. The sunroof won't complicate this project at all. It's a simply rubber weather trim / strip piece. You got this man.

Removed the tint as it was bubbling pretty badly. Could hardly see out the driver side window and the rear was starting to get bad as well. Much cleaner now.

Mini headlight restoration to bring them back to somewhat of life. It's really incredible how some people just do not care about the things they have. Someone drove this for (4) years and I could honestly say, not sure it was ever detailed. It was at least getting oil changes but in terms of keeping up with the interior and exterior, it was highly neglected.

I am by no means a perfectionist but, this car has come a long way in a short amount of time. It's been less than a week and the car looks completely different.

I know I am not keeping this car as the plan is to sell it, but it's been a fun little project to keep me busy while work is on the slower side.

Nice, love a good revive project.

You might end up spending close to $20k but the experience is priceless once it's sorted.

What a huge difference no tint and headlight restoration made! If you wanna trade those EC7's for some black 359's let me know!

love to see the progression and documentation! was mileage mentioned?

jvm3 wrote

love to see the progression and documentation! was mileage mentioned?

118k it just turned! Thanks man, debating keeping it.

100% keep this thing. Swap the interior, maybe get a carbon roof, and enjoy the hell out of it.

Bigtriece wrote

100% keep this thing. Swap the interior, maybe get a carbon roof, and enjoy the hell out of it.

Swap fox red interior into it too? Okay.

I've never seen anyone with a collection of pristine garaged Honda's on a lift, restore a M3 as a daily driver. Guess we all have our priorities inline with what we like more. Usually it's the other way around though & people garage the BMWs. LOL

Kevin_The_Clean1 wrote

I've never seen anyone with a collection of pristine garaged Honda's on a lift, restore a M3 as a daily driver. Guess we all have our priorities inline with what we like more. Usually it's the other way around though & people garage the BMWs. LOL

EM1 is my forever Honda. Recently got the FL5 and selling it. M3 is going to be a build that was supposed to be a flip. Not a daily by any means. I have an F150 I daily lol.

SunDevil_M3 wrote

Removed the tint as it was bubbling pretty badly. Could hardly see out the driver side window and the rear was starting to get bad as well. Much cleaner now.

yeah my tint is bubbling in the rear, pissing me off when i reverse and look back LOL

SunDevil_M3 wrote

Mini headlight restoration to bring them back to somewhat of life. It's really incredible how some people just do not care about the things they have. Someone drove this for (4) years and I could honestly say, not sure it was ever detailed. It was at least getting oil changes but in terms of keeping up with the interior and exterior, it was highly neglected.

I am by no means a perfectionist but, this car has come a long way in a short amount of time. It's been less than a week and the car looks completely different.

I know I am not keeping this car as the plan is to sell it, but it's been a fun little project to keep me busy while work is on the slower side.

FELLOW HONDA ENJOYER.

EM1, FL5, V NICE choices.

I'm thinking of adding a FL5 in the near future, as well as finding a nice EM1 later in life if reasonable.

SunDevil_M3 wrote

EM1 is my forever Honda. Recently got the FL5 and selling it. M3 is going to be a build that was supposed to be a flip. Not a daily by any means. I have an F150 I daily lol.

Ya, I hear you man. I worked for Acura for about a year. And the Integra Type-S is a great vehicle. Probably one of the most focused & well built FWD cars of our time. But for that kinda money I'd much rather have a RDW or AWD platform to build upon instead. I can see the appeal though & that's great that you're keeping one of them.