Manda Marza's Pictoral Journal Thread

[aus]

As much as I love the M3... need more pics of Porsche please.
.

[RoshDawg]

Originally Posted by Helmsman

Whoa, what a sweet motor Rosh, another couple of pics available?

No more of that race car Porsche unfortunately. But here's another 911 pic to sooth your needs, shot with a Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G:


And another one of the M3, shot with a Sigma 35mm f/1.4 ART lens. Beautiful piece of glass.

[RoshDawg]

Originally Posted by aus

As much as I love the M3... need more pics of Porsche please.
.

Okay due to popular demand I went and edited the last one I had in my library!

[Banana Hammock]

[03BeastCharmer]

Thanks. Slowly feeding our porschephile needs.

[Manda Mew]

Long time no post!!

Couple updates
Personal: I passed veterinary boards and had a baby
It was a boy, we named him Rosh aka Rosh Pup after husband’s (Arash) nickname. Could not be happier, both in terms of passing boards and having a son! Timing worked out great, and I’ll be taking a little bit off before looking for a job, most likely part time and hopefully focusing on surgeries. Will most likely be doing a full time internship before that though which will be rough.

Car: We were deciding for awhile if we wanted to keep the M3 or sell it for a bigger car. I did not want to sacrifice having a fun car bc we had a baby, especially since you technically can fit car seats in the back. I want to be a cool mom and love the idea of dropping off my kid(s) in a cool fast loud sports car. We are selling our Tiguan most likely for an SQ5 (license plate MEW 5 ). Arash wants to eventually get a 2020 Tacoma TRD Pro or Jeep gladiator, so we will have enough large cars for road trips. Supra was a big consideration as previously mentioned but unless they come out with a manual I don’t think we’ll be buying it.
Bc we’re keeping it long term, we decided to change out the rod bearings at MRF Engineering. Also, last time we got an oil change, we saw very visible metal in the oil
DSC_7115
Not sure if that’s normal or not. I don’t think it is. I also could’ve sworn I heard a ticking sound too but it wasn’t too obvious. I’ve been getting very paranoid about it. Anyways, they’re getting done today and it’s giving me huge peace of mind. I will post results certainly. Also, my engine mounts are completely shot so figured 2 birds 1 stone.

[duk]

loving the pics and progress!

[nekbreaker]

Originally Posted by Manda Marza

Some of you guys may have seen my IG that's primarily based off of me reviewing different car products. I started my last journal with me polishing my car with a Porter Cable, Chemical Guys V line and Opti Coat 2.0. That paint correction was not the biggest success since I was never able to get all the swirls out (bc of both the products and my skills). Needless to say, I have gotten WAYYY better at detailing just by going along with my IG and continuously testing different products. I recently polished my M3 with a G15 and BOSS creams and coated it Essence and 2 layers of Cquartz TiO2. I am considering removing the coating with a finishing pad and polish (really that's all it takes) and apply Ceramic Pro (I'm starting to get my hands on a lot of professional only products). I'm not going to make this journal a mirror of my IG but if you anyone has any detailing related questions, please ask away!

hahahah looks like my garage I dont feel that bad now

[nekbreaker]

how did you like cquart I'm planning on doing that come summer cquart uk

[Manda Mew]

Originally Posted by nekbreaker

hahahah looks like my garage I dont feel that bad now

Haha the collection grew and we actually had to add it onto our home insurance..

[Manda Mew]

Originally Posted by nekbreaker

how did you like cquart I'm planning on doing that come summer cquart uk

I never tried cquartz uk but absolutely loved my cquartz tiO2. I don’t think it has the greatest scratch / swirl resistance out there, but it’s performance was amazing. It lasted me 2 years+ before we prematurely removed it bc I wanted to try something else / new. Acted like the best sealant I’ve ever tried every single day. It never stopped amazing me.

I’ll eventually coat again, possibly with the Evo or Gyeon lineup.

[nekbreaker]

Originally Posted by Manda Marza

I never tried cquartz uk but absolutely loved my cquartz tiO2. I don’t think it has the greatest scratch / swirl resistance out there, but it’s performance was amazing. It lasted me 2 years+ before we prematurely removed it bc I wanted to try something else / new. Acted like the best sealant I’ve ever tried every single day. It never stopped amazing me.

I’ll eventually coat again, possibly with the Evo or Gyeon lineup.

ok good to know I have gyeon for the wheels doing that this summer thanks for the response

[admranger]

cQuartz UK flashes too quickly for me. Use only in cool weather is my recommendation.

Congrats on passing the boards and on your new son, Manda!

[Helmsman]

Manda, nice to see you're popping by! Sorry to hear about the metal shavings, curious to see how the shells looks - good luck!

Edit: close to forgot : congratulations to the little one!

[SoCalRPM]

Just discovered this thread. Lots of nice discussions to be found here. Thanks OP and congrats on the family expansion, the rod bearings, and keeping the M!

[Manda Mew]

Originally Posted by admranger

cQuartz UK flashes too quickly for me. Use only in cool weather is my recommendation.

Congrats on passing the boards and on your new son, Manda!

Thank you so much! Timing could not have been more perfect. Any sooner and I would not have been able to walk with my class in May.

Originally Posted by Helmsman

Manda, nice to see you're popping by! Sorry to hear about the metal shavings, curious to see how the shells looks - good luck!

Edit: close to forgot : congratulations to the little one!

Thanks!! And ya the metal shavings freaked me out. I almost had the car towed to Malek's.

Originally Posted by SoCalRPM

Just discovered this thread. Lots of nice discussions to be found here. Thanks OP and congrats on the family expansion, the rod bearings, and keeping the M!

Thank you! And yes, I cannot fall out of love with this car. Excited with my choice to keep it and make it work with the baby.

[Manda Mew]

The results are in!!!! Here is how my rod bearings looked (2012, 50K miles, 7K oil changes, no track, no supercharger, very modest driving):

They were removed and changed by Malek at MRF Engineering. I got his full rod bearing service, plus engine mount replacement (highly recommend).







Looks like the bottom ones had a lot of side cut on the edges of the bearings, as well as a couple gouges, whereas the top had the broader, deeper wear.

And my engine mounts:

These were apparently 12mm collapsed.

Do I feel the difference? Its day and night. Here are a couple impressions I've gotten so far:
Engine startup, shutdown, and shifting is sooooo much smoother now. It feels a lot less raw than before. Engine startup especially, feels Bentley smooth with how it turns over. A lot of this might be due to engine mounts.
The revs are a lot smoother. I'm not talking about bouncing revs at idle, it just sounds like a lot smoother engine throughout the rev band. I had the same sensation when I installed my VR ECU tune. It feels more non-M if that makes sense. Again, less raw. Also, engine sounds a bit quieter, especially at idle.
Engine runs noticeably colder. On average it looked like -10 to -5 degrees on the engine oil temp.

It was expensive, yes. And I can't help to think about all the other things I could've bought with all that money. But now I feel like the car is better than new. The peace of mind is there, and now I look at the car differently. Like it will be sticking with me through thick and thin as cheesy as that sounds. I'm happy I did it and can't wait for the next 50k miles with this car!

[Richbot]

gack those were in rough shape

[Manda Mew]

Originally Posted by Richbot

gack those were in rough shape

I don’t think they would’ve lasted much longer!

[Ab28]

Originally Posted by Manda Mew

Do I feel the difference? Its day and night. Here are a couple impressions I've gotten so far:
Engine startup, shutdown, and shifting is sooooo much smoother now. It feels a lot less raw than before. Engine startup especially, feels Bentley smooth with how it turns over. A lot of this might be due to engine mounts.

Good job on getting them done

The smoothness is ALL from the engine mounts.

[Helmsman]

Camera close to too good..😉 can just about see the one shell focused on. Doesnt look good, you have clearly taken great care of the car Manda, however believe you bought with some 20k on the clock so anything can have happened prior your ownership of course.
My mounts was just fine at 37k (replaced anyhow), crazy how much it differs between cars/driving style I guess.

Good work!

[Manda Mew]

Originally Posted by lat77

Good job on getting them done

The smoothness is ALL from the engine mounts.

Yes definitely figured engine turnover and shifting was from mounts. Can't believe my last ones were so bad. I just thought it was part of having an M3!!

Originally Posted by Helmsman

Camera close to too good..😉 can just about see the one shell focused on. Doesnt look good, you have clearly taken great care of the car Manda, however believe you bought with some 20k on the clock so anything can have happened prior your ownership of course.
My mounts was just fine at 37k (replaced anyhow), crazy how much it differs between cars/driving style I guess.

Good work!

Haha that's why I posted so many pics!!
And its odd, when I bought the car it was still on the original brake pads with almost full life on them.. So I figured it was driven softly. And the dealer history showed a lot of oil changes, but definitely not 5k intervals that I will be doing from now on.