my new ride....

[vsonix]

so - my car is due for a few hundred pounds worth of steering rack work, as well as new shocks all round. This got me to considering a few various options as the total for all the parts and labour add up to about a grand. Bearing in mind the fact that e36 are still fairly plentiful on the market I thought I'd look around and see what was about. This morning I drove 400 miles round trip to check out the best one I could find advertised, and for not a lot more than the cost of some new Bilstein suspension, I put down a holding deposit on this beauty pending arrival of its new registration plate number next week:



she's a '97 328is, Cosmosschwartz, cream leather interior, 136k miles, nikasil block replaced with Alusil by BMW and with all necessary preventative maintenance (cooling system, water pump, new fan, viscous coupling, new clutch) carried out within the last 8 weeks. The guy was just gifted a Celica GT4 for graduation (lol, makes me wish I graduated) and so I decided I'd be a fool to pass this one up.

The sad news is, however, that I can't afford to keep more than one car at a time, so after 20 short months and 25000 fun-filled miles I'll probably be passing my 318ti on to a new owner - unless I can persuade a friend to buy her as a project car so I can play with her... I may even get another one in the future - I still have a hankering for a stock 323ti so if I go back to Germany next year I'll be on the lookout!

I'll definitely be checking back at the .org for general BMW chit-chat and to relive my hatchback days. This community's been great fun and I wouldn't want to leave just cos I got two more cylinders and an arse!

[slow_ti]

That is pretty

[vsonix]

isn't she just. I hated the idea of cream leather at first but after seeing it I was won over. It's broken up with grey leather round the centre console and black headlining. It's a combination I've never seen before but it definitely makes the inside of the car feel lighter and more airy than an all-black interior, and since I hate all-grey interiors on black cars I'm pretty pleased with this as an alternative. Now I'm on tenterhooks and can't wait to get her home, today's 10-mile test drive put a grin on my face and I can't wait to get back behind the wheel!

[vsonix]

couple of pics of the interior taken from the original ad. I'll obviously be taking loads once I get her home

[Canadian]

Congrats on the new toy! Reminds me of my 92 325i

[vsonix]

in other news my mechanic may keep my ti for himself and do an engine swap as there is an M50B25 lying around that got taken out of a 323 touring. Meanwhile the 323 touring has been completely stripped and rebuilt as an M3 Wagon Big things going on at my garage!

[vsonix]

the two girls side-by-side on the day on the last day of ti ownership...