BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

[EmJay]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

That's great! Would love to learn more about your Coupe. It's funny. There are usually no Coupes for sale in Calgary and every so often, one pops up. But right now there are 3 examples FS near Calgary. Did you pick one of those up?

Yeah, it's absolutely incredible on the amount of M Coupes that have come on the market locally here. I've been on the hunt for about 2 years and I've seen a few for sale in Vancouver, or out east, but super rare here in Calgary. Even taking a look through all the sold listings on M Coupe Buyers Guide, I couldn't find that many that were sold here in Alberta. The 3 that are listed seem to be on the pricey side, but I guess it's good for anyone that owns one though There was a blue one that was for sale at Calgary Auto Connection that seems to of disappeared, so not too sure if someone picked that up or they sold it off to another dealer somewhere else. I strongly considered heading down to the states to pick one up, but I was a little scared of the entire procedure and just decided to hold out until I could find one locally.

Mines a 99, cosmos black, sunroof delete with imola red interior and an original Canada car. I originally took the blue one that was for sale at the Calgary Auto Connection for a spin, but the price that they wanted for it was way too expensive in my opinion so I decided to pass; did keep my eye on it but I don't believe they would let it go for what I thought would of been a fair price. Fast forward a few days and I was doing my usual round on M Coupe Buyers Guide as well as kijiji and I came across one that checked all the boxes, was priced perfectly and was local. I gave the owner a shout, saw it a few days later, took it for a spin and made an offer on the spot which the owner accepted. The owner was an absolute pleasure to deal with and he originally bought it site unseen about 8 years ago from out east and only sold it off as he was looking to downsize. Got a true enthusiast vibe from him and definitely couldn't ignore the beautiful 993 stable mate that this coupe shared a garage with as well

I've been picking away at a few things on mine as well. Took care of the coolant, water pump, thermostat, thermostat housing, belts, oil and just a good cleaning within the first few weeks of purchase. I hate coolant, it was everywhere. There are still a few outstanding items that I would like to complete, like a full polish, but that might have to wait till next year as I would have to pick up the polisher and all the necessary supplies. The rims also bug me as they have a bit of curb rash so haven't decided if I'm going to fix them or see if I can find a set in good condition here locally; might be a bit of a challenge though.

There is an owner out from Edmonton that has an S54 and I mentioned to him that if he's ever in Calgary to give me a shout so we can head out for a cruise somewhere. If I hear word I will let you know. Or, since you're a bit closer and would be up for cruising around here in Calgary I would be up for that as well.

[jacktown]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

That sounds great. Would love to set up a cruise sometime.
I love cosmos black in pictures but have never seen it in person.
Would be more than happy to share my importation story with you. I'm not quite finished it yet, but I've done it once before with a motorcycle so I know the drill.

[ToXicXxX]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

I'm still watching Alberta for my Dad's old M coupe to come up... Good thing most of them seem to stick around here.

[jacktown]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

I'm still watching Alberta for my Dad's old M coupe to come up... Good thing most of them seem to stick around here.

Do you remember what the config. was? I'll keep an eye out too.

[jacktown]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

Got the car back from DNT Paintless Dent and Hail Repair on Memorial Drive later this afternoon. They worked on it from around 10AM this morning all the way up until just before 5PM. They removed all the dents I identified plus a few more extremely minor things I wasn't even too worried about. Guess they really love what they do!

Have to say, this was an extremely pleasant experience with some true car enthusiasts who really take pride in their work. Car is immaculate. Kenji - if your reading this, thanks for the great work.

[ToXicXxX]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

Do you remember what the config. was? I'll keep an eye out too.

He sold it when I was fairly young. All I can really remember is the colour, it was a gunmetal grey metallic of a sort. Had some awesome memories in that car.

Believe it was a 2001 in steel grey. Not sure on year 100%. He sold it around 2008-2009 as part of his divorce.

[jacktown]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

Took the car for a wash at the Coop touchless wash in Dalhousie. While drying it off in the adjoinging parking lot, I noticed that my front tow hook cover was missing. It was there before so I assumed it came off in the wash. Went back and couldn't find it. Plus had a funny incident where I almost got stuck in the wash as another car came in. Lol.
30 bucks for a replacement and 80 bucks to paint it - urgh. I should have shopped around for painting but I was so pissed off that I bit the bullet and ordered it as a one stop solution from Calgary BMW.

Also, while drying the car off, I found one minor dent on the rear passenger side wheel arch that I had not seen before. Will take it back to the boys that helped me put a few weeks ago to have it removed as soon as is convenient.

Got a notice that some parts I ordered were waiting for me at the post office. Went to pick them up and was told the new Postman in my area keeps making mistakes and that he had not dropped them off yet. Won't be able to pick up till tomorrow night. At least I can plan for a fun day installing them next weekend.
Other than that, I've had a blast riding around in the coupe this weekend. Was surprised and extremely happy that my favorite brunch spot, Belmont Diner in Marda Loop, reopened this Saturday after an 11 month hiatus because of a kitchen fire. Parked outside and got a spot in the window so I could drink my coffee, eat my eggs, and stare at the car for half an hour. Anyone else do that?

Next priority is coilovers. Any recommendations?

[P Arkus]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

My suggestion for coilovers would be ground control. They do custom spring rates for your specific car and I have heard nothing but good things about them. When it comes to suspension, its one thing I would never cheap out on.

[EmJay]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

After reading your post I went and inspected the front and rear tow hook covers on my Coupe to make sure that they were nice and snug

I had something very similar happen to me on Saturday. Went to Haro Sushi in McKenzie Towne with a few friends and I parked in the transit parking lot as there is a lot less traffic going in and out of there. When we got seated at our table, I looked up and there was my Coupe in plain view through one of the glass doors in the restaurant. Heh, it was nice to look up every now and then and see it hanging out.

Where do you usually pick up your parts from? So far I've had the best luck with ECS out of the US, but I usually wait awhile and order a whole pile of stuff so the shipping isn't as bad. Calgary BMW is nice for convenience, but I've found them to be very expensive compared to the online retailers. Would be nice if there was some sort of online retailer comparable to ECS in Canada, but I really don't see that happening any time soon.

[P Arkus]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

Have you guys considered doing bulk orders and having them shipped to the border? Many things are shipped free in the continental US, so you save money there, and then you dont deal with brokerage fees either. As for places that compete with ECS, I've heard numerous great things about Blunttech for BMW parts. Might want to give them a try

[EmJay]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

Have you guys considered doing bulk orders and having them shipped to the border? Many things are shipped free in the continental US, so you save money there, and then you dont deal with brokerage fees either. As for places that compete with ECS, I've heard numerous great things about Blunttech for BMW parts. Might want to give them a try

I've thought about it, but truthfully that's as far as it's ever gone. Once you calculate the gas, time and I'm assuming renting something to store your package for a period of time, I would of probably just broken even. Anything that I order out of the States I make sure to have it shipped USPS so I don't get any nice surprises when I go pick up my package at the post office. I've ordered with Fedex and UPS in the past and unless I'm truly desperate I like to avoid them at all costs; not too sure if they've gotten cheaper?

Cool, thank you, I've never heard of that site before. My initial inspection shows ECS having a more broader selection and a few dollars cheaper on a few of the items I checked out, but next time I create an order I'll take a look and see which one works out to be cheaper.

[jacktown]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

So far Emjay, I've ordered the parts I need from here: Leatherz.com

When it comes to suspension, I plan to buy locally but haven't made any firm decisions yet. I'm not planning to make any rash decisions with winter being just around the corner.
Have you considered doing a sub-frame reinforcement? My car does not have one and I'm not sure if there are any good options for this locally.

I'm interested in picking up a 3.73diff but haven't started seriously looking yet.

[EmJay]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

So far Emjay, I've ordered the parts I need from here: Leatherz.com

When it comes to suspension, I plan to buy locally but haven't made any firm decisions yet. I'm not planning to make any rash decisions with winter being just around the corner.
Have you considered doing a sub-frame reinforcement? My car does not have one and I'm not sure if there are any good options for this locally.

I'm interested in picking up a 3.73diff but haven't started seriously looking yet.

Are you planning on driving your Coupe through winter?

Yeah, it's definitely on my mind and it's one of the biggest worries that I have owning an M Coupe. I know the original owner had the Coupe inspected probably a year before I bought it for any signs of sub-frame failure and it was OK then. I performed my own visual inspection based on the guides provided on bimmerforums and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. There was this black stuff that seems to be glued to the trunk floor, so I couldn't see underneath that and I really didn't want to rip it apart either, but all the other welds around it looked to be intact. Underneath the car looked healthy as well. It would be awesome to get the Randy Forbes kit, but unfortunately he is way out in Florida and I haven't been able to find any information about anyone that had his kit installed here in Alberta. Conveniently, just a few moments ago I found another Coupe in Calgary that had the Dinan sub-frame reinforcement done here at a shop called RCTS which actually makes me feel a lot better knowing there is an option here locally. Are you having problems with your welds, or just thinking preventative? Would you try to get the Randy Forbes kit, or go with Dinan?

3.73 diff looks like it would be a lot of fun I'm still enjoying my Coupe in stock mode and I don't see myself tinkering with it any time soon. I installed my Glove Box fix last week and I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out; removed the slight sag and removed the play in the glove box door which hopefully will eliminate the rattle that I was having before. I'm also on the hunt for a clean set of roadstars, but anything I've found on kijiji so far have been in pitiful shape.

[jacktown]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown

Are you planning on driving your Coupe through winter?

Yeah, it's definitely on my mind and it's one of the biggest worries that I have owning an M Coupe. I know the original owner had the Coupe inspected probably a year before I bought it for any signs of sub-frame failure and it was OK then. I performed my own visual inspection based on the guides provided on bimmerforums and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. There was this black stuff that seems to be glued to the trunk floor, so I couldn't see underneath that and I really didn't want to rip it apart either, but all the other welds around it looked to be intact. Underneath the car looked healthy as well. It would be awesome to get the Randy Forbes kit, but unfortunately he is way out in Florida and I haven't been able to find any information about anyone that had his kit installed here in Alberta. Conveniently, just a few moments ago I found another Coupe in Calgary that had the Dinan sub-frame reinforcement done here at a shop called RCTS which actually makes me feel a lot better knowing there is an option here locally. Are you having problems with your welds, or just thinking preventative? Would you try to get the Randy Forbes kit, or go with Dinan?

3.73 diff looks like it would be a lot of fun I'm still enjoying my Coupe in stock mode and I don't see myself tinkering with it any time soon. I installed my Glove Box fix last week and I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out; removed the slight sag and removed the play in the glove box door which hopefully will eliminate the rattle that I was having before. I'm also on the hunt for a clean set of roadstars, but anything I've found on kijiji so far have been in pitiful shape.

No I'm not planning to drive it through the winter. It would probably be tucked up already if it still wasn't for the inspection. That and it would be nice to get it out for at least one more weekend in September. Are you planning to winter drive yours? There is a fun article about an alpine white one that was found with Winters on it in Alaska: http://goo.gl/BvxbBI

I have zero sub-frame issues. I'm just thinking of it as a preventative measure. That and although I never intend to sell the car, a good sub frame reinforcement on these cars is transferrable in to the value. (IMO)

I believe you already have the 3.73 diff in the S52 but my motor came with the 3.15. The upgrade will definitely liven things up. I'll keep my eyes out for a set of Roadstars. There was a set on kijiji during the past few weeks but I just looked again and can't find them. They were less than a grand.

[jacktown]

Re: BMW M Coupe - Jacktown



My first parts arrived for the coupe today! Looking forward to spending a couple of hours in the garage this weekend with some cold beers and a steady hand.

First up. A BMW Oil Bag kit. LOL. This is not really a part, but it does prove that E-commerce marketing works when your online shopping.

Magnetic Stone Guards. There are a couple of minor stone chips on the rear wheel arches that wouldn't be there is the previous owner had installed the guards. I'm not 100% sure I love them, but they are very easily applied and removed over and over again. Perhaps I'll just use them for longer road trips. We'll see.

Shorty antenna. Because shorty.

DRL module. Hopefully won't be running this for too long.

Z3 armrest and storage base including cup holder. I can't believe how inflexible I've become to not having a cup holder. In all my years of wanting a Coupe, I'd never noticed they didn't have one until after my first test drive in this one.

Illuminated ZHP Shift knob. The OEM one in the car had some small scratches in it and in the process of figuring out how to fix them, I learned that the ZHP knob is about an inch shorter, making the OEM one seem way to tall. Pic of the original one here:

Leather door rests. One thing any coupe owner I've spoken to can attest to is the really painful elbow you can get from resting your arm on the door rest. There's no padding there at all. The previous owner of this coupe had made a band-aid solution pictured here by using a piece of foam. It was impossible to clean the glue he used off the interior it was stuck to, and finding these padded leather pieces that matched the rest of the interior of the car seemed like a great solution.


Finally, I found a leather blanking plate to replace the plastic OEM one that BMW used to cover the mirror controls in the passenger door. This also looks to be a really nice match to the leather in the car.

I'll post pics of these things installed when I get a chance.