My Complete History of Cars

[e30mclow]

I created this thread a few weeks ago, but exited the site before saving

I've not itemized my car history in one spot, so figured it is a good way of introducing myself to the group.

You'll notice that I moved from Ireland to Canada in the middle of this timeline.

My first car ever, at the age of 15, was a nice clean BMW e21 that I utterly destroyed. It was used for flying around fields sideways, whenever I could gather enough for a gallon of petrol.

It sat in the yard for the last 15years, before being scrapped.


At 16 I found a Bronzitbeige '87 316 Coupe, that I started working on with ambitions of stance, before stance was a thing.

Similar to this:


This dragged out for YEARS

My first road car was a '95 VW Polo 1.0L 5-Speed.
Reasons for selecting this chariot of choice? Insurance in Ireland is criminally high, as is road tax....I also had no money, and was a student.

(NOT mine, but identical)


I drive the loyal Polo for about 2 years in University, until I came upon a beautiful '87 e30 316 Sedan when looking for parts for the Bronzit 2-door.
It was immaculate, and soon took over daily activities.
I ordered some super-rare 16x9J Schmidt Wheels, and lowered it.



Also seen above is a really nice e30 318iS that I picked up. It had a mix of genuine M-Tech II Kit, and ultra rare Pfeiba Side Skirts.

You'll notice that I had a hard time parting with cars...so they started accumulating...

The 318iS soon turned into my daily driver, and was great fun to drive. I had koni adjustables and Eibach springs with thicker ARBs.
One morning, a drunk driver T-boned me, and caved in the side of the car, so the hunt was on for another.

Once more, it was an e30 that would fill the e30 shaped hole, this time in the guise of an immaculate sterling silver 318iS.
This car had EVERY option available, along with an uprated LSD and all around cleanliness.



Swapped out the front apron..




Tried on the wide wheels for a while


Around this time my father & I came across a 60,000km 2002Tii that had been parked for a number of years, so it joined the family.



At this point, the e30 bug had well and truly bitten. I had fixed up the written off white 318iS, and now had 5 e30s.

What could possibly be better?

Well I found this, the holy grail:




An e30 m3 in hundreds of pieces.

As it was the day I brought it home..



I couldn't believe my luck! I was simply over the moon to have found one, as my neighbor's one was teasing me every time I saw it -



This was circa 2008/2009, and I was making good money having finished University. What can possibly go wrong? THROW MONEY AT THE CAR!

The follow was all NEW from BMW
Rear Quarter Panels
Rear Panel
Trunk Floor
Spare Wheel Well
Rocker Panels
Hood
Front Fenders
Front Panel
aaand a whole lot of other nice things.

The engine was almost brand new as well (previous owner).

We did all the work at home in the garage, which was a great experience. It ended up pretty nice, with a lot of rare DTM parts getting added.
Looking back, I'm appalled at the offset of the BBS RC090s. I'm almost embarrassed of the "fitment".



The Sport Evo phase (that being black with a red stripe)




..and how it looked in 2010..
Rollcage/DTM Mirrors/DTM Spoilers/DTM Wiper Setup





Up next - Economic Recession and Living in a Basement!

[e30mclow]

Re: My Complete History of Cars

All was going nicely, and I now had a total of 7 e30s including the m3, which is enough to constitute a “hoard”. Then one day on the news, someone mentioned “economic slowdown”….
Within a few months I was working in a bar, which is NOTHING like working in a bar in Canada. Being a barman in Ireland is like being the guy that administers the methadone to recovering crack heads – they can turn on you at any time, and the certainly don’t tip.
Given that the cars were paid for, they just sat there while I drove something more conducive to a life battle between eating/starving.

Fiat Punto


This went on…and on…until I had enough. A friend and I decided to move to Canada. Why Canada? The only nice person I met while working at the bar (which was within a 5-Star Hotel) was a Canadian. I googled a few economic statistics, and got the ball rolling.

Sadly, to fund this endeavor things had to move. I sold the Alpineweiss 318iS, as well as the SterlingSilber 318iS. This left me with the m3 (which I vowed to never sell) and a few other bits & pieces.

In June 2010 we got on a train, then a plane, then a bus, and found our way to downtown Calgary. The hostel was described in the travel book as “Nice, but within a slightly seedy area…”. Despite the dramatic change in lifestyle, it was a fantastic first year in which I met lots of new friends.
Given that we had next to no money, it was about 6-8months before we could afford any form of car. Time to dream big – along came this bucket of nasty!



The Chrysler was a fantastic 1 owner car with miniscule mileage. Red button velour interior too. Nicknamed “Justice”, she served us well for a year or so.



One day, while trawling Kijiji, I came across a beat up Bronzit-Beige 318i Sedan. $400 was too cheap to leave sitting, so I bought it and drove it for a winter of sideways fun.



With my work permit running out, and a permanent/secure job in the bag, I decided to put all my eggs in the one basket, and sell the m3. This was a very upsetting time, as I knew they were seriously on the up & up and that it would be a struggle to afford one again in any condition.
Alas, she sold quickly.

The REALLY shitty news is that while the new owner was on vacation, his brother crashed it sideways into a pole. It had about 60km on it since I had sold it.

[e30mclow]

Re: My Complete History of Cars

With a small bit of money set aside, I managed to find a completely original e30 325iS and began ruining it.

It started out like this:




And after 6 months it looked like this, with a lot of rare euro pieces (some of which I took from the m3 before it sold).





This was sold locally in 2013, and again in 2014, following which it was seemingly crashed.

After the sale of the e30, I bought this Euro Import (not JDM) e34 m5, in beautiful Sterling-Silber. I had this for over a year of daily driving, making it the longest I’ve had any car on the road. I really loved this car. It had the characteristics of the little m3, but was thoroughly useable every day.






I even took it on a big road trip out & around Vancouver Island, during which it didn’t miss a beat.
One day I got a mad notion that I need to stop spending money on cars, and that I’ve clearly learned nothing from my mistakes. I regretfully listed the m5, and it sold to a good home.

In stepped a $3000 Honda Civic. Please forgive me.

CIVIC – no photo required

What happens when you go from a 1980’s M-Car to a Honda? You save money effortlessly! What’s money for? Spending on cars of course…
Kijiji will be the death of me. While perusing Kijiji Ontario, as I’m sure we all do, I came across an underwhelming advert for a “Stg 3 Audi”. I ignored it at first, bet kept going back to it…

A silly idea was hatched, and the car was shipped out.





How does Audi b5 S4 Ownership compare to the Money-Pit M-Cars? It is nowhere near close. An Audi b5 will eat through your bank account as quick as it accelerates. Seriously...
..but it does look/drive/feel nice.



That’s it so far. I’ve missed 3 or 4 somewhere along the line..

[cam_wmh]

Re: My Complete History of Cars

love it!!!!!!!!!!!!

[witchcraftz]

Re: My Complete History of Cars

Thanks for sharing, great story.

How long you been here now?

[All_Euro]

Re: My Complete History of Cars

So awesome - thanks for the photo drama of your car collection. Great idea.

That poor ol' Chrysler though... super funny. I drove my grandma's old Chrysler Dynasty around for a few months years ago so I can kind of relate - wasn't quite as "fancy" as yours though. Too bad you sold it - bet the comfy couch interior would'a bolted right into the S4.

Lets see the Civic

[P Arkus]

Re: My Complete History of Cars

That's awesome man. My parents had an 88 Chrysler New Yorker when I was first learning to drive so I have quite a few hours behind the wheel of one of those "Fancy" cars lol.

So I gotta ask, what was wrong with the offset/fitment of the RC090's? They look awesome to me!

[onceover]

Re: My Complete History of Cars

I remember seeing the e30 for sale a long time ago, had no idea it was you.

Your car history is much more exciting than mine!

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: My Complete History of Cars

Amazing history and thread!!! Thanks for sharing!!!!

[JW]

Re: My Complete History of Cars

I remember seeing the e30 for sale a long time ago, had no idea it was you.

That was me selling the e30 on kijiji a little while ago, I had bought it from e30mclow a little over a year prior to that. Awesome car =)