'95 BMW M3 - shaeff's summer daily driver

[Isphius]

Sure can. As long as you can actually control your right foot, anyway. I'm only going for 450ish rwhp, not 500. I'm sure I'll be fine.

Doesnt sound like much time for the supra in there haha jk. I know youll love it forever. I wish i could get another sooner than later. But buying a car is the last thing on my agenda. Ive always liked the stock wheels on the m3 and the e46 m3 wheels. And the whole car. Too bad i dont have 20 grand laying around or id pick up a nice low mileage black/black e46 m3 :love:

 

[supramad77]

This sort of car is on my list for next year. Most likely the M5 though as it needs 4 doors. 5.0V8 with 400bhp sounds about right. I have been in a mates M3 evo that had 320bhp. Was a quick car but not as quick as my modded supra but that said it was a nice place to be.

 

[shaeff]

yeah, i think 450hp would make that a very fun car. a guy at work has a yellow one, im trying to talk him into selling it to me.

Absolutely. The Dakar's are eye-catching for sure!

Doesnt sound like much time for the supra in there haha jk. I know youll love it forever. I wish i could get another sooner than later. But buying a car is the last thing on my agenda. Ive always liked the stock wheels on the m3 and the e46 m3 wheels. And the whole car. Too bad i dont have 20 grand laying around or id pick up a nice low mileage black/black e46 m3 :love:

LOL, yeah. I really need to start working on the Supra again. I've been slacking like crazy for a number of reasons. I had originally planned for an e46, but something about the e36 turned me on more. I could have easily bought an e46 330ci ZHP or something of the like, but the boxier lines of the e36 made me fall in love. (not to mention the e46's started the portly era)

This sort of car is on my list for next year. Most likely the M5 though as it needs 4 doors. 5.0V8 with 400bhp sounds about right. I have been in a mates M3 evo that had 320bhp. Was a quick car but not as quick as my modded supra but that said it was a nice place to be.

The M5 is a fantastic car. I'm much more sport oriented though. Don't get me wrong, it's fast, handles well, etc... but I needed a coupe, and wanted something lighter. The e36 M3 fit the bill.

The M3 Evo's are absolutely incredible. We really got the short end of the stick here in the States. I'd love to turbocharge an s52b32 (3.2L Evo motor). :sigh:

 

[arizzle]

The M5 is a fantastic car. I'm much more sport oriented though. Don't get me wrong, it's fast, handles well, etc... but I needed a coupe, and wanted something lighter. The e36 M3 fit the bill.

The M3 Evo's are absolutely incredible. We really got the short end of the stick here in the States. I'd love to turbocharge an s52b32 (3.2L Evo motor). :sigh:

a m5 would be unreal! i would love to own the e39 chassis but right now its a more of a family car not a sport unless its SC!!

who wouldnt want a turbo'd s52b32! even just a N/a s52b32, the shop that i got the motor done at he picked up a euro m3 from toronto and fully refreshed it new bushings, suspension,chip,CAI, exhaust and i got him to launch his car and it was screaming 1-2-3rd!! lol :biglaugh:

 

[RiyadYar]

im in jamaica ny, about 1 and a half to 2 hrs frm you

 

[shaeff]

a m5 would be unreal! i would love to own the e39 chassis but right now its a more of a family car not a sport unless its SC!!

who wouldnt want a turbo'd s52b32! even just a N/a s52b32, the shop that i got the motor done at he picked up a euro m3 from toronto and fully refreshed it new bushings, suspension,chip,CAI, exhaust and i got him to launch his car and it was screaming 1-2-3rd!! lol :biglaugh:

:drool:

im in jamaica ny, about 1 and a half to 2 hrs frm you

Bah! There are very few people who are close to me. Ah well. We'll have to set up some sort of NY Supra meet whenever I get my rustbucket done, or close to done.

 

[Nick M]

I'm ditching the terrible stock 4-spoke for a euro airbag 3-spoke. I despise 4-spoke steering wheels!

You are off the list. :rant2:

You should take the car to SILV. People bring all kinds of things there if the Supra isn't ready. The year I went, there was a car with the steering wheel on the wrong side, Keith's Trailblazer, a rented Corolla, a rented Shelby Mustang, among other rides. The wrong side wheel was one of the Skylines. The first fast one I think.

 

[shaeff]

LOL, all the vehicles I've ever owned had either 2 or 3 spoke wheels. That 4th spoke is exactly where my left hands goes for one handed cruising. Besides, the 3 spoke Euro wheel is really nice! I'll post pics of one soon.

As for the M3 going to SILV, it's a possibility. I hadn't even thought about it!

 

[RiyadYar]

yea man definitely we should set something up when it gets warmer lol ..im me rayar315

 

[supramad77]

The M5 is a fantastic car. I'm much more sport oriented though. Don't get me wrong, it's fast, handles well, etc... but I needed a coupe, and wanted something lighter. The e36 M3 fit the bill.

The M3 Evo's are absolutely incredible. We really got the short end of the stick here in the States. I'd love to turbocharge an s52b32 (3.2L Evo motor). :sigh:

Yea i love the 2 door as well but i have two kids. I need a car we can all get in. Still can't make up my mine. Been looking at the lexus gs300 sports as well. Not as powerfull but way cheaper.
Did you not get the M3 evo over there. Real nice inside and 6 speed with the extra 40bhp.

 

[shaeff]

Yea i love the 2 door as well but i have two kids. I need a car we can all get in. Still can't make up my mine. Been looking at the lexus gs300 sports as well. Not as powerfull but way cheaper.
Did you not get the M3 evo over there. Real nice inside and 6 speed with the extra 40bhp.

True. If the M5 is out of your range, how about an M3 Sedan? Still sporty, handles just as well as the coupe, and weighs about the same, too.

No Evo over here (which had 280ish hp, and the later ones had 320bhp!) unfortunately. I'm fairly certain the interiors are almost identical between yours and ours. We didn't get the 6 speed, though.

 

[spipedong]

I'm not gonna spoil it but hook us up with some updates!

 

[shaeff]

Oh, I will! I'll likely post them up late tonight, or possibly tomorrow morning!

 

[shaeff]

A bit of an update:

Not sure if I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but I plan on doing a proper OEM (oem Infiniti fx35) HID retrofit into Euro glass lens housings. There are a number of Euro housings available, such as DJauto, Apexcone, Depo, ZKW, Hella, and Bosch (going in order from worst to best)

The Apexcone and DJauto housings are relatively brittle from what I've read, and easy to break when disassembling them, or even just installing them. The quality is not there, really. So, read on. The Depo housings are inexpensive, but still not on par with the quality I'm looking for. The Bosch, and Hella are OEM Euro housings from what I understand, and as such, are very high quality. Unfortunately, the Bosch housings are very difficult to modify and very expensive, and the Hella's are hideous!

That leaves me with ZKW's, at around $425/pair, maybe a bit more. Here's a pic:

Picture stolen from www.bavtoys.com.

It's supposedly difficult to retrofit into these housings, too, but after careful consideration, I'm set on it. I almost feel bad about hacking up a brand new set of ZKW's, though. Almost.

For the retrofit, many people do Acura TSX HID projector low beams, and keep the halogen highs. That option didn't sit so well with me, and I read a LOT on the subject. In the end, I decided on Infiniti FX35 clear lens projectors and ballasts. I'll do the custom wiring myself when the time comes.

I'll be doing what's called the TFX retrofit, which is using TSX clear lenses on the FX35 projectors. It increases the intensity, makes the spread a bit wider, and keeps a razor sharp cutoff.

I picked up two full sets of FX35 projectors, ballasts, D2S bulbs, and connectors off ebay for great deals. You really have to search for those deals, though! Here are some pics of the projectors, ballasts, etc...
Click pics to enlarge.

Projectors (fx35 clear lens)/ballasts:













And on we go. I disassembled one projector to start the modifications to it. First goal is to just see what they're all about.

Here we are with the bowl taken off. Just a few phillips head screws, and it pops right off:








The bixenon shield, controlled by a solenoid:






The solenoid:


Backing plate:

 

[shaeff]

And removal of the second (outer, closest to the projector lens) shield. This removes some of the yellow light from the output, and makes for a sharper cutoff.












That's all I've got done for now. Saturday morning I'll paint the shield and re-assemble it for some comparison output pics between the un-modified and modified projectors.

 

[arizzle]

wow so sexy!

Yes the apexi cone, DJautos are brittle. thats why i used that plastic shield , but this DIY i think in going to steal some ideas! lol

 

[shaeff]

Will do! I painted the shields with VHT Header paint and baked it in my oven. The cutoff is very, very nice. I'm happy with them, but still looking for TSX clear lenses to finish it off. If it wasn't so damn cold out I'd post some pics of the output against my garage.

One thing I really like about the high beams on these, is that they're like far reaching flood lights. They just light up everything. I've also got a nice blue band at the center of the cutoff, but it's very tight- no bleeding from light to dark. It's white, thin strip of blue, black. No prism effect, which is good.

 

[suprahero]

Will those fit into my supra................:love:

 

[BorHor]

Nice. I will be looking to do the same thing after I finish the 2JZ in the 240sx

 

[shaeff]

Will those fit into my supra................:love:

Yes, they actually will. I'd recommend some cheap ebay housings that come with the crappy "projectors" in them. They have a clear glass lens (No lens fluting to disperse the light pattern) You could fit the fx35 projector housing in there, you'd just have to mount it very close to the glass outer lens of the H4 housing. It's been done before, I'll find the thread for you later.

Nice. I will be looking to do the same thing after I finish the 2JZ in the 240sx

Thanks. They really are a fantastic projector! (And that 2jz 240 is going to be really sweet!)