General Questions for a new(er) M3 owner

[Chonn]

Hi Everyone,

Well I found it... 99 M3 with 33k miles on it for 20k. I had it inspected by carchex.com and it passed with flying colors. I drove it back from pebble beach CA to my home in Tacoma WA without any problems. Just had the oil changed at the local dealership and they did a complimentary inspection and it looked good there also.

Ok, so here are a couple of questions I hope you guys can help me out with...

1. What is the best place for parts? both price and service (online).
2. My car has new tires, but what do you guys recommend?
3. It has the tape deck in the dash and the disk changer in the trunk.
Does BMW have a CD player for the dash for this year/model?
4. What is the recommended leather treatment?
5. Has anyone had an invisible bra put on? If so, what brand and do you have the
covers for the headlights and fog lights also.

I think that covers it for now.

Thanks for your input and have a happy Christmas.

[ImperialDuckM3]

Here's answer to your questions:

1. What is the best place for parts? both price and service (online).--Online (bimmerzone.com, bimmerparts.com, pelicianparts.com, etc..)

2. My car has new tires, but what do you guys recommend?--Depend, if you want to keep the stock or upgrade to some new rims/tires. If you decide to change rims, I got dib on your stock rims (Doublespoke2) :thumbup:

3. It has the tape deck in the dash and the disk changer in the trunk. Does BMW have a CD player for the dash for this year/model?----Yes, BMW make cd in-dash. But I recommend you upgrade to an Alpine, Kenwood, etc.. any aftermarket unit will be WAYYYYY better then your stock.

4. What is the recommended leather treatment?--It varys, but I like to use the OEM stuff (found at your local dealership)

5. Has anyone had an invisible bra put on? If so, what brand and do you have the
covers for the headlights and fog lights also--- Unless you drive in the Sahara Desert, why? I personally, wouldn't put any "invisible bra" on my car. Look kinda dorky :)

[DinoEck]

Congrats on the successful purchase. I've outgrown my Porsche 944S2 and have begun looking at E36 M3 Cabs. Did you ever come across a good buying guide for purchasing them used? e.g. what to look for, specific problem areas, etc...

Thanks for the help!

[rrsperry]

1. What is the best place for parts? both price and service (online).

I'll add Pacific BMW, Steve G at the ultimate garage, Bimmerworld


2. My car has new tires, but what do you guys recommend?

Depends on what you need and are going to do. Track tires are very different than street tire that work in the Seattle soup. Car nad Driver, or Road and Track just did a comperhensive tire eval.

3. It has the tape deck in the dash and the disk changer in the trunk.
Does BMW have a CD player for the dash for this year/model?

Yes it is the CD-43 It has much better performance than the cassette in your car. There is also the BMW Traffic Pro nav system.

4. What is the recommended leather treatment? Hyde food, Griot's products, lexol (last resort)


5. Has anyone had an invisible bra put on? If so, what brand and do you have the
covers for the headlights and fog lights also.

For fog and headlights StoneGaurd. www.umnitza.com