New Member From Wisconsin

[Minnesota]

Hello ZHPMafia!

Greetings from western Wisconsin near the Twin Cities. I am a native of Minnesota; thus the username.

As I'm sure many of you did as well, I found this forum while searching for a car to buy. I am currently driving a 1984 318i with around 180,000 miles on it. I bought the car 8 years ago with 80-some thousand on it and have been nursing the old girl along ever since. I didn't pay much for this car; it's underpowered and not very fancy, but it did give me a taste of what a BMW is all about and now...I want more.

I am focused on the E46 body style. These cars look awesome, have a good aftermarket, a great reputation, and very close ties to my E30. When I first started looking at the E46's I didn't have much to steer by. I was thinking I wanted at 325 because I just wanted that legendary inline 6 engine. After poking around on the internet for a while I settled on the 330 cars, specifically the 330ci. I liked the power of the 3 liter and the option package that came along with the coupe. I wanted something a little more sporty rather than the generic cars you sometimes find in the sedan world.

I noticed in searching through the car sales sites that every once in a while there would be a car with the ZHP label. This intrigued me due to the increased power, better handling, and dressed up look of the cars. So I started narrowing my search to ZHP coupes. Eventually I wandered into ZHPMafia territory. I haven't looked around here too much other than in the classifieds area, but I'm looking forward to digging in deeper. The classifieds have given me the notion that I might consider a sedan...if it is a ZHP sedan.

Anyway, I'm still looking for a car. I'm mainly in the research phase right now since my accountant (the wife) is insisting that we pay off one bill before we take on another car payment. I have a whole laundry list of things I'd like to have in the car, things I couldn't live without, and I couldn't live with.

This isn't the first forum I've become a member of and I am encouraged by the "Family Rules". Too often these online forums are a place where trolls come to behave poorly. It's refreshing to see a place where civility and respect are expected.

Minnesota

[san]

Welcome!
+1 on the family rules. This is my first and only forum too. You'll enjoy spending time here...


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[Vas]

Welcome

[BMWCurves]

Welcome! You'll like it here, the company's great and the information is pretty extensive. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Sedans are probably more sought after than coupes because they're the closest thing to a factory E46 M3 with four doors you can buy, so that might be to your advantage, but there were about half as many coupes made for the US than sedans, so it all probably evens out. There are a few other differences between sedans and coupes, such as coupes having adaptive headlights (they headlights turn with the steering wheel) while sedans do not, but the coupe headlights are sealed so it's a bit more of a pain to install "angel eye" or "halo" headlights. That may or may not be a concern for you. Coupes all came with fold down rear seats whereas it was both a standalone option or a part of the Cold Weather Package in sedans. Coupes have LED tail lights while sedans have halogen bulbs. I think that's about it.

[Minnesota]

Welcome! You'll like it here, the company's great and the information is pretty extensive. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Sedans are probably more sought after than coupes because they're the closest thing to a factory E46 M3 with four doors you can buy, so that might be to your advantage, but there were about half as many coupes made for the US than sedans, so it all probably evens out. There are a few other differences between sedans and coupes, such as coupes having adaptive headlights (they headlights turn with the steering wheel) while sedans do not, but the coupe headlights are sealed so it's a bit more of a pain to install "angel eye" or "halo" headlights. That may or may not be a concern for you. Coupes all came with fold down rear seats whereas it was both a standalone option or a part of the Cold Weather Package in sedans. Coupes have LED tail lights while sedans have halogen bulbs. I think that's about it.

Wow. I learned a ton just from that short post.

-Sedans did not come with adaptive headlights (something on my wish list)
-Coupe Headlights are sealed (which explains why you don't see as many with angel eyes)
-Coupes come with fold-down rear seats (also something on my wish list)
-Coupes have LED tail lights standard. I thought this was only on the ZHPs

Thanks

[johnrando]

Welcome! GLWSearch.

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[BMWCurves]

Post your wanting to buy (WTB) thread so we know what to look for.

[Oli77]

Welcome Minesota!
This is an awesome site.

Kentucky.

[danewilson77]

Welcome home Minnesota

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[fredo]

Welcome, sir ! You will love this forum. Good intro, BTW.