I have been wanting to write this for a long time now, but I just haven’t had the time to really work on it. So here goes!
Right after Christmas of 2010, the idea came into my head that I would get a new car. I had been driving a 2001 Ford Escape which I had no problems with. It was great for moving stuff and blasted through snow and rough terrain. But it was an SUV, which meant it wasn’t very good at taking corners; and the gas mileage sucked.
So I looked into my budget and started looking around for cars that were in the 5K-9K range. At the time I had no idea what I wanted. An old Datsun 510 would have been a sweet car to fix up. I looked at a few Nissans and Mazda RX-7’s. Then I saw the E30 and I knew that I wanted a BMW. I looked all over for an E30 that was rust free and had fairly low miles, but that’s no easy feat.
After discussing my findings with my stepdad, he suggested that I should look at something newer. Something that would have nicer features and won’t have to worry about rust. So I thought about the E36 M3. But every car out there was roughly 3K overpriced from what KBB was saying. So he suggested to go newer. With my heart still set on an M3 I started looking at every E46 M3 that was around there area (And ones that weren’t). After two months of searching I finally came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t be able to afford an E46 M3. I was looking at roughly 18K-19K for anything decent with 100K miles on it. Not to mention the insurance and everything, it just wasn’t meant to be.
That’s when I decided I wanted a ZHP. I found one located in College Park Maryland, which ironically was right down the street from a friend of mine. I was hesitant when I first saw it. But right away I knew that this was the car I wanted. It has a few flaws, but so far it has been mechanically sound and a blast to drive. The first two owners were dealers. So it had regular maintenance performed by the dealer, no sketchy stuff. I have so many plans for this car. So many things I want to do, but need to wait until I have the funds.
The Car
2005 BMW 330i ZHP
6-Speed Manual Transmission
Jet Black with Natural Brown Leather Interior
Halogen Headlights
Alcantara Steering Wheel
Black Cube Trim
95,000 miles
The day I bought her
Mods / Maintenance
-Black kidney grills
-Blue and white roundels
-Angel Eyes (Khoalty)
-Polished plastic headlamp covers
-Software Tuning - DRL's turned off - fog lights stay on even after high beam use - turn signal lights off in running light mode (Thanks VA330CI!)
-Engine cooling system refresh with ECS Tuning aluminum water pump pulley
-It does already have a K&N filter in the stock box which is nice
Wish List / Ideas (In no particular order)
-30% tints back on the car
-Slightly higher temperature bulbs for the headlamps and fogs. I’m thinking 4500K
-New weighted ZHP shift knob
-Buff and polish the paint. It really needs some TLC. I know detailers domain has some great kits.
-New wheels and tires. I really really like the wheels on Jon Estrella's (Au2Bahn) car.
-Clear corners, clear sidemarkers, LED rear brake lights.
-BMW performance intake
-BMW performance strut bar
-New front bumper, I think this one is beyond saving. It has some major gashes and scrapes underneath from the PO. Its probably the worst looking part on the car.
-Upgrade the suspension system. I have no idea what direction I want to go with this.
-Headers
-Exhaust
-The last thing I do to this car will be an ESS TS2 Supercharger. It will happen. Maybe not for a while but it will happen.
Blue carbon fiber
Before Sonax
After Sonax
Bimmerfest East
If you made it this far thanks for reading! I will try to update this as I keep working on my car. My car isn't perfect, but it's getting there slowly but surely. I hope to someday have my car be as good as some of the other forum members here. You all have beautiful cars that really raise the bar.
Comments, suggestions and advice are all appreciated.