Hi All...........BMW M3 Restoration

clap:Hi everybody Joined BHP sometime back back but have been travelling quite a bit hence no prior posts. Guys, I am working on a beautiful project - E36 BMW M3 1998 convertible. No guesses as to who owned the car before!! Suffice to say, it has only got 8673 miles on the clock, still has the original michellin pilot tyres. I am the third owner and have just started working this honeypot. The previous owner got very annoyed with all the smg trouble he had and decided to sell the vehicle, as there was nobody to buy the car in a non-drivable state, I managed to get the vehicle. Since the car has been standing for ages, and I am in no mood to buff out the minor scratches, the first thing that I am doing is getting a complete paint job. But dont stress, the original colour will be kept for the purist in me - Techno Violet Colour Code 299. As we stand now the car is striped of the soft top hood and will be replaced with the company hardtop. By taking out the soft top and its ancillaries, there will be a 40 kilo saving on weight. I want to get this machine as close as possible to a CSL - by the way that also includes me getting into a stringent diet, need to lose 12 kilos and I will be racing fit. The main job on this vehicle is going to be the stripping and removal of the SMG gearbox and replacing it with a manual gearbox. Yes!! Tuff!! Hell yeah! This going to be the most challenging mod that I have done in my entire life and believe me when I say I have scoured every possible resource that there is out there but am none the wiser. Obviously the main worry is the electronics and how to get the DME to accept that the car is now a manual rather than an smg offering that it was when built. Any inputs on this are always welcome. When the gearbox is sorted, the next part is to get the seats redone - the paint coating on the leather seats have started peeling off and it looks downright ugly. This I am going to change, gonna change the colour from cream to a light brown tan. Lots more to add and do, will keep you in the loop Attached Images

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