Midnight tales from the depths of the deep blue V8V 4.3

[jafbash786]

After owning a loving my current e46 m3 for almost 8 years i dont know what has randomly come over me.

My m3 build thread

https://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/threads/jafman-buil...

I been playing with e46s since i was 20 now 36

Part of me never wants to sell it part of me wants something different as its just a toy car now and feel tempted by the likes of a out right 2 seater sports car like a f type r or v8 vantage.

I have chosen the v8v as its definitely the more purist traditional emotive drivers car.

The m3 will be up sale in a month or so

Ultimately i wish I was well of enough to buy a 2nd toy car but alas i can only have one

I started loosely looking around a month ago with a budget of around 30k.

Evidently any old car even with low miles will end up needed many ks to make right and to a personal standard

I wanted a car i would not be scared of putting miles on as i plan to keep it if life allows 5 to 10 years

I have ended up with this knowing i will spend shy of 30k total making it to my liking but i do love a project!

92k car with a folder of receipts full break down later

My own inspection has reveled

Back tyres nearly gone 3mm or less
idler pulley squeak on cold
Needs new shocks all round
Rear view Mirror replacement needed
Drivers Seat belt frayed
Driver seat heating not working - recall in place for this
Clutch is high maybe normal, clutch has been done 12k miles ago
1 part of Interior plastics broken no biggie
windscreen washer pump not working
Door shocks needed both sides
Front Lights have condensation need re sealing
Subframe looks okay alot of surface corrosion

18k 2 keys and drives faultless list of niggles aside

I will address everything in the months to come

I will be collecting the car next week

some pics from the sale











Not a fan of the grey wheels or weird black tacky vinly bits to mimic other variants but all will be addressed soon enough, i have already started buying parts......more on that later

the color combo to be me is absolutely sublime (despite being plagued with somehow owning mostly carbon black looking cars

Edited by jafbash786 on Tuesday 13th January 12:18

[Mad Maximus]

Beautiful. I get the m3 but I get this more.

[Pablo16v]

Congrats on the purchase, I really like the V8V so will be following your exploits with interest

The wheels look ok to me, but will look even better in silver I think. Good luck with it.

[carinaman]

£18K?

Congratulations on going for it!

[wc98]

Lovely car and cracking interior. Definitely a timeless design and if my mates recent purchase is anything to go by they are right up there on the smiles per mile chart. Look forward to seeing how you progress with all the little niggles to get it exactly how you want it.

[jafbash786]

Thank u all many many exploits lined up in the weeks and months to come

[jafbash786]

So i collect the car friday

In anticipation I have got got a low miles steering wheel to retrofit cruise control and phone controls alongside a mr12volt to get a blutooth audio and calls im not sure car play has any point in the tiny winy screen but i can assesss that later

It happens to be blue matching the interior

I also dislike the black the exhast tips and got a pair of silver ones




Now to figure out how to actually complete the retofits

[Sko77y]

Man after my own heart, tremendous choice and the spec/colours look lovely.

Will keep an eye on progress.

[andy43]

In! I saw this ad, it wasn’t up for long. Great colour scheme.
It’ll be interesting to see how the retro fit cruise control works.

[trails]

Great to see a funky interior in a V8V, really work well with the blue too.

Good luck, I hope it treats you well

[Gary29]

Nice! But that chrome GB badge on the bootlid has got to be the first thing to go!

[Networkgeek]

I really do love these V8Vs, I can't think if much else that I want to replace my M2 with.

I have to ask, why did you buy yours from what looks to be a shopping car garage?

Enjoy.

[jafbash786]

It was a used car dealers personal car

He owned it 2 years and did less than 2k prior to him it was somewhat looked after

I wanted a car that needs some love but wasnt a lemon so i can spend my 30k budget including a mini resto and mods

It just happened to be fate and timing

Edited by jafbash786 on Tuesday 13th January 12:19

[jafbash786]

1 hour of labour to save 140£ on new vs used tips

The obsession begins and the car is not even here yet....

[danb79]

That is lovely; what a superb colour combo!

Superb job on the exhaust tips too

[carinaman]

Good work on those exhaust tips.

[olv]

Welcome to the club! Mine is midnight blue too, sounds like you've already got a sensible list of stuff to tackle. You'll love it, great cars.

[krisdelta]

Congratulations, this is precisely the route I took, E46 M3 -> Vantage. I've run 2 as dailies over the years and found them to be rock-solid. Family duties have dictacted (slightly) more practical transport of late, but I will be back in a DB11/12 depending on how the depreciation fairies bode.

[jafbash786]

Thank u all

Luckily i have a different family car or the wifes car supposedly

Just as bonkers tbh l322 5.0 600hp 500ft lb 2.6t brusier

[jafbash786]

Car collected today and did some random 100 miles of driving car is not a lemon but original list of works remains

There will be more i suspect some bushes and joints

Its drives good* engine pulls strong and sounds godly better than a s65 and my s65 bro seems to agree

Shocks let it down but thats expected

Other things i picked up today

Faint lifter tick will need valve adjustment at some point

Bonnet has been resprayed at some point and poorly will need a deep flatting? and polish i will take care of all that in summer. First viewing in heavier rain did not help

Headlights are dim feels like im holding a old maglite and the batteries are dying. Some led goodies should sort.


Needs spacers like 25mm rear and 15 front oem wheels will be refurbed to silver along with conti sp 7s. The bridgestones re505a are shxt and heavy in comparison

Overall for a 18k aston that will need around 5k in parts and she should end up a peach

Cant say its better than the m3 till the dynanics are sorted

The color really pops in the light









The owner before the last spent quite a bit on the car to the tune of 15k in bills

Final service 90200 feb 25 (no more stamps from me) Its had all services in its life as per schedule

From the rest of the paperwork in summary

80k miles thermostat
2 front coil springs

New oem clutch and flywheel - 81k seems to be standard kit as opposed to twin clutch and light flyhwel upgrade

84k front brake flexi hoses, pads discs and shoes all round - still like new 8k miles later

boot/bonnet struts

new ac lines compressor and condenser

wiper arm assembly

New radiator thermostat and hoses

new door mechanism and locks
new door controls modules both sides, software updates

The journey begins

Edited by jafbash786 on Friday 16th January 20:25

Edited by jafbash786 on Friday 16th January 20:27