Hello everyone,
I am a long time lurker and recently an active member on this wonderful site. It is certainly "The Place" for all news and scoops BMW.
Just wanted to say hi and share my cars, '87 E30 M3 (Henna), '00 M Coupé (Junior) and '04 E46 M3 CSL (Cesil). Of course they are nowhere as impressive as some of the builds and collection I saw here but, I have a feeling that this crowd would appreciate them more than any place else.
Here is a little back story about myself and my cars,
I am a die hard BMW fan from Istanbul, Turkey. I am sure we have many other members here from Turkey as well. I have been a huge BMW enthusiast all my life. Since the age of 6 when my father used to take me for spirited drives in his E21 315i, I was hooked for the Bavarian Love. Luckily, my family only owned BMW's so when the time came for me to own a car, I also went for a BMW. It started with my Mom's E36 318is and as years gone by, it moved to various other BMW's like E46's, Z4's and E90 etc.
Although I owned modern BMW's, I always lusted for an E30 M3 since a father's friend brought home a poster of a then new E30 M3 when I was only 7 years old.. It was love at first sight. I HAD TO have one. When I was old enough get a car, the E30 M3 was no longer available so I had to move to modern machinery as I just mentioned. But my love for the legendary E30 M3 didn't diminish one bit, so I started my hunt for one. It was really difficult to find one here in Istanbul because there were only 25 of them imported to the country and almost half of them were written off and most of the remaining ones were either molested or tastelessly modified.
After years of searching and harassing owners, I was finally able to find my E30 M3 in 2007. I chose that particular car because of two important things ; First, the car was in famous Henna Red color. Which was only produced in first half of the first production year, so it was really rare and stunning in person. Secondly, the car's owner was the service manager of an authorized BMW dealer which meant the car was well maintained and most importantly not molested and all stock. After a year long negotiating and persuasion, I bought my pride and joy in April 2007 with a smile from ear to ear.
After briefly owning the car, I went for a full restoration. The engine had been rebuild, all the rust have been cleaned out and all the worn and damaged parts were either restored or replaced with new ones. After the overhaul, then came the little required mods for the car. E30 M3 is a fine M car as it is but it can use little improvements in some areas. First, was installing Bilstein Shocks and H&R Race Springs for the much needed handling improvement. Then came the gloriously screaming Carbon Fiber Airbox and Alpha-N Tuning which was completed in Stuttgart by an M Specialist. On the exterior, I added EVO 2 front spoiler and Sport Evo Rear spoiler to improve aerodynamics. For the interior, I opted for Recaro SRD seats and Alcantara steering wheel,gear lever, handbrake lever to improve in-car ergonomics for spirited drives and track work.
I love driving my M3 in early mornings in empty historic streets of old Istanbul where I feel like the whole city is my playground. I love driving through our ancient palaces, mosques and monuments with a screaming S14 under my M3's bonnet. And after a little city track I usually take the action to my favorite twisty's in the outer skirts of the Istanbul forrest roads. But of course I never limited my self or my M3 for specific patch of roads;
As soon as I felt my car was in my desired condition, I set my sights on a road trip to Nurburgring. It was an unheard thing back in 2007 in Turkey for someone to have an out of the country road trip with a 25 year old car especially to a country 2000km away. Everybody called me crazy for even thinking of such an adventure. Well, I still did it and now I am a regular at the ring and take my M cars there every year. I combine those ring trips with some scenic drives on my way and most entertaining ones are the ones I take through German Autobahn and French riviera with magnificent twisty roads and glamorous party towns like Cannes, Monaco and Paris among many others. Not to mention the pleasure of earning wonderful friendships with real enthusiasts I acquired during all those wonderful trips especially in Nurburgring, the driver's "Mecca".
As for driving "Henna" ( My car's name ), It is a pure joy and isolation from real world. I also own an '00 M Coupé and '04 M3 CSL but none give me the real mechanic connection with the tarmac. Steering and chassis feedback is almost telepathic. Every response and input of the car is progressive and controllable. You always feel like the car is trying to help you master the next corner and everything works in harmony to achieve that. Immediate throttle response, very well balanced chassis, that screaming CF Airbox from the legendary S14 engine, super wide visibility and perfect throws of the dog leg gearbox makes each and every drive special and unforgettable.
There will always be newer M machinery from Munich but no matter the improvements and innovations, E30 M3 is the greatest M car ever in my opinion. I plan to hold on to my M3 as long as I live and hope to keep her company with my current M cars and more to come in the future.
This is my story and these are the cars that shaped it,
Here is the link to my Petrolicous feature,
Petrolicious - Man from Istanbul Drove to Nurburgring
My daily is a '06 E86 Z4 Coupé and Missus drives a '14 X3 but they are not gallery worthy,
Thanks for looking,
Can.