The Great Mistake - Estoril E36 M3

[philohlean]

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[philohlean]

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[ahonor2k]

this has gone from a stunning oem car to id still say oem+! absolute classic!

[hinrichs]

Looks perfect on the LMs, love the estoril with the gold.

[mpower5266]

I noticed on one of your first engine bay shots, the paint code sticker was for black was this a respray?

[philohlean]

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[mpower5266]

Thanks! That's definitely been the goal, the car was nearly perfect already, so my objective is to be as measured/restrained/deliberate as possible in making changes.



Appreciate it! Wanted to do something period correct, these were the perfect fit.



I'm not sure to be honest. It's possible I suppose. I was confused by the sticker as well. Documentation (Carfax etc) indicated the car was blue, and the paint definitely shows its age in some areas. There is no evidence of repaint that I can find, everything is estoril blue, all of the jams, panels, everywhere. My thinking was that if someone went to the lengths to completely repaint to that degree there really wouldn't have been any reason to include the sticker post-color change. Only other option I guess is that it was a mistake from the factory, or that some well meaning but ill-informed enthusiast put it there. Your guess is as good as mine.

Maybe it was the previous owners last name? Haha. I love the car by the way, I got my m3 out this weekend and stretched its legs a little.

[philohlean]

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[mpower5266]

At this point, I'd believe pretty much anything haha. Appreciate the kind words, your E36 is incredibly clean, I am hoping to get mine to that level eventually. You're not far from Atlanta, right? I'm down in that area every few months, I'm only a few hours away.

Yeah Im a little south of Atlanta, and thanks shes not as clean as she looks in pics but its getting there.

[Golden Gramps]

Estoril blue has to be one of the best colors for the E36! Those fall pictures make me want to get my car out and take a couple!

[19birel]

Looking great man, what a transformation!

[philohlean]

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[philohlean]

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[HardyNugget]

Just finished reading through this thread and I gotta say, the attention to detail is freaking sweet! Love the car, that estoril blue is beautiful!

[parttimeprojectionist]

car is definitely coming around, well done sir! not many appreciate what it takes to get to all those little details/flaws on older BMW's. also wish i had a fraction of your photog skills.