May. 16, 2003 - "Getting my groove on"

The next day, Friday, I take it back to Mastercare to have the clips installed, and they don't even have to ask me how I like the car, because that silly grin hasn't left my face..I'm starting to get worried that it might stick that way.

Pedal clip is put on, and the pedal immediately looses the slop. I've logged 200 miles since I picked the car up. A quick check of the car on the rack also confirms that nothing is loose, leaking, or missing, oil and coolant are good, once again showing how professional these guys are.

We settle up the bill at this point, and they end up buying my old engine from me, as well as the Double Spokes and my "take off" Toyo FZ4's, for a fair price, reducing my bill nicely, AND they want to hang onto the wreck for a while longer to see what else they can salvage.

So, with all the parts I bought, the cost of the wreck, and the labor, I've spent $6k out of pocket. Not bad at all, that netted me a full power Vader interior, full suspension, full drive train, new radiator, water pump, thermo housing and t-stat, hoses, LTW flywheel, HFM, chip, SSK, better rubber, exhaust and cats, and 3/4 of the M-Technic body parts I'd need.

Add that to the roughly $7k I had in the 325is including mod parts (intake, TB, and suspension swapped right over), and I've got a pretty nice car for less than what I would pay for an un-modded '95 M3 with higher miles.

More pointless trips that evening as I clock more miles. The shifter seemed to be getting less notchy, a good sign.

Saturday I drive to Jim Powell's house, and install some Billetwerks silver caps for the radiator, diagnostic port, oil filler, and brake resevoir. Looks great in contrast to with the Dinan carbon fiber pieces, and matching my shiny silver valve cover and aluminum thermostat housing.

The cool part is, there is no visual indication that it is an M3 engine, unless you're smart enough to notice the bigger HFM. I like that.

Everyone there was impressed with the car, which was a nice warm fuzzy, and the SSK has smoothed out a bit more. I drove a '95 325is that was there just to compare, and the throws on that car were long and rubbery. And of course, the power was just not there, even though it was a nicely running 325is with ECIS intake and Rogue DMS exhaust.

I let my boss drive it, and he comments fairly quickly about how fast the engine revs, noting that it revs more freely than his NSX, high praise indeed from Brad, who says he finds that the NSX is still his favorite all around car. He then makes the comment, after going through a few twists and turns, that I now have a real performance car.

I leave there happy, partly because I impressed him, and partly because I drove the NSX not long after that, and my car DOES rev faster (and shifts damn near as nicely) as his NSX, though the NSX felt faster than my car, to be expected since it has 50 more HP stock and weighs less.

Since then, I've logged another 750 miles on the car, nearly a thousand since the swap, and I'm still a happy camper. The Rogue Octane SSK has broken in, and shifts are smooth but precise, a real pleasure to perform.

I've had a few kills, the most memorable being a green Cooper S from a start that jumped me by a car, but no contest after that, a 330ci convertible that I just humiliated (though he started it) from a start and at speed, and an Acura TL-S sedan, once again humiliated.

Am I happy? You bet your sweet bippy I am. Am I done? Not quite. I still want to install UUC pulleys, do a fan delete, get the X-brace installed, decide on an exhaust, and figure out what I want to do with the body. I'm torn there, as I was planning on installing the M-Technic parts, and I already have a rear bumper cover and side skirts salvaged from the wreck. But the sleeper idea is very appealing as well, so I might just have the skirts and bumpers painted body color, correct the chipping problems on the hood, and leave it alone.