How it all started...an obsession with BMW and AC Schnitzer...

The roots of this project date back to about 1996. Up until that time, I was pretty much a Japanese car guy, having driven mostly Toyotas and Misubishis (as well as some Yamaha and Kawasaki streetbikes) through the early parts of my driving "career"; save for my brother's 2nd Gen Volkswagen GTi that I had a lot of fun in through my high-school years. At the time, I never really gave much thought towards BMW's, I just kinda saw them as an expensive "Yuppie" mobile. Not something that I particularly cared about or lusted over. But one evening in 1996 changed all of that. Prior to this particular evening, I was obsessed with trying to pull together money to buy a Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX that I wanted to do some serious modding to (yeah, I was a bit of a "ricer" back then).

So, on this particular evening I was at a party and an acquaintance of mine had recently bought a used, Alpine White, 1995 E36 M3. When we arrived at the party, a bunch of people were out oogling at the car. I knew absolutely nothing about BMW's or M3's at the time other than the fact that I thought it was a pretty slick looking car. Later that night, I joked with the owner of the M3 and said, "So, when you gonna let me drive your new car?" He promptly threw me the keys and, in all honesty, said "Go ahead...take it for a spin". Hesitantly, I took the keys and went for a short spirited drive.

That short, spirited drive in that M3 completely changed my perception of BMW's. This car was quick, handled really well, and just felt downright SOLID in every way. It felt like a driver's car...one that gave the driver a good deal of feedback and a feel for the road...a complete opposite of the perception in my head of BMW's being "Yuppie Mobiles". After that drive, I no longer thought about buying a Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX. I instead lusted over...no, NEEDED an E36 M3 of my own.

With this new found interest in BMW's, I started buying and eventually bought a subscription to European Car Magazine. Flipping through the pages of European Car only fed my burning desire for the E36 M3. There were constant accolades for the M3. It was constantly being touted as "Car of the Year" and "The Best handling car at any price". With reviews like that, how could you NOT want one?! Then, one day I saw a CEC ad which highlighted the E36 M3 based AC Schnitzer S3 Sport CLS and fell in love. Everything from the bulging wide body kit, to the off-gray color, to the wheels and stance were perfect. And that was before I ever saw the interior treatments. Slowly, more pics of the CLS leaked out from varying sources and the more and more details I saw of the car, the more and more my lust grew for one. Then ACS made the CLS II and those started showing up in CEC ads(Damn them!!). By this point, my desire for an E36 M3 had reached a feverish pace. I had to have one and started plotting and planning trying to figure out what I could sell in order to be able to afford one of my own. I sold my truck (a '90 Toyota 4Runner), motorcycle (a '95 Kawasaki ZX-7) and anything else I could find that I had that was of value to try and rummage up enough cash to fulfill this burning desire for the car.

Then in '97, I happened to be going out to Los Angeles for a stickfighting tournament (Was living in Baltimore, MD at the time) and one of the must-see places on my list was a visit to Claus Ettensburger Corporation's (CEC) showroom...the sole US importer for AC Schnitzer in the US. During that trip, I visited CEC and picked up all the literature I could find regarding their offerings for the E36 M3(yes, more car-porn for me to lust over!). With that literature, I began plotting and planning the mods I would do to the M3 once I was able to afford one. I wrote lists and calculated costs of all the parts, etc. and it was then that reality set in. At list prices for all the AC Schnitzer goodies that I wanted for the car, I was looking at around $17K!!! I came to the realization that that was never gonna happen. I could barely afford the car, much less all the mods I wanted to do to it. So, I was forced to squash those deep-seated desires for an AC Schnitzer modded E36 M3. I instead went the more utilitarian route and bought a '97 2WD standard-cab Toyota Tacoma and tried to lay those BMW desires to rest.

I drove that Tacoma for a few years and even used it to satiate the modding bug...in the end it was lowered with 17" wheels, bucket seats, and a 50shot Nitrous Express wet kit. I had a lot of fun in that truck and took a lot of people by surprise in it...AND could haul whatever I needed to in the bed. Then, one day in '03, BAM!...I totalled it. So, the search began again for something to replace the trusty Taco. My friends made several suggestions...Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII, Subie Impreza STi, build a Nissan S15 Silvia, build a 1000HP Toyota Supra, etc. etc. While these were all good suggestions, none of them really "spoke" to me. None of them really excited me. None of them really grabbed me by my very soul like that first drive in that E36 M3 did. And thus, the deep-rooted desire for an E36 M3 surfaced again. So, the decision was made and the search began (Again!) for an E36 M3 to call my own.

The plan at the time was to find a Silver '95 M3. I wanted a '95 for the OBDI ease of modding, and a silver car because silver always look classy and clean. I searched all the classifieds I could find...Auto Trader, BMWCCA's Roundel Magazine, etc. and had a couple of prospects. Even found a '94 Euro-Spec M3 in Toronto that was for sale (BMW imported a very limited number of Euro-spec M3's into Canada in '94...complete with the real M3 engine - the Euro S50B30), but I couldn't get a straight answer about what it would take to do a grey-market import of that car into the US, so I had to pass. Then, one day while searching eBay I came across a car that piqued my interest. The car was a '96 328is but it had a S52 M3 engine swap and the AC Schnitzer CLS widebody kit and 18" Type II Rennsport wheels already installed on it. Further research into the car revealed that it also had the AC Schnitzer mirrors, rear wing, roof spoiler, exhaust, short shift kit, Sport Suspension, as well as a plethora of ACS interior treatments already installed. It pretty much had about 80% of the AC Schnitzer stuff that was on my original E36 M3 "build list" from '97...all of which are now no longer available(NLA) even from AC Schnitzer in Germany! I wasn't quick to jump at the car though as I had some reservations.

First of all, the car was in Orange, CA...some 3000+ miles away so I couldn't easily go and take a look and inspect it's condition, etc. I thought about flying out there to take a look, but this was right in the middle of the whole SARS Virus scare and my parents were strongly against me getting on a cross-country plane. The car was also Alpine White which, at the time, was my least favorite BMW color. Finally, it was on eBay and there was always the chance that it was all a scam. Being an eBay auction also meant that I really didn't know what the bid price would run up to...or how many other people I could be bidding against. Even with these reservations, I couldn't look past the fact that the car already had a large majority of the AC Schnitzer parts I originally wanted back in '97...all of which were already NLA. Due to this fact, I took the plunge and shot some emails to the owner. After some back and forth communication with the owner, the car was mine...and soon on an enclosed truck to make the 3000+ voyage from Orange, CA to Hunt Valley, MD.