Since I viewed the 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, I have been constantly thinking about the downpayment and loan issue. I have been thinking a lot and I definitely do not want to be burdened by a car loan because of these simple reasons: 1. Most of the great JDMs are older than 2005. 2. Any car older than 2005 will not be able to get a loan or have a short loan period. 3. Those newer are just too expensive. So, I came up with a plan to get an old and cheap car but with the potential of being a project car. That is when I was reminded of this interesting idea that was once very very popular. Getting an old BMW and put in a Japanese sports car engine. You get the style and luxury of a Continental car but with the reliability of a Japanese engine. We all know BMW engines are great but it is not easy to maintain one. So with this combination, you would get the best of both world.
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| E46 3 Series Coupe with CSL front bumper |
I have always eyed the BMW E46 3-series especially the 2 door coupe variants. It also helps that these E46s are made in the year circa 2000 and market is of abundance of them. I could easily get a E46 for around RM 25,000 but you would need to fork out more at around RM 40,000 for a 2 door variant. I have already picked a color and the exterior enhancement that I would love. It would either be blue or grey with a M3 CSL front bumper paired with a SRS or M Sports rear bumper with dual exhaust. Put on a nice set of Breyton rims and lower with a M Sports suspension set, it will be great. On the inside, I will have a black interior with silver trimmings, a M Sport 3 spoke steering wheel with control buttons and replace the original audio player with a touch screen just to modernize the inside. Also, I would finally have a reason to take my beautiful alcantara Recaro SR6 seat out of my room and into a car. It would be just like the good old days.
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| SRS rear bumper with dual exhaust |
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| M Sport rear bumper with dual exhaust |
Now that the BMW side of the idea is done, it is time for the Toyota half. You might not be aware of it but transplanting Japanese engines into a European car has always been a popular thing in Malaysia. You will see some 1980s Mercedes Benz or early Jaguars with Japanese engines under the hood. It is popular because of the saying that Japanese engines are more reliable and cheaper to maintain. For the BMW, Toyota's 3 liter 2JZ-GTE and 2.5 liter 1JZ-GTE engines are the chosen one with the 1JZ being the more popular one. I started looking up for parts, engine, manual transmission and the list of mods that would go well with the project. I thought I found the perfect project to satisfy my budget and the need for speed. You could see me going online searching every day especially for a suitable and cheap project car but there was none. I told myself I need to wait. Condition is not important because it is more critical to get one as close as possible to what I want to reduce the amount needed to spend on the project.
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| Black interior with aluminum trim equipped with M Sport steering wheel and touch screen |
Then that fateful day came when I was chatting with a good friend of mine and told him about my BMW idea. He told me it was impossible and I was surprised to hear that. I asked him why and he told me that the government changed its rules and now it is impossible to endorse a BMW with a Toyota engine. This was a recent change from 3 years ago and I went to check. Indeed it was true and with the new ruling, it is only possible to change engine that belongs to the same brand and an increase of capacity by 25% only. Saddened by this new revelation, I felt that my project ended before it even could start. I quickly thought of another alternative and that is to buy a BMW already endorsed with a Toyota engine. It would definitely take away the fun of modding but it will save a lot of time. So, I began looking for such a car and I was disappointed. Not only were such cars rarely found in the market, even if you do find one it most probably would be 4 doors with automatic transmission and be more expensive than what I could afford to pay for. I could only curse my luck in this matter. In the end, I am forced to wait and plan more in order to fulfill my needs of a having sports car. I need a manual coupe variant and I will not give up !!! Or until I find another more feasible project. :)
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| 1JZ-GTE sitting cozily in a BMW. Prefer the VVT-i model |
