Photo courtesy Grayson Terry
When Grayson Terry entered this world in January 2000, so did this BMW 323i. Separated at birth by only a few weeks, Grayson and the BMW have been through life together. As Grayson went from toddler to teenager to now an adult, the BMW underwent changes, too, as it’s now pushing 300,000 miles.
Grayson’s father, Gary, bought the BMW new. One of Gary’s neighbors owned a dealership and knew of Gary’s love for BMWs. He told Gary that he had a brand-new 323i, and when Gary saw it, he knew it was the one.
“I had to have a four-door to get a young one in and out,” Gary says. “We did a lot of running around in that car when [Grayson] was growing up. I drove it everywhere. Whenever I went on a trip, I always took that car because I was so proud of it. It always drove so well and was so dependable. I put 100,000 miles on it. When he turned 16, it was just natural for me to give it to him.”
Grayson Terry and his father, Gary, and their beloved E46. Photo by J.A. Ackley.
When Grayson officially got his license, there was one place he wanted to take the car: the Tail of the Dragon. “I was like, ‘This was the greatest thing ever,’” he says. “‘I’ll have to do this the rest of my life.’”
Grayson drove the BMW everywhere. Around town in Knoxville, Tennessee. To and from school in Florida.
Photo courtesy Grayson Terry.
However, he always had a vision for his beloved E46 BMW. “Among the first couple of car shows I went to was Slammedenuff,” he recalls. “They had some awesome cars there. I was like, ‘I gotta get into this and started modifying it that way.’ Eventually I found out I needed to make sure that I could still drive this every day. I didn’t want it to be a full-on stance car, but I wanted it to do multiple things–and it does everything. It’s not particularly amazing at any one thing, but it’s amazing at doing everything in a good manner.”
Surprisingly, his entry in the world of mods didn’t come with a performance part. “The headlights on this were so bad, I got into this forum on Facebook and did this projector retrofit,” Grayson recalls. “I found out you didn’t have to swap out the whole housing. That started off my whole modification phase.”
Apex wheels. An Air Lift suspension (which Grayson credits for the car being amazing at so many things). Headers. Exhaust tune. Big pulley kit from Turner Motorsport. And, of course, that iconic Lark livery. “I had it originally wrapped in 3M’s Fiery Orange,” Grayson says. “I did that for a while, and I was like, ‘I could spice this up a little bit.’ I was looking through old race car pictures. I eventually got on the topic of the All Japan Grand Touring Car series.”
BMW didn’t have a car that fit the GT500 class, but it did supply the V12 engines for the McLaren F1 GTRs. That’s where the livery for Grayson’s car comes from. “They just dominated for two years in that series,” Grayson proudly adds. “What’s cool about it is that M52 [in the E46 BMW], if you merged it at the crank with a second one, it would be that V12.”
Photo by J.A. Ackley.
While mods are nice, how do you make a E46 BMW live for nearly 300,000 miles? Three words: constant preventative maintenance.
Grayson credits FCP Euro for its aftermarket cooling system, a fix for a well-known failure point. FCP Euro offers a lifetime warranty on its cooling system kit, and Grayson’s on his third. He also performs Liqui Moly oil changes every 3000 miles.
“There’s not a whole lot to it,” Grayson insists. “If you’re taking care of it the way you’re supposed to be taking care of it–and you’re not going over the top modifying it–it’s built to drive for as long as it can. Unfortunately, they got a bad name because of the cooling system problems.”
Photo by J.A. Ackley.
In nearly a decade with the car, Grayson has taken the BMW to countless gatherings, many runs on the Tail of the Dragon and numerous track days, typically driving the car to whatever event he’s going to. Admittedly, Grayson will be trailering his car to The Amelia for its Cars & Community event, which he was invited to. Sure, Grayson’s BMW isn’t an M3. It’s not any special 3 Series model, either. But it turns heads because of the love its owner has for it.
“Every time I pull up to a show, [people say,] ‘Oh, it’s not an M3,’” Grayson says. “Well, it still does the job and it does it well. People should give it a chance. You can have fun with it. Man, I have had experiences with that car. I’ve done Slammedenuff, ImportAlliance shows, track days. It’s cool because that car has done it all.”
Photo courtesy Grayson Terry.
My parents had two E46 coupes–one with a stick and one without.
What's that saying? "Run what ya brung." Great read and really good looking car. You really don't need the top spec model to have fun :)
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