The Answer

What do you do when you don't care for your E36 M3 convertible?

You trade it for a Titanium Grey Mazdaspeed Miata. Man, this thing is incredibly fun. Pics to come.

I see one of those on my commute pretty often. Titanium Gray, rollbar, matte black wheels. I've never been a fan of Miata looks, but it looks pretty sweet.

Nice, I knew you would get tired of that E36 M3 'vert pretty quickly.

I drove a stock Mazdaspeed a few years ago, it definitely needs some tuning work to get rid of the wonky response and such.

I'd love to have one to turn into a mean DD.

They are fun. I had on 04. Still have the magnaflow exhaust hanging in the garage from it.

Spend the money and get the ECU reflashed. The stock flash drove me nuts. Fun cars. I would have enjoyed it more if I ever could get comfortable in it.

rotard wrote: What do you do when you don't care for your E36 M3 convertible? You trade it for a Titanium Grey Mazdaspeed Miata. Man, this thing is incredibly fun. Pics to come.

It took me three reads to comprehend that you actually meant a BMW M3, E36 generation.

@ knurled - I did the same thing.

Oh, I thought the answer was 42.

Grats! Did you have a miata before? Or was it just too much of a downgrade from the z06 I don't remember

The M3 vert just wasn't that much fun to drive, and never connected with me. I decided that I didn't like it enough to deal with the care and feeding of it.

Oh boy, another Ti MSM on the boards lol.

I'd go Megasquirt before a re-flash, but really depends what you want out of it. The factory tune IS downright terrible-bordering-on-dangerous, though.

rotard wrote: The M3 vert just wasn't that much fun to drive, and never connected with me. I decided that I didn't like it enough to deal with the care and feeding of it.

You are not alone in your disappointment. Methinks it was a bad idea to put an M badge on a flibbery vert chassis without making it rock solid first. They should have only offered the drop top in a 325/328 if they weren't going to make a serious bulkhead. If you advertise a car as a "Motorsport" variant it should handle like the coupes do or at least close to it.

The Mazdaspeed is the factory turbo with the nice wheels, right? They are sexy.

Like.

Damn.... that's a clean one, and an 04 like mine!!!

Vinyl or canvas top?

I want a Mazdaspeed...

I'll settle for boosting my NA.

DaveEstey wrote: I want a Mazdaspeed... I'll settle for boosting my NA.

If yours wasn't red, i'd offer to sell mine to you for your Miata + cash.

Forgive my lack of photography skills. I think it might need some smaller rims, but the Racing Harts are in good shape and the tires have plenty of tread left. I also think it needs a hardtop.

Where can I find some shark teeth for this thing? haha

I just assumed that the top was canvas; I'll have to go look at it later.

rotard wrote: Forgive my lack of photography skills. I think it might need some smaller rims, but the Racing Harts are in good shape and the tires have plenty of tread left. I also think it needs a hardtop. Where can I find some shark teeth for this thing? haha

I got back and forth on smaller rims on the NB. I KNOW performance is better with 15s vs. 17s, especially the ride, but some cars make the 17s look SOOOOOOOOO good!

It does need a hardtop.

It also needs that horrid grill/mesh thing in the bumper removed.

+1 to shark teeth

Hey, at least the guy didn't put those horrid headlight covers on it. How do you guys think a black hardtop would look?

rotard wrote: Hey, at least the guy didn't put those horrid headlight covers on it.

Blargh... i think i just threw up in my mouth a little thinking about those.

The only things that go on the headlights that are acceptable are the Garage Vary eyelids.

Have you discovered Rev9 yet? Your wallet will hate you.

Nice!

The Racing Harts are a bit on the fragile side and fairly expensive. I'd recommend replacing and selling them while you still have a clean set of four. A set of 15x8 wheels with 225/45-15 does the job nicely, 15x7 with 205/50-15 offers a wider range of tire options.

I had a set of teeth for mine years ago. Ah, to be young and foolish again...

rotard wrote:

I really want one of those!

No, not the Miata (thought that would be nice). Behind it.

No, not the Tahoe (thought that would be nice). Behind it.

The Garage! Detached, 2-car, with a man-cave upstairs. I might never enter my house again.

pinchvalve wrote:

rotard wrote:

I really want one of those! No, not the Miata (thought that would be nice). Behind it. No, not the Tahoe (thought that would be nice). Behind it. The Garage! Detached, 2-car, with a man-cave upstairs. I might never enter my house again.

I'd trade my Miata in a heartbeat for that setup as well. I'd just live in it.

black hardtop would look good, might as well get some black vinyl to cover the windshield frame too if you go down that path.

failboat wrote: black hardtop would look good, might as well get some black vinyl to cover the windshield frame too if you go down that path.

Yep. Looks a little strange without the windshield frame matched. Black hardtop is the way i'm going, it's a pain in the ass to find a Ti Grey hardtop, and paint matching gets expensive.

Example of why you want the frame matched:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

DaveEstey wrote: I want a Mazdaspeed... I'll settle for boosting my NA.

If yours wasn't red, i'd offer to sell mine to you for your Miata + cash.

I have a guy that paints for a living. He said to call him when I want a color change and he'd hook me up.