v3.2mc – Sepang Bronze ///M Coupé Picture Thread

[v3.2mc]

Originally Posted by Z4MLover2012

Your car is beautiful! Have you named her yet?

thanks! and no, not a big car naming guy myself. around the house it's simply referred to as "the ///M". the phrase alone makes me

Originally Posted by Nikki

Awww I'm getting all tingly thinking of driving it again. BTW Eric, let me know if you'd like your story to be featured on Edmunds Inside Line, either the first post or some variation of it and I'll get it posted.

come visit then! erin and i are planning to be in LA this summer. sadly we'll be flying in, but it'd be great to see you!
i hear malibu creek SP calling me from afar afar afar

also... inside line?!... me?! awesome! uh... i mean... i would be delighted.

i'll PM you with many questions.

[Nikki]

Yes, I was just out hiking off of Kanan yesterday. I took advantage of the extra hour of sunlight as well!

[v3.2mc]

Originally Posted by Nikki

Yes, I was just out hiking off of Kanan yesterday. I took advantage of the extra hour of sunlight as well!

that is wonderful! i'm so jealous! the nearest great hiking spot to us is Devil's Lake SP in wisconsin, which is still a cool 4.5 hr drive to even get there. sure, there are other places to hike, but nowhere near the same caliber of MCSP or DLSP.

oh well.

[v3.2mc]

with a little help from an insider, v3.2mc is now on inside line!

http://blogs.insideline.com/readersr...oupe.html#more

enjoy!

[Nikki]

Yeay!!! It's a great story.

[Anderw]

Those m5 reps look great

[v3.2mc]

10 days of driving and sight-seeing is over. here are some thoughts and some pics. i'll be sure to add more to this as i remember what happened over the last week and a half...



my wife and i left Des Moines on june 8th and returned just today. all but one day was spent exploring in the ///m, and most of those days were very leisurely. we were both very impressed at how easy it is to travel with this car. we each had a carry-on type bag for clothes with plenty of room left over for hiking shoes and the odd bourbon/whiskey to return home. we stopped about every 2-4 hours to get out and do some walking, which made the fits-like-a-glove z4 cabin wonderful to be in for a vast amount of the trip.

day 1 was a simple trip to the in-laws in Peoria, IL. I-80E to I-74E.

day 2 we made it to Louisville, KY. I-74E to I-65S. this beautiful town was our base of operations for the trip. we discovered the wonderful "Sergios World Beers". i highly recommend this little place. not so much for the food, but definitely the masive selection of beer. i have never seen a better variety. Sergio specializes in trapiste darks, so if you like these it is a must to stop in and say hello.

day 3 we spent lounging around at a local art fair and indulging in some excellent foods there, and also my cousin's wedding. well done CW and Maddie!

day 4 we were out on the road to see Four Roses Distillery and also Woodford Reserve. I-64E to HWY-127S to HWY-62E to McCracken Pike Rd N. the Four Roses tour was my 2nd favorite tour. excellent people and a great product. it's amazing they have less than 100 employees considering how much bourbon is produced there. a few pics...









next was Woodford Reserve. this is a much larger distillery. spectacular grounds and tasty bourbon make this a good stop as well...





the tour is very rehearsed and not very intimate. after leaving here we headed north on McCracken Pike Rd and came across a curiosity...





an abandoned distillery! apparently, KY is full of these. and of course...



day 5 and we're off to Mammoth Cave National Park. HWY-127S to Martha Layne Collins Bluegrass Pkwy W to I-65S. we chose the "Grand Avenue Tour" once at the cave, which was nearly 5 hours long! it was awesome! we also indulged in some zip-line fun. one day was not nearly enough time here. next time we'll alot 3 full days for this amazing location. pic!...



day 6 was back to Louisville for some slugger food. I-65N. first we stopped at Jim Beam, the lease impressive of the 4 distilleries we visited...



we ended up at Slugger Field's brewery "Against the Grain". very good food. very very good craft beers. the beer cheese dip and house-made kettle chips kept us there for almost 3 hours.

day 7 we came to Buffalo Trace for our favorite bourbon (Blanton's Reserve), and then on to Knoxville, TN. I-64E to I-75S to HWY25E E to TN33 S. the Buffalo Trace grounds are amazing and the employees are very friendly (with the exception of one guard who would NOT allow me to get photos of the ///m near any of their more picturesque buildings). i highly recommend the "hard hat" tour. remember to call ahead to reserve a spot with them at least 24 hours to showing up! here's an ///m'less pic...



now... HWY25E E through the Cumberland Gap and then south on TN33 S... utterly amazing scenery. fantastic pavement. i wish we had had time to stop and take one picture. that's right... one of the best rural driving experiences of my life, and we have zero pics of the event. dummy.

day 8 was our brutal day. Knoxville, TN back to Peoria, IL.

day 9 and ill prepared... we discovered that there was a massive storm system coming through, and so decided to take an extra day and head to my wife's grandmother's farm to ride it out...















no worries! the ///m made it through unscathed.

day 10 we made it home! over 2200 miles, and it's time for an oil change, a bath, and maybe a liver xplant.

[ZStig]

very cool. I just completed a 2 day 1200 mile trip, will post the 3-4 pics I got in my thread.

[v3.2mc]

Originally Posted by Roffle Waffle

very cool. I just completed a 2 day 1200 mile trip, will post the 3-4 pics I got in my thread.

1200 in 2... that's iron man territory there!

can't wait to see the pics.

[ZStig]

I posted the few pics in my supercharger thread. I actually picked up my z4m in miami, and drove it straight home WITHOUT sleep, and my old z4 3.0 I've done the trip there and back without sleep too. About 21 hours on those trips. This time I was too tired from moving furniture all week to do the same

[Nikki]

Great photos and writeup

That little car has an amazing history in the making. When I first got it, we drove it 850 miles from Moline, IL to Denver, CO and 750 miles the next day from Denver to Las Vegas.

[v3.2mc]

a little 4th-o-july teaser...











the light is completely functional, but i don't know if i like it yet or not. as soon as the other side is done, i'll take it out for a better photo session.

let me know what you think!

[TexasZed4MC]

VERY interested in that mod! Never was a fan of the big Roundel on the side. Where to get these and cost

[dubsesd]

in like it. very cool. more pics would help me judge further haha

[XMetal]

Is there any plan with closing that gaping hole with something (mesh, perhaps)?

[v3.2mc]

Originally Posted by TexasZed4MC

VERY interested in that mod! Never was a fan of the big Roundel on the side. Where to get these and cost

Originally Posted by dubsesd

in like it. very cool. more pics would help me judge further haha

they aren't cheap considering i'm using OE X5///M parts, and i've tried 4 different paint finishes on them. the pics hide some imperfections that are noticible in the flesh, and really this was posted to gauge public attitude towards the project before i got in really deep.

it would have been easier to see the prototype quality once i got it out for a photo shoot, except that i seriously botched the passenger side. i've ordered replacement parts and intend on devoting much of my weekend to doing this right way for this car... meaning that the black look didn't do it for me and i've decided to try something a little different.

hopefully i'll have better info/pics for you all soon!

Originally Posted by XMetal

Is there any plan with closing that gaping hole with something (mesh, perhaps)?

my first prototype for this project was only a silverish galvanized wire mesh, contoured concave to match the bezel, with the turn lamp buried inside the duct i made for it, which was cool because the acordian style ducting looked sweet when lit up from the inside (especially at night). overall it looked OK, but was more of a "track" look than i wanted. it would have looked great on CRFine's IB coupe... not so much on my more-or-less stock look bronzer.

that portion was inexpensive. if you're interested, let me know and i'll PM you details. i don't have a formal DIY though. check out Palantirion's art car, as that's where this inspiration started.

[l4zy]

i think it should look cool once the hole is filled in with mesh

[krusty]

Impressed at your inventiveness ... but sorry - I think it is ugly.

[v3.2mc]

[antennahead]

Cool, I'm a bourbon drinker, and I love Four Roses I bet that was a fun visit!

(and Woodford Reserve isn't too bad either )

John

[v3.2mc]

[v3.2mc]

time was limited today, so i'll do a better photo shoot with better light control this weekend.

until then... enjoy!