Hemisport's E46 M3 Vert and New Daily Driver

[hemisport15]

I'll try to get the pics for you guys tomorrow, my dad and I are going to give it a nice wash tomorrow (it's supposed to be 56). And by then my mom's camera should be charged and ready to go.
My dad also drove it home because I don't know how to drive a stick yet. But watching it on the road was just as good. It handles like a dream too. We picked up some fresh, warm pizza and took the back roads home and there is this one road that has a really fun S Bend, my dad took it at well over the recommended speed limit and when I opened the pizza box at home the cheese on the pizza slid off the crust!
Eiriksmil, the motor is great. Everything has been well taken care of, it has a new head gasket and some other stuff so everything is all good. It's pushing about 8 pounds of boost right now, the previous owner put a nifty boost gauge and air/fuel mixture gauge on the pillar that I like to watch when my dad drives.

 

[hemisport15]

First off, pictures are on the way, I haven't had any time to upload them to my computer. Anyway here is the real news. I have had my Corrado and love it. I can drive it just fine, it's fun, and I'm getting around 30 MPG. So a few weeks ago my dad and I had a three day weekend and decided to tinker with the car. We popped the hood and just looked around checking for leaks, fluids, and wires. We found a lot of wires and most of them lead to nowhere. Maybe that could explain my electrical problem that I was having.
We checked all the breakers or circuits (i don't know what they are called) and some were burnt out. We checked the pannel that told us what each one did and the one that was supposed to give power to my interior lights and a few other lights was fried. So, we went and got some more breakers and put them in. Once they were put in, they get fried. That was problem number one.
Number two. My horn doesn't work. So we checked the breaker and there wasn't one. So we put one in and it was all fine, for now. Later that day I was backing the car out of our garage and the horn starts to go off all on its own. While this was happening, my radio turned itself off. I turned the car off to see if that would solve the problem but it didn't. Everytime I turned the car on the horn would blow. Now the radio decides when it wants to work. I'm thinking about giving it the nickname Christine, pretty fitting for it don't ya think?
My dad took it to a family friend that has been working on Volkswagens for over 25 years. He has all kinds of them sitting around his house and he really knows what he is doing. We are hoping that he can figure out what the problem with it is and hopefully tell us if we are better of selling it or just getting it repaired. I hope that I can keep it because I think I will cry if I have to see it go. I'll let you all know as soon as I find out.

 

[Philly]

Yep. It's a Volkswagen alright!

But I hope you can get it figured out and hopefully it isn't too big of an issue. Letting go of a first car AND a VW isn't something I'm looking forward to...

 

[YSSMAN]

Sounds fairly similar to the problems my Fox had before it was totaled in the crash. My headlights and tail lights would go out intermittently, not to mention the occasional wishes to not start... Normally when there was any kind of wet weather.

My guess is that its something fairly easy to fix, but it could cost a lot... Or nothing at all. They [VWs] have always been a little "funky," and this is no different. Still, glad to hear you're liking the car, and furthermore, getting fuel mileage that awesome.

Good luck!

 

[eiriksmil]

Sounds like a ground issue.. No reason to 'let the car go'. Atleast then you're not ready for owning a G60, that's for sure..

 

[hemisport15]

Sorry, I forgot to update this. I am still without my car. I haven't seen it in like 2 or 3 weeks and don't know when I will be seeing it again. Right now we are trying to takle the whole inspection issue. I'm not completely sure but the only thing that we are have trouble with when it comes to inspection is emissions. Apparently I had a huge leak in my exhaust. And when I say this I mean that there were a few missing welds that were supposed to be holding everything together. So, Mike (the guy doing all the work nearly for free) put some type of patch on the missing welds spots and drove it to his work to get it tested. It held up the entire ride there but once it got on the dyno the patch blew out. So eventually he took it back home to weld it and right when he was about to start he realized that his tanks tanks were empty and needed to refill them. So now the exhaust it fixed and you would think everything would be fine. Well, it's not. It failed emissions. Twice. That is problem one in detail.
I thought that was basically the last thing that needed to be taken care of but it wasn't.
It still needs an O2 sensor, a new wheel bearing (or something like that), and the battery is still held in place with a bungy cord.
I don't know what is going to happen still, but now I am even more worried than before because the last time my dad was on the phone with Mike he hung up and asked me if any of my freinds wanted a Corrado. So I said "It's that bad, huh" and he said "Well, if it goes the way it sounds, we are ******."
EDIT: I forgot the good news! My electrical problem is pretty much solved and the door handle on the passenger side is no longer loose. Yay, I guess.

 

[Philly]

The way this car turned out really is a shame. Those Corrados are really cool. We were looking at getting one a few years ago as well.

Any pics?

 

[hemisport15]

The way this car turned out really is a shame. Those Corrados are really cool. We were looking at getting one a few years ago as well.

Any pics?

Yea, the car was absolutely perfect for about a week or two and then everything went down the drain. I'm just waiting out and driving my brother's car for now.
The camera is MIA right now so the pics are gonna have to wait.

 

[hemisport15]

I have been having too much fun driving my car that I forgot to tell everybody that I got it back! Everything is fixed and now even runs better than before. Now all of my lights work, minus the fog lights, the radio stays on, the horn works when I press it and only when I press it, and it runs like a dream. One of the previous owners tried replacing the timing belts and he put them on backwards. Instead of them going to the right, the spun left. This explained why it was kind of hard to get moving from a complete stop.
Now all I have to do is wash it. I was going to post my pics today too but my mom took the camera to my brother's baseball game.

 

[buickgnx88]

How would a timing belt go on backwards?

 

[Rotary Junkie]

He must mean accessory drive.

 

[Keef]

Which is also connected to the crank pulley. Engines cannot simply run backwards into Mordor. It's possible the belts were mounted backwards like he said if they required a specific direction, but I don't see how that would effect the engine's running at all. It was probably just out of timing and ran like crap at low rpm.

 

[hemisport15]

^What you said. I didn't know the whole thing, just that some belts or pully type things were wrong and the timing was seriously off. I'm kind of a n00b when it comes to that stuff.

 

[Philly]

It's great to hear you got your Dub running well again! Now you'll really get to enjoy that Corrado.

 

[hemisport15]

Wow, I haven't updated this since April. So here is basically everything that has happened in the first year of ownership.
Some of you may remember, last April I blew up the supercharger on my way to the baseball field. That was fixed a long time ago, it was replaced by a freshly rebuilt G60 with around 5,000 miles on it. We also changed out the size of the pulleys, I think they are smaller now. All I know is that it makes the charger and belts last longer. I have a new air filter with a cap on the outside of it so it won't get sucked into the charger. And it sounds soooo good, down shifting from 3rd to 2nd makes it whine really loud and any shift above 4,000 rpm sounds sweet too. I also found out what exhaust I have on my car, it's a techtonics tuning 2.5 inch stainless steel exhaust with a borla muffler. That is all I have to say about the engine.
I also got my first speeding ticket in November with it. That was a ton of fun. Long story short, the officer said he heard my car accelerate from a stop sign, assumed I was going fast and pulled me over directly infront of my high school. If you want to hear more about that, just ask.
FINALLY after over a year of waiting, here are the pics I promised.

(Ignore the man washing the truck)

and here is me trying to get artsy with it.

Now you can see that it's far from perfect. It needs a front splitter, roof trim, and the paint isn't that great. But for a 20 year old over complicated car, I love it. Thanks for reading guys.

 

[Bones Brigade]

if the speeding situation was as cut and dry as you make it sound, why didn't you challenge it? that reason wouldn't have stood up in court at all.

 

[homeforsummer]

Nice Corrado 👍 I've always liked them... and yet if I was plonking down some money on a VW (/VAG product in general) I think there's always something else that would catch my attention before the 'Rado did...

 

[hemisport15]

if the speeding situation was as cut and dry as you make it sound, why didn't you challenge it? that reason wouldn't have stood up in court at all.

I did fight it and we "settled" the dispute in the waiting room before we even got into the court room. There was no way that I could win and get the entire thing dropped, regardless of the evidence that I had on my side. The officer would not lose. He made it out to seem like I'm a terrible driver and a danger to all people on the road. When I told him that I had never gotten a speeding ticket, moving violation, or accident he didn't believe me. He didn't want to drop it because he thought I showed no remorse for what I "had done." So we tried to get the fine and points as low as possible and moved on. Since then, he has pulled over a lot of my friends for speeding. Guy or girl this cop doesn't give out warnings.
He also made my mom cry in the waiting room by telling them that they are irresponsible parents and should never let me on the road.
And thanks for the nice comments.

 

[Revheadnz]

Oh man. I didn't notice in your other pics but it's a G60 too. So envious.

 

[mustangGT90210]

Nice car! Glad you're liking her!

 

[hemisport15]

BACK FROM THE DEAD! (just in time for Halloween)

Now I have owned the car for nearly 3 1/2 years. It's still running strong and it's still a blast to drive, but I think it's time to move on. As you can see by the pictures later in the post, it doesn't really look like a car that a 20 year old soon to be college grad should be driving. I'm sure some will say that I should just spend the money to clean it up and the problem with that is I don't have any... College is stilling robbing me blind and will continue to do so after I graduate. I'd love to keep it, but as of late I've been able to convince myself it is ok to let it go.

I'm looking for clean E30, E36, and maybe even a E21 or E24 depending on how nice it is (very unlikely for these two though). So if you guys know of any for sale or know anybody looking to buy a Corrado let me know!

 

[Carlos]

I think, if you would remove the stickers, volt meters, maybe some more stock looking rims, you'd get more for that car..

Goodluck! 👍

 

[hemisport15]

UPDATE!

I still have the Corrado, but now it's parked until someone comes to buy it. In the meantime I will be driving the ultimate driving machine...

1997 BMW M3. I'll make a new thread all about it tomorrow.

 

[Thatman]

Why a whole other thread? And why not in the members rides section?

In the meantime, looks good. 👍

 

[motortrend]

Congrats on the purchase if it is that you bought it!
Is it black or purple?

 

[hemisport15]

Why a whole other thread? And why not in the members rides section?

In the meantime, looks good. 👍

I started this thread back in '08 when I was looking for my first car and it eventually turned into a thread about the Corrado. I figured with a new car/start deserves a new thread... one that is also in the proper section. And thanks, the car is absolutely mint!

Congrats on the purchase if it is that you bought it!
Is it black or purple?

Thanks! I bought it last Monday. It's Cosmos on black leather.

One of the best things about the car.

 

[motortrend]

Nice looking color, low miles as well.

 

[hemisport15]

The M3 is getting through inspection today so I'll finally be able to drive it!

My dad also cleaned up the Corrado and we're going to start listing it online.

 

[Rayzah]

Congrats on the ///M!!! If you're looking for an informative site, bimmerforums.com is your last stop! Maybe we'll see ya at show-n-shine this year! Looks super clean 👍

 

[mp10]

Congrats on the new purchase 👍, also liking the Corrado, a friend of mine used to own a G60, loved every bit of it too.