Bluemel79
04-14-2022, 07:51 AM
Hey all!
Been a long time lurker but as of a few weeks ago I bought a one way ticket and picked up a 2003 ZHP Sedan 6 Speed in North Carolina and drove it back up here to Colorado. Ran like a top and really enjoyed the roadtrip back.
A little background on me personally, I am finishing up my last month of my undergrad and was looking for a car I could get for myself to be a little graduation gift to myself. I have been buying and selling cars all throughout my college career to make money and also pay for upgrades on my 1996 Land Cruiser that I bought when I was 14 year old and has been by my side the whole way. Knowing I am about to graduate and move to a place with a garage, and out of a place that gets feet of snow every year, I thought it was time to stop buying and selling the beaters and get something nice. And now being in the financial postion to be able to afford two cars, I could justify having one car that is rear wheel drive and is driven in nice weather conditions, and all the other times I can drive the Land Cruiser. I have always been drawn to the E46 chassis and when I heard about the ZHP about 6 months ago I was hooked. I started looking all over the forums for a clean one with nice documentation of maintance. I found one on E46 Fanatics and messaged the owner and after a few weeks of talking we came to a price that I could make work, and a few weeks later I was on a plane to go grab this thing and drive it the 23 hours back.
I plan on making a thread documenting all my upgrades so I won’t go to far into it here but I am going for a OEM + vibe. I am combing through the cooling system right now and I have done the fuel filter and oil change. Next things up on the list maintenance wise after the cooling system is the VANOS rebuild, DISA replacement, new brakes, and replacing that rubber steering coupler. Upgrade wise I want to put a better sounding stereo in it (with retaining the factory CD player), I really want to get it clear bra’d for the gravely roads here in Colorado, and I might do the under drive pulleys and maybe an intake.
Anyways I am looking forward to being on this forum and learning lots and contributing whenever I have the opportunity to do so!
I don’t know how to upload photos directly on here so here is a link to a google photo album with some pics
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CKYmUUh6JhqLL5FV9
Cheers!
Andrew
Been a long time lurker but as of a few weeks ago I bought a one way ticket and picked up a 2003 ZHP Sedan 6 Speed in North Carolina and drove it back up here to Colorado. Ran like a top and really enjoyed the roadtrip back.
A little background on me personally, I am finishing up my last month of my undergrad and was looking for a car I could get for myself to be a little graduation gift to myself. I have been buying and selling cars all throughout my college career to make money and also pay for upgrades on my 1996 Land Cruiser that I bought when I was 14 year old and has been by my side the whole way. Knowing I am about to graduate and move to a place with a garage, and out of a place that gets feet of snow every year, I thought it was time to stop buying and selling the beaters and get something nice. And now being in the financial postion to be able to afford two cars, I could justify having one car that is rear wheel drive and is driven in nice weather conditions, and all the other times I can drive the Land Cruiser. I have always been drawn to the E46 chassis and when I heard about the ZHP about 6 months ago I was hooked. I started looking all over the forums for a clean one with nice documentation of maintance. I found one on E46 Fanatics and messaged the owner and after a few weeks of talking we came to a price that I could make work, and a few weeks later I was on a plane to go grab this thing and drive it the 23 hours back.
I plan on making a thread documenting all my upgrades so I won’t go to far into it here but I am going for a OEM + vibe. I am combing through the cooling system right now and I have done the fuel filter and oil change. Next things up on the list maintenance wise after the cooling system is the VANOS rebuild, DISA replacement, new brakes, and replacing that rubber steering coupler. Upgrade wise I want to put a better sounding stereo in it (with retaining the factory CD player), I really want to get it clear bra’d for the gravely roads here in Colorado, and I might do the under drive pulleys and maybe an intake.
Anyways I am looking forward to being on this forum and learning lots and contributing whenever I have the opportunity to do so!
I don’t know how to upload photos directly on here so here is a link to a google photo album with some pics
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CKYmUUh6JhqLL5FV9
Cheers!
Andrew