Not just a keen DIYer around the house—replacing kitchens, bathrooms, or even glasshouses—there’s another passion that steadily drains the bank account: soon-to-be classic cars. It all started in childhood. Most weekends, I’d tag along with my dad as he went to work fixing cars. Every now and then, he’d hand me a spanner or socket and say, “Go on then, your go.” He started me off pulling apart cars that, even back then, were only good for the scrapyard. That’s how the bug bit. After school and a stint in real estate around North London, a job came up at a BMW dealership in the city. From day one, I was hooked.

I was lucky enough to work on cars that we now look back on as classics—old 6 Series models, a couple of M1 sports cars, and the very first generation of the M3 – the now legendary E30. Fast-forward 38 years of working with BMW and Rolls-Royce cars, and I finally decided to get my hands on a car that’s quickly becoming a favourite among enthusiasts: the E46 Coupe. Built from 1998 to 2006, the fourth-generation BMW 3 Series two-door is gaining attention—especially those with the M54 six-cylinder engine, known for its silky smoothness (even acknowledged by the engineers in Munich). After a couple of years of searching, I landed a 2001 320Ci. I say “landed”—more like stole it off a friend, given what I paid.

Of course, I knew full well that some of these could be money pits. So, I tackled all the basics straight away: replacing parts prone to failure—oil flow systems, cooling pipes, water pumps, suspension bushes—as part of preventative maintenance. With the mechanical side sorted, my attention turned to the exterior. While the body was in decent shape, years under the Queensland sun had done a number on the clear coat, causing blistering and fading. Determined to bring the car back to showroom condition, I had it taken back to bare metal. A full respray followed, with any minor dents repaired along the way. The process took three months in total. When I finally saw the finished result, I honestly thought they’d painted it the wrong colour—it was so much darker and richer.

That’s when I realised just how badly the sun had faded the original finish. With the car looking and driving beautifully, I started to enjoy what BMW always promised: the ultimate driving experience. But then came a dilemma…I wanted to keep everything factory original. But the old-school tape deck, while still working after 24 years, wasn’t going to cut it for podcasts and audiobooks. And so, the next project was born: installing a completely modern head unit. Easy, right? Not quite. The factory wiring loom didn’t exactly play nicely with today’s Wi-Fi adaptors, reverse cameras, and smartphone integrations. Installing the new unit meant removing most of the interior just to access what I needed. “Oh dear, that’s another weekend I’ve lost,” sighed my long-suffering wife.