BMW Individual Mexico Blue M3 Comp Pack

chris_b

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I don't really do the whole 'members car' thing but I sucomed to peer pressure and @Woodcutter basically bribed me into coming up to Ballymoney by enticing me with a set of plates so he could post pictures on his FB page so I guess I might as well.

Plus given this a a one off, its gonna be a long one, like make a cuppa long.

Firstly, and weirdly I would like to mention what I changed from for this.

A year ago I bought a W212 E63 AMG Bi-Turbo as a complete random choice and as it turns out, its was by far and away the best car I have ever owned.
I honestly enjoyed every minute of its ownership and during my tenure it got a set of wipers and 2L of oil top up in addition to a big service in December last year. Never once did it miss a beat or need anything else and it was millennium falcon fast, like really really fast.
This is were I developed a slight issue with it....
In order for me to get a buzz from it I needed to give it a squeeze, doing so however and adhering to the speed limit was, well impossible. From 0mph I have never seen something so big go like it and any more than 15 secs on the loud peddle has you at speeds I am not going to mention (except for that one time in Germany ;) ) basically, you are moving mentally fast.
Mrs B loved it and it also brought my now 11 month old boy home from hospital. You can tell just how attached I was / am to this car.
Anyway another came up and I decided to move so the trusty Merc was bought my a member on here and I imagine will be up for sale soon if anyone wants an absolutely phenomenal German missile that happens to sound like a jet fighter on afterburner and can possibly bend time.

Now the M3 CP.

I have driven a few 'ordinary' M3 & M4's but I just never really gelled with them if I am honest but a year or so ago Chris Harris and I got into quite a debate about them were basically he implored me to try a competition pack car as he felt they were totally different and me being a bit of a BMW M man would feel right at home in one.
So I did, he was right. These things were totally different and 100% a true M car.

The merc came and I thought no more of the M3, until.....

Back in November last year I along with most BMW fans was eagerly awaiting our local dealers to get the new F90 M5 demo for a nosy. My friend in Prentice (James Gilpin) great guy btw, kindly sent me a photo of the car coming off the truck ahead of their launch night. However I was building FastLive at the time so working in London all week meaning I was going to miss it sadly.

I landed on the Friday evening in Belfast and done my usual which is Arizona for a coffee and then the trek home via whatever car dealers window. I wasn't sure but hoped Prentice would still have the demo there so headed that direction. I arrived and done that thing we probably all do were I face planted the window and used my hands as some sort of binoculars to see better, I looked at the M5 from the front, side, back, front again and every other way before deciding..... Not sure if I like it ! However what I did like, a lot, was the most amazing blue M3 parked beside it.
IMG_4180.jpeg


The time was 22:23 on Friday November 10th but James being the sales man he is (and good friend) and me being the absolute PITA I am, meant I took a picture and sent to him asking 'what is this?'
His response was Mexico blue, its owned by BMW but I knew when you seen it you would like it so I'm waiting to see can we get it for you if you are interested.
Excellent I thought, maybe the F80 M3 isn't such a bad car......

Fast forward a day or two and I got a call saying 'no can do' BMW wont sell it. Ah well thats that then I guess.

But I couldn't forget that car, as much as I tried.

The new year came and went and I was busier than I had ever been with work, trying to hit our deadline of opening night, baby, moaning wife etc and I got wind that Bavarian had some fancy blue M3 hiding in their compound but it wasn't yet for sale.

Hmmmmm I wondered, so some detective work later I sussed out that my dream M3 and IMO the nicest M3 I had ever seen was perhaps still a possibility.

I tried to ignore it for a while but every Friday off the plane guess where I ended up! I kept staring at it like some absolute loony and must have walked around it a million times. I imagine whoever watches the cameras remotely down there used to have a right laugh 'oh here is this plonker again lol'

I took pictures, I told a few friends about it, again I tried to ignore it but I just couldn't get it out of my head at all.
Things were in my favour though, not many knew it was there and the colour wouldn't be to everyones taste so I kept my powder dry a little longer and continued this Friday night stalking a car game for a few weeks.

Cue my first weekday not in London and I told the wife I was off out for a coffee. 90 miles later I arrived at Bavarian and walked into the showroom to get a proper look around this car and give the tyres a good kick and see what the interior was like.
None of these things helped to dissipate my want for this car at all, much to my part disappointment.
It was WAY better than I first realised. It had 20k worth of options inc the ICON lights and I had yet to see a car over here with them despite seeing loads in Europe, it has a full individual interior with contrasting blue stitching, it had rear sun blinds and as soon I as seen them all I could think about was my poor little man squinting in the sun whilst in the Merc and how useful these would be !


Literally the worst case of man maths in the world overwhelmed me instantly.

The car was listed full retail at £82,000, for an M3 ! it was mental, however so was I and when I want something I am a salesman's wet dream - I simply have to find a way of getting it.

Having not bought off Bavarian for a few years I was kinda out of touch with who to speak to but most of the older team knew me and I knew them so Andrew Graham was chosen by Keith to be the poor unfortunate soul sent to speak with me.
We discussed the price, very briefly as Andrew informed me there was no movement on it at this time, I thanked him and I left.

Bollocks.

I went and drove an RS6 thinking maybe I'll go for one of those but honestly, I simply did not like it at all and quite frankly my Merc would have wiped the floor with it performance wise and in sound etc.
That was that ruled out. Sorry Audi fans and approx 97% of RMS.

I called Bavarian back a few days later and spoke with Andrew on the phone and I asked him to go upstairs and have a word, basically I would like to buy this car but not at stupid money and to see if we could deal.
I will skip the ins & outs of it but over almost two weeks we beat the crap out of each other until we arrived somewhere half sensible.

Time for the next phase.

@SEAN G has been a life long friend and we made a pact years ago that he would stop me from doing stupid sh1t, so time to call him I guess.
After approx 30 mins of mostly him shouting at me he concluded, actually as it happens, this is a really special car and he reckoned I'd negotiated a pretty good deal as well, so that was him won over ! easy.

Normally its now the turn of Mrs B but to be truthful, I knew deep down there was no way I was winning that one so decided to not mention it, at all, ever.

Sean called me back the following morning to see if I had decided what to do and I informed him I was hurtling towards Bavarian presently, good man he says ! no Im going to push for more discount was my reply. Cue another 5 mins of being shouted at .....

Anyway I arrive and its make or break time. We sit down and I push as hard as I can to the point where I throw the head up and say no and start mincing towards the door but equally deep down thinking we've came this far. I ask Andrew to speak to Keith once more knowing full well I was hugely pushing my luck but he gave in and off he went.
Upon his return he laughed and said Keith says he will do it a little cheaper if you buy it today.

F**K it, here swipe this now before I change my mind.

BOOM ! Brand new M3 CP inbound. Jesus, what have you done Tyrone.......

original.jpg


I turned 40 just a few weeks ago and I have never had a 'brand' new car before and in theory I should know better, but as I get older I realise that life is not a dress rehearsal, none of us know our futures and I and my man maths decided that just once, I would like to buy a brand new car and when better to do it than on my 40th birthday I guess.

Those that know me will know I have been very lucky over the years and have been very privileged to have owned some nice cars (imo) including a fair few M cars. This car was in fact set to become my 8th M3 and 9th M car.
Guess its a bit of a comfort blanket for me really.

I already know what I want next but that is hopefully another two years out so in the mean time my first ever brand new car and I are hopefully going to get along just fine.

The car itself is quite a special car, BMW UK and the factory decided to build two special M3 CP's to accompany the new M5 around all the UK dealers for its launch. This car and another in Ferrari red. Both had huge spec and were, I guess built to show just how different you can make an M3 should you choose to do so via the individual program.

The spec is listed below and I actually got them to give me this page and its in the books lol
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Random pics of the car, I cannot STRESS ENOUGH this is like Rivera blue in that it is very hard to photograph properly. In real life it is the most striking blue I have ever seen and a few on here have seen it and I would imagine they will say the same.

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chris_b

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chris_b
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Plans are at some point I’ll do my usual eibach springs and spacers and I’ve already installed Apple CarPlay from the BMW App Store.

Apart from that, nothing else. I’m busy these days and feel very lucky to have this so I’ll do my best to look after it for the next person.

I really feel I should thank Andrew Graham, Sarah in the finance side and Keith Craig actually so if anyone from Bavarian sees this, let them know.
I know it’s their job and business and all that balls but really they were very good indeed from start to finish and no one could have asked for better. Thanks all.
 

richie_mck

RMS Regular
Messages
5,589
That is absolutely incredible, beautiful colour.

Glad it worked out, when you find a car you really want and the deal finally makes sense it’s hard to beat.

The springs and spacers will be the job

Health to enjoy (y)
 

AlpineF30

RMS Regular
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BMW M3
Thats absolutely gorgeous and a great story to go with it.

Being a total
fanboy myself I can see why you are on your 9th M car.

Wishing you many happy miles!
 

Gaz

This space available for rent
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M4 Comp Pack
Was privileged enough to get a look around this about 4 mins after he bought it, fortunate that I am to work down the road from Bavarian. Absolutely stunning in every respect and the colour to have. Health to drive.
 

mcma1

RMS Regular
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Best m3 m4 car I have seen to date. Totally stunning. James is a great guy, proper car nut and he’s into defenders so a gentlemen too lol. Enjoy.
 

SEAN G

RMS Regular
Messages
719
Congrats on the purchase of what is easily the nicest and possibly highest spec M3 I have ever seen in probably the rarest colour.
Tbh once you told me the car was for sale I knew you would buy it.
The deal you managed to achieve surpassed anything I thought was possible.
Health to enjoy it Chris
 

DaddyCC

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VW CC
Brilliant write up Chris, really enjoyed that history of events. Made for interesting and amusing reading :grinning: I seen you mention the Merc elsewhere on here but it certainly seems you loved that thing.

Stunning car squire and some buy, even from not the biggest BM fan. At least we know the retail on one of those. Just watch out for leather clad asain biker gangs blowing up the NOS tanks:p
 
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Jonny_W

RMS Regular
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12,769
Wow!!! That’s jaw dropping stunning Chris.

The write up was fantastic and I really enjoyed reading it lol.

Happy belated birthday by the way.
 

cormac81

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Lurgan/ish
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Unreal, not a massive BM fan but that really is something else.

Love the background story all the best with it.
 
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