Hey eatapie,
Look - keep in mind, it’s all a matter of opinion. I DO think that the LED lights are tacky. The M3s of the E36 era all have clear front, side and rear indicators – from factory. You can’t do any better than that, plus you get the typically over-engineered (a good thing) BMW quality. You could very well find yourself buying some aftermarket tail lights to find that the seals leak, and let water into the boot. Then you get rust. OR – you have the option of permanently sealing them, which means they turn into consumables every time you blow a bulb. I DO know what you’re talking about, however moving out of the original period of the car can end up looking very dodgy (keep in mind, not always).
OK. If you want a black one – get a black one, but don’t paint it black. I can give you a guarantee that however much you shell out for a paint job (an excellent one could amount to the value of the car), it won’t last as long, or look as good in the long run as a factory-spec job. So yes- get a black one – though I think all the black ones come with black leather. I think the ‘Avus Blue’ ones with the dove grey leather look very nice. Again I recommend you do not do the whole crystal (Altezza style) taillight thing. Go for clear, not crystal. The best way to explain it is – the ‘crystals’ have entirely transparent plastic where the indicator is, with a colour capped bulb underneath. The clears are white plastic, and you can only see the bulb when it comes on. Lets see if I can find a picture… ok here is the
euro clear - and here is the -
crystal. The difference seems quite trivial here, but you can recognize it instantly on the street – and it doesn’t look too flash. Keep in mind that this is my opinion.
Personally, I think the eyelids look terrible on a car like this. If you get an early E36, go find a wrecked 1997 E36 and swap out the front faschia, lights (and possibly hood) – these years received a face lift, modernizing their looks, and doing much more for the car than a plastic strip across the headlights can. The facelift is subtle, though.
I doubt an E46 grille will fit in without modification – and the look won’t be worth it. However, a chrome E36 grille might look very nice (might be worth seeing a black E36 w/chrome grille, and see if its worth it.
Again, swapping in an E46 bumper will need major modification at a body shop – which again might not be worth it. It might be more worthwhile to find yourself an OEM M3 body kit, or for even more individuality, go for an aftermarket body kit manufacturer for BMW, like Rieger or Hamann and install those.
Yeah, those wheels are nice. BMW has some very nice wheels for the E36 – check out all the wheels available to the M3s, from E36 and E46, they should fit without a problem. The M3 spoiler would be a nice touch.
Hmm. Don’t put black stickers on there – kinda ghetto. If you want the black instead of blue, I believe they sell emblems, which have been painted like that, and with a proper lacquer on top – not something you get with stickers. Or you can paint them yourself, with a lot of careful masking, thin even coats, and then a couple of clear lacquer on top.
Again, I would dissuade you from getting the M3 side fender grills, as it doesn’t fit with the car. But its your choice.
Have you thought about the interior? It seems you really like the M3 look, so you can find yourself some
M3 Vaders- which are the very nice M3 sport seats. Or perhaps an
MTech 2 sports steering wheel
Ah well. It’s all open to interpretation. At the end of the day, you should do what you like best. It’s not what I would do, but it’s your car, and you probably shouldn’t care.
EDIT: I just saw your scissor door ebay site. Man, that Hummer looks ridiculous. Personally, I do not think these fit with style of the car. And additionally, is it at all possible to open these doors when you're inside a garage? And wouldn't that kind of rotation seriously run the risk of breaking all those cables inside the door for electric windows, mirrors and speakers (Referring to the connection of cables from the body of the car to the door)
