Over the last 15-plus years I’ve had the pleasure of owning and restoring a variety of S52 M Roadsters. Some have had as little as 3,000 miles and needed nothing more than diagnosing and fixing a faulty seat harness. Others have required a very lengthy and comprehensive overhaul to address a leaking transmission and differential, dry hoses, frozen brake pistons, loose seat rails, rattling glove box, etc.

The brakes on my M Roadster were working properly and the pads had plenty of life left, but I wasn’t overly happy with how well the car stopped. Since I was investing so much time and money to upgrade and overhaul the car’s suspension and drivetrain, it would be a shame to not improve the breaking as well. Luckily this decision was an easy one, because quality replacement brake components are fairly inexpensive. I replaced all four discs with Meyle OEM replacements and chose to use Akebono brake pads front and rear. The Akebono’s create very little brake dust, but have good grip and don’t wear too quickly.

With 75K miles on the odometer, the original clutch still felt good on the M Roadster and could probably last at least another 25K miles. But since I’m overhauling the car and I needed to change the seals on the transmission, I might as well go the extra step and replace the clutch as well. The cost of a clutch service at the dealer or even an independent mechanic can easily exceed $1,500, especially once you consider all of the other work you should perform while you’re in there. But if you can perform the service yourself, you’re only paying for the parts, which are actually not that expensive.

The suspension of my 2000 M Roadster is completely stock and needs to be replaced. The shocks have outlived their usefulness, giving the car a bouncing feeling over rough roads and feeling loose in the corners. To best address overhauling the suspension, you need to tackle a few areas. On the front end, replace the struts with new units, replace the springs with shorter and stiffer units to improve handling, replace the control arms, control arm bushings and tie rods to tighten up the steering feel and lastly, replace the sway bar links to make sure the car feels tight in the corners.

Not soon after I sold my Imola Red DINAN M Roadster, a few of my friends started asking me about my next car purchase. I had just sold my car after two years of ownership and countless hours of restoration and service work and I started questioning why I put it up for sale in the first place. I had really enjoyed owning, restoring and driving my M Roadster, but the time had come to let go of the little red roadster, even if I was selling it for less than what I had invested in it. I was ready to focus on other non- car related projects.

My M Roadster's braking system needed a refresh, but instead of just replacing the pads, I decided to completely overhaul the calipers, install new rotors and pads and then flush the system. The M Roadster's stock braking system is more than ample for the car, but my car was fitted with stainless steel brake lines which reduce the sponginess of the stock rubber lines and help give the system a little more bite.

The suspension system of the Z3 M Roadster is fairly straightforward, using Macpherson struts in the front and a trailing arm system used in the rear that was first used in the 3-series cars back in the 1980s. The BMW Motorsport Group did make a number of meaningful upgrades to the suspension of the M cars vs the standard Z3s by installing stronger components, similar to parts found on the e36 M3. You can see the enhancements from subtle differences like where the front swaybar links connect to the strut housing instead of the control arm.

After an initial oil change service and some further driving of the car so that I could identify everything it needed, I started the multi-week teardown using my mechanic's lift to allow me full access to the underside and drivetrain of the car. Luckily I also had full use of a two car garage and work bench to store all of the removed pieces which needed servicing, like the seats, wheels, mufflers, front bumper and differential.

After purchasing and driving home the Imola Red M Roadster, it was time to assess the service and repair work the car would need to be in optimal condition. The pre-purchase inspection from the dealer in Albuquerque revealed over $4,700 in needed work. And according to the service advisor this was the conservative quote which didn’t include the cost to perform needed scheduled maintenance. After taking into account the repairs suggested by the dealer and conducting my own inspection, I created a thorough list of needed services and repairs. My intention was to initially address the most important drivetrain service items, followed by a comprehensive overhaul. The cost of having the dealer perform these repairs would exceed several thousand dollars, but fortunately I have the tools and experience to properly perform these repairs at my home garage.

In December of 2013 I was perusing through mroadsterbuyersguide.com and came upon an Imola Red 1999 DINAN M Roadster that caught my eye. I've owned several M Roadsters since 2000, I’m very familiar with them mechanically and I’ve always been a fan of DINAN’s performance packages. The idea of owning a version with almost every DINAN option, including the rare period correct Fiske wheels, with a hardtop, from a one owner family was just too tempting to pass up. So on Christmas day I flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico to inspect the car in person, complete the transaction and then drive the car home back to Los Angeles.