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Hi everyone.
US transplant in Italy. An unfortunate series of events resulted in my E46 wagon being totaled and subsequently crushed and a motorcyclist with 2 broken hands, fingers and wrists. Don’t ask me how fast he was going. We still don’t know and he’s not saying. But he T-bones me at speed and lucky for him the touring was on coilovers and he flew over the top and into grass.
It’s ok though…he lives to tell the tale & we are actually friends now as we live about 5 mins from
each other.
Europe is weird like this in a good way.
So with that…I picked up a clean, virtually unmolested garage kept Checkmate.
Previous owners upgraded to a new diesel powered mini so managed to pick it up for €6k.
172km (~103k miles or so). New clutch and new radiator. All service records and info (thanks Italy!). Will get with my mechanic to see about SC service as it has not been done at 100k.
As fate would have it I joined this site back in 2015 with the intentions of buying a MCS back then. Many cars and moons later…I have found my way back.
The day I went and met with the owners and squared everything away.
I have already started the “killing of all chrome” right of passage. Only thing left are the inside headlight chrome, door handles, tank cap and the rear tails. Need to get those tacky UK flag mirror caps off as well.
I’ve had the car in my possession less than 2 weeks and the aftermarket & performance parts are slowly starting to arrive.
In my possession:
Used air induction kit w/K&N filter (eBay)
New No name larger core TMIC (Amazon)
New Malian 2.5” SS cat-back from the UK
New door straps (not a fan of the interior handles)
New double din head unit kit & mini install kit for home brew android HU install (HU from previous car)
Rockville slim 8” powered sub (from previous car)
On order:
CS 15% pulley kit w/NGKs
Poly bushings/body braces
TBD:
Sport springs (unsure which budget brand to get) open to suggestions (under $200)
Used summer wheels and tires. Italy’s favorite brand seems to be OZ Racing and can find fairly easily on their version of Craigslist.
Not planning on going bigger injectors, cams or headers etc. In a couple years I’ll have to sell the car and return to the states. So for now it’s to be a fun B Road city car so I don’t have to drive my big *** GMC Terrain through the narrow streets lol.
With that in mind, I’m not planning on a remap or tune. The general consensus is it’s not needed. So I’m not wasting money on it. Curious to hear the thoughts on this…
Looking forward to sharing the build and the journey.
I'm not a fan of de-chroming either, with personal preference for a little bright trim in contrast. Is that the original paint finish or a respray, noting removal of Checkmate side and bonnet graphics? Pretty car, regardless. Here's a pic of my buddy's 2006 Checkmate (factory JCW) currently with prox 8.6k miles shown for perspective in front of my own (sig) 2006 R53.
That poor E46 touring , but that’s a nice looking checkmate.
I was unaware that killing all chrome was a rite of passage. My car still has all the chrome it had when I picked it up from the dealer back in ‘06.
I know. If you saw the condition I got it in (paid $235) and what I did with a donor car etc to get it to where it was you’d be shocked. All I had left to do was get the front bumper paint matched.
it was so close to being at the 25 year import exemption. Just had it tuned and dialed in as well.
I'm not a fan of de-chroming either, with personal preference for a little bright trim in contrast. Is that the original paint finish or a respray, noting removal of Checkmate side and bonnet graphics? Pretty car, regardless. Here's a pic of my buddy's 2006 Checkmate (factory JCW) currently with prox 8.6k miles shown for perspective in front of my own (sig) 2006 R53.
Yes I asked the owners that same exact question. Apparently there’s a pseudo checkmate or something. Where at original purchase you could opt out of the checkered flags? I’m not sure. But I didn’t dig too deep into it with them.
what color is your car. Looks really good and are you lowered on springs?
Yes I asked the owners that same exact question. Apparently there’s a pseudo checkmate or something. Where at original purchase you could opt out of the checkered flags? I’m not sure. But I didn’t dig too deep into it with them.
what color is your car. Looks really good and are you lowered on springs?
Mine is called Black Eye Purple (Purple Haze in USA despite engine bay tag identified as BEP). See list of mods here.
Not sure what part of Italy you’re in, but this place might be worth checking out: https://www.gpgarage.it/
BTW, what year Terrain? I was thinking about a ‘24 but I’m not sure about GMC reliability.
Yea GPG I know of them. I was in Veneto region before moving to Tuscany.. but italy is pretty easy to drive or take the train. And I do go that way sometimes.
I bought my wife a 2020 Terrain Denali AWD & had it shipped over. We’ve been in Italy since 2019 and since then we have had the Denali, a 525d wagon (sold that to buy): Fiat 500, Alfa Romeo MiTo (sold those to finance the project): 2 E46 wagons (320i & 320D facelift for parts) LOL.
I don’t think much has changed from the ‘20 to the ‘24. Great family hauler with all available options.
Only thing I had to change was the stop/start battery last year because it was on its original 2019 battery & it was starting to do wonky things like unlock doors and random errors & upgraded the brakes this past week.
Other than that it’s a gem…especially here. It turns heads everywhere lol.
Bye bye radio! Ops check Test fit Rockville Slim 8” wired up under seat…need to sort all the wiring tucking this weekend Android Double Din installed just need to sort out a proper bezel
Was so tired of no music…had to knock this out first thing.
05-23-2024, 12:45 PM
, but that’s a nice looking checkmate.
