derBayerische November/December 2024 - 15

A C O M P L E T E 1 8 0 W I T H A U S - S P E C E 3 6 M 3
A
belated Father's Day activity, a July
4th family trip, or an excuse to get
out and drive-call it whatever you
like, I successfully lobbied my family to
take a short 180-mile road trip to
Shenandoah National Park, amidst an
oppressive heat wave, in our 252,000-mile
1998 M3 five-speed sedan. What could
go wrong?
It's the trip that almost wasn't as the
day prior to our mountain-carving adventure
the M3 left me and my kids stranded
for the first time in our 18 months of ownership.
Thankfully a set of jumper cables
attached to a Suburban in a shaded gravel
parking lot allowed the M3's S52 engine to
roar back to life and make the short drive
home for diagnostics.
How could it not start?!? It's an S52
engine that has received lots of love under
my care, including a head gasket replacement
performed in my garage under the
tutelage of mobile mechanic and friend
Alex Garcia, plus plenty of other deferred
and preventive maintenance to keep this
M car ticking-or should I say purring?-
for years to come. After a brief diagnostic
session with a multimeter, I determined the battery would no longer hold a
charge and needed to be replaced. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. A trip to
Costco and 180 " dollar-bucks " later, I installed a new H6 AGM battery
(and the missing battery vent tube) in the E36's trunk and this automotive
adventure was still on.
While temperatures were in the upper 90s in the Washington DC area,
an entirely new perspective of scenery-
especially for me, the transporter of
precious cargo, my son Carter, daughter
Avery, and wife Sara.
On our way to Thornton Gap, Route
211 provided a fun run up the mountain,
with a plethora of properly banked
sweepers, and concluded the spirited
driving of the day. The TC Kline singleadjustable
coilover suspension that
Avery helped me install over the winter-
go Avery!-supplied a perfect blend of
comfort and performance, magically
soaking up bumps yet still inspiring
plenty of confidence in the corners. A set
of Michelin Pilot 4S tires ensured ample
grip and audibly communicated those
grip levels through the opened windows
of our RADwood-era sports sedan.
The Euro-spec Boa Boa interior added
to the 1990s nostalgia, keeping all
occupants comfortably in place.
An " Every Kid Outdoors " pass
■ (Above) Boa boa cloth, Alcantara bolsters, and a five-speed.
allowed us free access to Shenandoah
National Park, courtesy of my fourthgrade
daughter Avery. Skyline Drive has
wonderfully paved and twisty roads, but
it was a solid twenty degrees cooler 70 miles west in the Appalachian
Mountains, partly due to a storm system rolling in. We've done this trip a
few times in my 1991 318iS, so to change things up a bit we decided to do
a one-eighty and run our 180-mile route in reverse, entering Skyline Drive
at the Thornton Gap entrance and exiting in Front Royal. This gave the trip
also has a speed limit of 35 mph (or less in some areas), so the rest of the
morning consisted of comfortable cruising and frequent stops at overlooks.
With cooler temperatures and overcast skies, we took a 90-minute hike on
Traces Trail to delve into nature a bit further and take a break from the
S52's exhaust burbles, exiting through the Active Autowerke cat-back.
As someone who is quite picky about exhaust drone and obtrusiveness, this
is one of the better systems I've experienced.
Views of the Shenandoah and the opportunity for overlooks dissipated
as we descended the mountain, dropping us into Front Royal. Snacks and
water had held us over until now, but we were hungry for lunch, so we
stopped at a Front Royal staple, The Apple House. With BBQ in our
■ (Below from Left) The Euro-spec 3.0-liter S50B30 engine. The US-spec 3.2-liter S52 engine.
November I December 2024
15

derBayerische November/December 2024

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