Our first encounter

I remember seeing her for the first time like it was yesterday. Given that I have been driving performance bmw's for many years, I have gotten to know quite of few of the sales managers at the various dealerships here in Cape Town. In about June 2005 I got a call to come and have a look at an M3 that had just arrived. When I got to the dealership I was taken to the back of the workshop. It was a winters day and it had been raining earlier. There in the corner stood this silver M3. Quite dirty. Strangely though, the front was standing quite high, and the fenders and bonnet area had some oily marks on it. When the salesman raised the hood, the engine was missing ! Then he took me into the workshop and introduced me to the technician that was working on the car. The story goes that the all these cars were subject to a recall for engine bearing replacement. The previous owner did not bring the car in and unfortunately the bearings failed. I was shown the damaged cylinder head and engine block and the rest of the engine internals on the workbench. The plan was to fit a brand new engine from the factory to the car and the salesman and I went to his office to work out a deal.