v_therussian

Hi, everybody! As you might guess from my Contributor status, I had been an active member on here at one point in the past. However, I had sold my (much beloved) E60 in 2012 and moved on to driving Japanese for a time. Those of you, who know me personally, know I've gone through a slew of transformations in my life in these years, and I'd like to think I came out a better man. I tried my hands at a number of businesses, studied at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA (where I've learned to properly design a vehicle, as well as had the chance to meet some extremely talented, amazing people from all over the World); I also volunteered at the Petersen Museum in LA, managed and consulted a few start-ups, wrote some yet unsold stuff (more on this to come, I hope), devised algorithms, even started to think about some engineering things (again, more on this to come, God-willing)... long story short, I am back on this forum I know and love for so many years.

I must express my gratitude for having met amazing, hard-working, intelligent, wise and faithful people here. My sincere best wishes and greetings to Scott, John, Chuenseng, Nerwyll, Joe, Marc, Mel, Dan and Ken... so many more! (you know who you are, if you're reading this). Guys, you have been kinder to me, than I, perhaps, ever deserved. I learned from each and every one of you, and knowing you made me a better person. I have nothing but love for you, friends! It's no exaggeration to say, that having joined this forum over a decade ago has truly been one of the biggest blessings in my life. Thank you all for being here, for sharing your knowledge and cheering me up when it was much needed. Now that I'm back - older, wiser, more experienced - I hope I can start a new chapter in my life. I never stopped being a "car guy", it is in my blood, my heart and my mind 24/7. But I return with the mindset of an apprentice yet again, hoping to learn more still, and also to help out as much as I can, and to bring you guys some quality content, of course.

As for cars, I have a plan to eventually build another E60 - this time, more of a garage queen (although, I don't believe in garage queens, so she'll get used plenty). Being an Alpina aesthetics fan, living in the United States, I'm sure this will be a challenging and fun experience - especially, on an LCI. For now, I'm just hoping for a nice N54 LCI E60 (hopefully, with the newer HPFP) to start. But this is still at a distance in the future at this point. I also love that the V10s are quite reasonably priced these days, so that might be a path I'll decide to take. B is for Build on YouTube is already basically doing more with this motor, than I ever would hope (if you're reading, Chris - much respect and love to ya!) Additionally to BMWs, I've picked up a huge appreciation for Porsches, so there will be a project (or multiple...) on that as well... hopefully . All these are just distant dreams right now. At this point, to start, I am planning to build a laptop and get some coding and tuning s/w on it, so I can start being of service. I've tapped some people I know in Europe for European OEM and AM parts, so I might add that to the quite. Also, I will be collecting a proper tool set, so I can actually wrench on my upcoming projects myself. But all this will - or will not - come at some point in the future, not today.

Today, I just want to say "HELLO!"; and just to share my good vibes with you! I hope you are all doing well, and Hello to all the members that I don't yet know. If you're active on this forum, I have a feeling, you're all right


Here are a couple-three sketches I've done of various Bimmers over the years to give you an idea of where my head's at:

JayArras

WOW! And back! Your thread on xi fitments is a classic and is STILL making the rounds! We look forward to many more good things from you. And good luck with your project.

I think you'll find the board and demographics have changed a LOT since 2012. Older members have moved on to F10's and G30's. Plus, E60's have come way down in price, so there's a whole new generation of bimmer owners who now can afford the brand. That makes for some interesting questions though and the need for sharing advice has never been greater.

v_therussian

Thank you so much for the kind words! I am super happy to see that the E60 platform is becoming more accessible, and I hope that there are lots of us, who love it enough to keep the community growing. I never really fell in love with the F10, nor the G30. When I sold my E60, I was looking at E92 M3's, but ended up choosing a Lexus ISF, because I wanted to take some time off from having to mod and wrench. ISF, by the way, is an amazing platform, but I certainly cannot stress it enough that Lexus messed up with the transmission on that car. Putting a slushbox on that motor was just a crazy stupid move, which I never understood. I did drive that ISF many times up and down the PCH though, so in that, it served me really well. Unfortunately, I don't have that car anymore... or, fortunately?.. either way, my daily is a hybrid right now, and I'll probably grab a used SUV in its stead at some point. But I am truly hoping that I will have the opportunity to start wrenching and modding again. For now, I'm starting with selling some of my old stuff to raise money for the tools and OBD cables. After doing details, I've sort of gotten to a point, where my lungs just can't be around paint and chemicals anymore. So I took that as a sign that I must move forward. My first plan is to (hopefully!) grab a front-end damaged 718 Cayman from copart and turn it into a canyon/track weapon. But I still have lots of love for the E60, so I would love to get another one and do some more cross-country trips with it. That means that the E60 will have to be reliable above all - a tall order, especially with an N54 motor. I'm loving the E61 build that is happening as well (Evan's E61 Build Thread) - so I might just grab a wagon, if I can find a decent one. Although, I can't say I need a wagon, and its unique rear setup is gonna be an unnecessary pain, so I'll most likely go for an LCI E60, maybe this time RWD though - Xi was quite challenging, and I've since learned to drive RWD much better, so I feel confident that with the right tires, RWD can be a great cross-country vehicle. I've been watching all the youtube vids on "Cannonball" runs, so there are some aspirations with regards to that. My personal record so far is 52 hours, so nowhere near the ultimate record time. But that was driving by myself and stopping for sleep twice, as well as doing it in a vehicle I did not know at the time, and staying under the "ten over limit".

Anyway, much love! I'm back. Hope to see you all more and more now!