Yeah so I've gotten to the point where Id like to know more about cars than just... fast and slow.
Dont know where to start. Might as well start here. :shrug: So....lesson plans anyone?

Watch top gear for your entertainment, take a class on engines, and buy a really cheap old car to make prime at home in your garage.

Systematically break everything on your car, one part at a time. Find out what it's for and replace it.

haha. Do you know anyone that is familiar with cars? It's really something more hands on, your not going to become a genius on the internet, but with that being said there's much to learn.

Lesson 1: www.Howstuffworks.com (http://www.Howstuffworks.com) type in: Internal combustion engine.

Lesson 2: How diesel engines work/ How 2 stroke engines work.

Lesson 3: Direct fuel injection / carburetors.

What ever your heart desires.

Keep around here if you want to learn mate.

I owe all of my knowledge to Gearheads. I also owe my inspiration to a good hobby and a better way to pass time.

I would like to thank you all.

I love top gear. I watch it when ever i can. I look in here most of the time. Since im always interested in knowing more about cars. Ill get around to looking up all of those things this upcoming weekend doritio. I'm hoping to learn alot before i get my first car. :D (which i plan on putting work into no matter what it is.)

I got given a mini when I was 11 it was all downhill from there.
This car was my first mechanical learning curve.....I've never owned or worked on a mini since.
Get yourself a $50 car and fuck around with it It'll grow on you from there, trust me.
If you go straight into the books it becomes a little boring (I found)
You need a spark to start a fire. ;)

Engine repair- http://www.todaysclass.com/courses/E...StudyGuide.pdf

Brakes- http://www.todaysclass.com/courses/b...StudyGuide.pdf

Go get a junk car and do a brake job, engine rebuild, and maybe have it macco'd (or learn to paint on it). You might be able to get your money back if its relatively new.

Find a model you like, and get a cheap used one that can drive but has stuff that needs repairing. Learn how to do said repairing from the internet, and go from there.

i really want an e36 or e46 M3 (pref e36). i was planning on saving up a whole bunch and buy the car and everything i want to get everything done on it, and then take it to a shop out of town and spend how ever long it takes to get it all done with them. So I get hands on work with my car and i being guided through it by people who are experienced. of course i wont be a total noob since i will have the concepts from the sites you guys have shown me.

No shop is going to let you get in on doing the repairs, dude.

aw - - oh well

aw - - oh well

Insurance/safety reasons, if you're wondering. One customer slips on a little coolant and breaks a nail, negligence on our part. Insurance tells the shops no customers allowed in the bays for this reason.

oh i see now, im just thinking about doing the things i feel confident that i can do myself and either get my uncle's friend to help with the difficult stuff or take it to the shop and let them handle it.

Without bothering on commenting on your desire for a BMW M3 (lol, good luck. If it's your first car you should absolutely avoid such cars), to do work on your own car you should get a hold of your own garage. If you've got a friend who's a mechanic or you know someone with a garage that you can use, thats the place to work on and learn about your car. As you say, if you have a "friend of an uncle" then all the better for you.

If your desire is for a german car, than a BMW is a bad place to start, especially an M3. Unless you have rich parents that spoil you, you're not going to be able to afford one. If you can, an inexperienced driver should never be allowed access to a car of such high performance. You need to stick with something cheap and slow. Get an old Volkswagen. A beetle makes for a good project car, both for its simplicity and its wide scope for imaginative improvement. More practically, an old Golf or Jetta, 1980s vintage for example, which are generally simple enough and there are lots of parts around.

i wasnt planning on getting an m3 till after college. right now im most likely getting a civic or a corolla. (asian family, asian car, reliable yes, great gas yes, and thats all that matters to me on my first car) an m3 is just something i want to have and work on later not right now of course. :D on the topic of german cars i dont mind getting a golf, they seem like good project cars. i know theres lots to do with asian cars, but in the community and generation im in i want to be the one in my area to step out of the initial d trend (i never got into it.)


If your desire is for a german car, than a BMW is a bad place to start, especially an M3. Unless you have rich parents that spoil you, you're not going to be able to afford one. If you can, an inexperienced driver should never be allowed access to a car of such high performance. You need to stick with something cheap and slow. Get an old Volkswagen. A beetle makes for a good project car, both for its simplicity and its wide scope for imaginative improvement. More practically, an old Golf or Jetta, 1980s vintage for example, which are generally simple enough and there are lots of parts around.

i wish you could counsel some of the parents of the kids who go to my school. last year a girl got a brand new bmw 325 for her 16th birthday, and now all of these kids are coming to school in a bunch of muscle cars which are theirs.

If your desire is for a german car, than a BMW is a bad place to start, especially an M3. Unless you have rich parents that spoil you, you're not going to be able to afford one. If you can, an inexperienced driver should never be allowed access to a car of such high performance. You need to stick with something cheap and slow. Get an old Volkswagen. A beetle makes for a good project car, both for its simplicity and its wide scope for imaginative improvement. More practically, an old Golf or Jetta, 1980s vintage for example, which are generally simple enough and there are lots of parts around.

I have a 540i, it's my first car, I went in half and half with my parents. I agree, even to the best of drivers, the most responsible new drivers. It's too much too handle, you can kill yourself and others so fast. It's taught me some fucking respect, and put me in my place.

Fucking shit.. I love it though..