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MUST SELL THIS CAR

I was "commuting" for school and for work from the west coast to the DC/MD/VA area. Now I have finished school and have relocated to the west coast. I do not have the time or availability to restore this vehicle and get it inspected and registered, and/or shipped to CA so I am cutting my losses and selling it. My loss is your gain!

NOTE: the pictures do not give the car justice. The vehicle is dirty, and I don't have time to clean it up from CA. I took the vehicle out of storage when I was visiting and snapped a few pictures with my phone. I am including an older picture before the rims were upgraded and a stock picture of the Oz Racing rim to give you a better idea of how it looks cleaned up.

Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly of my history with this car:

Purchased the vehicle used in 2008 in Oklahoma. Front air dam and bumper guard replaced after some minor damage.

Mar 2010: Hit a patch of black ice on the freeway, trying to avoid some crazy DC driver cutting in front of me. Car spun out and hit the guard rail. Only external body damage. However, due to cost of repairing a BMW, the insurance company "totaled" the vehicle. Vehicle was mechanically sound, and was an M3 convertible! Therefore I kept the vehicle, restored it and got a salvage title. It spent many months in the body shop as it was a private pay, and because I was meticulous about the quality of work. During this period I upgraded the vehicle and customized it. Included in the upgraded restoration were: smoked lens covers, halo HID lamps (circuits installed professionally), new M3 front spoiler and grill, new tail light housing enclosures, 18" Oz Racing Wheels, bronze staggered custom rims imported from Italy with Hakook speed tires (took 3 months to receive the rims!), and a hard top shell. (Hard top has been removed and is NOT part of the car sale).

Jan 2012: Replaced the suspension. Upgraded the suspension to Bilstein PSS9 (settings easily switched from COMFORT to AGRESSIVE SPORT with a turn of a dial, WITHOUT lifting the vehicle, and vehicle can be raised or lowered), replaced ALL the bushings with upgraded PowerFlex bushings (better than OEM), and exhaust replaced.

Feb 2012: another bad DC driver cut across 3 lanes of the road and almost sideswiped me during a snow storm. In avoiding him, my car fishtailed and ended up going up the curb, damaging the front spoiler, fog lights, and bumper guard. Again, since the car was mechanically sound, and my favorite car, I decided I was going to repair it. There was no major damage. The car sat in the body shop for some time as we were waiting for the insurance company to go through red tape. All word was that they were going to pay for the repair. However, I saw some practices at the body shop that were unscrupulous and I decided to bring my vehicle to another body shop that was recognized by the insurance company and guaranteed. I had them repair the front end and I replaced the tires. However, the insurance company decided to once again "total" the vehicle, based simply on blue book value, reduced by a large amount by their "previously salvaged factor." Hence started the long process and red tape of appealing the decision. After many months of battling with the insurance company, and waiting long times for their responses, I ended up relocating to CA due to a family crisis. I stopped the restoration process because I just didn't have the money with all that was going on, and a decrease in income (retired from the military, still waiting for VA compensation to be processed). I had been driving the vehicle to and from the airports and school when I commuted to the area, in the meantime. However, I just did not have the time or energy to continue the battle so I ended up accepting the total loss claim.

I have the appraisals from both the insurance company (which of course low-balled the value), and a private professional car appraiser, which I can show to you. These were both done BEFORE I started repairs,

Insurance company: $4654 (without the hard top, and before repairs made)

Professional Appraiser: $7,750 (before repairs made)

Again, I made most of the repairs, about $1700 worth so far.

Here are some of the upgrades and extras:

- New paint job

- New bumper grill and cover, brake air dams

- Halo headlights HID, with professional install, including harness (about $1000 upgrade)

- Set of 4 Oz Racing 18" rims, staggered set (9" in rear, 8" front), with Hankook tires (still a lot of tread, NEW tire in rear) (about $3000 new for wheels/tires). New rims cost $1642 plus shipping (via TireRack). I was going to remove the rims and bring them to CA, but I just don't have the time or money to get them here, so I'm including them! This alone probably is worth the price of the auction.

- Upgraded suspension to Bilstein PSS9 kit, over $3000 to install), (this too is probably worth the cost of the auction!) (probably only about 5,000 miles on the suspension)

- New PowerFlex bushings ($500-700 upgrade)

- special edition "buffalo hide" interior leather style

- Harmon Kardon sound system

- Sony CD player/radio

Here's what is wrong with the vehicle, to the best of my knowledge:

- fog lights cracked and need replacement (optional)

- front bumper cover needs adjustment (see below)

- corner lamp covers need to eventually be replaced. I could not find any smoked corner covers, so left the ones on. One of the connectors was cracked and so the cover can be pulled out, and occasionally after a few hundred miles may need to be pushed back in.

- driver's wheel touches bumper guard during sharp turns to the left (I think). Body shop guy said it was because a four wheel alignment needed to be done, but because it was a custom suspension, he could not do it, so he left the front bumper guard forward a little to decrease the rubbing (so the gap between the body and the guard is a little wider than it should be. No one notices until I point it out). He said once I got it aligned, he would slide the guard in place. (Since no more money, and the decision to sell, I have not pursued this.) Alternatively, I guess the suspension could be raised (tools are in the trunk).

- slight engine oil leak. It appears to be the head cover gasket, which normally requires replacing at this mileage in these vehicles. It has happened in all the 3 previous Beamers I owned too.

- power steering may need some attention. Not sure how much is the steering, and how much is the alignment.

- power side mirrors not responding. They were working until the body shop painted the hard top and put it back on, as well as some other work. I'm sure it's a fuse or loose wire. I haven't investigated it because the mirrors are adjusted to my body already and never need adjusting.

- Check engine light on. The infamous "O2 sensor" code, when I scanned it a few months ago.

- driver seat, torn leather seam (noted in the appraisals). I simply have BMW seat covers on them.

- driver seat, power control not working. The seat moves up, down, forward, tilt. Problem is in reclining. It reclines, but won't come back up. So do not adjust! Seems like it's a broken cable, as I hear the motor still working. (passenger seat works fine)

- dummy light for convertible top on, but the automatic top opens and closes fine (see pictures), maybe a little slower than before near the final closure. I think someone pressed the controls while the hard top was on. Probably needs to have the convertible motor reset, which takes about 5 minutes (look it up on YouTube).

- convertible top seals need to be replaced over windshield. Sometimes when it rains, water drips around the rubber seals on both driver and passenger side. Top itself is intact; rear window is slightly cloudy. Honestly one of my planned upgrades was to replace the top, eventually.

- amber side light on driver side mount is loose. It occasionally pops out. Simple fix, replace the clip.

- cover over the slot where the hard top slides in, on driver side, is missing.

- trunk actuator (?) loose or malfunctioning. To unlock or lock the trunk, you have to lock/unlock the car door. The lock on the trunk doesn't activate the mechanism. The body shop said it was a loose cable, and they fixed it, but it started acting up again recently

- needs a tune up

- needs four wheel alignment. Possibly related, is the driver rear wheel area. I recently had a flat on that tire, and it appeared that the tire may have been rubbing on something on the interior, although when I brought it into the shop, they did not find anything. I replaced the tire, but since then stopped driving the vehicle because I was not sure.

This is a steal. This car is my baby. It has been very difficult to finally give her up. If you've ever owned a BMW, especially an M3, you know how great they are. This body style in particular is fond to me. The E36 model combined great power with pretty good fuel economy. I usually got about 26 mpg overall average, and on the freeway got about 30-32 mpg! The newer models may be faster and have more torque, but the fuel economy dropped significantly. Look up the specs online and you'll see what I mean. This is a fun car to drive. That is why it took so long for me to give it up. Every time I decided to sell it, I would drive it and then change my mind!

FINE PRINT:

Because the car is not inspected, and because it's not registered and listed as salvage, I have to say the car is not "drivable". No test drives can be done. I have to list it as "for parts or repair." You will have to arrange transport of the vehicle within 1 week of winning the auction. It is at a friend's house, and perhaps he can open the hood and doors and start it up to show it runs, but I can't make any promises. I just need to get this off my hands since i have permanently left the area. I CANNOT ALLOW ANYONE TO DRIVE IT. I am responsible for it, and it is not legal to be on the roads. Of course no tags come with the vehicle. It is up to the buyer to make all necessary repairs, have it inspected and registered and tagged. I have described it in detail, to the best of my knowledge, and it is being sold AS IS, with no warranty given or implied. There will be no refunds. The vehicle for parts is worth over $4000 for the wheels/tires/suspension alone. It is a very good deal. Note: this car is also listed for sale locally, and so the auction could end at any time if the vehicle sells. There is no reserve. The highest bidder at the end of the auction takes it! Don't miss out!

Winning Bidder: $500 deposit via Paypal due within 48 hrs of auction end, or upon Buy-It-Now. Balance is due in form of cashiers check at time of pick up, which must be within 7 days of auction end, unless previous arrangements have been agreed upon. Signed title will be handed over with the vehicle upon payment of the balance.

The vehicle is located in the Sterling, VA area.

Here are some links you may be interested in:

eBay no longer allows links…. so I recommend you do a Google search for the following items:

Bilstein PSS9 suspension

PowerFlex bushings E36

Oz Racing Wheels: find the TireRack website, do a search for 18" rims, gold/bronze finish

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1998 Bmw M3 Base Convertible 2-door 3.2l Customized, Must Sell, No Reserve! on 2040-cars

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