This car came up for sale a couple weeks ago and was one of those things that might have got me in trouble. I would absolutely love to own an e28 M5, and this one sounded like a good solid car with a decent history of maintenance; it did have a few warts though which pushed the price down below the norm for these cars, but none of the disclosed warts would be difficult to overcome.
Unfortunately, or fortunately for me, the ad placed on MyE28.com lured in a buyer in what ought to be a record time of a little over 16 hours. But as the now disappointed buyer found out, things in an ad are not always as they seem, and diligence is always due especially when buying a car from afar.
First, here’s the copy & pics from the MyE28.com ad:
In the past several months I picked up an E60 M5 as a daily driver and an older SL600 as a project car. Consequently, my beloved E28 M5 hasn’t been getting any attention. As it sits, the car really isn’t a garage queen and was built to be driven. With this in mind, I’ve decided to let her go. My father purchased the car in the mid 90’s, and then sold it to me in 2009 (although we haven’t actually transferred the title yet so it’s still in his name). The car hasn’t been in any accidents and includes pretty extensive records both from me and from the previous owner who had the car maintained at Black Forrest Werkshop in Austin, Tx. Being a Tx car, there is absolutely no structural rust on the car or in the body panels. There is, however, a small bubble under the paint on the sunroof. At 180,XXX miles the car underwent an extensive rebuild during which almost every mechanical part prone to wear or failure was replaced. The result was an extremely mechanically sound, tight and fun to drive daily driver. I had intended to keep this car forever (hence the in depth rebuild), but at the moment both my garage and driveway are completely full and it just seems unfair to leave a car like this sitting out in the elements. The car has had regular oil changes with Valvoline VR1 20W-50 racing oil and valve adjustments performed @roughly 15k mile intervals. A full set of valve shims will be included in the sale of the car. Currently, the car has 193,XXX miles on it. A couple major points of the rebuild: (more…)
That’s pronounced “my-ya” (except the second syllable in Dutch sounds different.) The Meije is the quaint little road that leads to my sister- and brother-in-law’s dairy farm near Bodegraven in The Netherlands. I became very familiar with the road during our visit there in May this year; very beautiful place.
Sorry for the soundless video; I did add a few comments along the way as I drove, but the camera’s mic didn’t pick it up very well. One of these days I’ll take the time to figure out how to add commentary and a soundtrack, but until then the visual aspect is all we get. Use your imagination!
Meije is also the name of a collection of homes, a church, a school, and a coffee shop that could maybe be called “a village” but I’d stop short of that (if you watch through to the end of the video, Meije is where I stopped recording & turned the car around.) But the road is what most people in the area think of when they hear the word. Le Meije also happens to be a peak in the French Alps, but I doubt the folks that live along the Meije in Holland hear much about that one, nor care much about it.
As roads go, the Meije is about as narrow as they get, with barely enough room for one-way traffic, but it still accommodates two-way traffic. Making matters worse more interesting is the fact that many of the houses have hedges & fences right up to the road, and in other places there is a drop-off one one side or the other with water at the bottom; no good-old-fashioned WPA ditches like you find in South Dakota! When another vehicle approaches from the opposite direction, both drivers have to move as far to the right as possible. Often though you’ll find yourself head-to-head with a truck or tractor, and there just isn’t room for both of you; in those cases it’s customary for the smaller of the two vehicles to back up and into a driveway to allow the other to pass by. I had it happen once, but thankfully, most cars are small and there are lots of driveways and several bump-outs along the way to make it a little easier.
This photo features het Potlood, (the Pencil) which is a water tower that services the village and the homes along the Meije. It’s a well-known landmark that can be seen from many miles distant; very unique bit of architecture!
The area is historically a farming community. Most all of the houses along the road were at one time farm houses, but the area is becoming slightly more urban, or bedroom community-ish; with the popularity of the road, many of the houses are no longer occupied by farmers. Even though the working farms are fewer these days, their presence is unmistakable, evidenced by the “dairy farm” odor… There’s no escaping the smell of cows and their, um, byproducts. It’s no wonder when you consider how many head of cattle inhabit the area and how the the farmers deal with the waste from all of them.
From what I gathered, most of the houses along the Meije were built in the early 1900′s, and display similar construction methods; brick exterior, timber roofs with either tile or reed (thatch) roofing. Many of the buildings, while quaint & charming and all that, aren’t much to write home about on the inside. The soil in the area is very soft, and as a result the foundations of many homes aren’t very stable. Dick & Michelle’s house has wall that has settled considerably, and I saw several other buildings along the road that appeared to have off-kilter walls or the whole house was slightly askew. That doesn’t seem to bother the owners though; they keep their places up as would any fastidious Dutchman. Some are definitely nicer than others, and some residents put a great deal of effort into the gardens along the road, which only adds to the enjoyment of the drive. There are few basements, for obvious reasons.
The GPS unit that we borrowed showed that the area was about three meters below sea level. About 27 percent of the Netherlands is below sea level; it’s land that has been reclaimed by the building of dikes to push & hold back the sea. The area around the Meije is part of that reclaimed land, and is about as flat as a pool table. The different properties that line the road are separated by canals rather than fences. Most of the canals I saw were about three meters wide and probably about that deep in the center.
It had been fairly dry in the months preceding our visit, so the water level was down a bit, but there was always plenty of water in the canals and plenty of waterfowl around; ducks, geese, swans and storks. One interesting thing with the canals along the road; on the north side of the road (left in the video) is a larger canal that connects to a small lake, and the water level is several feet higher than the canals on the south side of the road. I suppose the road acted as a levee separating the two. In many places the canal runs right next to the road, which required bridges to be built on many driveways to allow access. Some of the homes even sported drawbridges at the road! How cool is that?
When viewing the area from above, as on Google Maps or Google Earth, you can see that the canals run parallel to one another to form fields in the shape of long rectangles. It was surprising to me to see how many farms & homes were packed along the road; in rural parts of the US there can be pretty large distances between farm places.
The Meije is far from the coast and any sizable dikes, but one day Yvonne & I did trek northward to visit the towns where her mom & dad lived when they were younger. Her mom lived in the town of Andijk, which is pronounced “on-dike” and is very literally built right on — or inside — the dike. I was pretty amazed at the dike; it’s an earthen structure that rises a good 30 feet or more from the road’s surface at its foot, but on the other side the water is only about 10 feet below the crown of the dike.
This is two photos stitched together (rather poorly; the light was very different in the two exposures and I couldn’t get the clouds quite right!) to show the difference between the two sides. The town would be completely submerged if not for the dike. A tremendous degree of confidence in the integrity of the dike is on display in Andijk; there are two 100-plus year old churches within a stone’s throw of the dike as well as several hundred homes.
This is getting a bit long… I started writing the post a month or so after returning, but kept adding a little bit here & there, even though I didn’t intend for it to turn into a travelogue. It really was a great trip, especially our time spent touring Germany. And our day trip to the Swiss Alps… Pretty sure Heaven will look very much like what we saw there! Didn’t enjoy the language problem though; will not be returning to Europe until I know a enough German and Dutch to get by. Will have to post some more photos sometime.
It’s been a while since I last posted anything; this car is a great excuse to get back on the horse again.
It’s a 1995 BMW 540i M-Sport. Yes, one of the 200 that not only got the full M package, but it also got the double-overhead cam V8 under the hood, backed up by a 6-speed manual transmission, and lots & lots of other goodies. Over the years, the owners have added a few things to make driving this car a little more fun; here’s the seller’s description from the current eBay ad for it.
Here’s your chance to get into one of the most limited production German super sedans ever.
There were only 200 of these BMW 540i M Sports imported to the US in 1995. One year only. They did not send the 95 M5 to the US, but instead sent the M Sport which is identical to the Euro spec 95 3.8 M5 except that it uses the 4.0 V8 instead of the S3 inline-6 cylinder motor the M5 has.
If you’re looking at my listing you probably know what this car is .
Its Cosmos Black on Black Montana leather. Maple wood trim.
What makes this car a gem compared to other M Sports currently available is that its had almost 5K in recent maintenance done to it. All documented with credit card receipts as well.
In April of this year, the entire front and rear EDS Self Leveling aka Nürburgring suspension got rebuilt to the tune of $3,100.00! Yikes. That hurt, but its now riding on all new springs, spring pads, hydraulic lines, accumulators, Boge OEM self leveling shocks, etc. The ride is simply amazing whether you’re in Comfort mode or Sport Mode. No clunks or thumps whatsoever. As close to the feeling on a new 540i as it gets.
Its also had the cooling system re-done. New water pump, hoses, etc also in April.
In 1999 the problematic Nikasil block was replaced at BMW of Peabody in Massachussetts. The car had 77K on it at the time. So the new Alusil motor has fresher gaskets and appx 53-54K on it and it pulls like a very angry bull !. It had all 4 of BMW’s recalls for this car done at the same shop.
A few years ago the previous owner had Turner Motorsports install the Conforti tune which up’s the stock hp from 282 to 300hp-302 ft tq along with a custom 3in” mandrel bent exhaust which sounds simply glorious at full song ! Very mild and normal below 3500 rpm’s..but once at 4K to the 7K redline it unleashes a sound similar to the V8 German DTM cars that will make the back hair on your neck stand. A very high pitch howl- which is very different than that of the lower toned Supersprint type exhausts.
Mechanically the car is bulletproof with everything from belts to brakes done in the last 14 months. AC blows ice cold, the Heater works almost instantly. It has the optional front heated seats as well. Seat functions on both sides work 100%.
This car always starts, has zero leaks and has no sensor issues.
All power functions work except the driver side rear window. It needs a new switch I believe.
There is also a built in K40 radar detector.
Tires are still great with about 85% tread remaining. Yokohama S drives 235 45 17′s.
In 6th gear I noticed about 23-24 mpg on a recent drive to New Jersey. The car drives like a BMW M car should. Very high sense of visual and aural pleasure. There’s no disconnect like there is in today’s cars. True the car’s of today have more features, stunning interior appointments, but they’ve somehow gotten the driver less involved. In this M Sport you know you’re driving something. I love the aim and shoot quality of this car. You think apex and you’re there. Exit speeds on long bends are nothing short of breathtaking!
You can tell this was designed and tested at the infamous Nürburgring !!!!!!!
The body of the car is very clean for a car over 15 yrs old. The entire driver side was resprayed 2 yrs ago due to a run in with a deer which put a small dent on the hood and ruined the front airdam. A new OEM airdam was sourced and the paint job is very good. Its stated on the Carfax as accident with animal as well. I can provide pictures provided by that owner. You can clearly see that it wasn’t that bad. No breach into the radiator or anything. All the gaps on the hood and the doors line up exactly as the OEM settings. Hood closes very smooth as do the doors. You have to look really hard to see its not factory paint. The passenger side is still OEM paint and has some scratches and one quarter size dent on the rear door. Its got some very small areas of surface rust along the door bottoms, as well as a small section of the very bottom of the trunk….but nothing that’s too bad and again, you have to look real close to see them. Nothing through the metal.
Please email me other questions you may have. Also go to Youtube.com as I will be posting some videos of the car. Search under Vernacular M Sport on the Youtube Search box.
The title is clear and is in my possession signed over already. I can also arrange for good low priced shipping with Steve King Transport. I do a lot of business with him . Usual NY to California rates are about 1100.00. NY where the car is located to the middle of the country is about 7-750.00 . Usually gets delivered 7-9 days after the appt is set.
VIN: WBAHE5322SGA65473
Mileage: 123,600 miles
Title: Clear
Body type: Sedan
Engine: 8 – Cylinder
Transmission: Manual
Exterior color: Black
Interior color: Black
This car would be a blast to own. Powerful and fast enough to humble many of those uppity Porsche miscreants, yet roomy enough to haul four adults around comfortably. It would even be up to the task of playing the part of a poor-man’s ‘Ring Taxi; I’m no Sabine Schmitz, and I don’t have the Nürburgring as a playground, but I’m pretty sure I could make a drive, um, somewhat entertaining!
It’s not a perfect car; it’s been driven, and probably driven hard, has some wear on it and even a few little spots of rust, but it is a rare car, has had few owners who took pride in keeping it up and kept decent maintenance records for it. All that goes a long way to inspiring confidence that this car won’t turn into a money pit. And the non-VANOS M60 V8 under the hood won’t have the high-dollar maintenance requirements the S38, yet it’ll still put out around 300HP
The auction ended with no bids/offers on it; $6,100 starting bid on it there. The seller is also a member on mye28.com and posted an ad there as well with an asking price of $7,150. A few days back he dropped the bombshell that the car isn’t equipped with catalytic converters in the exhaust, which forces an “off road only” classification in many states; that seriously limits his purchasing public. Thankfully, there’s no requirement for an emissions test in the state of South Dakota… I smell a bargain & think this car is fated to come live with me; now I just need to convince Yvonne that having a winter car and a summer car is a good idea. On second thought, maybe that’s a roadblock I smell.
No, there’s no such thing as a BMW X2; today’s my birthday, so I picked two BMWs that would make perfect birthday gifts. For me. Not to be greedy or anything, but…
Both cars just happen to be for sale on mye28.com right now; first up is a 1984 European 520i. Not a lot of photos, which is always a bit of a worry with a car for sale online, but it sounds nice…
I wonder how different my life today would be if this had been around 30 years ago. My guess? Very, very different.
1.6 Ford Sigma
From £19,450
or less than £300 per month*
Learn to be a racing driver in the world’s most popular racing car
Price includes road-legal car, technical support, race licence and entry to your first season of racing
High spec 1.6 Academy car includes full roll cage
The ultimate package for the novice racer
They require you to have your own Caterham 7, and you even have to drive the crap out of it to succeed in the academy. Somehow my life seems very incomplete… I’ll get over it, but wow does that look like a great idea. Where’s that time machine?
You may be thinking, “That’s no BMW? What the heck is a Triumph TR6 doing in Dave’s BMWotD category?” Yes, at first glance — aside from the Style 5 wheels — it seems very much out of place; not a single BMW Roundel to be seen anywhere, but lift the bonnet and good lordy…
There’s a lot of Bavarian in that there Brit!
I first saw this car up for sale in a most unlikely place — CraigsList — but it didn’t take long for the guys on Bring A Trailer to catch wind of it. It’s alsoIt was listed on eBay with no bidding and a Buy-It-Now price of $40,000. That’s a lot of money, but it’s a pretty sure bet that the seller has way, way more into it than that. (note: the eBay auction/ad ended on Aug. 29; presumably because the car is sold.)
To put it mildly, this it the car of my dreams. The builder/owner’s goal of having “a virtually stock appearing TR6 that performed at insane levels while delivering exceptional reliability” is pretty much what I would have in mind if someone asked me what I would drive if money (& time) were no object. I love the looks of the TR6, but the Lucas electrics and the ’70′s British mechanicals are enough to scare off the geekiest of car freaks. That would include me. Add to that the propensity of the TR cars to rust… Since the beginnings of my infatuation with the Triumph roadsters back in high school, I’ve had a couple of opportunities to purchase a TR6, and have passed on both; neither was the right car nor the right time for me. With this car, I would definitely be on my way to Kansas City to bring this car home if it weren’t for the price tag; still not the right time I guess.
The seller’s description in the ad is lengthy, but a good read, and describes the right way to do a resto-mod to a car like this; keep the original look of the car, but make updates & improvements that will make the car more enjoyable and allow it to spend the majority of its time on the road/track rather than in the shop or waiting for parts.
Up for sale here is my labor of love for the past five years. This project started out as a 60K mile, stock, rust-free 1973 TR6 and is now configured with a BMW M3 Drive-Line with every system brought up to the 21st Century and has been driven 1,650 miles since so it’s completely sorted and ready to roll. Every nut and bolt has been removed and replaced with AN, Grade 8 or Stainless depending on their locations and requirements (I truly mean “every” nut and bolt). Every component on the undercarriage has been Powder Coated or finished with POR 15 to prevent any future degradation issues. This is not your typical Resto-Mod and I’ll try to outline all the Mods that I performed to the beast below :
Body-Off / Nut & Bolt Restoration
Rhino Lined Tub
Significant Frame Strengthening
6-Point Roll Cage
BMW M3 S50 (OBD1 Computer) Engine w/Modificationss
Custom Full Leather Interior w/Wilton Wool Carpets
TR4 Soft Top Assembly
My intentions were to build a virtually stock appearing TR6 that performed at insane levels while delivering exceptional reliability. Various V8′s have found there way into these cars over the years but require many modifications that I was not willing to live with (steering geometry, firewall cutting, weight changes, etc.). While this was no mere “bolt-in” process, the net results lightened and balanced the overall car and required absolutely no changes to the steering and suspension system. It was almost as if BMW had this engine bay in mind when they designed their S50 M3 Power Plant. Engine Mods were held to Head-Work, 8.5lb Aluminum Flywheel, HD Clutch, Cold Air Intake and a custom Chip by Jim Conforti taking into account this particular application with the installed exhaust, no Cats, Intake, Oxy Sensor, Flywheel, Curb Weight and 7000 RPM Limiter. It’s absolutely ridiculous how fast this thing is.
I stripped the entire TR6 down to a pile of nuts and bolts and shipped off the tub and panels to be Soda Blasted before taking them to the body shop. This gave me the opportunity to tackle the frame and drive line. I started by having the frame sand blasted then welded in a lot of additional steel at all the known and unknown weak spots including the TSI Rear Strengthening Kit and ¼” plate added atop the rear spring mounts. Every factory weld was ground and re-welded to insure zero issues with frame cracking, twist or degradation due to the added HP and suspension modifications. I also had a local race car fabricator custom make a 6-point roll cage that ties into the frame directly via the four body mounts in the cockpit and thru the rear bulkhead and down to the aft frame sections (clears the roof). This is probably the most torsionally stable Triumph Frame you’ll ever find and the driving changes it made are very obvious. Next I coated the frame with POR15 along with all the suspension bits as it holds up much better to rock/road debris than Powder Coating. I utilized all of Richard Good’s suspension upgrades which include Lowered Springs, Sway Bars and Adjustable Trailing Arm Brackets. Due to my prior experience with Koni, I selected Spax Adjustable Shocks all the way around which once set-up match the over-all handling perfectly. I also added a new quick ratio steering rack combined with Richard Good’s Aluminum Rack Mounts and a slightly smaller diameter Leather Moto-Lita Steering Wheel. I’m in the aviation business and have access to all sorts of great hardware so all the suspension and brake nuts and bolts were replaced with AN series or Grade 8 at a minimum.
I changed out the front brakes to Toyota 4-Runner four piston calipers mated to Toyota Cressida vented rotors and for the rear I ran across a couple of guys who campaign a full-race TR6 that designed and machined a race-approved disc brake conversion kit to install Wilwood Aluminum Calipers clamping on 280 ZX Rotors. They were in process of commissioning a machine shop to make a few more sets for a new car they were building and were nice enough to have a set made up for me at the same time while sharing their engineering. This is not one of these cheap kits that come around every so often but a serious chunk of machined aluminum that has been approved for use on the track. I also had Classic Tube make a complete set of Stainless Brake lines and sent out the booster for o/h and replaced the master cylinder and filled it all w/DOT5 fluid. I installed a Wilwood lever-style brake bias adjuster which can be manipulated on the fly by the driver if you want to change the proportion of force front to rear. The hardware combined with the Bobcat pads make this TR66 stop on a dime with no wheel lock-up and much reduced fade.
The rear differential is an obvious weak spot along with the rear axles on TR6′s especially when horse power is added. I opted for the Nissan/Infiniti R200 dif as it was extremely easy to adapt to the frame, provided unquestionable strength (the dif of choice in the drifting crowd), super LSD performance and available in a ratio (3.54) between those used by the stock M3 and the full-race M3. I commissioned Kevin at Constant Velocity of Ocalla (FL) to design a set of rear axles utilizing CV-Joints and able to take the added stress of HP I was going to throw at them.
I had the entire interior, fender wells, trunk area and bottom of the tub shot by the local Rhino Liner shop after blasting and priming. This stuff totally encapsulates all the known rust areas for future protection and offered an indescribable reduction in noise and heat and increase in solidity. For the body, I chose a BMW M3 color, Imolla Red II which is a beautiful deep and slightly dark red. The body is completely assembled with Stainless Steel Fasteners to alleviate any future corrosion and they simply look nice and actual DumDum was sourced in the UK to seal the seams between the fenders/wings and tub. I shaved off the front side markers on the fenders and door locks to clean it up a little but left the original front turn signals under the grill to accommodate state laws. New front and rear light assemblies were installed too. Included are two new Bullet Mirrors for the doors which I have not installed as I preferred the look and they are not required in the State of KS. The hood / bonnet cable has been removed in favor of a direct release rod courtesy of Macy’s Garage so no worries about stuck hoods because of broken cables. No other body mods were made as I truly wanted to keep it in stock form to any on-looker.
I contacted Dan Masters of Advance Auto Wire and had him make me a custom harness for my project. The heart of the system is a power block that utilizes individual fuses for all circuits and relays for all heavy load items just as on current vehicles. All the instruments were switched to electric models from AutoMeter and incorporated with the harness. I also replaced all indicator bulbs with high output LEDs. Once I completely ran the new wiring, I removed it before termination and “snake-skinned” the entire thing. Most would have just zip-tied it all but I really can’t handle the mess associated with typical aftermarket harnesses so it truly looks stock. I have wired in a CD/Stereo unit but haven’t felt the need to cut in speakers as the note of the exhaust is all the music I needed. The wires are run so if you desire music, just add speakers. The Optima battery has been relocated to the right rear trunk area mounted in a custom keeper and a main battery cut-off switch is mounted on the firewall with the kill-key extending into the glove box for easy access. Both the fuse block and BMW computer are mounted inside the passenger foot well safe from any contact with exterior water or hazards and out of sight.
The interior is outfitted with Heated Miata Seats. They are trimmed in Tan Leather along with all the other interior panels which are piped in a contrasting brown and complimented with Wilton Wool Carpets. The window regulators, channels and seals were all replaced with new units that, believe it or not, don’t rattle. New seat belts were installed as well and included will be a set of Harnesses for track days. I never particularly liked the TR6 top mechanism as it just sits like a lump behind the seats and detracts from the clean lines of the car. I took this opportunity to modify the bows from an early TR4 as a replacement as it affords for the complete removal of the soft top for stowage in the trunk and the bows tuck out of sight behind an interior panel. I never had the intention of purposely driving the car in foul weather but did feel it important to have an emergency plan just in case I got caught out in the rain. I contacted Randy Keller of Prestige Auto Wood to craft me a custom dash laid out in the stock form but for use with the AutoMeter instruments and LED indicators. I chose Hawaiian Koa Wood for this and he also matched a panel for the switch plinth. The visors, mirrors, crash pads, windshield trim, etc. are all replaced with new. An insulated poly transmission tunnel has also been added to replace the original cardboard unit. Back in the trunk, I replaced the original fuel tank with a 16 gallon custom made aluminum unit that resides in the spare tire well. Lastly, I liberally installed Dyna Mat all over the place. When you close the doors, it sounds like a modern car’s door… solid.
The 17×8 3-piece wheels are BMW Style 5 Composites made by BBS. I sent them out to a shop in CA who specializes in wheel customization and they disassembled them, filled and re-drilled the centers for the TR6 bolt pattern, sent the centers out for powder coat and polished the rims. I was able to remove the BMW emblems from the center caps and with a little modification install the TR6 chrome emblems with red stickers in their place. I wrapped them with 225/45/17 Falken Azenis RT-615 tires which are a new class of DOT and SCCA Spec race approved tires.
Bottom-line, this is definitely one of the most unique sports cars you’ll ever come across. It was built with the idea of supreme performance and to withstand the tortures of daily driving without compromise. I wanted the illusion that this engine was factory installed so you won’t find any “bling” under the hood, all business (with the exception of the polished aluminum radiator cowling). Every single nut, bolt, washer, seal, grommet, clip, etc. was replaced on the car with new equivalents of higher grade and if a part was available new, it was replaced. I’m quite certain I’ve missed a few important points in this description but you really have to see and drive this TR6 to truly appreciate what it’s all about — Beauty — Simplicity — Performance.
FYI, I just shot these pics out in front of my house and down at my office . Also, I have this insured at its appraised value of $50K thru Hagerty’s which runs about $275 yr.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me and thanks for your interest. I don’t answer emails thru craigslist due to their spam issue. If you want more info. . .pick up the phone and give me a ring.
Dave DeWalt
Most Triumph purists will probably cringe when they see what’s been done to this car, but that doesn’t describe me nor my reaction to it. Not at all. While there are a few niggling things that I would’ve done differently (maybe some different wheels or a little more BMW in the suspension & drivetrain) this car is about as close to perfect as I can imagine. As I said, if not for the $40,000 entry fee, I would be all over this thing. Maybe in a few years I’ll try my hand at something similar… Lessee… Maybe a BMW S52-powered Alfa Romeo something-or-other? Or maybe build up a kit car with BMW suspension and drivetrain bits, just to avoid the ire of any purists. Modify a GTM Supercar with a BMW V8 or S52-six in the back along with matching BMW suspension in place of the Corvette bits, just to be different? (that could be worthy of sticking a Roundel on the body front & back, and might even fool someone into thinking it’s a factory BMW model!) Oh, the possibilities! If only I had the time and money and workspace.
Here’s a car for sale that is becoming very hard for me to pass up.
I am offering up a 1985 745i factory turbo E23. Yes it is NOT an E28 BUT the engine and turbo alone are worth the price for a conversion. And the rest of the car is decent also. A few details: Parting out OR buy the whole running driving car! Rare classic collectible euro model with factory turbo. 4 speed auto transmission, REAR DIFF, 99.9% rust-free body parts, buffalo leather interior with electric seats, working original becker radio, choice of two sets of wheels [either the 18″ M parallel replicas or the black 17″ ASAs. GREAT PARTS FOR E28s or…? WILL NOT PASS SMOG SO TECHNICALLY SELLING AS A “PARTS CAR” California buyers responsible for getting it smogged and DMV fees of $250. ONLY 2,222 FIRM!
Then the ad was updated on June 11:
PRICE LOWERED TO $1,985 FOR THE 1985 745I TURBO!As pictured with EITHER the black or 18″ silver ones OR ONLY $1,685 with a set of 14″ rollers. Somebody snatch up this car. Engine, turbo and bumpers alone worth more than that! I have registration in my name. No title unless I pay $250 in fees…
The seller — Evan, aka, BimmerBrothers — is a long-time member of mye28.com and has sold a lot of cars on the site. It’s always amazing to see what he comes up with; this car doesn’t appear to be perfect, but it’s in decent shape. And at under $2,000… I was very tempted but definitely not in a position to buy. Too bad because it sounds like the owner is prepared to part it out. Way too bad. Probably a good thing it’s a few thousand miles away from me.
The e23 745i was never sold in the US; it was sold in the European market only. Those that made it into the US did so by going through the gray-market importing process. It was the top-of-the-line luxury car sold by BMW in its day, and was equipped with a variant of the 3.2 liter inline six used in the 735i (and 533/535) but with a bunch of extra HP and torque courtesy of a 10psi intercooled turbocharger. And that makes all the difference. 249 HP and 275 ft. lbs. of torque compared to 215/224 on the normally aspirated 735i.
The process of federalizing gray market BMWs in the 1980s was inconsistently and often poorly executed; some retained the Europe-only headlights, but many others (like the one pictured) had them replaced with the 5″ US headlights. This car also suffered the ignominy of having the camper-style side marker lights added to the fenders front & back. The good news is that it was allowed to keep the original bumpers; of all the bastardizations done to this car, that would be the most difficult and expensive to reverse and get the car back to the way it ought to look. The federalizers would often require that the the Euro-style bumpers be replaced by bumpers that were found on the built-for-USA 735i, which required some nasty surgery to the front and rear valences. Others cars, like this one, got away with the Euro bumpers intact, but with a “reinforcing” piece of steel tubing or angle iron inside. Not sure what that would actually do to help, but… This one did end up with the US-approved 5″ headlights and grille in place of the true Euro headlight setup — with the 7″ low-beams. Reverting to that look would really make this car a standout, as would repainting the front end to match the rest of the car.
The sub-$2,000 price tag on this car makes it very tempting. The BronzitBeige over Buffalo-color leather interior even more so. And how fun would it be to drive a car like this back from southern California… One of these days the availability of a car like this will coincide with me being prepared to buy it, and I’ll do just that. This time, I’ll have to be content with the cars I have, and patiently wait. It builds character.
… I’m convinced that this is the car he would have in his garage.
No doubt 007 would have it outfitted with all manner of special weaponry and secret agent toys, but I sure wouldn’t turn it out of my own garage even in its current form. Given the fact that my garage space is pretty doggone limited, I would even build a garage specifically for it! The DB5 is a gorgeous machine to begin with, and who could resist a wagon/shooting brake version of the car? And to me, the color combination is perfect; black exterior & red leather… Wow.
This car was featured in a Hemmings Blog post this morning; for the details on the car and their thoughts on it you can click through to their article. The short of it is that the car recently went on the auction block at Bonham’s & sold for an astonishing $704,200 (the full copy from Bonham’s is included below in case it disappears from their site.)
What more can be said about such a gorgeous machine? I think I’ll just sit & stare at the photos for a little while.
I’ve brought up the BMW e24 before, and will likely do so again (and again, and…); it is, after all, one of my favorite cars of all time. This one was listed for sale on mye28.com, but sold earlier this year. No word yet on where it ended up, but it is a very clean, very nice looking car. With an asking price of $14,000 for a 26 year old car, it had better be nice, but this thing looks like new. (more…)
Filed under: BMW Of The Day — Tags: e9 — dave @ 10:13 pm 2011/01/29
Now this is a gorgeous car.
I’ve always loved the body lines of the BMW e9 coupes, and this one has received some improvements that make it even more desirable. For one, the original carbureted M30 has been replaced with a fuel-injected M30B35 for better reliability and lots more horsepower.
The e9′s are notorious for rust, but this particular car was stripped & repainted by Hardy & Beck in Berkeley, CA. Hardy & Beck also provided the wheels, which fit the car’s style to a ‘T’. Up until last week the car was owned by one of the “>mye28.com members“; he bought it a little over a year ago, but some recent financial & life difficulties forced him to sell. It was listed on CraigsList with some of the gorgeous beauty shots shown below, an oddity that caught some attention at Jalopnik. Bring-A-Trailer also picked up on it. All the attention led to it being sold pretty quickly in spite of the $25,000 price tag.
Much as I like the looks of this car, there is just no way I could own it unless I could garage it and only bring it out on the nicest of days. And considering the car, its relative rarity & value, that would be only fitting. So, like so many other cars, I’ll just enjoy it vicariously by way of the photos. (more…)
