NMNA 1998 M3

Please tell me it is on the other side of the country 

Yeah I’d probably like that in my life. Sadly, the lump of cash I’d spend on it has already been reserved for the purchase of a kid hauler and I don’t think momma wants a two door sport sedan.

Not the other side of the country, just a quick hop over the lake and a couple of states.

In reply to akylekoz :

those seats, known as Vaders due to the shape of the headrests, bring pretty serious loot in that condition.  And if the door cards aren't falling apart, well, the complete interior could easily bring a grand.

In reply to akylekoz :

Please clarify...

Are you looking for someone to offer $5500 so you can act as a proxy and buy it for them, or are you asking us to dare YOU to buy it for $5500?

akylekoz said:

In reply to dyintorace :

I'll drive it down to you for expenses once travel is safer. 

I'll cut your trip in half! 

In reply to SVreX :

Yes

Both door cards look Iike this.

I have a video of it running, is sounds nice and tight.

I hope that when I'm 98 years old someone has to take the keys to my manual transmission hot rod away.

That's a sport package. The kidneys are chrome from factory. HiFi sound system option, NO heated seats. 

The door cards are in great shape. I cant really tell but it looks like there is no sag on the glovebox, common thing.

Too much rust for me, but looks like a nice driver for $5500 in January money. 

Also looks like its missing the front factory spoiler. 

Here is the front bumper and spoiler on mine for reference:

That interior is not crusty, its actually in great shape for the mileage. 

The black interior is sought after, but taking it apart and shipping is a pita. The seats alone are 75#s each. 

Also Style 24 wheels are sought after as they are "lighter" than the rest and came in the lightweight e36s.

Ya, far too good a deal to be within a couple thousand miles of me.  

PNW suuuuuucks. 

In reply to akylekoz :

You've got mail

This is pretty tempting... and not too far away.  Last car I bought was also on GRM, so....

I'm glad this is far and traveling is not the easiest. Definitely a steal if it's not rotten underneath.

Slippery said:

Also looks like its missing the front factory spoiler. 

Here is the front bumper and spoiler on mine for reference:

I have an extra one of those spoilers. Whoever buys this car contact me.

My dinged-up but rust free track car clone to this is more expensive than this. Someone should buy this soon.

That's a steal for $7k. Sold my POS E36 w/ 220k miles for around 5k. I assume it's gone? 

Is it still available.  I am possibly interested?

In reply to akylekoz :

Hey there, is it still for sale? I would be interested in it.

There's 3-4k in parts, just in the interior and wheels.   If I didn't have a zero-tolerance-policy for rust, I'd buy it and just stick it somewhere until I figured out what to do with it.   

It would make a good race car donor, with the ability to recoup costs on the nice interior bits and wheels.  No need for good rust repair and paint then.

Not to bump an older post... but I thought I would reply that I purchased the car and had it shipped to Idaho. Not sure how many "yes I bought it" stories pop up here.

I first discovered GRM in the 90s and still have some of the t-shirts from that time.

In short, I'm happy with the car. I've owned a number of BMWs including a Z3M Coupe (clownshoe) a number of years ago. Getting into the M3 feels similar, albeit with a bit more cabin space. This car does have the rust, and will likely be a fun driver, and if I get it properly prepped (more on that in a minute) I'll take it to open track events at Spokane Raceway. The body rust bothers me, but the car will be driven on gravel roads anyway so it won't ever be perfect. I suspect I'll have to fight with rust on the suspension components when refreshing the suspension.

Car runs super. Engine sounds great. Transmission syncros are a bit worn (3rd especially). Car had no warning lights upon delivery. CEL came on within 15 miles of driving, so I'll need to pull the codes. ABS and ASC lights also came on. Front end feels reasonably tight. Rear suspension has significant rattles / clunk. I suspect I'll be replacing subframe bushings, but I've not gotten under the car yet. Car rides out of the ruts a little (expected). I think there are some suspension bits that need replaced; the car wanders a bit more when coming off throttle than expected. Interior is excellent other than sagging headliner and a couple niggling things. AC and heat work fairly well. Sunroof and windows work. I'm thankful the car is all there and very much a driver right now. I'll start by replacing the brakes and then get into the suspension. Most of the rust is in the body panels (not fllor pan) and suspension bits, so I'll replace the suspension bits that look questionable. I might tackle the rust sometime.

On the downside, the car was marketed as 1 owner with full records. It turned out to be "1 owner since about 15k miles, but 3 owners overall" and "we cannot find the records but here are some of the ones a couple repair shops could dig up". I was really looking forward to being the 2nd (not 4th) owner.

In all, I'm happy. I have a complete driver with an excellent interior that shouldn't take too much money to get open track worthy. And the wife will even ride in it, which is an improvement over my last ratty M50 swapped E30.

@akylekoz thank you for the post and the detailed pictures!

@Slippery, I could be interested in your front chin if shipping isn't too much.

Yes, I created the account so I could share rather than just lurk...

In reply to RandomUsername :

Congrats & please start a build thread to document it!

The rear trailing arm bushings (rtabs) are shot which is why it wanders on- and off-throttle.  
 

Get rtab limiters when you do the bushings. 
 

I think it's a great deal!

In reply to RandomUsername :

Glad the car went to a good place. 

I am not selling the spoiler on my car, I believe ddavid (he posted after me) has one for sale.