New to this Forum but not BMWs

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goinstrong

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Greetings everyone! My name is Tim, and I have been a long time fan of the older BMWs. At our house, we have owned: a 2002, 7 E21's, E23, E24, E28's, E30's, E32, E34, E36's, E38 and am actively seeking an E9.

Our stable is thin right now, with an E30 convertible (wife's car), an E21 with an M42 swap (my first BMW) and an E36. We are looking for an E9 to work on as a family (3 sons) which hopefully I can pass on to them.

If you are aware of one with repairable rust that can be a runner, please let me know. One thing I will say: all of the BMWs we have had are ones we drive. I am not looking for a show car. Thank you in advance for any help or advice!
Tim
 
Cool to have this as a family project, scan the cars for sale section and check in to see any new postings, members post stuff they see from all over. Welcome and good luck.
 
Stevehose said:
Cool to have this as a family project, scan the cars for sale section and check in to see any new postings, members post stuff they see from all over. Welcome and good luck.
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Hi and welcome! everyone is great here. Where do you live?

Gus
 
Thank you for the welcome notes. I am in the Seattle area. I will update my profile!
Tim
 
Welcome Tim

Hi Tim;
My Family also has a long history of BMW owner ship,starting with 2 2000Cs 4 2002s, 2 320Is,4 E30s, 1 E36, 1 E46, 1 E87 Conv.1 Mini Cooper. Like your's my stable also has a small inventory. 1-2000CS, 1- Austin Healey BJ7 1-Subaru Impressa and lastly due to retirement income a 2012 Ford Focus,which I can not wait to get rid of.
Welcome aboard. This forum has been my Salvation after retireing in 2010.
I'm sure you will enjoy.
Koopman
 
Welcome Tim,
Sounds like you have enough of the disease to dive in deeper without much hesitation. If you're looking for advice, you've come to the right place. As you may be aware, these coach built bodies rust from the inside out. Repairing same almost always involves much more than what you can see on the surface. What you eventually purchase, should depend on what you consider "REPAIRABLE". Cutting away layers digging deep into rockers and pillars, while maintaining dimensional integrity is not for the faint of heart and can get overwhelming. Knowing what to look for and where, is absolutely vital to making a sound decision.
In my opinion, from where I can gauge the market at this point in time, a complete solid runner, with cosmetic and let's say, only some simple floorboard rust issues, is going to run you about $12-15K and be considered a great buy to most and may take some time to find. The problem is- a coupe with "some" rust, usually has much more hidden elsewhere. There are a fair amount of sellers out there offering rougher cars asking for much more. I think it's important to keep in mind that the cost of dealing with mechanical issues will be much less than that of structural body, paint, missing/badly worn interior bits and other cosmetic challenges.
It's been beaten to death by those in the know- "Buy as much car as you can afford". Unfortunately for many, it's too easy to go upside down when resurrecting these cars. I highly recommend you hook up with someone near you who has gone though this process, to lend a hand.
With that said, I am by no means a restoration expert, and look for others to chime in.
Best of luck!
 
goinstrong said:
Thank you for the welcome notes. I am in the Seattle area. I will update my profile!
Tim
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Hi Tim,

Welcome fellow Seattleite! There are probably a good 30 or so coupes running around the state that are documented, plus a decent number of owners that aren't active online. I think it is helpful to determine what your budget is, and what you deem acceptable within that budget. There are two coupes for sale in the PNW at the moment. One is in Portland, and one is in Seattle. Both have a decent amount of issues to contend with. Both are between $18K - $24K, and can be found on CL. Both have been inspected by forum members and discussed.

I hunt for cars and parts regularly. I'm a bit overwhelmed right now, but I have my eye on a fjord blue barn find in Seattle proper. I talked to a guy who knows exactly where it's at, and tried to buy it several times. I don't really want it, but I do intend to track it down in the next couple of weeks to see if a member wants to save it.
 
Markos,
Thank you for the note. If you locate that car and decide not to buy it, I would be interested for sure. The one in Portland needs more rust repair than I prefer for the price point. I would rather have a solid body with a non running engine, etc. than a mechanically sound rust bucket. I hope to meet you in the near future either way!
Tim
 
goinstrong said:
Markos,
Thank you for the note. If you locate that car and decide not to buy it, I would be interested for sure. The one in Portland needs more rust repair than I prefer for the price point. I would rather have a solid body with a non running engine, etc. than a mechanically sound rust bucket. I hope to meet you in the near future either way!
Tim
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Tim,

I found the car. The owner is a forum mem and recently listed it for $5.5K. After going to his house yesterday I see how close I was to finding it on my own. :)
 
And if you can did deep enough in your pocket, fellow Seattleite, Alan McG is selling a gorgeous, fully sorted CSi. Buy and drive!!
Look at the entire cost of buying one that is "repairable" then think about what would need to be outsourced at $100/hr or more plus parts. Try to be realistic about your capabilities. You may find that this is a better deal. Yes, you can restore over years but it may cost much less to get a finished product even if you finance it.
 
Stan said:
And if you can did deep enough in your pocket, fellow Seattleite, Alan McG is selling a gorgeous, fully sorted CSi. Buy and drive!!
Look at the entire cost of buying one that is "repairable" then think about what would need to be outsourced at $100/hr or more plus parts. Try to be realistic about your capabilities. You may find that this is a better deal. Yes, you can restore over years but it may cost much less to get a finished product even if you finance it.
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Alan's car is a great investment car also IMO. Simply stunning.
 
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