Today after work I set out onto the virus infested roadways to pick up my newest toy, a 2000 M Coupe BMW.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/pimpm3-buys-an-awesome-car/171879/page1/
The car is located in Franklin Tennessee, about 45 minutes south of Nashville. Normally I would take the direct southwest flight from Jacksonville to Nashville for $99.00. But given the current virus induced state of our world, I decided to rent a car and drive up.
I picked up a leather clad 2020 Chevrolet Impala today from enterprise for the bargain price of $32.40 after tax. Not bad for a one way rental from Jacksonville to Tennessee!
The plan is to meet the seller at his bank in the morning to pick up the car.
My buddy Chris is co-piloting on this adventure. I guess he is returning the favor from when I flew out to Arizona with him to pick up an NSX.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/phoenix-to-jacksonville-or-bust-pimpm3-picks-up-an-nsx/160939/page1/
We are two and a half hours in and just stopped for a driver swap and a quick gas fill up.
Since I am driving the car home I will replace the GRM obligatory car on a trailer picture with a rental car at the gas station one.
And a picture of Chris' hand sanitizer bottle since I forgot mine.
I have the same rental this week; it's a pretty nice car. The M-Coupe will be much better...
Don't feel bad. I forgot to take my mask to the Publix today. Lil Stampie had to stay in the car and I stole his mask. I really want to check out the M coupe when things settle down. I've always loved them. Anyone called dibs yet? I know you said you want it forever but well you have automotive ADHD.
chandler said:
I have the same rental this week; it's a pretty nice car. The M-Coupe will be much better...
I am actually pretty impressed with the impala so far. Its comfy and far roomier that the m coupe.
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
No masks. I brought one just in case.
Stopped for dinner in Macon. Restaurants are open in Georgia. Its actually kind of weird eating inside of one for the 1st time in 2 months.
We are socially distancing and are at least 15 feet from the next occupied table. It's a little hole in the wall BBQ place with good reviews. I am excited to have some half and half tea and some legit bbq!
dps214
Reader
5/7/20 6:35 p.m.
Man, Franklin, TN must be the capitol of bottom dollar modern german cars. My 981S that was the cheapest one on the market by like $8k came from the same town. I'm really surprised at how cheap that M coupe was for being in seemingly decent condition; last fall I sold my roadster with similar upgrades for nearly as much as you got this thing for.
Stopped for gas north of Atlanta. 2.5 hours to go.
In reply to dps214 :
Franklin is where the money is, they probably buy new and then don't care too much on resale. Well, Franklin and Brentwood.
Is that a child's/toddlers plate for the BBQ? There is barely enough meat there for a sample taste to check the seasoning allotment.
Unpopular opinion: I loved clown shoes . . . But that’s changed.
Super cool car, and I am glad it has gone to an enthusiast. I’m jealous of your car adventure. My good friend is waiting for the sale of his house and for our restrictions to end and we will then begin a quest for an e90 M3 . . .
We got in at 1130 central time. Checked into hotel no problem. I had a hard time falling asleep, I guess it is kind of like Christmas for a kid 
Woke up to my alarm to discover that its raining pretty good.
This will throw a wrench in the after pick up plans. Originally I was going to stop and visit with my 94 year old grandmother in clarksville. The plan was for her to stay inside and I was going to sit on the porch. That isn't really an option now with the heavy rains coming through. It's not worth putting her at risk by meeting with her inside.
After that we were going to head home with a detour through deals gap / tail of the dragon. The original plan was to stop in Athens and then drive home tomorrow through rural Georgia. The rain is forecast to essentially move east and south through out the day, which is coincidentally the path we will be taking.
The heavy rain will make the detour to deals gap not worth it and potentially dangerous. So at the moment we are thinking of picking the car up and heading straight home via the interstate. 
In reply to pimpm3 (Forum Supporter) :
Are you gonna melt? Steal a couple towels from the hotel. Go visit Grandma.
Tennessean checking in here. Welcome to historically crappy May weather. Forecasting record low temps (low 30's) in the morning.
Following - cool trip and purchase. Bummer on rain tho.
The pick up went smoothly. We met at the bank and I transferred money from my account into his. Super easy!
Dropped the seller off at his house and picked up the spare parts that were included. Super nice guy. He is from Germany and is a mechanical engineer for a parts supplier company out of Nashville.
I got a folder full of receipts and a bunch of miscellaneous spare parts. The seller filmed the car leaving and his kids all came out and looked sad as I left.
We headed back into town and dropped off our rental with out issue.
It was lunch time so we stopped for some dirty Mexican. I was hungry and forgot to take a picture until after I ate most of the food.
Grabbed a couple of quick pictures before we got back on the road.
Knocked out the first 230 miles without issue. Stopped in Chattanooga for some gas and to grab a drink.
24.1 mpg so far. Car drives well. Chris is taking the second stint giving me a chance to update the thread.
5000 RPM. YUMM
How does it feel compared to the NSX?
Awesome car. I love those "analog" gauges under the A/C controls.
Rain, our constant companion today. Of course tomorrow is supposed to be nice...
dps214
Reader
5/8/20 3:54 p.m.
TJL (Forum Supporter) said:
Awesome car. I love those "analog" gauges under the A/C controls.
Either the oil is currently on fire or that oil temp gauge is broken.
