Pictures to come and full digestion tomorrow, but I'm home safe! Couple of minor things need attention, but the car performed flawless all the way.
just over 700 miles, and averaged somewhere around 28-30mpg.
Pictures to come and full digestion tomorrow, but I'm home safe! Couple of minor things need attention, but the car performed flawless all the way.
just over 700 miles, and averaged somewhere around 28-30mpg.
Awesome
found a white one for sale here
with oem m parallel
asking 16$ k
KICK ASS!
Really upset that the timing didn't work out. I really wanted to hang that on a lift and show how clean it was underneath for the dixie haters 
Very happy that you made it home fine and didn't wipe out in a surprise blizzard or something.
Also? Jealous of that fuel economy. I can only touch that if I'm trying really hard. And it's 90 degrees outside.
Allright, a little sleep and coffee and I'm ready to put this down!
I arrived at the airport in Cleveland almost an hour early, which would be a sign of good fortune throughout, if I'm foreshadowing a bit.
A 15 minute Uber ride to the car was given by perhaps the saddest sports fan in history- a lifelong Browns and Sabre's fan. He painfully and eloquently told his story of sportsball fan plight while cruising in his Honda Pilot. I left him a big tip because, well, nobody should ever have to live through that experience.
we pulled up to the curb and there it was in all its glory-
First impressions were that, for a 2003, the car was freaking immaculate. Big thanks to Knurled again for the spot on accurate PPI. The second I saw it and started it, the deal was done and confidence was growing.
I was talking to some other car friends about the old days of fly-and-driving for heaps of crap on craigslist, not registering or insuring them, and hoping they'd make it home with duct tape and jb weld... gone are those days now. Fully legal-beagle this time around-
I had intentions of getting on the road and heading to Knurled's shop to address a very minor coolant leak, but because everything was going SO SMOOTHLY, I was running way early and decided to just head out. A calculated risk, sure, but nothing some fast set epoxy and coolant couldn't fix that I bought at auto zone on the way out of town.
BUT FIRST- donuts. Did I tell you that the lovely family that I bought the car from was awesome? Because they were. Not only did they put a 6 pack of water and a full tank of gas in the car, but they also introduced me to Jack Frost Artisanal Donuts-
if anyone is in greater Cleveland, I will pay to have these shipped to me. Holy carp. The to-go donuts she packed with me proved that humans in general are awesome people and saved my bacon later on in the ride... oh, did I mention she made a hot pot of coffee (good coffee too!) and put it in a thermos for me for the road? My beloved grandmother is being outgunned at the game she pioneered!
Anyways, we are off. First impressions of the car were mostly positive, but holy hell does this car need a shorter throw shifter. I felt like I was driving a Tacoma at first. Admittedly at first, the car felt a little luxurious and hefty, but only because I'm used to driving gutted, ratty e30/36s on track. I never really pushed the envelope with the car handling or power-wise because I was 700 miles from home, but that mood quickly changed after an hour or so of medium congested highway... holy hell, what a great highway cruiser this car is. Effortless to drive, and geared really well for 'you're absolutely getting a speeding ticket but maybe not reckless op' cruising speeds. Had to use cruise as a babysitter because there were more than a few times I'd look down and unwittingly be going a lot miles per hour.
Since things were all coming up Millhouse, I pulled another audible and took I86 through southern NY instead of the thruway, aka the worlds most boring road. Two reasons for this really- I'd never driven 86 beyond Corning and was curious about it, and I have friends in Corning and Binghamton that would feed me and rescue me if needed. I pulled into my buddy's house in Corning at around 4, shoved pizza in my face, threw their kids around for a bit, drank some water, peed more, and headed back to find my first minor issue- the car has lurched forward about 2' from where I parked it on a downslope. Note to self- level parking spaces only until I can adjust the e-brake! I would have thought the compression of being in gear would have prevented that, but oh well. Nothing was harmed and lesson learned without issue.
By the time I pulled out, it was dark. Sitting in their driveway and texting the wife and Bluej updates, I marveled at the fact that there wasn't a single light or electrical button that didn't work. Everything worked... in a 15 year old BMW... what sorcery is this car possessed by?!?! Even the trick Msport shift knob worked!-
terrible pic, but you get the idea...
Part 2 incoming...
So leaving my friend house in the dark, I flip on the headlights, and they sort of look like this-
pointed in every direction except straight ahead, haha. E36 M3. Undrivable at that scenario, I delved into and found the issue. The PO has put in some hella sweet HID projectors into euro headlights, but actually didn't fixed mount them. The result is them being floppy and loose in the housings. Lacking time, energy, and resources to properly fix it on the side of the road, I decided to just use the high beams which were hard mounted and adjust them down with a screwdriver, which functioned respectfully. Only 3 people flashed me in over 400 miles, so id say I wasn't a complete jerk. Plus... I gotta get home to a wife and newborn and before an impending ice storm bearing downing my route.
admittedly, the rest of the drive was super uneventful. Gas and pee stops, and a strict 76mph cruise pretty much the entire way back because apparently there are 657626864 police officers in the state of NY. At least it felt that way...
I pulled into my town and it started snowing, haha. Legitimately perfect timing, because this morning it was downright nasty out-
It's hard to see, but there's a solid 1/8" of ice on the car and every surface. But, she's safe, performed heroically, and I'm in love with another roundel. Been there before, looking forward to the journey. All told, 725 miles in about 12.5 hours of total time including stops. My back is a little sore, but otherwise it's a great long distance cruiser.
PS- this is my first white car. Not sure if I like this or loathe this. Well earned in one breath, gross in another...
Kick ass!!
I had no idea the shift knob lit up.
Outstanding! Without being too specific, unless you want to be, was it in the $5k ballpark that Knurled mentioned in the other thread?
I don't mind at at all- I paid $4500. That was their asking price. I won't go into full details but the circumstances surrounding the sale of the car are a little sad, and the wife didn't have much wherewithal to maximize the cars value. I honestly could have haggled, but I wouldn't even think to do that at that value.
In reply to golfduke :
$4,500 AND you got good coffee and good doughnuts!
Killer deal!
A little jelly of the Bimmer, a LOT jelly of the doughnuts. Those look glorious.
In reply to golfduke :
Great buy, gorgeous car (I love M-parallels), and sounds like a perfect fly n buy.
Jack frost is in my top 6 greater cleveland donuts list. They're right up the street from uncle ed's house. Congrats on the donuts. Nice wheels too
Patrick said:Jack frost is in my top 6 greater cleveland donuts list. They're right up the street from uncle ed's house. Congrats on the donuts. Nice wheels too
No exaggeration- I consider myself a donut snob. It's like beer- you can always tell how well a donut is made with their simplest offering. Their honey glazed shook the foundation of how good a donut could be.
My tool salesman buys them every now and then for his tool truck, to give away to customers who spend money.
They're good.
Your luck at finding the right bmw deal at the right time is astounding. Settle on a name/plate yet?
I got a thank-you card from the seller, too. I can't not share it.
Awww, right in the damn feels. They were all just so damn nice...
Anyway, not sure if I should start a build thread, or just dump it all in here, but there's definitely a few things needing addressment, haha.
I've driven it for a couple days now, and yesterday got in to sopping wet rear foot-wells after a full day of rain on Sunday. Wanting to address this ASAP to prevent damaging the pristine bodywork, I did some experiments to determine the culprit. The two most common failures are clogged sunroof drains, and leaky vapor barriers in the rear doors. A few cups of water through the sunroof drains ruled all of them out, so I dug in to the doors, where I quickly found the root cause. Water is leaking between the door card and the actual door frame, and is pooling in between the gaskets and backfeeding back into the cabin. Easy fix- just re-glue the vapor barrier, clean the drains, and tidy up the window gaskets. Until I can do that on Sunday, it'll be garage and dehumidifier time. also on the list of things to do Sunday is radiator replacement and addressing the headlights being out of woefully out of alignment.
Fun times!
Great car ! Great story ! Nice to see people like that are still out there! Killer looking doughnuts!
In reply to Knurled. :
I legit teared up at my desk and had to resist ugly crying. That is a really touching note. I think it was imagining one of my daughters writing a similar note some day in the future that did me in.
And pictoral proof of the culprit. Not exatly sure where those holes go, but I have to figure that out to further solve the mystery...
Build thread.. stat. You can tell a story well. DD'ing this beast through NH winters sounds like a tale I want to hear!
bluej said:Build thread.. stat. You can tell a story well. DD'ing this beast through NH winters sounds like a tale I want to hear!
If an E39 is anything like my E38 in the snow, other than a few moments of wanting to scream "berkeleying open diff!" it should be somewhere between uneventful and fun.
Cool car, and great pickup story! Those people that you bought it from are rare; you lucked out big time!
BUILD THREAD NEOWWWWWW!!!!
I love my e39 540i/6 and my e60 545i/6
Both absolutely great cars.
FWIW, she just brought us some baklava.
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