FS: 89 M3, Black/Grey, 79xxx miles, $12.9K in TX –
For Sale as I have been having some health problems and that has prevented me from working on the car as much as I'd like.
1989 BMW M3
Diamondschartz (Metallic Black) with Grey Interior
79,xxx original miles
$12.9K FIRM (no, I won't take $12K, I'll just keep it)
Good title
Located near Austin TX
More pics will be taken this weekend (weather permitting)
Email delliott00(at)excite.com for pics and any questions
Engine is mostly stock, suspension has been upgraded with high quality components.
History: Car was purchased by a US serviceman in Spain (car is a US VIN) and shipped over to Florida when his tour was up. He only drove it while on leave and the car had 25K miles on it in 1995 when it was sold to a BMW enthusiast in Alabama. He upgraded a few things, gave the car a show quality paint job, and added a bunch of stereo/electronics and the car was entered into a bunch of car shows. This guy had a severe motorcycle accident so his family sold the car to a dentist in Orlando in 2001 with 60K miles. This person decided to sell after having a baby. I had the car inspected in FL by Stasshuus Automotove (Recommended to me by the BMW Club there) and purchased the car in March 2002 with 67K miles on it and drove it from Orlando to TX non-stop. Car has never been tracked AFAIK.
What I have done to the car: The car was mechanically in good shape, and the exterior was in superb shape, but the leather interior was severly sunfaded and cracked -- too much Florida sun. I tossed out the original seats after finding a decent set on ebay. I proceeded to refurbish them with the Colorplus.com system and they are now in excellent condition.
Mechanically I took the car to Terry Sayther (a very well respected E30 M3 shop) and we gave it a thorough inspection. The car ran great, but was due for a tuneup (valve adjustment, CO set, idle set, throttle body sync). I also wanted to replace any worn bushings and equip the car with a very aggressive street suspension. It drives very nice, but the suspension is quite stiff and may not be for everyone. I could switch back to stock swaybars and make the car more compliant. Also, because it has all the driveline bushings replaced with urethane and all Redline fluids, you do hear some driveline noise. Sounds like a racecar, though, and to me that’s fine.
Here is what I ended up doing to the car:
Mods:
Turner Motorsport Chip (Conforti) - From 2nd owner
OEM EVO Exhaust Cam Gear - From 2nd owner
OEM EVO Motorsports Airbox - From 2nd owner
16x8" SSR Integral Forged Lightweight Wheels (14lbs each)
225/45/16 Kumho Ecsta 712s
Blaupunkt Madison CD (looks OEM, perfect match for E30 interiors)
Aluminum/Lemforder Control Arms with Delrin Offset Bushings
Zimmerman Cross Drilled Rotors (front)
Hawk HPS Brake Pads
Z3 Short Shifter
H&R Springs with Bilstein Sport Shocks
Ireland Engineering Sway Bar set
Ireland Engineering Adjustable Front Camber Plates
Recent Maintenance (All performed by Terry Sayther Automotive) http://www.terrysaytherauto.com
- Valve adjustment
- New intake gaskets
- Throttle body sync, CO adjustament & idle adjustment
- Full Tuneup
- New intake plenum to airbox hose
- New control arms and delrin bushings
- New tie rods
- New shifter and linkages
- New differential mounts
- New Springs & Shocks
- New Sway bars, bushings, and welded reinforcements
- Alignment
- All new synthetic fluids throughout
- New rear shock tower mounts
The previous owner (Dentist from Orlando) had replaced the muffler (OEM), front wheel bearings, and rear brakes.
You can read all about the "Life Changing Suspension Upgrade" at Terry's website:
http://www.terrysaytherauto.com/DaveElliot.htm
Mechanical Condition: Car is very solid and runs well. Starts everytime. Compression was tested at around 225 for all 4 cylinders (that is extremely good), this is on the receipt from Terry Sayther Auto. The car does have a very minor oil leak, about 1 drip every week or two. Terry told me its not worth worrying about since the engine runs so well. It also has a bit of a shifter wobble. The Z3M short shifter helped a lot but did not completely cure that issue. At low RPMs in high gears, if you floor it, you'll see the shifter wobble a bit and a vibration in the drivetrain. New bushings would probably cure that. Also, the headlights were upgraded to 85w bulbs by the prior owner and are wired direct, so when you turn on the headlights the Check Control button needs to be pressed. The washer pump quit working also, and I haven't had time to investigate. The A/C has been converted to R134a by the prior owner but has a leak somewhere. It works, though, and its easy to recharge (I had to do it once in spring and once in mid-summer, for about $6 a bottle) but it should be fixed for environmental reasons.
Physical condition: The paint is, for the most part, absolutely beautiful. There are some normal nicks in the bumper and hood, but nothing major. There are no door dings at all. All VIN numbers are intact (hood, doors, doorjams, trunk) and I've been told the front fenders are factory EVO fenders. The rear wing has a few hairline cracks in it, including one that runs from the front to back of the wing. They are not real noticeable unless you get right up on it. There is also a bubbling spot on the sunroof, this has not grown in 2 yrs, so I don't think its rust. There is NO rust around the windshield at all. I siliconed underneath the seal as soon as I got the car. No rust anywhere else either. There is a small dime sized paint chip on the rear bumper that I've touched up. There are a few rock chips, all very minor, on the rest of the car. The tool kit is complete as far as I know. Jack, towhook, and centercap wrench all there. Factory spare alloy that looks unused, but has marginal (but still ok for a spare) tread on it. The foglight lenses are cracked, but I was going to go with brake ducts so I left them alone.
The interior of the car has been pretty much restored. I purchased a set of good grey seats, and redyed them using ColorPlus. They turned out very good, but there is still a bit of wear visible on the drivers bolster where I had to fill in a crack. The passenger and rear seats look excellent. The rest of the interior is in very good shape also. The only thing I have left to do is replace the trip computer button light. There are 4 small holes in the center console where the prior owner had installed a phone mount, but I have covered them up and they aren't a big deal (to me, at least).
Last fall I entered the car in the BMWCCA Tejas Chapter Clean Car Concours at Garlyn Shelton BMW in Temple. Our car was one of the 3 winners and we were told by the judges that it was the obvious "Best in Show". Note, this judging did not include engine bay -- our engine bay is clean but not concours (although it could be with some work). Here is a link showing the car and the win:
http://www.tejaschapter.org/concours03b.html
….We were excited to win a really nice Crystal Decanter set and 4 glasses, engraved with "BMWCCA Garlyn Shelton BMW: Clean Car Concours Winner". The car also placed 4th in the German Car Concours in Sept 2002, which had a ton of antique Mercedes. No trophy though :-(
Here is what I have spent on the car so far (have all receipts):
Terry Sayther Auto (maint and suspension) ~$4000 (mostly parts)
SSR Integrals and tires from Tirerack: $1400
Bimmerworld (brakes, lines, etc) $200
Seats $430 off ebay, and colorplus restoration kit $125
Misc Interior items (which had holes in them from the 2nd owners audio/phone/radar install) $100
Blaupunkt CD $75 on ebay
M sport shift knob and leather boot ($75)
New front grille and M3 badge ($150)
New fuel filler gasket and cap ($40)
New Autozone 5yr battery ($80) and used rebuilt alternator ($100)
Items that are included but not yet installed:
- Turner Motorsports Oil Pan Baffle ($60)
- E36 M3 Timing Chain Tensioner ($90)
- O2 Sensor ($90)
- Gangemi Evo3 front splitter ($100)
- Bimmerworld Stainless Steel Brake Lines ($100)
- Spare belts / hoses / etc.
Extras that come with the car:
- A complete set of factory E30 repair manuals (2 HUGE 3 ring binders)
- Service reset tool
- BavAuto car cover (not used, since I have a garage)
- Complete set of Grassroots Motorsports E30 M3 project car issues
- Tons of other magazines with E30 M3's featured
- Original manuals and service booklets showing car was delivered in Spain. M3 owners manual supplement.
