I am a slave to RWD German cars and I don't know why. Maybe it's my ancestry, maybe it's because I grew up around them in my formative teen years. My father was an automotive engineer and traveled abroad a lot. He spent a lot of time working with BMW as a supplier and always brought home really cool BWM racing posters I had adorned on my bedroom walls. I wish I still had them. He owned a couple, one of which he passed along to me when I was a more experienced driver. He also owned an '88 M5 that he and I drove to CA and back.

I tried to fill that void many years afterward with a '95 e36m3. Intoxicating engine, gorgeous body, poor interior and many electrical gremlins:


I sold it in '10 to help seed my consultancy. It did and I am glad it went to a good home.

I had another, lesser model e30 many years ago that needed a lot of work. I drove it to and from college while I was still in Detroit. It could never be what I wanted because I was too poor, too busy and lived in the Rust Belt. I had put almost 100k on that e30 before I sold at 250k and it still ran like a champ. After thinking about what I paid for the M3 and what I put into it, I knew I would have enjoyed a cleaner, well-kept e30 more. And so it goes...

So, I have been planning to buy this car from a good friend for almost a year. It is an '88 325is. I know him to be like me about his vehicles; particular and demanding. Fussy. He didn't have to talk me up about the car, I pursued him about it for many months. I knew he was looking for another car (e28) and the pursuit heightened when he finally found and bought one to his liking. I helped him to look for an NA Miata after he drove mine I had sold to a mutual friend. I offered planning and build advice for his intent.

Finally, the stars aligned and I was able to divert on return from a business trip to ATL to pick it up and drive it home. It is a well documented, no rust Southern car. All the desirable, preferred upgrades have already been done: welded in swaybar reinforcements, P/U bushings, electrical fan conversion, metal radiator, exhaust, Z3 shifter, Bilstein shock, H&R springs, 15" BBS euro-weaves, sticky tires. All the peripherals work as they should, A/C, PS (rebuilt), rebuilt PS rack, PW, PL (well, the PL don't work, but that's not uncommon. ) I drove it home on my wife's birthday. She has been very understanding of this disease I have for these cars.



She ain't perfect, but she's mine!

Since I knew I was buying it, I has been collecting parts for the last 6-8 months. I bought a set of plastic bumpers to replace the metal ones, a set of cleaner seats to replace the worn, haggard seats. Good friends of mine 2 hours away have been storing them in their garage for the last 2 months, because the seller was local to them and I asked them to pick them up for me. It good to have a nice network of friends across the country.

Mechanically, the car is very sound. 182k on it, new TB/WP etc. done the wek before I picked it up. A huge pile of documents and a box of new parts for odds and ends. My friend didn't have a garage and lives on a shaded street, so moisture, heat and sun exposure had crept onto the finish. No big deal for me. My first order of business was to swap out the seats and start to detail it. There is no better way to take stock of the condition of any car than to pour over it while detailing it. And so I did...

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8-10 hours over the last 2 days, the color is corrected and the crevices cleaned. I left the front valence alone because I am going to recondition it very soon with fresh paint.