When attempting a new project, it’s important to make sure you have access to all the parts needed to put said vehicle back together. Whether it’s due to parts becoming obsolete or parts cars becoming a thing of the past, when you take on the restoration of a limited production model, either of these factors can send a project sideways. The seller of this 1988 BMW M3 has listed the car as a freshly repainted roller here on craigslist with seemingly a cache of spare parts and optional OEM upgrades to enable you to build the homologation car of your dreams – with a price tag of $125,000.
As we all know by now, E30 M3s have become ridiculously sought after. It’s rare to see a listing stay up for more than a few days if the car in question is posted via a classifieds ad. The seller’s car is seemingly a half-finished restoration, and while the listing expresses a desire to sell the whole mess of parts and car for the listed price, they will also consider building the M3 to the buyer’s specifications. The seller is a familiar face in the vintage BMW community, so I’d feel comfortable taking that approach if the budget allowed – but there’s also enough heavy lifting done for the seasoned DIYer to take it on themselves.
The M3 has had a glass out respray in its original Zinno Red and will come with a black leather interior. The black carpets suggest this is the original color combination, but the complete removal of the interior along with the dash suggests the fresh paint job was just the beginning of the previous owner’s plans. Was this a track car that was being returned back to stock condition, or just a tired driver with a cracked dashboard that the owner figured he’d replace (along with everything else)? Whatever the plans were, the builder set about assembling an incredible assortment of OEM parts, both mechanical and cosmetic, that would make even the most die-hard E30 M3 owner salivate.
There’s not one but three varieties of the M3’s banshee-like S14 engine built out to a variety of displacements. Camshafts, starter motors, alternators, A/C compressors: the parts lot has everything and then some that you’d need to build an M3 either to factory specifications or as an OEM+ performance build. The listing is too long to do any justice here, but rest assured, it if was removed from this M3, it’s included, along with numerous upgrade parts from coilover suspensions to big brake kits to Euro-spec dogleg manual transmissions. Honestly, if you place a value on your time, the asking price is a bargain compared to tracking down all of these bits on your own. What a find for the E30 M3 fanatic.
A project car as long there is no mix-up of certain ‘original
and mis-matching’ parts bc this will be a mess to find really
matching parts because BMW changed thru production many
designs. On a M3 its even harder. Mix’n’match doesnt
work as also a rustoration on this cars. Or was anything
of it brought to European restoration standard? Means:
engine rebuilt (but not necessary this are not the Mercedes
2.3-16) gearbox checked, rust repaired (not only over-
painted) interior and glass refurbished?
Unseen i give it 15’000$ European restored models
or such restored in the factory hit 55-60’000€ Track
models excluded.
M3 Hobby Kit for the retail price of the parts individually.
Translation: I started this project then my wife found out how much I was spending on this $10,000 dollar car so if I want to stay married and not loose everything in a divorce I must sell it and get my money back
When i was 16 a 19 year old drug dealer had one…me and him got along because i knew what the car was when he first bought it.
Had this in Gold and a black 733 with a burgundy interior…funny how i can remember cars from a lil boy but cant remember where i put my keys half of the time
If he wants the price tag he’s put on this he should finish the car before selling it. You can buy a lot of nice completed cars for less than the asking price on this “parts” car. He either needs to set a more realistic price on this pile of parts, or else finish what he started.