Bought a salvage M Roadie yesterday

[Mr Bingley]

Well, I bought a salvage M Roadie yesterday; a 99' (S52) with 65,000 on the clock. It's from Long Island and was totaled because a tree fell on it--but it is very repairable, Runs and drives (I drove it from my friend's salvage yard to my other friends shop). I won't have pics for a couple of days. Silver with black interior. I'm already looking for a deck lid and rear fenders for it (I have a section of rear clip and a top which is what else it needs). Anyone know whose car this was? BTW, paid $3,405.00 for it, and that price includes the shipping from NY to Ohio. It is a complete and untouched (no mods) original. I'm stoked to have this for a winter project. I'll post picks this weekend.

[z3papa]

Nice score. If I weren't downsizing homes next spring, I'd buy a salvage S52 coupe and start swapping parts over and return my 3.0 to stock for the wife.

[Kyle Anderson]

Sounds like it'll work out to be a good deal in the end.

[mseriesbmw]

I have the rear body parts (trunk, rear fenders) if you haven't found any yet. PM your email address and I'll send pictures.

[Z-Thrizzle]

I know HubJeep (John) has a silver MZ3 out on Long Island...

[amancuso]

Pics pls@ let's see how bad the damage was.

[BimmerBreaker]

Would also love to see pics, seems promising! What a steal

[Mr Bingley]

Spent the evening after work cleaning it up and removing damaged parts. The interior came back really well--treated the seats and other leather, and vacuumed out a lot of glass, wood chips and bark. I had to split the deck lid like an oyster with an air chisel to get the wiring harness out of it. I'll get pics over the weekend.

[themadhatter]

pics pics pics! Let us see your new project!

[oldhamalan]

yeah can't wait!

[Mr Bingley]

Finally took some pictures yesterday (remember a tree fell on it):

[Bergen Bimmer]

The only repair that would scare me I think is the lip of the rag top. I have never looked on mine but if its bent and spot welded it could be hard to get straight again. Your rag top bolts in behind there. I would look into that first, get through that and the rest looks like it could be an easy remove and replace. Best of luck to you, nothing like that satisfaction of diy.

[RickySixx6]

After seeing those photos I would recommend you prioritize the areas you need that car to be fixed and make sure you keep to a budget of around 5k or so.

That is if you would rather not dump more money into the car than it's worth.

[wildvan]

have you gotten under it and see if there is any suspension / frame problems? Looks like alot of weight to do that kind of damage.

[Mr Bingley]

I have lined up the rear deck lid, rear fenders, assorted plastic bits, a roll bar, deck lid hinges and struts from a fellow member for a very good price. I have a complete non-M z3 hit in the front at my disposal with a good top. I plan on cutting out the rear sections for the top tub and surround, and welding in the replacements from the donor z3. I may have to section in the shock tower on the passenger's side--don't know yet. Passenger's rear wheel is tilted in a few degrees at the top, so something will have to be addressed there.

I say "I" will do this, but the truth is I have a very good friend who owns a top notch collision repair shop who will be doing all the frame and body work. I will do all mechanical and coach work.

The donor z3 is in another good friend's import salvage yard down the street. We'll bring the donor to the shop and dismantle it there and send back what we don't use.

Cost will come in at less than 5K including the car. That being said, I am giving the car to my body shop friend--I already have one--and he deserves one too. So, cost to me is the whole car, but I get the pleasure and satisfaction of saving one, and the fun of fixing it

[RickySixx6]

In that case: a beer for you! well done.

I have lined up the rear deck lid, rear fenders, assorted plastic bits, a roll bar, deck lid hinges and struts from a fellow member for a very good price. I have a complete non-M z3 hit in the front at my disposal with a good top. I plan on cutting out the rear sections for the top tub and surround, and welding in the replacements from the donor z3. I may have to section in the shock tower on the passenger's side--don't know yet. Passenger's rear wheel is tilted in a few degrees at the top, so something will have to be addressed there.

I say "I" will do this, but the truth is I have a very good friend who owns a top notch collision repair shop who will be doing all the frame and body work. I will do all mechanical and coach work.

The donor z3 is in another good friend's import salvage yard down the street. We'll bring the donor to the shop and dismantle it there and send back what we don't use.

Cost will come in at less than 5K including the car. That being said, I am giving the car to my body shop friend--I already have one--and he deserves one too. So, cost to me is the whole car, but I get the pleasure and satisfaction of saving one, and the fun of fixing it

[Z3racer701]

I have lined up the rear deck lid, rear fenders, assorted plastic bits, a roll bar, deck lid hinges and struts from a fellow member for a very good price. I have a complete non-M z3 hit in the front at my disposal with a good top. I plan on cutting out the rear sections for the top tub and surround, and welding in the replacements from the donor z3. I may have to section in the shock tower on the passenger's side--don't know yet. Passenger's rear wheel is tilted in a few degrees at the top, so something will have to be addressed there.

I say "I" will do this, but the truth is I have a very good friend who owns a top notch collision repair shop who will be doing all the frame and body work. I will do all mechanical and coach work.

The donor z3 is in another good friend's import salvage yard down the street. We'll bring the donor to the shop and dismantle it there and send back what we don't use.

Cost will come in at less than 5K including the car. That being said, I am giving the car to my body shop friend--I already have one--and he deserves one too. So, cost to me is the whole car, but I get the pleasure and satisfaction of saving one, and the fun of fixing it

If the hit from the tree were hard enough, the trailing arm is probably bent, that's why the wheel would be tilted in. Bad news is that you can't use the Z3 arms on an M, you're going to need to source a pair of M trailing arms.

[Mr Bingley]

You're probably right. I have new urethane bushings and the puller, so I'm half way there. I plan on dropping the sub frame in any event, so at least I'll have it on the bench for that. Anyone have a set of passenger's M tailing arms they are willing to part with?

[THADREAMIN]

Shrug... I wanted to see the damage done initially, but that looks pretty scary... not beyond repair and price is right though. So good luck and can't wait to see the final/redone pics!

[Racer MXM]

imagine...5k and you will have all the joy (women not included in this comparison) in the world a man needs...thats crazy. Good on you!!! imagine, 5k usually gets you what these days in the car market....NADA (and I don't mean that silly black book of car values)

[cngizbleevng]

If the hit from the tree were hard enough, the trailing arm is probably bent, that's why the wheel would be tilted in. Bad news is that you can't use the Z3 arms on an M, you're going to need to source a pair of M trailing arms.

That's right. I know from personal experience.

[htroberts]

Sounds like it'll work out to be a good deal in the end.

Is this a factory color (the purple in Kyle's post)? I've seen a local roadster in it, so I assume so... What's the name?

[Kyle Anderson]

Is this a factory color (the purple in Kyle's post)? I've seen a local roadster in it, so I assume so... What's the name?

It is. The name is Violet. It's an uncommon color because, well, not many people wanted a purple roadster.

[BimmerBreaker]

It is. The name is Violet. It's an uncommon color because, well, not many people wanted a purple roadster.

Thats because not many people are ballers with awesome taste

[janikphoto]

Wow! If it will be a DD, you got a steal of a deal. The salvage title will keep it from being a collector, but heck... this kind of forces you to actually use the car to its fullest potential!