My M3 cross country journey... 2500 miles in 3 days

**speederx7** · 02-08-2009, 08:57 PM

Long story, short, i bought a 1995 M3 off of ebay in california. Lots of miles, but the price was right. Thankfully my bro lived about 3 hours away from the car and was nice enough to pick it up (and give the car an inspection) before handing over the cash.

I looked into having the car shipped to WI, but for the same money, my wife and I could fly out (gotta love southwest's cheap 1 way tickets!) and make a mini-trip out of it, and drive some of the neatest parts of God's creation.

Here's some brief pics of my journey:

Here's the car at my bro's house in CA:

Here's the car at the Hoover Dam:

Here's the M3 at the grand canyon:

Here's the M3 in monument valley at sunrise:

Here's it at Vail pass off of I-70. (note: summer tires on 18" wheels dont do well in snow! hehe). I was on the way to denver, where i met Borkish (another member on this board) who had some wheels/snows for sale. He didnt want to ship them, so i was able to work out picking them up!

I didnt bother taking pics of anything east of denver (because it all looks the same!)

Here is the final pic of the M3 resting in my driveway. 2500 miles in 3 days with 1 blowout, 1 traffic stop (which resulted in a warning for speeding), and about 110 gallons of gas.

**ianscrawford** · 02-08-2009, 08:59 PM

Awesome!

**ESMcBlurM3** · 02-08-2009, 09:18 PM

Looks great! I've had my car all up and down the east coast...and these babies are meant for it.

But - get some protection for her asap..looks like she's missing an underpanel. I'd recommend motionmotorsport.net

**speederx7** · 02-08-2009, 09:21 PM

which underpanel?????

**ESMcBlurM3** · 02-08-2009, 09:33 PM

Originally Posted by speederx7

which underpanel?????

http://motionmotorsport.net/products...9e99f4fd5f7e3b

**96m3SC** · 02-08-2009, 11:54 PM

what a trip. glad u enjoyed it!!!!

**racer m** · 02-09-2009, 12:09 AM

nice pick up and nice pics.

**MauiM3Mania** · 02-09-2009, 12:24 AM

Great story! Enjoy that car.

**bmwpowere36m3** · 02-09-2009, 12:32 AM

Looks like MOM came for the ride

**MauiM3Mania** · 02-09-2009, 01:26 AM

So, what was the selling price and how many miles on the car?

**tEckniks** · 02-09-2009, 01:28 AM

ive always wanted to go on a really long road trip with my car. that trip sounded like fun

**RyanMurphy1** · 02-09-2009, 03:06 AM

in one of your pics you can see that the car doesn't have it's brake ducts, or under-panel. BavaraianAutosport has all that stuff if you want it.

**dizzythree** · 02-09-2009, 03:13 AM

Originally Posted by RyanMurphy1

in one of your pics you can see that the car doesn't have it's brake ducts, or under-panel. BavaraianAutosport has all that stuff if you want it.

Motion motorsports under panel *is* better...

But you're correct on the brake ducting although pelican or tischer will probably have it cheaper...

**speederx7** · 02-09-2009, 06:17 AM

i bought the car with about 175k miles and for cheap... $3300. it was a no reserve auction that ended at a bad (or good, in my case) time (in the middle of the day) so it didnt get much action

**RabidChimp** · 02-09-2009, 11:02 AM

Great pics, enjoy the car

**nepenthean** · 02-09-2009, 11:39 AM

how many high speed rock chips did you acquire on your cosmic hood?

**mipktb** · 02-09-2009, 01:30 PM

Nice!

Love when people go pick up their cars and actually drive them back...it's a great experience.

**m3luckyoo** · 02-09-2009, 01:40 PM

how much $ did you spend on that bad boy? You got major maintenance planned?

**speederx7** · 02-09-2009, 08:08 PM

no major maintenance planned. The cooling system appears to have been replaced. I have little things to fix (as outlined by others above). I also have to figure out why my windshield washer isnt working, power mirrors arent working, and driver's outer door handle needs a new plastic insert.

i plan to drive the car as my daily driver... 300k miles is the goal! i have 268K on my 1989 supercharged MR2...

**Eddie916** · 02-09-2009, 08:12 PM

Holy shit. 3300?
Great deal. If you made 2500 miles, I'm sure there are no major ($$$$$) problems.

**ModBargains** · 02-09-2009, 08:47 PM

Nice pictures, looks fun

**speederx7** · 02-09-2009, 10:07 PM

Originally Posted by Eddie916

3300?
. If you made 2500 miles, I'm sure there are no major ($$$$$) problems.

technically, it was $3275.01

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250350477394

after i got done with the paperwork, "dealer documentation fees" and paying CA taxes, it was 3750. (for the record, CA has weird rules for sales tax and titleing cars, i had to pay 8% tax and will be getting CA title in my name, even though i live in WI. I guess that is how they ensure they get their sales tax and extra title transfer fees)

note to wouldbe ebay car sellers: Dont have your no reserve auction end at 10AM on a weekday (if you want your auction bid up)!

edit: the link doesnt appear to work anymore

here is a screenshot of the auction