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Thread: Who else bought a S54 Coupe New

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Who else bought a S54 Coupe New

    A bit of history. When you talk about how Coupes were ordered, S54 M Coupes did not exist, or so said my dealer. I had a strong relationship with my dealer, was driving an e46 3 series I had bought from them, and still they would not put in an order. In my dealers words, there will be no US models. This was mid 2001. When I saw a 2001 S54 at Limerock, it got a bit rough, but they went on their computer and again advised none were available for order. I then reached out to friends at Greenwich BMW, one of the largest M car dealers. They told me what I knew, cars exist, but they were only allocated 2 and both were sold internally. They confirmed they would not get anymore, but would try to find one. After 9/11 the economy was in free fall and the mood was grim. I got a call from Greenwich that in the spring there was one unsold car going to a dealer in Poughkeepsie. They could not get it, but suggested I go to the dealer. i didand I grabbed it, I then had to fight to get it as the dealer subsequently wanted a premium for it. I had a signed contract, and they sold me the car.

    Clearly 600 people managed to alsp get coupes. Curious as to stories about how you did it.
    Purchased new May 2002. Steel Grey. Custom Tubi exhaust, custom roll bar with carbon fiber panels to cover center section, cutouts in seats for 5 pt harness, koni adj shocks/struts, HR front sway bar, adj links, bronze bushings in brake calipers, TC Kline camber plates, S54 bearing upgrade, misc urethane bushings, various compound brake pads for track, extra wheels for R compound rubber , Alfa Clocks and a trunk monkey. Rally On!

  2. #2
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    Sure hope this thread gets traction. Would love to hear more stories.
    A good friend of mine bought one of these new also. He saved and ate ramen noodles for like 2 years to get it. Sadly he sold it a couple years later as he got married and had kids. It had less than 10k miles when he sold it.

  3. #3
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    The only person I knew who got one new was Stygar. I remember when he first got it, he was so happy about it!

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by ADAz3M View Post
    The only person I knew who got one new was Stygar. I remember when he first got it, he was so happy about it!
    His was a particularly early delivery too; if memory serves me correctly, his was the first S-54 Coupe delivered to a customer. Brent should be able to fill in the holes in my recollection, when he adds the fact that he too was an original owner of one.

    - - - Updated - - -

    I could go on to say that it wasn't any easier to get an answer about an S-54 Rdstr either; we went on record for ordering one in November 2000, and allocations were slim pickings. Our dealer, Yark BMW in Toledo, did some horse-trading to get an allocation for an August build from a Florida dealership. When we were finalized with the August, build, the plans were laid for a Performance Center Delivery, coinciding with our already scheduled trip to the plant for Homecoming.

    Oh come on, it's an S-54 faux Coupe!


  5. #5
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    When I picked up the coupe the rear suspension felt terrible. I drove back to dealer and asked them to check the rear suspension. They sneered and told me I was not used to an M Car. I took it to my dealer who laughed as they found other dealer forgot to take spacers out of springs. BMW ships new cars with rubber spacers in springs. Then original dealer did. The 1200 maintenance and car again feels awful.thy had put wrong fluid in differential. A few months later I came out of a store and a group of ladies were standing around Coupe looking at it. As I walked up to the car one of them walks up and says "we heard there was a new mini-cooper but this is the first one we have seen. She asked if I liked it and I just said yes and drove away. Another day at track a Z06 is parked next to me. Car is heavily prepped with stoptech brakes and A bunch of go fast stickers. He comments that my car is cute, as in a toy poodle. We were both in advanced run group and I waived as I lapped him. And even after all these years people still have no clue what it is.
    Purchased new May 2002. Steel Grey. Custom Tubi exhaust, custom roll bar with carbon fiber panels to cover center section, cutouts in seats for 5 pt harness, koni adj shocks/struts, HR front sway bar, adj links, bronze bushings in brake calipers, TC Kline camber plates, S54 bearing upgrade, misc urethane bushings, various compound brake pads for track, extra wheels for R compound rubber , Alfa Clocks and a trunk monkey. Rally On!

  6. #6
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    Wow. So true. I had the cash back then but was told they were Euro spec only. By the time it was clear the cars actually existed life had changed and the car was not in my future.

    Flash forward 13 years and I have a 3.0 coupe. If the economics work out, I am determined to own an M Coupe. Got 3 college educations to pay for first.

  7. #7
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    Picked mine up new back in 2002. My car was stolen while I was at a night club, so I needed a new car. No better time to get the car I have always wanted. Called around and found exactly what I wanted locally (Imola on Imola). Was sitting on the show room floor and when it was time to roll it out the battery was dead. Well...that's my story.
    Mike a.k.a TaSkMaStA

    I have a bellybutton!!!

  8. #8
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    Picked mine up the first week of September, 2001. "Luckily" I was living in Charlotte at the time so it was very easy to pick the car up directly from the factory in Spartanburg. That being the case I could effectively buy the car from any dealership in the country. I went down a very long list of dealers to find out who had allocations, and were willing to negotiate... it was a long process. Never even went to a dealership. Ended up paying base sticker with TT&L plus options included. Met a guy a couple of months later who bought his for $10K+ off sticker. His dealer just couldn't move it off the lot, and wanted to get rid of it.

    I love the car, but the overall initial buying and owner's experience was dismal. The BMW sales people I dealt with were generally arrogant... the people at the Performance Center were extremely rude (and I had to raise Cain to get them to fix a ding in a brand new car and some interior pieces that were obviously not assembled correctly)... axles popped out at least twice leaving me stranded in a blizzard once... diff leaked... fuel pump was busted... every time I would pick the car up from the dealership they would tell me they couldn't find the problem but put 30 miles of "testing" on it... shoddy workmanship when they did do something... all in the first year - seriously considered "lemmoning" the car. Have since bought other BMWs, but will never buy one new/used from BMW NA ever again.

    Will probably hit 100,000 miles by spring. Recently had some paint work completed, on top of tackling the weekly barrage of small maintenance items. Still have a lot planned for Stella. There's just never enough time.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Randy Forbes View Post
    His was a particularly early delivery too; if memory serves me correctly, his was the first S-54 Coupe delivered to a customer. Brent should be able to fill in the holes in my recollection, when he adds the fact that he too was an original owner of one.

    - - - Updated - - -

    I could go on to say that it wasn't any easier to get an answer about an S-54 Rdstr either; we went on record for ordering one in November 2000, and allocations were slim pickings. Our dealer, Yark BMW in Toledo, did some horse-trading to get an allocation for an August build from a Florida dealership. When we were finalized with the August, build, the plans were laid for a Performance Center Delivery, coinciding with our already scheduled trip to the plant for Homecoming.

    Oh come on, it's an S-54 faux Coupe!

    That's gorgeous!

    Yep, he got his pretty early on. Alpine on Estoril or LSB(I forget what the option was at that time). I think I was up there the first month or so he got it and he was already tinkering with it. He spent as much time showing it off to us as we spent swapping out a shifter in an e39 m5 lol

  10. #10
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    Not my story, but in 2000-2001, I was working at DeSimone BMW in Marlton, NJ as the lot boy in the evenings after high school.

    I specifically remember we got one black on black s54 M Coupe. The one and only I ever saw go through that dealership besides the 2.8 or 3.0 Imola on Baige coupe they had sitting in the showroom forever.

    The bro that picked it up was a younger guy. He was between the z06 and the M coupe. When he picked it up, I went out to put the front plate on it (which in retrospect, I wish, for his sake, I hadn't). He asked me something like, hey man, what do you think of these? I just looked at him and said something like, if I wouldn't get caught and was to steal one car on this lot, that would be it. This is the best car BMW makes and I'm very jealous. He went on about how he just wanted something unique and that vettes are a dime a dozen.

    I only ever saw that one M Coupe and the red non-M go through that dealership, so I imagine they were few and far between. EDIT: I think I left before the Imola one sold...

    It's still fun to drive onto their lot and watch the lot boys and servicemen come out to look at the coupe. Everyone on the service/parts side loves these things.
    Last edited by fmcfad01; 01-30-2014 at 08:50 AM.

  11. #11
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    My lease was almost up on my M Roadster, when I walked into the Portland BMW Dealer. They had a Steel Grey coupe on the floor without a sun roof, I asked the salesman if he could get me a Titanium Silver with a sun roof. The answer was yes and one month later I was driving my coupe. This was April of 2002.
    An Old Man's Hot Rod

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by rmbit View Post
    My lease was almost up on my M Roadster, when I walked into the Portland BMW Dealer. They had a Steel Grey coupe on the floor without a sun roof, I asked the salesman if he could get me a Titanium Silver with a sun roof. The answer was yes and one month later I was driving my coupe. This was April of 2002.
    Oh man, this hurts my heart. You turned down a sunroof delete SG coupe?!

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by JWin View Post
    Oh man, this hurts my heart. You turned down a sunroof delete SG coupe?!
    +1

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by JWin View Post
    Oh man, this hurts my heart. You turned down a sunroof delete SG coupe?!
    +1 (unless it had a tan interior)

  15. #15
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    -1. Steel Grey isn't all that great with displaying curves, and sunroofs are nice.
    '02 M Coupe, Estoril Blue on Estoril
    '02 M Coupe, -???-Who knows-???-
    ‘02 M Coupe, Alpine White on Black
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  16. #16
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    titanium silver was the alpine white of the early 2000's.



    Current:
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    95 325i Convertible/Boston Green
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  17. #17
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    In response to passing up a non sunroof car, I came from a ragtop and liked that the sunroof made the interior brighter inside and I am also a traditionalist who believes German performance cars should be silver, therefore I went for silver.
    An Old Man's Hot Rod

  18. #18
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    I bought mine new. Once I knew the S54 production was going to end soon, I decided I wanted to order a Sapphire Black on Dark Grey coupe. I heard on Roadfly that one of my local dealers had a LSB coupe which hadn't sold for a few months. I didn't really care for the color, but thought I would check it out and inquire about placing my order. When I saw the LSB coupe in person under the lights I was smitten. I traded in my E36 M3 for it that evening.
    Pani
    2001 Laguna Seca Blue M Coupe

  19. #19
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    I know I'm digging up an old thread, but I just ran across it searching for something else . . .


    Back in 2001, my wife was looking to replace her S70T5 and the Volvo dealer was right next door to the BMW lot. Initially went over to see if they had any holdover E36 M3s, and saw 3 MCoupes on the lot; black, white, and SG. This was 2 weeks after 9/11 and they were getting zero interest in any of them, and they'd sat on the lot for several weeks already. One test drive later and we drove off in the SG (sunroof delete) for $1K under MSRP and it's still in our garage.

  20. #20
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    good story

  21. #21
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    Old thread indeed. But I remember one of my local dealers having a 2001 Estoril/Black coupe on the lot for a while. I was only 14 years old, but I remember riding in that car, and boy how I wish I had it today. Also had an opportunity back in ~2008 to buy a Black/Black S54 coupe from a customer for $25k. Man...
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  22. #22
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    I didn't even have my driver's license when the Z3's were sold...

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  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by BimmerBreaker View Post
    I didn't even have my driver's license when the Z3's were sold...
    LOL! I was totally judging you then realized I was only on the cusp of having my license when they stopped production. Can't believe it's been nearly 15 years since they finished production.
    Cooper
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  24. #24
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    I bought an s52 m coupe in 99, 6 months later hurricane Irene totaled it. That sucked

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by BimmerBreaker View Post
    I didn't even have my driver's license when the Z3's were sold...
    I just have to say that your sig is the bees knees!!! What the hell is PB thinking???

    "You don't win silver....you lose gold."

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