Guess who's back?

[BlueCrabMafia]

What's up boys and girls!

It's been 2 years since I logged in to the forum, but I'm back and with an E38 that will look familiar. Some of you will remember my Imola Sport that was totaled. I sold that car to the body shop it was taken to and got into an F30 328i Sport for awhile. Driving the F30 was nice, but I started to miss a V8 badly. My work has FCA affiliate pricing and last year I traded the F30 in on a 2018 Dodge Charger Daytona. It's completely ridiculous in every way and the polar opposite of a BMW. I love the damn thing more than I should.

Fast forward to this week and I get a text from the guy I sold the Imola to. He fixed it, drove it for awhile and now is selling it. So what the hell, I bought it back for $2750. The Daytona is going under the knife this summer to add a Whipple supercharger, so the E38 will pull daily driver/winter duty now. The Imola needs some work to put it back to when I owned it, but other than that I won't be doing much to it.

The Daytona:
pic 1.jpg
pic 2.jpg

The F30 when I traded it in:
pic 3.jpg

Current state of the Imola:
IMG_7375.jpg

Back when I had it:
E38 Imola.jpg

[purplecty]

Welcome back! For the price you paid and knowing who fixed that damage you had I'd say that is a win win! Once you add your touches back it will look even better but still looks great... I know you will add the black mouldings back hopefully?

[Trasportador]

I SPECIFICALLY recall stating you'd be back BCM.... Welcome back to the fold(at a time when I myself am plotting my exit)

[BlueCrabMafia]

Welcome back! For the price you paid and knowing who fixed that damage you had I'd say that is a win win! Once you add your touches back it will look even better but still looks great... I know you will add the black mouldings back hopefully?

I have actually broken even on this car funny enough, it was almost like getting it for free....lol! The body color molding doesn't actually look that bad in person, but I will be switching it back to black.

I SPECIFICALLY recall stating you'd be back BCM.... Welcome back to the fold(at a time when I myself am plotting my exit)

Do you ever really leave? I wasn't even looking for a BMW again for a DD. I wanted a 2 door, short bed full size Chevy or Dodge truck which is still the plan. My stepson will probably be getting the E38 when he gets his license even though he doesn't know it yet.

In the meantime I'm just here to ruffle some feathers again

[haynes740]

Welcome back car still looks fantastic. Someone at my job has a daytona very similar and it’s a beast.


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[RVAE34]

Ha! I knew before the thread was posted! Welcome back!!

[Chris V]

Nice! Welcome back! We can never leave, even when we don't have E38s at the moment...

[franco90]

BLUE you my Boy welcome BACK

[BlueCrabMafia]

Welcome back car still looks fantastic. Someone at my job has a daytona very similar and it’s a beast.

I love, LOVE my Daytona. The UConnect is hands down the best infotainment system I've ever used. The car is just unapologetically in your face in every way. I'm waiting to see if they launch the widebody Charger in 2020 and if they do, I'll trade mine in on that.

BLUE you my Boy welcome BACK

LMAO!

[RSharma]

As rare and good looking as Imola is, I think I like the Biarritz E38 you had previously even more. The repaint in that color with the MK wheels was a killer combo. Though I'm sure those wheels would look just as good on the Imola as well.


The rear diffuser/dual tips on that Charger are aggressive.

[clarkitect]

Ha! I knew before the thread was posted! Welcome back!!

Listen to you lol. Who thinks a dang Datsun will replace an E38!

- - - Updated - - -

Oh welcome back BCM!

[RVAE34]

I knew because he text me first

[racer2086]

BCM! Welcome back! Get some black moldings back on that thing! Not a bad deal...I just spent more than that for a transmission rebuild...

[shanecarmaster1]

Great to see you back! Things have slowed down a LOT around here in the past couple of years, so you didn't miss much.

I'm so jealous still of that Imola, which is salt in the wound of my timing chain guides having just snapped on mine...

[purplecty]

Great to see you back! Things have slowed down a LOT around here in the past couple of years, so you didn't miss much.

I'm so jealous still of that Imola, which is salt in the wound of my timing chain guides having just snapped on mine...

You going to fix them?

[BlueCrabMafia]

Picked up the car after work last night.

1.jpg

The guy I sold it to/bought it back from did not love it all. Interior is not what it was before.....dirty, cracked wood, leather looks tired, things like the memory seat button don't work (how does that even break?). Exterior is meh....dent on hood, rock chips, swirl marks. Needs some mechanical work to....ABS trifecta, brake job, coolant leaking.

All in all nothing major, but a shadow of it's former glory. I'm going to fix all the things wrong with it and clean it up as best as possible, then turn it over to my Step-son in a few months when he gets his license. He'll be pimping his Sophomore year.

What really surprised me was I was all excited to get it back, but on the drive home the excitement vanished. After driving an tuned F30 with mild bolt on's for 2 years and now a 345 Hemi Charger for a year, I can honestly say I've fallen out of love with the E38. It's a timeless design that still holds up well after 20+ years, but the wow factor isn't there anymore for me. When I was looking for a replacement for the F30, I even looked at F01/02's and those didn't even tickle anything for me. The new 7 series are ugly as sin to. If I had to get back into another BMW for a daily, it would probably be a F06 640i Gran Coupe.

This will be a good started car for my kid, but I'm already looking forward to the 2020 Widebody Charger. Tell me it's domestic trash all day long, but until you drive one and see what the smiles per gallon factor is you won't know what you're missing.

Now off to FCP Euro's site to order some parts.

[740il97g]

Welcome back blue. I had short run my f10 550 which ended up trapped in flood water. Now I'm back in a 750il.


anonymous pictures website

[HDIDDY]

Hey brother, lemmie know if your looking for any specific parts. The junkyards down here in VA have a pretty consistent stock of E38's with actual useful parts. I should be back up in Cleveland in Aug and can hand deliver parts to you.

[BlueCrabMafia]

Hey brother, lemmie know if your looking for any specific parts. The junkyards down here in VA have a pretty consistent stock of E38's with actual useful parts. I should be back up in Cleveland in Aug and can hand deliver parts to you.

I will do that. I need some parts, but will compile a list and let you know.