Hail wiped us out on May 30th 2024.  

 

My wifes minivan which to that point was "good enough" just looked like hammered crap, as did my beloved stick shift 2001 Honda Civic beater.

 

I couldn't bring myself to buy a generic blobby looking SUV but we as a family needed one reliable year long, good in the snow vehicle.  I've always liked the Ford Flex.  It's a bit different.  Range Roveresque on might say, so I bought the lowest mileage one I could find from Carmax.  2019 with 29k miles.  Great vehicle, and come summer I'll likely go with a better wheel combo and wrap the roof black.

 

Unfortunately, overnight my beater Honda Civic just wasn't working for me anymore.  While it was still a little magic squirrel on crack to drive I was just over it.

 

What next?  Something fun.  Something to throw around.  

 

The original shortlist:

• early 2000s Altima Coupe (safari it!)
• Nissan 350Z
• Miata NC
• Miata Nd
• BRZ
• .. the usual suspects that 20 year old boys also have on their shortlist.

There was just something about these cars though.  When I pull up to them and see a guy in his 50s (like me) in them I do a double take.  I came very close to buying an NC Miata with the retractable hardtop but someone had done a bad coil-over job on it.  Contrary to popular belief, there is simply NOT an unlimited supply of stick shift fun cars waiting to be bought.  Miata prices are on the up, and the retractable hardtop versions are almost unobtainable.  And so many automatic transmission Miatas??  Why does that even exist???

 

I started looking at the standard Miata - then was chatting with AI one day and it said, "How about a BMW Z3 or Z4?"

 

I thought that was a terrible ideal.  BMW unreliability was top of mind.  I had an 80s 320 when lived in Belgium and between petrol consumption and the $800 / visit repair bills.. enough said.

 

But I started to learn absolutely everything there is to know about these cars.  I was astonished at the pricing.  A reasonable choice of cars out there cheaper than a 20 year old Miata. This makes no sense.  I watched every youtube video there is on them, and what to look out for and at the end of the day, I realized that there's nothing about the 6 cylinder Z3 that scares me in terms of failure points and maintenance.

 

The hunt began.  A used car lot literally just round the corner had (still has a time of writing) a 2.8 that I took a spin in.  At 140k miles it was exactly what you expect of an old BMW.  Leaking camshaft cover,  oil dripping on the exhaust manifold.. that BMW smell for sure.. but it felt GREAT to drive.  It was a no for sure.  I trolled FB MarketPlace for a couple of weeks and the first thing I realized was that nothing was selling.  November isn't the best time to sell a convertible.  I had a pretty specific requirements list:

 

• no tan interiors or soft tops
• not black
• hardtop desired
• low mileage
• not modified or gently modified

 

I kept waiting for this perfect spec car to come up in Denver, but it just didn't.  There was one that looked decent, but when I ran the VIN it had a 12 owner history. What?  

 

One car stood out though, a nice little silver 2.8 with hardtop, but 2.5 hours drive south.  Eventually it called my name and on a sunny day in November my wife and I headed south to have a look.

 

• 47k miles
• 3 owners
• Most recent owner has put 12k miles on in the last 15 years
• No accident reports
• Non smoker
• Nice options (16" wheels, LSD, hard top, crashbars and more)
• $10k

 

It test drove fine.  No smells (apart from that old BMW smell).  Shifting was not perfect - is not perfect - but the condition. Wow.  There's a moment when you realize a car is the right car because it doesn't matter what needs to be fixed - it's still the right car, and I got to that point very quickly.

 

3 hours later, and here's the first pic I have of her in my own driveway.

I awoke the next day to a balmy warm Colorado sunny day to assess what I really owned and what work needed to be done.

 

Firstly, the condition was astonishing.  The only noticeable damage, some parking curb rash on the lower front lip. That's pretty much it.  I removed the previous owners sheepskin seat covers to find immaculate front seats.  I mean perfect.  Carpet pretty much perfect.  Dash and door cards. Perfect.  Just nutty.  

I pulled the hard top to find the original BMW felt rear window cover protection an immaculate soft top.  I have done well here.

 

No engine leaks. No strange smells - but also no updates over the years that I can tell so some work to do there.

 

Did I find issues?  Sure.  Nothing of great concern or even surprise based on my research.  I'll blog them in more detail in the future, but to summarize:

• Passenger seat bushings worn out (so normal)
• Passenger seat belt retainer broken (so normal)
• Passenger seat electric adjustments not working
• Gear change a bit notchy

I don't for a second believe this is all I'm going to have to deal with.  I have a BMW with original plastic components and rubber hoses.  It's been babied for a long time and I'm about to drive the snot out of it.  

 

I'll be keeping track with all spending and updates in a spreadsheet if you want to follow along.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CI2_kNYvikLYrZEjC_QxUgIC8xdPTadqL4wNpO5qaNg/edit?usp=sharing