1988 BMW M3

Re-listed (eBay cancelled my prior listing 12/9 due to my error in the listing)17” BBS RX wheels with new Yokohama ADVAN tires 215-40-17 (original wheels not available)Owned by Ron I. BMW mechanic/shop (Coast Motor Werk) owner for the last 12 years. Always kept inside and covered. I purchased the vehicle in AZ in 2009 and slowly restored to “near original" over the years here in CA. I was not in a rush as I could work on it when I had time in between customer jobs. I ordered every part I could get my hands on years ago; many of those parts are now no longer available (NLA). Covid allowed me to spend much more time on it recently, and now it's finally finished. Some time during the past 12 years the odometer gears finally gave up (now replaced) however I only put maybe 50 miles on it.  Exterior:When I received the car,it was a little rough around the edges. It sustained a small dent on the hood while in my shop (grrr). After getting the car 100% mechanically sound and the interior perfect, I sent it to the paint shop with both bumpers and rockers removed and had any repairs made and new paint on the hood, right fender, right quarter panel, front and rear bumper covers and rockers, small cracks repaired and repainted. The mirrors and rear wing were also repainted. I put many new items on it including emblems, front turn lights, fog lights, side and taillights, and horns. It then received a complete paint correction and detail, and this is how it looks today. I washed the undercarriage and verified there is no rust.  Interior:Newly rebuilt and reupholstered front seats, including seat struts. I installed new BMW carpet, floor mats, new shifter and boot, brake boot, steering wheel, consoles (original had holes for a phone install), front & rear ash trays, odometer gears, instrument bulbs, SI (service inspection) board, window switches, door seals, outer felts, rear window seals, sunroof seal, door brakes, and new complete lock set with new keys. I also installed new window tint, rebuilt window regulators, locks and latches. I removed the aftermarket radio and alarm and restored the original cassette but had RadioMan tune it up with updated tuner, lights and added an AUX input in order to listen to music from my phone. There are no cracks on the dash, no tears in the original headliner, and the rear seats are in very good condition.Engine:Recent inspection 2 service with new spark plugs, Ignition cap, rotor & wires, air and fuel filters, valve adjustment performed, belts and hoses, thermostat, radiator, fan clutch, breather hoses and boots. The throttle blocks replaced, injectors were cleaned and flow tested, all new fuel hoses installed. While doing the repairs, I had the valve cover and plenum black wrinkle finish redone. Alternator and starter are rebuilt, and the oil pan gasket and motor mounts replaced.  Mechanical other:The a/c compressor, dryer and expansion valve are new; the system is now R134a and blows very cold. The trans and diff fluids have been serviced. The brakes are A/M cross drilled but work well and don't squeak. The brake hoses are new braided, the  brake, power steering fluids flushed, thermostat replaced and coolant flushed. The muffler is A/M but looks good and sounds nice. Suspension:I replaced front struts & rear shocks (Boge), mounts and bump stops, spring pads, and differential mount. The wire shielding tends to deteriorate on the ABS wheel speed sensors and the brake pad sensor harness, so I replaced all of them. The steering rack is a ZF remanufactured, and the vehicle was aligned. The sway bars are A/M, larger with poly bushings, the rear control arms have been properly reinforced for larger sway bar, and the springs are H&R 1” lower.   The good:There were only 181 M3s produced with Henna Red exterior (only available in 1987-88) and black interior! It looks and drives fantastic! I have invested many thousands into the car and carefully restored it to as close to original condition as possible. The non original parts a nice improvements in driving characteristics. The vehicle is great to take to shows, weekend fun drives, club driving or simply daily drivable. The interior is like new, there are no squeaks or rattles, It looks amazing, clear title, runs excellent, drives and handles as it should, all functions work well including the A/C, the vehicle can be driven from CA to Florida tomorrow. It turns heads everywhere it goes.  The bad:The car's catalytic converter is original old and has leaks from small holes. It needs a new converter in order to pass CA emissions. Currently the catalytic converter and rear muffler are not in stock at BMW but have not gone “NLA”(Was told they would be available in 1-2 years). The full width front engine under tray (PN 51711961894) is missing (no longer available from BMW). The old a/m alarm system had small LEDs installed next to the lock knobs at the top of the door panels. I removed them and covered the holes with small black plastic rivets (see pics). Generally it looks great but a very close inspection will find there are some chips, overspray and imperfections in the paint. Prior to my purchase, the left fender was replaced with BMW new replacement (2005 Dan's paint & body AZ), but looks to have been done well. Also, the right quarter was damaged and repaired (this wasn't done very well and I have since had it re-repaired). The undercarriage is a little beat up from improperly lifting the vehicle (common for this vehicle).   Title and history please read:I purchased the vehicle in 2009 from Gary Ray in AZ. Gary purchased the car in 2002 from Mike Hornisher also in AZ, From the docs I have it looks like Mike had the car for only a 2-3 years but did a lot of work to it. From 2009-2021 It sat in my shop un-driven and went through restoration. I did not title and register it until it was finished as the car was not fully put together. Once completed it failed smog inspection due to the catalytic converter. I temporarily installed a low mileage complete exhaust system in order to smog the car and register it. The DMV verified the VIN I received a title and all was great until I decided to sell and ran a Carfax. So it appears there are 2 items of concern. First is the mileage. I assume the cluster was replaced with used sometime late in 1999 as I have personally inspected the odometer when I replaced the plastic gears and did not see any signs of tampering. The mileage is incorrect by what appears to be about 60k miles. Second, there was a salvage title issued in California back in 1995. I don not know if this is legit or not but the vehicle was certainly not severely damaged. It looks to me the car had over 100k miles on it at the time and the damage to the right rear quarter may have been the reason. Back then these cars were not with much and if the repairs were more than $4-5k they were deemed totaled by the insurance companies. If this is what happened it was fixed and driven in CA for 5 more years and accumulated 45-50 more miles before it was eventually moved to AZ. It is currently titled and registered  in CA with a clear California title.Feel free to ask me any questions you have and I will do my best to answer them as quickly as possible.I am more than happy to allow the vehicle to be inspected by a 3rd party.

Many more hi res Images can be can be found on Google pictures at a link in the YouTube videos:

 

 

Cold Start Video:

 

https://youtu.be/UWbwrZzwwVo

 

 

Driving Video:

 

https://youtu.be/yfZr8kw8RLA

 

 

Walk Around Video:

 

https://youtu.be/GG6AIjsoccI

 

Also published at eBay.com

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