Dec. 5, 2006 - The beginning of a saga
Well, this is an introduction to my automotive tale. It began around, oh, I'd say june-ish of 2006. My father stumbled across an Ebay auction for a 1987 black on cardinal 5 speed 535i. It was located in the mountains in North Carolina. Well, apparently the God of Speed was smiling down upon me and we won the auction for around $750. The car was a basket case, but having driven a 1982 528e, my love affair with the e28 was firmly established and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to own a machine such as this. We rented a U-haul car carrier and drove down in his 1991 F-150. It was like perfection in a day, gorgeous weather and a road trip with the old man. We played Hendrix, The Who, Steely Dan, I swear I've never been happier. Well, we get down there and the car is sitting in the driveway. It was old, dented, worn and in general severely neglected. The auction had said that the car would start and run, but had an overheating problem.
I got in the car and started fiddling. The car was in pretty poor shape seeing as how random interior bits were broken/missing and the drivers seat was flopping around like a wet noodle. Looking under the car was a different story, the undercarriage was flawless, not a hint of rust. The car had probably never seen snow. It was rough around the edges, and through the middle for that matter, but I saw something there. Somewhere, deep down, there was an incredible machine in there waiting to be released.
Shortly before handing over the money we found out that the car had no traceable paper trail, making it almost un-titleable in Maryland. I was crushed, I HAD to have this car. My father refused to buy it for $750, at this point it was a parts car with an unknown engine and transmission. He said it was worth $300 for parts only. After a heated debate over price, we were both pretty pissed, seeing as how we had driven 7 hours to find this out. The Owner caved, and we ended up getting it for $300. I started it, and backed it out. It started right up, and ran like shit. It was rich, stumbling, and surged at idle. But I loved it.
After getting it on the trailer, we began the long trip home. I was about as happy as a kid on Christmas, knowing what I had. I must have turned around to look at it 200 times on the way back. We got home around dinner, and parked it by the setting sun at the bottom of the driveway, where it sat for about 3 months. I didn't have time to work on it, having a full time job and not knowing what to do about the title.
Long story short, after a legal-rigamarole and some nimble stepping I got the car titled and on the road, and that's where the story really began...
by oneeyemonkeypie
With the car before working on it.
by oneeyemonkeypie
Good times.
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