RMB

Year: 1988
Make: BMW
Model: M3
Price: $15600
Mileage: 156000
Private or Dealer Listing: Private Listing
Location (State): AL
Color: Gray
Transmission: Manual
Drivetrain: Rear Wheel Drive
LS Engine?: Car has LS engine

1988 BMW M3 Diamond Schwartz For Sale $15600.00

The following information was written by the previous owner , Eric Giles, from whom I purchased the car in 2011.

Here are the basics: 1988 M3, 12/87 production last 7 of VIN being 2197207. I'm the fourth owner and purchased it in September 2005. Currently at 156k miles. Diamondschwartz metallic with black interior. Title is clean and shows no accidents, but the previous owner told me that the drivers door was backed into while in a driveway and was repaired. The majority of the car has had a respray at some point.

When I purchased the car, the paint was fading on some areas so I had the front and rear bumper, hood, sideskirts, trunk lid, rear spoiler, and rear view mirrors resprayed. The color match is fair-its not spot on perfect but very presentable. The issue was the painter mixed a tad too much metallic and it slightly threw the hue off. Is it super obvious? No, but there is a slight difference. I am picky and I'm letting you know about it upfront. The quality of the respray that I had done is decent but not excellent. The wing has developed a couple of minor cracks since it was painted-if you wish I can have it resprayed before the sale takes place. The car does have dings here and there-but nothing that can't be removed by a PDR place. I would have it done, but where I live there aren't any around.

As far as what maintenance has been done over the past five years, the list is extensive. It may not be a showcar, but I can guarantee you that it is in top overall mechanical condition-which is what is truly important on these cars. So following is a list of the things that have been replaced during my ownership, and with only 15k miles of use at most:

Rod bearings-preventive maintenance measure only
Front reinforced subframe
Front upper strut mounts
Motor mounts
Transmission mounts
Rear transmission output shaft seal
Control arms and bushings (offset factory bushings)
Inner and outer tie rods
Front sway bar links
Intake manifold gaskets
Majority of the primary vacuum hoses
Distributor cap and rotor
Coil
Spark plugs
A/C overhaul-yes the A/C works and blows very cold-using R12
Coolant temperature sensor and Coolant sender
Plug wires
Rear subframe bushings (factory bushings)
Rear trailing arm bushings (factory bushings)
Differential bushing (factory bushing)
Rear sway bar links and bushings
Supersprint midsection with resonator-no catalytic converter
New Oxygen sensor
New factory rotors and pads

And honestly there is more...but I don't want to make this post longer than it needs to be. I can honestly say that EVERY SINGLE piece of rubber or component in the suspension was replaced during my ownership-except the H&R Sport springs and Bilstein struts/shocks that were on the car when I purchased it. The previous owner put those on and they have less than 50k miles on them.

Compression was tested before I purchased it in '05, with the numbers being from 200 to 185-all within the acceptable range. A leakdown test was also performed and was told that basically leakdown was 'non-existant'-every cylinder only had a couple of percent leakdown. The motor has never been rebuilt but still runs very strong. I replaced the rod bearings at around 143-145k miles just as preventive maintenance. None of the old bearings were to the copper, but they were showing a good bit of wear. There is a post on here from back in '06 showing the pictures of the bearings. There was no wear at all on the crankshaft journals. The motor has ran perfectly ever since.

Interior is in good shape overall. The seats show there wear, and the drivers seat has a tear in the bolster. The rear seat has a couple of areas of separation at a seam. Typical wear for this age and mileage, but doesn't look terrible by any means. Dash is perfect with no cracks and carpet is in nice shape.

It has a OE replacement muffler that is probably 7 or 8 years old, and has recently developed a few small holes at the exit of the tailpipe. I will patch those up for now, but I will not be replacing it. The next owner might want to go aftermarket in that area so I will leave it up to them.

As far as rust on the car, none that I have seen. The car has lived it's entire life in Nashville TN and now in Mississippi, so definitely not in an area where cars rust. I've already checked out the normal rust spots-under the windshield area, etc and there is none at all.

I have owned the car for about two years. I have taken care of the car just as Eric described. Since owning the car I have installed new ARC wheels and Continental tires, ARC Camber Plates, New Stereo, Speakers and Sub. The car stands TALL and gets compliments ALL DAY. There are NO apologies per say, it is NOT a Concourse car however, It is an M3 in excellent condition that most everyone would be proud to drive and park in their garage.
Link to Pictures of the car before the 18" Wheels and Camber Kit Installed:
https://plus.google.com/photos/10418...185?banner=pwa

I am certain there will be questions the above did not address, please call me or send me an email with your questions to :
251.776.0763 OR rbacon@gmail.com