My Brand New (to me) BMW!

Introducing!

My 1988 BMW 325ic

Note: Several attempts to place a picture here have failed miserably (stupid CommunityServer), but to see pics of my new car, check out the gallery

The last few days have been quite an adventure. Finding a car on Ebay is easy, winning the auction is easy, closing the deal, especially when the car is out of state ... not so easy.

Let me start out by explaining that I love BMWs. I have never been able to afford one, still can't, at least not a reasonably new one. So I'd never even considered the possibility that I could own a used, almost classic BMW. I always assumed that if the car is in a desirable condition, that it would still cost a small fortune.

When I started looking, I was looking for a small inexpensive car that I could drive back and forth to work and save on gas, because the 2002 Ford Explorer that I've been driving is bankrupting me! I swear I don't get more than 10 mpg in that beast.

But within the first hour of looking I ran accross an ad for a 91 BMW 318 for $1500. Obviously that's not the car I ended up with, but it struck me that a used Bimmer could be affordable. So I went on a savage search looking for the perfect combination of price and condition. I drove 7 different local cars that weekend, frustrated by the simple fact that people have not been taking very good care of these cars. Either the engine needed a lot of work, or the body was all banged up, or the interior was trashed, or any combination of the three.

Then I hit Ebay and in a couple of hours ran accross this beauty. Lust struck me at once and with a brief glance at the description of the car, I bid. Only afterwards did I bother to read all of the small print at which point I released a huge sigh of relief because it seemed to be in excellent condition, and was located not too far from here, in Brooklyn, NY. A full 24 hours went by and no one else had bid on it when I started to get buyers remorse. What happens if I win it? What do I do if the car isn't everything they say it is? Am I stuck with it?

As the countdown to the end of the auction ticked by I nervously watched hoping someone would outbid me, 5 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 58 seconds ... You have been Outbid!

What the Fuck?!? I don't know what happened to me right then, but I was pissed! On the one hand I didn't want to risk it, but on the other hand, I couldn't let this guy take my car away! And so with a mere 15 seconds left I placed my final bid and snatched my car back from the hands of that deviant bastard.

Now what?

Well, as it turns out, you can't get temporary plates until you actually purchase the car, so my options were to either send a registered check down to a guy I've never met, for a car I've never seen or driven and wait for him to send me the title and bill of sale so I can register and insure this car I've never seen, OR I could make two separate trips to New York. One to check out the car and close the transaction, and a second to pick up the car after I've registered it. There was a third option of towing the car home after purchasing it, but U-Haul wasn't going to have any towing equipment available for another two weeks.

After some rational prodding by a friend, I opted for making the two trips.

I drove down to Brooklyn the first trip to check out the car. The trip was pretty uneventful except for a highway detour that Mapquest didn't predict. When I arrived and saw the car, I was stunned, it was just as beautiful as the pictures presented. The seller was very nice, very courteous and appeared pretty honest, but the proof was right there in front of me.

Driving it was a surprise, after driving the previous BMWs I wasn't sure what to expect, but considering it's age I was expecting something less than what I got. It started right up with a sort of muffled growl. The 325 is a 168 horsepower inline 6 cylinder. I had experienced this same vibration in a previous 525 that I drove and it's a very satisfying feeling. Starting cold it was a little uneven but as it warmed up, it just started to purr.

After driving it around several blocks of Brooklyn, I wanted to keep driving, hit some open road, but I was already sold, so we headed back and closed the deal.

I drove home that night just thinking about how and when I was going to get back down there to pick it up.

As it turned out, I was not a very patient fellow. I went to the DMV the next morning and after two hours of waiting even though I was merely 12th in line, I got the temporary tags without a problem. I checked out the train schedules, routes and had my friend drop me off at the station in New Haven after work. The train ride was long and unbearable, all I could think about was what if the car wasn't there when I got there? What if I had been scammed? What if it is there and has been vandalized? What if it was fine, but broke down on the way home? A million scenarios raced through my mind over the next three hours of train hopping through New York.

I arrived in Brooklyn 4 blocks from where my car was, and it was now 8:30 and dark, and I had NEVER been alone in New York before, much less after dark. Talk about freaked out! But the area was almost striclty a community of Orthodox Jews, and while I definitely looked out of place being one of the few people wearing clothes that contained color, I never really felt in any danger.

And so after 20 minutes or so of walking I arrived, and there my car was parked, looking just like I left it. I taped on the temporary tag, hopped in cranked it up, and headed home. I got a little lost on the way back, took a "shortcut" though Manhattan, and finally hit the highway where I could see what this baby could do. It hit highways speeds in no time flat and in fact seemed to respond even better in those conditions. The faster the car went, the better the engine responded and the tighter it seemed to hold the road. It was too tempting to see just how much it could do and in no time I was breaking 100 mph before reason got the best of me and I decided to back of before I got my ass thrown in jail.

The rest of the ride was sweetly uneventful, the car drove the whole three hour trip without a hiccup. I can fill the tank with less than $30 dollars, even with these prices, and the whole trip took a little more than half a tank. Although I probably would have done better had I not been leadfooting it.

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better car for a better price. Today I took it to work with the top down, and was on cloud nine. Barring any unforseen mechanical failures of a catastrophic nature, this is certainly a purchase I cannot regret, and if you've always wanted a BMW, but have told yourself you can't afford one, take a look around, they're out there, these things run forever, and they are surprisingly affordable.