485,000 miles on an M3

[fixedsix]

now that is cool.

[spdracrm3]

This is a old family friend of ours (first met me when i was 11 months old ,that's how far we go back i even worked for him for awhile) his name is Ed Dittmar (Austrian ,trained as tool/die maker,so does all his own car repair) used to race downhill skiing too. has his own company Dittmar Development in Idaho now but lived in Seattle/Issaquah area for many years . has a mid 70's 911 with too many miles on it too!

as far a the E30M3 yes it was a euro delivery and he and his wife have put all the miles on the car (many traveling around country selling machine tools and his other inventions ,and it has seen top speed many times),engine has been apart twice once after blowing a coolant hose and subsequent overheating blew headgasket(wife was driving oops),pulled head and at that time he measured the cyl bores and decided it didnt need any lower end work (no measureable wear in bores). 150,000mi later started having problem keeping valves in adjustment and pulled head to find valves finally starting to tulip at about 450,000 miles so all new valves were installed dressed seats again and no problems since(this time he also pulled complete motor and again measured for wear all was in spec still so just installed new rod/main bearings, piston rings and all gasket/seals (so this thing is running on original bores pistons crank cams ....) he plans to drive the car past half million mark and the give car to one of his sons ,its starting to suffer some rust in the wheel arch areas now and he's working to repair that. Ed's always ribbing me about not driving my 90k mi garage queen M3 much but likes to borrow parts off my racecar M3 or ask for help diagnosing any issues that come up so i keep up to date on the cars mileage(figures next summer will hit 500000).

BTW he was in line to buy a new e46 M3 and after pulling this motor apart was so amazed at how good it was inside decided to keep the E30 and cancel new car order...but now he mostly drives around a in a 740i (many grandkids to haul around)so will not be racking up the miles as fast on the M3 (been trying for years to get him to bring the car to E30 picnic knowing he would win highest mileage award and he did this year where everyone saw it,but they didnt have that award this year Argh oh well),i think BMW should give him a new M3 and put this one in the Museum

[RobertB]

miles or kilometers?

Miles... I saw it last E30 Picnic. Amazing!!!

[threlevenguy]

I have one of those 1-piece shift knobs, any interest in anyone buying it?

[trackjunkie21]

actually i think its pn: 25112225873

$295 dollars for a shift knob?:hitler:

[barbara08]

I have never spent more than 15k miles in one car, making usually 35k miles yearly. He has to love that car! Or his financial advisor didn't do the best job providing a credit line :grin:

P.S. 1. he killed the rear bumper in order to mount another antenna on the back. He is allowed

[shiftbmw]

^Astute observation good sir.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Idaho plates makes me think it's miles.

[shiftbmw]

miles or kilometers?

[Sepp]

[gazellebeigem3]

sepp is dumb.

[Sepp]

Thanks, you are misinformed over what used to go on back in 1988.

[mikeedler]

With this being a order-built car, and European delivery, the antenna/radio was (like the others) wasn't ordered.


In the mid-'80's there were the gray market cars...remember them?
Euro delivery, and also actually sold in independent dealerships in limited numbers to keep up with sales demands..
Literally a Euro spec car, except the emissions, and the speedo! Man they looked so much better with the bumpers, next to the US spec cars...
Primarily it was the 3 series, and the 7 series also had the smaller highbeams.

you are so very misinformed over what euro delivery even is.

A grey market car had nothing to do with euro delivery. It was a euro car that was then later converted.

I will stop here cause I don't even want to discuss this any further.

[Sepp]

Unless you have dealt with every Bimmer on Euro delivery since they started the program, you cannot assume you know the whole picture.

There's actually 3 known US sold E30M3's in the states, that don't have antennas.
A radio package wasn't standard per say on the car it'self, in the world market, just the fact that nearly everyone wanted a radio in their car in the states, so it became a default standard item....on North American spec cars.

in Europe, it was an option, (you had to check the box stating you wanted the sound package)..quite a few cars don't have the antenna.
With this being a order-built car, and European delivery, the antenna/radio was (like the others) wasn't ordered.

The lack or radio/antenna isn't an Euro option...it's an non-checked option.

99% of the E30 M3 buyers, bought showroom stock. (with radio/antenna package installed)

In the mid-'80's there were the gray market cars...remember them?
Euro delivery, and also actually sold in independent dealerships in limited numbers to keep up with sales demands..
Literally a Euro spec car, except the emissions, and the speedo! Man they looked so much better with the bumpers, next to the US spec cars...
Primarily it was the 3 series, and the 7 series also had the smaller highbeams.

Cliff notes:
US Spec car, but it's not really.

EDIT: I'm not trying to insult your intelligence. :)

[mikeedler]

Sounds good boss.

You must be more familiar to this car than I. Do you know the owner? (in the states the stereo/antenna is standard) This car doesn't have one, and it's not a pre-production model. please explain this.

I never said it wasn't a US car. :up:

I deal with european delivery cars every single day.

I don't know anything at all about that car other than it is U.S. spec.- so it has all U.S. standard equipment. Just stating that because it was delivered in europe doenst mean it could have recieved any euro options on it, and I can honestly say that I have never seen a E30 M without an antenna over here (not saying that there is no such thing) but I am pretty sure for the M cars a radio was standard. my 318 has a dealer installed radio wiring harness in it though.