POLL: Should I restore my DSM M-Tech 2 Vert or sell as-is?

[thesheikh]

Hello R3v,

I don't usually put my business out there but I wanted to get the opinion of other enthusiasts. I bought this e30 a few years ago, site unseen. It would be my fourth E30 I have owned. My intention was that I would keep the car for a few years and sell when I wanted to move on. Well, when I bought the car I never really got a chance to look at or inspect it properly, let alone drive it, until now. Recently, I decided to get this car road worthy and take advantage of the market that E30s are at. I sent it to my buddy Oscar (shoutout to @dreamrefinery on IG). Upon inspection, we discovered that the car was much rustier than we were expecting. Now I am kind of at a crossroads - so below are my options that I could think of.

Plan A: Blow passed any realistic budget I thought I had and continue forward with a frame off restoration to address rust, reupholstered interior, new paint on car and paint match top, and then submit to BaT (appx. 1 year / this is not a half assed/corner-cutting restoration. It would be proper)
Plan B: Get the engine, drivetrain, and suspension in great order by installing all of the new parts and sell [without the hardtop and without the manual swap (appx. 2 weeks)]
Plan C: Do the bare minimum to get it running and driving and sell [without the hardtop and without the manual swap (appx. 1 week)]

Open to any other suggestions

General Summary:

• 1991 Diamond Shwartz Convertible
  • Pin stripes faded
  • Front valence is faded and cracked
  • Fog lights cracked
• Hardtop
  • Vinyl ripped off
  • Sagging headliner
• Automatic Transmission
  • Recently rebuilt
• Black Interior
  • smells moldy
  • upper portion of the rear seats are torn
  • crack-free dash but with a CD player glued on
• Soft top in decent shape
  • needs new window
• Rust
  • behind both MTech door panels
  • front passenger fender
  • driver side door sill
  • both driver side and passenger side floor boards
  • wheel well
  • rear driver side trunk tub
• Tow hitch welded on with some sort steel bar
• 107k miles
• Clean title
• Recently purchased parts (not installed)
  • A fully rebuilt and uninstalled complete manual swap for late model (Thank you Jordan)
  • Engine Mounts - Corteco
  • Front and Rear Sway Bar Links - Lemforder
  • Control Arm Bushing Kit - Lemforder
  • Suspension Strut Kit - Bilstein B8 Performance Plus
  • Strut Mounts - Meyle
  • Sport Lowering Spring Set - H&R Springs
  • Timing Belt Kit With Water Pump - Continental
  • Intake Manifold Gaskets - Corteco
  • Vapor Honed Intake Manifold (Thank you Jordan)
  • Vapor Honed Oil Pan (Thank you Jordan)
  • Vapor Honed Valve Cover (Thank you Jordan)
  • Crankcase Breather Hose - Rein
  • Fuel Filter - Bosch
  • Spark Plug Set - Bosch
  • Air Filter - Mann
  • Distributor Rotor - Bremi
  • Distributor Cap - Bremi
  • Subframe Mounts - Corteco
  • Throttle Body Gasket - Genuine BMW
  • Exhaust Manifold Gasket - Elring
  • Trailing Arm Bushing Set - Lemforder
  • Throttle Body Water Housing Gasket - Genuine BMW
  • 10W40 - Liqui Moly
  • Engine Oil Filter - Mann

[thesheikh]

[thesheikh]

[thesheikh]

[thesheikh]

https://youtu.be/OO5Fl5ctSic

[jgilber0]

I don’t think anybody makes money doing a frame-off restoration with the intent to sell immediately thereafter. These restorations are a labor of love and cars get built because of passion, not profit. Real restoration will likely be tens of thousands of dollars.

Because this car is of significance, likely only one of 75 built, it makes sense to keep it as intact as possible and sell it to someone who wishes to make it back into a nice example of a Diamond Schwartz Black M-Tech II. To that end, it might make sense to keep the top with it.

I vote for C and keep the parts for a better restoration candidate.

[2mAn]

Please explain how you'll do a "frame-off" resto on the E30?

If you plan to sell, sell it. You'll inevitably cut corners to save money rather than getting it to someone who truly does want to restore and keep the car.

Get it mechanically sound and sell it with some light cosmetic clean ups.

[MrBurgundy]

You'll probably put the most money in your pocket if you just get it running and clean it up a bit.

[thesheikh]

Please explain how you'll do a "frame-off" resto on the E30?

If you plan to sell, sell it. You'll inevitably cut corners to save money rather than getting it to someone who truly does want to restore and keep the car.

Get it mechanically sound and sell it with some light cosmetic clean ups.

Would disassemble the entire car, sand blast the entire car to expose rust, address rust with repair panels (either sourced from a clean donor or from classiceuroparts.com), painted DSM (with hardtop), and reassemble. No corners cut. It would be as if the car would be new. Which is why I prefaced it with, “blow pass any realistic budget I thought I had”

[thesheikh]

You'll probably put the most money in your pocket if you just get it running and clean it up a bit.

Yessir, but where’s the fun in that😬

[MrBurgundy]

Yessir, but where’s the fun in that😬

Plan A is going to cost you somewhere around 40k if you take it to a shop and do it right. Then the car might be worth 25-30k

[moatilliatta]

The diff needs painted for BAT.. Get the rubberized undercoating and silver paint out, you're going to need a lot of lipstick for BAT.

Id just part it out or do bare minimum to get running... Unless there is a emotional attachment the chassis, then get your tetanus shot and start cutting, eating, and breathing rust..

[moatilliatta]

What type of budget do you think it'll take to make it like new again?

[e30austin]

what do you want for it as-is?

[thesheikh]

The diff needs painted for BAT.. Get the rubberized undercoating and silver paint out, you're going to need a lot of lipstick for BAT.

yeah if I go with plan A, the manual swap I have has a much prettier 3.73 diff. I wouldn’t need lipstick for anything. It would be a proper restoration.