Well, here it goes..
This all starts a few years back. I've always had my eye out for these e30's. Been looking for a clean one for a very long time. I wanted something cheap, with a straight body, and preferably non-running. I wanted to just either get it swapped with maybe an m50/s50, or get a low mileage m20 and just drop it in.
Spring of 2012 comes along, and I get a call from someone telling me that they have a 1990 e30 sedan, automatic, with a blown motor, straight body, PERFECT interior, and a LOWWWW price. I scheduled to come look at it that same day, and bought it for $500. So, knowing that the car is mine, I started hunting for parts!
The day after I bought the car, I drove two hours to Vancouver, Wa and bought an m20 engine with a 5-speed tranny, with 130k miles for $450. Well worth the two hour drive! The engine was missing a few small things, so for for the next month I was shopping for more parts to finally have everything ready for my swap. Bought new hoses, clutch kit, short shifter, spark wires/plugs, smiley headlights, and a BUNCH of other parts.
Months after buying the car, a friend of mine told me about a site called www.searchtempest.com. Basically, this site searches all the craigslists throughout the US. I was on a mission to find myself some nice rims. I really liked the look of the BBS RS', and decided to get myself some. I'm not a huge fan of reps and knew that buying the real deal would cost me quite a bit more. Well, after about a month of everyday searching, I found a guy down in Delaware that had a set I couldn't resist to pass. He was selling a set of 4 gold BBS RS rims, 16x8 et 13, and 16x7 et 12, that came off of a porsche, for $700!!!! They were 5x130, so I knew I'd either have to fill/redrill or get adapters, which I was totally fine with. I even got him to ship them out to me for free! After getting these, I really wanted to lower the beemer, and got the JOM coilovers. Great deal, and good reviews, so why not!?
Having most of the parts that I needed, I decided it was finally time to pull out the old motor, put in the new one, and do the 5-speed swap. I didn't have much room in my garage, so I found a friend of mine that had a perfect place for both of us to work on the car. Pulled the old motor without a problem, and then started prepping the new one. Pulled the head on the new motor, sent it out to get all the carbon buildup cleaned, and then put it all back together. Dropped in the motor, completed the 5-speed swap, and then ran into some problems. We couldn't get it started. The engine turned, got fuel, but wouldn't get a spark. We troubleshooted for a few weeks till we decided to just bring it back to my house and park it. All my non-engine parts were still garaged.
A few months or so after leaving it parked by my house, my plans and everything I worked on get destroyed.
One morning, at about 8am, I'm just in bed sleeping. All of a sudden, I get woken up by multiple LOUUUUD crashes right outside my window. I run outside, and in devastation, see my beloved BMW involved in a four car pileup. My heart sunk. I saw my car and honestly froze. I did not know what to do. Cops were at the scene within minutes, with 2 firetrucks and 3 ambulances. The story is that a Mitsubishi sedan was traveling up the hill(towards my house), went over the yellow middle lane, and into the oncoming traffic. He side-swiped an SUV, which then lost control and hit my e30. After the Mitsubishi side-swiped the SUV, it kept going and hit an F-150 head-on. Parts were all over the road. All four cars were totaled. About half hour after the accident, the kid's aunt(Mitsubishi driver) shows up and tells the police that the car is her's, BUT she never gave him permission to drive the car. They're looking at it as if he stole his aunt's car and went for a joy ride. Police and Safeco Insurance are conducting an investigation to try and figure this all out. The car was insured with Safeco, so I've been in contact with them about the investigation. I already gave my report of my side of the story, and now just waiting to see if I'm getting paid for the car or not. They told me that IF I will get paid, it's for however much I've put into the car. All I'd have to do is gather all my receipts.
I've been waiting for the past three months now, and don't know what to do. After the accident, I lost almost all hope in the car and haven't done much to it.
I have a few options, and I can't decide which to go with.
I can just sell the car, sell all the parts, sell everything, and HOPE to recover all my money. Or, I can put more money into the car, get it running, fix the damage, add all my garaged parts, and keep working on it.
I literally lost all hope in this car. I've called Safeco multiple times and they still haven't finished the investigation.
If you were me, what would you do, and why?
Oh and sorry for the lack of picture of the accident. I can't find all of them. Believe me, it was 10x worse than it looks.
This all starts a few years back. I've always had my eye out for these e30's. Been looking for a clean one for a very long time. I wanted something cheap, with a straight body, and preferably non-running. I wanted to just either get it swapped with maybe an m50/s50, or get a low mileage m20 and just drop it in.
Spring of 2012 comes along, and I get a call from someone telling me that they have a 1990 e30 sedan, automatic, with a blown motor, straight body, PERFECT interior, and a LOWWWW price. I scheduled to come look at it that same day, and bought it for $500. So, knowing that the car is mine, I started hunting for parts!
The day after I bought the car, I drove two hours to Vancouver, Wa and bought an m20 engine with a 5-speed tranny, with 130k miles for $450. Well worth the two hour drive! The engine was missing a few small things, so for for the next month I was shopping for more parts to finally have everything ready for my swap. Bought new hoses, clutch kit, short shifter, spark wires/plugs, smiley headlights, and a BUNCH of other parts.
Months after buying the car, a friend of mine told me about a site called www.searchtempest.com. Basically, this site searches all the craigslists throughout the US. I was on a mission to find myself some nice rims. I really liked the look of the BBS RS', and decided to get myself some. I'm not a huge fan of reps and knew that buying the real deal would cost me quite a bit more. Well, after about a month of everyday searching, I found a guy down in Delaware that had a set I couldn't resist to pass. He was selling a set of 4 gold BBS RS rims, 16x8 et 13, and 16x7 et 12, that came off of a porsche, for $700!!!! They were 5x130, so I knew I'd either have to fill/redrill or get adapters, which I was totally fine with. I even got him to ship them out to me for free! After getting these, I really wanted to lower the beemer, and got the JOM coilovers. Great deal, and good reviews, so why not!?
Having most of the parts that I needed, I decided it was finally time to pull out the old motor, put in the new one, and do the 5-speed swap. I didn't have much room in my garage, so I found a friend of mine that had a perfect place for both of us to work on the car. Pulled the old motor without a problem, and then started prepping the new one. Pulled the head on the new motor, sent it out to get all the carbon buildup cleaned, and then put it all back together. Dropped in the motor, completed the 5-speed swap, and then ran into some problems. We couldn't get it started. The engine turned, got fuel, but wouldn't get a spark. We troubleshooted for a few weeks till we decided to just bring it back to my house and park it. All my non-engine parts were still garaged.
A few months or so after leaving it parked by my house, my plans and everything I worked on get destroyed.
One morning, at about 8am, I'm just in bed sleeping. All of a sudden, I get woken up by multiple LOUUUUD crashes right outside my window. I run outside, and in devastation, see my beloved BMW involved in a four car pileup. My heart sunk. I saw my car and honestly froze. I did not know what to do. Cops were at the scene within minutes, with 2 firetrucks and 3 ambulances. The story is that a Mitsubishi sedan was traveling up the hill(towards my house), went over the yellow middle lane, and into the oncoming traffic. He side-swiped an SUV, which then lost control and hit my e30. After the Mitsubishi side-swiped the SUV, it kept going and hit an F-150 head-on. Parts were all over the road. All four cars were totaled. About half hour after the accident, the kid's aunt(Mitsubishi driver) shows up and tells the police that the car is her's, BUT she never gave him permission to drive the car. They're looking at it as if he stole his aunt's car and went for a joy ride. Police and Safeco Insurance are conducting an investigation to try and figure this all out. The car was insured with Safeco, so I've been in contact with them about the investigation. I already gave my report of my side of the story, and now just waiting to see if I'm getting paid for the car or not. They told me that IF I will get paid, it's for however much I've put into the car. All I'd have to do is gather all my receipts.
I've been waiting for the past three months now, and don't know what to do. After the accident, I lost almost all hope in the car and haven't done much to it.
I have a few options, and I can't decide which to go with.
I can just sell the car, sell all the parts, sell everything, and HOPE to recover all my money. Or, I can put more money into the car, get it running, fix the damage, add all my garaged parts, and keep working on it.
I literally lost all hope in this car. I've called Safeco multiple times and they still haven't finished the investigation.
If you were me, what would you do, and why?
Oh and sorry for the lack of picture of the accident. I can't find all of them. Believe me, it was 10x worse than it looks.
Comment