How much would you pay for this '90 M3?

[clarkbmw325is]

Alright so, in the spirit of screwing with scammers, I present to you the following thread.

I'll give you a little background info... If you're anything like me, I search eBay motors for "bmw e30" quite frequently and ran across a listing for a '90 e30 M3 running at about a $2k bid with a few days left. So, I read through the listing and noticed that he had a "2.3 Liter 6 cylinder" stock engine. He also said it had a black exterior with a Blue interior...ever heard of that combo?

I then decided to send him the following eBay message:

Sent on 1/23...
"Hello,
I just wanted some clarification on the 1990 BMW M3 you have listed. The interior looks like black leather, is this correct? Also, you state that the engine is a 2.3 liter 6-cylinder, is this the original stock engine? If so, it is a 2.3 liter 4 cylinder (s14). Thanks for the information!"

A few days later, he responds:

Received on 1/24 at 4:14pm:
"Hello,
First of all,I must apologize for my reticence with selling my car.I
love this car and it means a lot to me.I am forced by a bank loan to
sell it so I need the money and I must do that.The car is in perfect
condition, with no need for additional repairs, no scratches, dings,
special marks whatsoever.It has a clear title ready to be signed and
notarized on your name.I need to know you,even if that means by email
before i sell you the car.Even if i seem a little paranoid,i will not
sell this car to anyone.I took very good care of her and i feel very
attached to her.
The price is $6200,the shipping costs will be free anywhere in the
continental US or Canada(for shipping I will use DAS and it is free
because my brother in law work for DAS).I don't want to offend you by
anything but if we are going to complete the sale we are going to use
Ebay Purchase Program which will cover the purchases up to 20,000 USD.
My time is limited due to my job in the army so I decided to use a
service from ebay.If you agree with my terms,i will need your ebay user
and i will contact ebay to inform them about our agreement and to start
the program to protect us.If this is ok with you and you want me to
explain how the process works,please email me and i will do that.Thank
you and i will wait for your email.
Barry Charles"

**Ok, so it's already sounding a little fishy with the army/Canada/Bro-in-law with DAS**

I respond - 4:41pm
"Hey Charles,
I'm sorry, but what is the eBay item # for the M3? I haven't been able to run across it under BMW e30 in Motors. Thanks, and I certainly understand your attachment to the car, I'm an avid BMW enthusiast too. Currently building a s52-powered OBDI e30 325is and have been tinkering with e30's for about 8 years now. Thanks again and would you mind sending any additional pictures of the M3 as well?"

**I sent that thinking the s52 transplant may spark this "enthusiast's" interest and to test his knowledge**

Barry (Charles) replies - 4:43pm
"If you are still interested in buying the car,i still have it for sale.I
have took it off ebay because i had an agreement with a potential buyer
but he doesnt answer to my emails anymore.I can see that you are a
decided and serious person.Ok, i will try to explain it to you.If you
want to buy a car trough their program,you must forward me your user
name and i will contact them to let them know about our deal,or i will
let you know my details and you can contact them.They will examine the
transaction and they will contact us if everything is fine.You will
deposit the money to them,and i will ship the car to you or you can pick
it up,it is your choice.You will have 1 week for inspection and if you
find everything ok,i will come to do the paperwork.After we complete the
deal,you will contact ebay in order to release the funds to me.
If something is not ok with the car,the deposit is 100% refundable so
you will receive your money back.Here is the pictures
Thank you.

1990 BMW M3
WBSAK0316LAE34050
SEDAN 2 DR.
2.3L L4 MPI DOHC / REAR WHEEL DRIVE

123.000 miles

Free shipping at offered price!!!!The car runs great and is in great condition and shape. Runs like a beauty a complete POWER HOUSE.The engine has 64,000 miles when i bought it from the California which i had shipped over here overseas. The engine has only been driven 400 miles since in my car, since i was in the process of preping up the car for the track in the spring. So every part in this car is either brand new with 400 miles on it other than the engine since the whole engine has 64,000 miles on it.It ends its red line at 9,400 rpm's. The engine is truly a race motor."

**So, I didn't get anything about the s52 e30 thing...more 'necessary' information, but he did send 22 pictures**

I reply - 4:52pm"Hey Barry,
I do have an interest in this car, but I would very much prefer to speak directly to you. Is there a phone number at which I can reach you? One can never be too careful in dealing with eBay or any other online auction company. Thank you for your understanding."

Last response from Barry - 4:55pmHi.
I understand that and you are right.I would prefer that too if i were in
your place.But i am deaf ,i was born like this.My keyboard is my friend
so please ask me all the questions that you might have and i will try
answer everyone of them.

Thank you.

SO....
Let's recap:
1990 BMW M3 Black on Black with 122k miles in Canada? with a 2.3 liter "6-cylinder" and in beautiful condition I might add (see pictures in following post) - All for $6200, free shipping.
The seller: Deaf Military man who cares for this car immensely but has to part with it due to a bank loan who can only communicate through email

For the good stuff.... I should still have this guy on the other end and want to figure all this out; either scare him into a "no response" or just have some good ole fashioned fun.

Give me your best response to Barry's latest email and I'll string him along some more and keep updating the post (think of the "Anus laptops" scam for the scammer posting)

I'm thinking something like "Does the engine make any unusual sounds?" or "I'll actually be in Canada in 2 weeks for work, may I come view the car in person?"

Let me know your thoughts... am I really dealing with a $6200 e30 M3 in perfect condition being sold by a deaf military man in Canada? or is this a SCAM?!

[clarkbmw325is]

'90 M3 pics

as promised:

[N2MYE30]

Run the vin#. Seems a lil shifty to me but that car looks nice.

[VacMan]

If he's really deaf he knows how to use a TTY or TRS system. Basically they type in what they want to say, a relay person reads it and tells you. Then you reply, the relay person types it in and sends it to the deaf person. It's very common.

I would reference "maybe hooking up on TTY in a day or two to talk to an obvious fellow enthusiast" and see what he makes of it.

What is a TTY?

TTY stands for Text Telephone. It is also sometimes called a TDD, or Telecommunication Device for the Deaf. TTY is the more widely accepted term, however, as TTYs are used by many people, not just people who are deaf.
A TTY is a special device that lets people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-impaired use the telephone to communicate, by allowing them to type messages back and forth to one another instead of talking and listening. A TTY is required at both ends of the conversation in order to communicate.
To use a TTY, you set a telephone handset onto special acoustic cups built into the TTY (some TTY models can be plugged directly into a telephone line). Then, type the message you want to send on the TTY's keyboard. As you type, the message is sent over the phone line, just like your voice would be sent over the phone line if you talked. You can read the other person's response on the TTY's text display.
If you don't have a TTY, you can still call a person who is deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-impaired by using the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS). With TRS, a special operator types whatever you say so that the person you are calling can read your words on his or her TTY display. He or she will type back a response, which the TRS operator will read aloud for you to hear over the phone. Toll free TRS services are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
You can visit the Ultratec website for information about a wide range of TTYs for home, office and personal use. Or, visit these great online stores for all your assistive device needs.

[e30Matt]

Wasn't DAS one of those scam auto-shipping websites that was out there a while back?

[e30Matt]

The engine has 64,000 miles when i bought it from the California which i had shipped over here overseas.

Yeah, that huge sea we call the US/Canada border.

[elsabor67]

Ask him what kind of job does he do in the army, first time I ever heard of someone deaf and in the Armed Forces, even if he was a defense contractor.

[PУCCKAЯ_e30ka]

those wheels are badass

[smonkbmw]

its a common scam on ebay. why would he need your user id#? he needs it to continue a scam under a different identity. if you look up over on s14.net you will see a lot of common "odd info" about cars on ebay. weve noticed that every time it is a scam at the bottom is "if i do not know you i will cancel your bid, please email me first" or some type of bs. its a shame they use such a sick car as bait though.

[europeanplates]

100% scam. I had equired about a lancia with the same person, same story, same brother at DAs. This $$%# on ebay is getting out of hand as thye are using real pictures of peoples cars that they own or are selling for real.

Tyler

[Raxe]

Please do ask him if the engine makes any unusual sounds or rattles, I wonder if he'll forget he was deaf from birth. :p

[Julien]

Please do ask him if the engine makes any unusual sounds or rattles, I wonder if he'll forget he was deaf from birth. :p

jhahhahaha

[DarkWing6]

Please do ask him if the engine makes any unusual sounds or rattles, I wonder if he'll forget he was deaf from birth. :p

do it!

[davey101]

isnt that an evo 2? isnt the black w./ red stripes a limited edition m3??

and total scam! definetley ask him about odd noises :p

[2Big4a3Series]

I can understand wanting to be selective as to who buys your car but if it were me and the bank is forcing me to sell it, I wouldn't care whether or not I knew you. The presidents on that green paper is good enough ID for me.Maybe the guy can hear you better if you type louder.