A new opportunity in my career has me moving to Seattle, WA just after Thanksgiving. I currently live in the DC area & I am left with a tough decision of what to do about my '88 lachs 325is.
A little background: I bought the car last October for a good deal from the 2nd owner who had owned it since 1993. It was maintained rigorously at one BMW only shop for the 20 years of his ownership.
After putting 500-600 of my own miles on it I did a full tune and an oil change. Shortly thereafter I discovered there was an internal leak going on with the head/ headgasket as there were murky coolant deposits found mixed in with the oil.
The head was then removed and found to have a small crack. After sourcing a good head from R3V, and having it totally gone through (pressure tested, valve guides, valve seals, cleaned etc.) it's finally back on the road and has been driving great for the last 350 miles and 2 weeks.
The car is in great shape with the exception of some rust in the rear rocker panel & a little around the arches. No cracks on the dash, black leather sports seats in great shape, no dents, solid paint, nice tires, all electronics work, great basketweaves etc.
I'm faced with a tough decision that I'm hoping maybe some of you have some insight on. My company is giving me a small moving stipend but I'd be hurting for a while if I did ship the BMW. I feel I have three viable options:
1. Sell the car here in DC. Use the money accumulated to potentially buy an E30/E36 in Seattle.
2. Ship the E30 via DAS Transport to Seattle via DAS (~$1150)
3. Drive the E30 cross country. I will flat out say I'm nervous about driving it across America after only putting 1,200 miles on it myself. I'd probably seek out some opinions from a couple BMW garages before going that route.
What would you do with a car you loved? Love it or leave it?
Most recent pic from last week:
A little background: I bought the car last October for a good deal from the 2nd owner who had owned it since 1993. It was maintained rigorously at one BMW only shop for the 20 years of his ownership.
After putting 500-600 of my own miles on it I did a full tune and an oil change. Shortly thereafter I discovered there was an internal leak going on with the head/ headgasket as there were murky coolant deposits found mixed in with the oil.
The head was then removed and found to have a small crack. After sourcing a good head from R3V, and having it totally gone through (pressure tested, valve guides, valve seals, cleaned etc.) it's finally back on the road and has been driving great for the last 350 miles and 2 weeks.
The car is in great shape with the exception of some rust in the rear rocker panel & a little around the arches. No cracks on the dash, black leather sports seats in great shape, no dents, solid paint, nice tires, all electronics work, great basketweaves etc.
I'm faced with a tough decision that I'm hoping maybe some of you have some insight on. My company is giving me a small moving stipend but I'd be hurting for a while if I did ship the BMW. I feel I have three viable options:
1. Sell the car here in DC. Use the money accumulated to potentially buy an E30/E36 in Seattle.
2. Ship the E30 via DAS Transport to Seattle via DAS (~$1150)
3. Drive the E30 cross country. I will flat out say I'm nervous about driving it across America after only putting 1,200 miles on it myself. I'd probably seek out some opinions from a couple BMW garages before going that route.
What would you do with a car you loved? Love it or leave it?
Most recent pic from last week:
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