The elusive E30 M3 (Los Angeles-area)

[Gen Kanai <gkanai@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey folks,

A busy two weeks looking for M3s and this so far:

Last weekend I looked at a really nice black/tan '90 which was pretty much
stock (90,000 miles) besides a big stereo in the trunk.  I brought a friend
from work with me who owns a white/grey '88 and his father who's a Master
Tech at New Century BMW in Alhambra.  They both checked out the car and
gave it two thumbs up.  I had my loan all set and was ready to do the deal
this week but the guy left town and I haven't been able to get in touch
with him.  I wanted to leave a deposit with him but he wouldnt take one.
I'll keep on trying to get in touch with him.  He was asking $10,500 and
we'd settled on a $10,000 price.  I really liked this one.  Ron, if you get
this email, please get in touch.  I'm ready to buy your car!

Then this afternoon, I met with a guy who has a red/tan '88 with 82,000
miles on it.  This one was not as nice- marks on the bumper, a dent in one
fender, a nice door ding on one side panel, and the car was repainted at
50,000 miles.  The paint job wasn't perfect but it was a decent job.  This
car's wheels are banged up a bunch and the interior was in decent
condition, but dirty.  Nothing that a good detailing wouldn't fix.  Also
the leather on the front seats was pretty ratty and he had sheepskin covers
on them to conceal them.  The AC didn't work and the estimate was somewhere
between $150-500 depending on whether or not the evaporator had to be
replaced.  Plus, the radiator cap was leaking and so that'd be good to
change out too.  On the plus side, brakes were redone recently and clutch
about 2 years ago.  This guy wants $9500 and agreed that since the AC
didn't work, we could start talking at $9000.

I've also chatted with a guy in the SF are who says he has a pristine '89
for sale but I'm pretty sure I can't afford one that's been pampered it's
whole life.  I keep my eye on the Recycler, Classifieds 2000, Yahoo
classifieds, Trader Online and the BMWCCA website too.  If you do run
across something I'd be way psyched if you could shoot it down in my
direction.  I'm not sure I want to spend $15K on a pristine one but I am
willing to spend $10-12K on a real nice one.

I really do appreciate this digest and would very much appreciate any leads
or tips or thoughts on my search,

Thanks again for the community,
Gen

------------------------------