Market Update – February 7, 2014

February 9th, 2014 Comments off

This week’s overview of what’s happened in the M Coupe market.

Currently Listed: 39
S52: 32
S54: 7
Average Asking Price: $23,926.12
S52: $20.778.44
S54: $36,067.14

Most Popular Sales Listings

These are the cars that have been viewed most often this week:

1999 Imola Red over Black in Aberdeen, NC

1999 Imola Red over Black
Aberdeen, NC – $15,000

2002 Black Sapphire over Black in Glendale, CA

2002 Black Sapphire over Black
Glendale, CA – $23,500

2000 Titanium Silver over Black in Conshohocken, PA

2000 Titanium Silver over Black
Conshohocken, PA – $16,100

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in N. Suffolk, VA

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue
N. Suffolk, VA – $11,500

Best Deals

These are what I think are the best deals still available that are not already on the most popular list.

1999 Arctic Silver over Black in Wise River, MT

1999 Arctic Silver over Black
Wise River, MT- $16,500

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue in Kakaako, HI

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue
Kakaako, HI- $15,000

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in Lawrenceville, GA

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue
Lawrenceville, GA- $15,200

2000 Cosmos Black over Dark Gray in Boise, ID

2000 Cosmos Black over Dark Gray
Boise, ID- $19,950

Sold This Week

Here are the cars that appear to have gone to lucky new owners this week.

Categories: Market Updates Tags:

Market Update – January 31, 2014

January 31st, 2014 Comments off

This week’s overview of what’s happened in the M Coupe market.

Currently Listed: 41
S52: 34
S54: 7
Average Asking Price: $23,519.06
S52: $20.230.67
S54: $36,202.86

Most Popular Sales Listings

These are the cars that have been viewed most often this week:

1999 Estoril Blue over Black in Fontana, CA

1999 Estoril Blue over Black
Fontana, CA – $9,500

2002 Black Sapphire over Black in Glendale, CA

2002 Black Sapphire over Black
Glendale, CA – $24,950

1999 Arctic Silver over Dark Gray in Hagerstown, MD

1999 Arctic Silver over Dark Gray
Hagerstown, MD – $14,100

2002 Black Sapphire over Black in Gaithersburg, MD

2002 Black Sapphire over Black
Gaithersburg, MD – $34,000

Best Deals

These are what I think are the best deals still available that are not already on the most popular list.

1999 Arctic Silver over Black in Wise River, MT

1999 Arctic Silver over Black
Wise River, MT- $16,500

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue in Kakaako, HI

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue
Kakaako, HI- $16,000

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in Lawrenceville, GA

1999Estoril BlueoverEstoril Blue
Lawrenceville, GA- $15,200

1999 Imola Red over Black in Aberdeen, NC

1999 Imola Red over Black
Aberdeen, NC – $18,000

Sold This Week

Here are the cars that appear to have gone to lucky new owners this week.

Categories: Market Updates Tags:

LC60677 – Part 3: Conclusion

January 29th, 2014 Comments off

Front Bumper After

Before going into the beautification process of our 2nd project coupe, I’d like to bring some closure to the unfinished items from the previous Mechanicals article.  The glove box sag fix kit installation was my first, and I can say it was a pretty cool little project.  It’s always helpful to have step by step instructions, and the online instructions provided with the purchase of this sag fix kit were perfect.

If you haven’t done this on your coupe, there were really only two items that proved more difficult than expected: removing the plastic screw caps without completely destroying them and screwing the reinforcement bar into final position.  The plastic screw caps are deceptively difficult to pop out of their recessed holes, and it took me a while to find the right tool for the job.  I settled on a flat head jewelry-sized screw driver, which was thin enough to wedge between the cap and the dash, pry out the edge, and pop off the cap.  My first attempt resulted in a sliced cap, but the damage was minimized with additional practice, and it turned out fine in the end.

Glove Box Fix

Once the glove box is fully removed, the reinforcement plate is mated to the OEM metal frame with some beefier bolts, and this is where I had some short-lived frustration.  Once I fed the bolts through the holes and lined up the plate, there wasn’t more than 1 or 2 threads visible to tighten the nut on.  I thought maybe I had misaligned the plate, but after removing the plate and taking a closer look at the OEM metal frame, it was curved after over a decade of sagging.  Manually straightening the frame was simple, given how thin it is, and it allowed the reinforcement plate to mate more closely.  Once the nuts were tightened, I slid the reassembled glove box back into place, secured the screws and…voila…no more sag!  All in all about an hour’s worth of time and $37 out of pocket.  Not bad.

Before:
Glove Box Before

After:
Glove Box After

With the glove box reinforced, all I had left was to pop off the original shift knob and replace it with a brand new ZHP knob ordered from LeatherZ.  I successfully avoided hitting myself in the face by sitting in the driver seat and using my right arm to apply constant upward force to the knob.  It took some effort, but eventually slid right off without much fanfare.  The new knob is the non-lit variety, so I simply slid it back on the shifter, pushed straight down and it popped into place. Ta-da!  A whole new feeling to the interior.

With the issues now properly sorted, it’s time to bring this car to it’s original beauty.  Cosmos black is a gorgeous color, but with any black-painted car, it looks beautiful without any imperfections, but the slightest rock chip or swirl mark shows up very easily.

Overall, the paint was in very good condition across the whole coupe.  It was obviously garaged most of it’s life, given how smooth the paint was to the touch and how bright the M emblem colors were.  That said, it’s a 14 year old vehicle and had it’s share of knicks.

1999 BMW M Coupe in Cosmos Black over Dark Beige

The front bumper had a smattering of rock chips and the underside of the splitters was slightly scraped.  Rock chips appear as little white spots on black paint, so they stand out easily.  I also discovered that there must have been a light front end collision with the primary impact occurring at the license plate holder.  Once I removed the license plate holder, there was a 3-inch diameter impact scrape.  A front bumper re-spray seemed the best fix.

I asked around and RJ’s Paint Shop in Pleasanton was the consensus recommendation.  They’re a small shop that handles mostly high end exotics, so I had a great time visiting the shop and peeking at the Porsche 911 GT3 they were working on.  I wouldn’t have it any other way for my own coupe, and after RJ suggested plugging the license plate holes (which I was already considering) we finalized the deal.  He also suggested shaving the corner lights, but since it wasn’t going to be my coupe forever, I opted to keep it stock.  I’m intrigued by that shaved corner look, so I might explore that on my own Alpine White coupe when I have the front bumper resprayed in a few months.

The results speak for themselves.

Front Bumper After

 

Front Bumper After

With the big ticket item taken care of, I turned my attention to a quarter sized dent on the passenger side door and a few pin-head sized dings in the passenger rear quarter panel.  For those of us obsessed with our coupes (who, me?) there’s nothing quite as annoying as a door ding.  They ruin the smooth reflections on the paint like a slight ripple on a calm pond, and I’m quick to call my local painless dent repair (PDR) guy, Chris at Diablo Dents.

Dent

Paintless Dent Removal

For those that might not be aware (I wasn’t until about a year ago), PDR experts utilize a series of long metal rods inserted behind a car’s body panels to push dents out from behind.  The rods are flat enough to fit between the window and weather stripped to slide down into the door panel, and the end of the rod has a 3-4 inch section that is bent 45 degrees like a small golf putter.  Once he finds an ‘in’ to the damaged panel, he uses a large light panel suction cupped to the door to cast shadows on the panel so he can determine when it’s smoothed out.

What amazes me is how fast he knocked these things out.  Just a couple hours and $200 later, the door dent and 3 small rear quarter panel dings were smoothed out with any paint scrapes polished clean.  Awesome!

Now that the exterior was looking quite flawless, all that was left was an interior cleaning with some Meguiar’s Quick Interior Detailer on the plastic surfaces, Meguiar’s Leather Care on the seats/steering wheel, and some glass cleaner on the windshield/windows.

It didn’t take long before we heard from an interested buyer looking for a low mileage black M Coupe.  He flew up from SoCal, got the car checked out at Performance Technic, was amazed at how clean it was, and drove it home as his first M Coupe!  Awesome.

Uniting coupes with new deserving owners has become quite a fun and rewarding hobby.  Stay tuned for an introduction to our next project coupe: a supercharged (370 hp!) S52 with some high dollar modifications and a lot of work needed in the rear hatch compartment.  Fun!

Categories: LC60677 Tags: , ,

Market Update – January 24, 2014

January 24th, 2014 Comments off

This week’s overview of what’s happened in the M Coupe market.

Currently Listed: 41
S52: 31
S54: 10
Average Asking Price: $24,968.34
S52: $20.664.31
S54: $37,402.22

Most Popular Sales Listings

These are the cars that have been viewed most often this week:

1999 Estoril Blue over Black in Fontana, CA

1999 Estoril Blue over Black
Fontana, CA – $10,300

2002 Black Sapphire over Black in Glendale, CA

2002 Black Sapphire over Black
Glendale, CA – $26,250

2001 Titanium Silver over Dark Gray in Lutz, FL

2001 Titanium Silver over Dark Gray
Lutz, FL – $36,000

1999 Imola Red over Black in Aberdeen, NC

1999 Imola Red over Black
Aberdeen, NC – $18,000

Best Deals

These are what I think are the best deals still available that are not already on the most popular list.

1999 Imola Red over Black in Humble, TX

1999 Imola Red over Black
Humble, TX- $16,980

1999 Arctic Silver over Black in Wise River, MT

1999 Arctic Silver over Black
Wise River, MT- $16,500

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue in Kakaako, HI

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue
Kakaako, HI- $16,000

1999 Arctic Silver over Dark Gray in Hagerstown, MD

1999Arctic SilveroverDark Gray
Hagerstown, MD- $14,100

Sold This Week

Here are the cars that appear to have gone to lucky new owners this week.

Categories: Market Updates Tags:

Market Update – January 17, 2014

January 17th, 2014 Comments off

This week’s overview of what’s happened in the M Coupe market.

Currently Listed: 48
S52: 37
S54: 11
Average Asking Price: $24,819.81
S52: $20.864.44
S54: $37,477.00

Most Popular Sales Listings

These are the cars that have been viewed most often this week:

1999 Dakar Yellow over Black in Los Angeles, CA

1999 Dakar Yellow over Black
Los Angeles, CA – $8,000

1999 Estoril Blue over Black in Fontana, CA

1999 Estoril Blue over Black
Fontana, CA – $10,500

1999 Imola Red over Black in Aberdeen, NC

1999 Imola Red over Black
Aberdeen, NC – $19,000

2000 Alpine White over Black in Mont Aint Hilaire, QC

2000 Alpine White over Black
Mont Aint Hilaire, QC – $37,000

Best Deals

These are what I think are the best deals still available that are not already on the most popular list.

1999 Imola Red over Black in Humble, TX

1999 Imola Red over Black
Humble, TX- $16,980

1999 Arctic Silver over Black in Wise River, MT

1999 Arctic Silver over Black
Wise River, MT- $16,500

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue in Kakaako, HI

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue
Kakaako, HI- $16,000

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in Lawrenceville, GA

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue
Lawrenceville, GA- $15,200

Sold This Week

Here are the cars that appear to have gone to lucky new owners this week.

Categories: Market Updates Tags:

Market Update – January 11, 2014

January 10th, 2014 2 comments

This week’s overview of what’s happened in the M Coupe market.

Currently Listed: 46
S52: 37
S54: 9
Average Asking Price: $23,912.58
S52: $20.769.47
S54: $36,485.00

Most Popular Sales Listings

These are the cars that have been viewed most often this week:

1999 Dakar Yellow over Black in Los Angeles, CA

1999 Dakar Yellow over Black
Los Angeles, CA – $9,500

2000 Alpine White over Black in Mont Aint Hilaire, QC

2000 Alpine White over Black
Mont Aint Hilaire, QC – $37,000

2000 Titanium Silver over Black in Los Angeles, CA

2000 Titanium Silver over Black
Los Angeles, CA – $18,250

1999 Imola Red over Black in Aberdeen, NC

1999 Imola Red over Black
Aberdeen, NC – $19,000

Best Deals

These are what I think are the best deals still available that are not already on the most popular list.

2000 Cosmos Black over Black in North Knoxville, TN

2000 Cosmos Black over Black
North Knoxville, TN- $18,000

1999 Arctic Silver over Black in Wise River, MT

1999 Arctic Silver over Black
Wise River, MT- $16,500

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue in Kakaako, HI

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue
Kakaako, HI- $16,000

1999 Boston Green over Dark Beige in Goodyear, AZ

1999 Boston Green over Dark Beige
Goodyear, AZ- $15,900

Sold This Week

Here are the cars that appear to have gone to lucky new owners this week.

Categories: Market Updates Tags:

Market Update – January 4, 2014

January 4th, 2014 Comments off

This week’s overview of what’s happened in the M Coupe market.

Currently Listed: 45
S52: 35
S54: 10
Average Asking Price: $24,202.63
S52: $21.104.03
S54: $34,875.56

Most Popular Sales Listings

These are the cars that have been viewed most often this week:

1999 Dakar Yellow over Black in Los Angeles, CA

1999 Dakar Yellow over Black
Los Angeles, CA – $9,500

1999 Cosmos Black over Dark Beige in Reno, NV

1999 Cosmos Black over Dark Beige
Reno, NV- $17,000

2000 Alpine White over Black in Mont Aint Hilaire, QC

2000 Alpine White over Black
Mont Aint Hilaire, QC – $37,000

2000 Titanium Silver over Black in Miami, FL

2000 Titanium Silver over Black
Miami, FL – $21,000

Best Deals

These are what I think are the best deals still available that are not already on the most popular list.

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in Lawrenceville, GA

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue
Lawrenceville, GA- $15,200

1999 Arctic Silver over Black in Wise River, MT

1999Arctic SilveroverBlack
Wise River, MT- $16,500

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue in Kakaako, HI

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue
Kakaako, HI- $17,500

2000 Titanium Silver over Black in Los Angeles, CA

2000 Titanium Silver over Black
Los Angeles, CA- $18,250

Sold This Week

Here are the cars that appear to have gone to lucky new owners this week.

Categories: Market Updates Tags:

Best of 2013

January 1st, 2014 Comments off

I thought I would take a moment to reflect on some of the most significant M Coupe listings in this the fourth year of MCoupeBuyersGuide.com. We’ve seen prices of coupes come up and their popularity grow.

Top 10 of 2013

Here are the most popular M Coupes of 2013 including those both on and off the market. There were a total of 477,257 views of listings (up from 410,224 last year) by 60,020 unique visitors in 2013. Pretty amazing!

2002 Steel Gray over Dark Gray in Philadelphia, PA

2002 Steel Gray over Dark Gray
Philadelphia, PA – SOLD
5244 Views

2002 Black Sapphire over Imola Red in Cincinnati, OH

2002 Black Sapphire over Imola Red
Cincinnati, OH – SOLD
4885 Views

1999 Imola Red over Black in San Jose, CA

1999 Imola Red over Black
San Jose, CA – SOLD
4801 Views

2001 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in Crystal City, VA

2001 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue
Crystal City, VA
4586 Views

1999 Cosmos Black over Dark Beige in Greensboro, NC

1999 Cosmos Black over Dark Beige
Greensboro, NC – SOLD
3823 Views

2001 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in New York, NY

2001 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue
New York, NY – SOLD
3763 Views

2000 Alpine White over Evergreen in Portland, OR

2000 Alpine White over Evergreen
Portland, OR – SOLD
3447 Views

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in Manhattan Beach, CA

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue
Manhattan Beach, CA – SOLD
3380 Views

2002 Steel Gray over Black in Fall River, MA

2002 Steel Gray over Black
Fall River, MA
3368 Views

2001 Titanium Silver over Black in Summerlin, NV

2001 Titanium Silver over Black
Summerlin, NV
3354 Views

Highest Confirmed Sale Prices

In 2012, the highest confirmed sale price was $43,990 which was a low mileage phoenix yellow coupe. These prices have blown it out of the water.

2002 Estoril Blue over Black in Cincinnati, OH

2002 Estoril Blue over Black
Cincinnati, OH – $59,990

2002 Black Sapphire over Imola Red in Cincinnati, OH

2002 Black Sapphire over Imola Red
Cincinnati, OH – $55,990

2002 Black Sapphire over Imola Red in Cincinnati, OH

2002 Black Sapphire over Imola Red
Cincinnati, OH – $54,490

2002 Imola Red over Imola Red in Cincinatti, OH

2002 Imola Red over Imola Red
Cincinatti, OH – $51,990

Deals of the Year

These new coupe owners practically stole their coupes.

2001 Phoenix Yellow over Black in Chatham, NJ

2001 Phoenix Yellow over Black
Chatham, NJ – $17,000

2000 Steel Gray over Dark Beige in Silver Spring, MD

2000 Steel Gray over Dark Beige
Silver Spring, MD – $10,000

1999 Imola Red over Black in Lima, OH

1999 Imola Red over Black
Lima, OH – $14,950

2002 Steel Gray over Dark Gray in Carmel, IN

2002 Steel Gray over Dark Gray
Carmel, IN – $23,500

Personal Favorites

These are the coupes that have been on the market this year that I personally think are the coolest.

2001 Black Sapphire over Imola Red in Saugus, MA

2001 Black Sapphire over Imola Red
Saugus, MA – SOLD

2002 Black Sapphire over Imola Red in Cincinnati, OH

2002 Black Sapphire over Imola Red
Cincinnati, OH – SOLD

2000 Cosmos Black over Kyalami Orange in Aptos, CA

2000 Cosmos Black over Kyalami
Aptos, CA – SOLD

2002 Estoril Blue over Dark Gray in San Diego, CA

2002 Estoril Blue over Dark Gray
San Diego, CA – SOLD

Categories: Market Updates Tags:

Market Update – December 27, 2013

December 27th, 2013 Comments off

This week’s overview of what’s happened in the M Coupe market.

Currently Listed: 42
S52: 32
S54: 10
Average Asking Price: $24,150.37
S52: $20.787.38
S54: $34,986.67

Most Popular Sales Listings

These are the cars that have been viewed most often this week:

1999 Dakar Yellow over Black in Los Angeles, CA

1999 Dakar Yellow over Black
Los Angeles, CA – $9,500

2000 Titanium Silver over Black in Miami, FL

2000 Titanium Silver over Black
Miami, FL – $21,000

1999 Boston Green over Dark Beige in Goodyear, AZ

1999 Boston Green over Dark Beige
Goodyear, AZ – $15,900

2002 Black Sapphire over Dark Gray in Irvine, CA

2002 Black Sapphire over Dark Gray
Irvine, CA – $26,500

Best Deals

These are what I think are the best deals still available that are not already on the most popular list.

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in Lawrenceville, GA

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue
Lawrenceville, GA- $15,200

1999 Arctic Silver over Black in Wise River, MT

1999Arctic SilveroverBlack
Wise River, MT- $16,500

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue in Kakaako, HI

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue
Kakaako, HI- $17,500

1999 Cosmos Black over Dark Beige in Reno, NV

1999 Cosmos Black over Dark Beige
Reno, NV- $17,000

Sold This Week

Here are the cars that appear to have gone to lucky new owners this week.

Categories: Market Updates Tags:

Market Update – December 20, 2013

December 20th, 2013 Comments off

This week’s overview of what’s happened in the M Coupe market.

Currently Listed: 48
S52: 35
S54: 13
Average Asking Price: $24,332.91
S52: $20.726.949
S54: $33,648.33

Most Popular Sales Listings

These are the cars that have been viewed most often this week:

1999 Dakar Yellow over Black in Los Angeles, CA

1999 Dakar Yellow over Black
Los Angeles, CA – $10,500

2002 Black Sapphire over Dark Gray in Irvine, CA

2002 Black Sapphire over Dark Gray
Irvine, CA – $26,500

2000 Titanium Silver over Black in Miami, FL

2000 Titanium Silver over Black
Miami, FL – $21,000

1999 Boston Green over Dark Beige in Goodyear, AZ

1999 Boston Green over Dark Beige
Goodyear, AZ – $15,900

Best Deals

These are what I think are the best deals still available that are not already on the most popular list.

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in Lawrenceville, GA

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue
Lawrenceville, GA- $15,200

1999 Arctic Silver over Black in Wise River, MT

1999Arctic SilveroverBlack
Wise River, MT- $16,500

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue in Kakaako, HI

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue
Kakaako, HI- $17,500

2000 Titanium Silver over Black in San Antonio, TX

2000 Titanium Silver over Black
San Antonio, TX- $25,000

Sold This Week

Here are the cars that appear to have gone to lucky new owners this week.

Categories: Market Updates Tags:

LC60677 – Part 2: The Mechanicals

December 16th, 2013 4 comments

1999 BMW M Coupe in Cosmos Black over Dark Beige

Before I bought my first coupe, I had test driven several others here in California.  At one point I was considering a 2001 Titanium Silver over Black sunroof delete (that ended up being sold to a gentleman from Canada I believe), and when I was reviewing the seller’s records, he had quite a bit of work done by a independent shop called Performance Technic.  He had nothing but good things to say about them, and I remembered telling myself I’d check them out once I had a coupe of my own.  You can get to know the owner, the technicians and their work here: http://performancetechnic.com

Once I finally bought my first coupe, it needed a new valve cover gasket, a valve adjustment and an oil change, so I made the 15 minute drive from San Ramon to Pleasanton to visit the guys at ‘PTech’.  I’m not much of a DIY guy (something I’d like to remedy through the Project Coupe experience), so it was nice to know that the gentlemen at Performance Technic take a consultative approach with their customers.  Every part and procedure was explained, and they took the time to show me around the shop to check out the other cars they were working on, even encouraging me to follow along as they performed their projects.  They’re 100% focused on BMW’s, and it shows in their craftsmanship and enthusiasm for the cars they’re working on.  It was great pulling into the shop to see the techs so excited to work on an M Coupe.  You just don’t see that everywhere.  Needless to say, their work was awesome at a good value, so I’m a happy returning customer.

Once I sold my original coupe, they were sad to see it go but I reassured them I’d be back in my next one.  So they were thrilled when I dropped by in the project coupe to have them give it a once over.

As I noted in the first article, there were a handful of items that I noticed, but since I hadn’t performed a PPI, I wanted their professional opinion on what was going on under the hood.  I scheduled an appointment for an initial inspection and to get the obvious items taken care of.  Here’s what I already had in mind:

Inspection Light down to yellow
Oil Service Light on
Airbag light on
AC only working on high fan setting
The driver-side window button being elevated
Shifter handle pretty worn/slick & doesn’t light up
Glove box sagging

After getting the car up on the rack, I took out my DSLR and started shooting photos of the undercarriage…for your viewing pleasure.  You can see that it looks insanely clean.  Just as I would expect a 40k mile coupe to look.

1999 BMW M Coupe in Cosmos Black over Dark Beige

After finalizing the inspection, they gave it a clean bill of health aside from the items mentioned above.  No surprises! Rear shock mounts and subframe bushings were in good shape, tires are new, brakes have plenty of life left in them, cooling system and all belts are in proper working order, and best of all they confirmed the rear trunk floor and differential mount were in perfect shape.  No sunken welds or tears in the U-shaped mount.  Awesome!

1999 BMW M Coupe in Cosmos Black over Dark Beige Diff Mount

The oil was drained out and replaced with OEM recommended 5w-30, along with a new oil filter.  The rear differential fluid was also drained and replaced with Redline 75w-90 fluid.  The final fluid to be flushed was the brake fluid, so they bled the lines and replaced with ATE DOT 4 brake fluid.  All fresh and clean!  I asked about replacing the transmission fluid, and they didn’t recommend it, so we left that alone.  They, too, have heard good things about Amsoil, but would only recommend it to me if I planned on driving the car aggressively on the track or Autocross.  Given that this will be given a new home soon, I opted to leave it stock for now.

As for the Air Conditioning/Heat fan only working on the highest setting, I did some searching and came across this excellent DIY: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?632391-ac-fan-only-works-on-4-write-up-)

Fairly simple when it’s broken down step by step, with illustrated instructions!  I did the simple thing first by blowing on it and cleaning it off with some WD-40, and voila the fan now works on all four speed settings.  Done and done!

1999 BMW M Coupe in Cosmos Black over Dark Beige

Now for the two trickier items to be addressed, the airbag light and the raised driver side window switch.

PTech pulled the code for the airbag light and it came back with the seat belt tensioner needing to be replaced, a quoted price north of $500.  Ouch.  I started doing a bit of research and discovered that this was  quite common, with a possible solution coming by thoroughly cleaning the connectors underneath the seat, applying lithium grease to keep them clean, and then re-connecting them.  I haven’t taken the time to remove the seats just yet, but will keep you posted on this progress, as I don’t intend to spend $500 to get a light to turn off.

As for the raised driver side window switch, it seems as if the previous owner did some DIY altering of this button and glued it in place so it’s permanently raised.  The techs showed me that it wasn’t able to simply be pushed down, and that when downward force was added, the center trim piece would also bow downwards.  So, without taking the whole center console apart, we could assume that the bottom portion of the button was somehow glued or otherwise connected to the underside of the trim plastic, neither of which NEEDED to be replaced, so this is being kept as is.  The button works perfectly, and it’s actually kind of nice to reach down without looking and be able to feel the elevated button for eyes-free operation.  What a feature!

1999 BMW M Coupe in Cosmos Black over Dark Beige

Another small item to be addressed was the shift knob not lighting up.  I removed the knob and saw that the two wires had been cut, eliminating the possibility of the knob lighting up.  This could have been by design by the previous owner to eliminate the light, or there could have been a short caused by that light, solved by disconnecting the wires.

Either way, the shift knob was pretty slick and not in the best shape, so I decided to replace it altogether with the non-illuminated ZHP knob.  Once it arrives from LeatherZ, I’ll share some photos of it installed.  Should be a welcome improvement.

Finally, the all too common glove box sag.  This is a simple DIY fix, and I’ve recently ordered the Glove Box Sag Fix Kit from eBay.  You can find them here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/netlocksusa.  Costs less than $35 shipped to your door, and I’ll gladly go into more detail once I’ve completed the fix myself.

1999 BMW M Coupe in Cosmos Black over Dark Beige Glovebox

All in all, not bad for a coupe that didn’t have a PPI done and didn’t have any service history aside from CarFax records.  She’s now in perfect mechanical condition and ready to be beautified!  Stay tuned for the next article covering the exterior paint, body and detail work!

Categories: LC60677 Tags:

Market Update – December 13, 2013

December 13th, 2013 Comments off

This week’s overview of what’s happened in the M Coupe market.

Currently Listed: 53
S52: 40
S54: 13
Average Asking Price: $24,949.06
S52: $21,995.09
S54: $33,564.83

Most Popular Sales Listings

These are the cars that have been viewed most often this week:

2000 Titanium Silver over Black in San Antonio, TX

2000 Titanium Silver over Black
San Antonio, TX – $25,000

2002 Black Sapphire over Dark Gray in Irvine, CA

2002 Black Sapphire over Dark Gray
Irvine, CA – $26,500

2002 Black Sapphire over Black in Pasadena, CA

2002 Black Sapphire over Black
Pasadena, CA – $22,000

1999 Boston Green over Dark Beige in Goodyear, AZ

1999 Boston Green over Dark Beige
Goodyear, AZ – $15,900

Best Deals

These are what I think are the best deals still available that are not already on the most popular list.

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in Lawrenceville, GA

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue
Lawrenceville, GA- $15,200

2000 Cosmos Black over Imola Red in Sausalito, CA

2000 Cosmos Black over Imola Red
Sausalito, CA- $21,500

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue in Kakaako, HI

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue
Kakaako, HI- $17,500

1999 Arctic Silver over Black in Wise River, MT

1999Arctic SilveroverBlack
Wise River, MT- $16,500

Sold This Week

Here are the cars that appear to have gone to lucky new owners this week.

Categories: Market Updates Tags:

Market Update – December 6, 2013

December 6th, 2013 Comments off

This week’s overview of what’s happened in the M Coupe market.

Currently Listed: 52
S52: 39
S54: 13
Average Asking Price: $25,211.22
S52: $21,814.35
S54: $34,835.67

Most Popular Sales Listings

These are the cars that have been viewed most often this week:

2002 Black Sapphire over Black in Pasadena, CA

2002 Black Sapphire over Black
Pasadena, CA – $23,000

2000 Titanium Silver over Black in Miami, FL

2000 Titanium Silver over Black
Miami, FL – $25,500

2000 Cosmos Black over Dark Beige in Walnut Creek, CA

2000 Cosmos Black over Dark Beige
Walnut Creek, CA – $26,900

1999 Cosmos Black over Black in Charleston, SC

1999 Cosmos Black over Black
Charleston, SC – $9,500

Best Deals

These are what I think are the best deals still available that are not already on the most popular list.

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in Lawrenceville, GA

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue
Lawrenceville, GA- $15,200

2001 Titanium Silver over Dark Gray in Summerlin, NV

2001 Titanium Silver over Dark Gray
Summerlin, NV- $31,000

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue in Kakaako, HI

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue
Kakaako, HI- $17,500

1999 Boston Green over Dark Beige in Goodyear, AZ

1999 Boston Green over Dark Beige
Goodyear, AZ- $15,900

Sold This Week

Here are the cars that appear to have gone to lucky new owners this week.

Categories: Market Updates Tags:

Market Update – November 29, 2013

November 30th, 2013 Comments off

This week’s overview of what’s happened in the M Coupe market.

Currently Listed: 53
S52: 40
S54: 13
Average Asking Price: $25,339.72
S52: $21,991.11
S54: $35,106.50

Most Popular Sales Listings

These are the cars that have been viewed most often this week:

2002 Black Sapphire over Black in Pasadena, CA

2002 Black Sapphire over Black
Pasadena, CA – $23,000

2000 Cosmos Black over Dark Beige in Walnut Creek, CA

2000 Cosmos Black over Dark Beige
Walnut Creek, CA – $26,900

1999 Cosmos Black over Dark Beige in Tyler, TX

1999 Cosmos Black over Dark Beige
Tyler, TX – $21,900

1999 Cosmos Black over Black in Charleston, SC

1999 Cosmos Black over Black
Charleston, SC – $9,500

Best Deals

These are what I think are the best deals still available that are not already on the most popular list.

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in Lawrenceville, GA

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue
Lawrenceville, GA- $15,200

2001 Titanium Silver over Dark Gray in Summerlin, NV

2001 Titanium Silver over Dark Gray
Summerlin, NV- $31,000

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue in Kakaako, HI

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue
Kakaako, HI- $17,500

1999 Imola Red over Black in New Orleans, LA

1999 Imola Red over Black
New Orleans, LA- $21,000

Sold This Week

Here are the cars that appear to have gone to lucky new owners this week.

Categories: Market Updates Tags:

Market Update – November 22, 2013

November 25th, 2013 Comments off

This week’s overview of what’s happened in the M Coupe market.

Currently Listed: 52
S52: 38
S54: 14
Average Asking Price: $25,815.04
S52: $22,294.97
S54: $34,112.36

Most Popular Sales Listings

These are the cars that have been viewed most often this week:

2002 Black Sapphire over Black in Pasadena, CA

2002 Black Sapphire over Black
Pasadena, CA – $23,000

2001 Black Sapphire over Black in Smyrna, GA

2001 Black Sapphire over Black
Smyrna, GA – $49,150

1999 Cosmos Black over Black in Charleston, SC

1999 Cosmos Black over Black
Charleston, SC – $9,500

2002 Steel Gray over Dark Gray in Philadelphia, PA

2002 Steel Gray over Dark Gray
Philadelphia, PA – $26,900

Best Deals

These are what I think are the best deals still available that are not already on the most popular list.

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in Lawrenceville, GA

1999 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue
Lawrenceville, GA- $15,200

2001 Titanium Silver over Dark Gray in Summerlin, NV

2001 Titanium Silver over Dark Gray
Summerlin, NV – $31,000

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue in Kakaako, HI

1999 Arctic Silver over Estoril Blue
Kakaako, HI- $17,500

2001 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue in Crystal City, VA

2001 Estoril Blue over Estoril Blue
Crystal City, VA – $26,500

Sold This Week

Here are the cars that appear to have gone to lucky new owners this week.

Categories: Market Updates Tags: