1998 BMW z3
 

Removing text as I will be listing it on BAT this week

You did a great job on the ad plus the pictures are great. What type of camera did you use ?

Yes. Very thorough. The car looks great and seems very well cared for.

Thanks, for the feedback on the listing. We're pretty ambivolent to whether it sells or not. If we get something near our asking price, great... if not, its cheap and a fun little car when not asked to be a daily driver (which my wife had to do all summer because our daughters were using the e46 and x5).

I was impressed with the pictures, considering they were all shot with a galaxy S7 phone. I had planned to get one of my good cameras out, but after seeing the results from my phone i didn't bother.

Maybe it is just my connection, but it looks like the S7 let you down on the "top down" video.

GLWS!

In the early 80's I owned a black chevy van. Afterward I swore I would never own a black vehicle again. (in the 80's, there wasn't much choice in car care products, and owning black was a bitch) Then in 2015 I bought a black Audi S4


Damn you for temping me again to the dark side

It's the photographer, not the camera. :thumbup:

GLWTS! If I was in the market for something like this, I'd definitely give you a shout

Not that there is a market for it here, but I just dropped the price to $10,500. We're taking it up to the lake this weekend and putting it in the garage up there for storage, so this is my last effort at selling it until spring time.

If I didn't already have the Miata, I'd be very tempted.

Damn I just looked again at this ... what an incredible dealer for a super cool car

Its a fair amount cheaper than a 992 or 2nd gen R8.. just sayin...

It will be coming out of storage soon and is for sale again. Hopefully BAT takes it no reserve this week.

I am watching it on BAT. I actually sent the link to a relative in an attempt to spark some interest. Good luck!

Thanks SCA. You're not TUD17 on there, are you?

considering TUD17 bidding and purchasing history, I think it is just a lurker

Yes, it is me.

Josh, please tell me about the system that you have connected to the factory radio for Bluetooth and aux. I would seriously reinstall my factory CD radio in my ‘01 Z3 3.0i if I could have this option vs the previous owner’s Alpine unit.

firstly, sweet 540 that you bought on there. How did the post auction steps work? Did you arrange shipment, does BAT handle routing payments?


I'm not sure if this is the exact unit I got, but it's the same:
https://www.ebay.com/i/223506463423?...RoCmC8QAvD_BwE

Basically, pop the head unit out, put this plug in line between the radio and the big square CD Changer plug, shove it behind the climate control area, put the radio back and call it a day. I ran the microphone behind the dash trim and stuck it in the instrument cluster. The phone connection works OK, but the streaming is great. You switch it to CD mode, pair your phone to "Car Kit" and it streams. The forward / back track buttons on the radio will skip / repeat phone tracks.

Thanks, it arrived yesterday in the abnormal cold and pouring rain. It was picked up late Thursday and arrived in Knoxville twenty-four hours later.

The 2003 E39 540 M Sports are rare, only 1,265 imported into the U.S. with only 200 of those being six speed manuals. The exterior needs some TLC for a seventeen year auto, but it was a one owner (75 yr old retired Cargill executive) with low miles, records, window sticker, and books. The interior is exceptionally clean. I do not think the rear seats have ever been used.

The BAT seller is suppose to contact the winning bidder afterwards. That was not my case with this dealer whom one of the co-owners is friends with the former owner of the vehicle. Anyways... BAT sends out an automatic email to both parties with details how to proceed/finalize. I made the initial contact with the seller shortly after receiving the email and then we spoke by phone the following evening. BAT does not do a whole lot other than post the auction, pics, and videos. Other than that they are quick to collect their money (lol). I arranged for the shipping as I used a broker that I have previously used. Quite a few E30 M3 owners also have used her (I still own mine and BMW NA still has it). I can pass along her contact info if you would like (via PM) in the event that your winning bidder requires shipping. She is in Bethesda, MD and I am confident that she uses Central Dispatch. BAT is hands off after the auction ends, especially in regards to collecting the purchase price. They recommend wire transfer per the their finale email which is what I did.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

Thank you for the info on the BT.

Sean

Thanks for the heads up, that is disappointing to hear that they are not involved in the closing of the sale. I appreciate the offer for broker contact. I sort of expect the car to sell locally. I met one guy that lives 10 minutes away on thursday and am meeting another guy from 10 mins in the other direction tomorrow, who both seem interested and are lurking on the auction now. If it does sell to a remote buyer, I'll get in touch.
Your Z3 looks great too.

That is a sweet 540! Great score!

My wife and I were almost in Knoxville this past 4th of July weekend. We went to the orchestra and fireworks on the river in Chattanooga. On the way home She wanted to see the Lost Sea Adventure near Sweetwater, then we decided to find info about the train rides out of Bryson City. Completely unplanned, we ended up on the Tail of the Dragon (thanks to my GPS! I just punched in Bryson City and we ended up on 129) Then over to Murphy to visit my cousin and donate a little to the Indians at Harrah's, then back home to Clemson.

I went to an awards dinner in Knoxville last summer. I hadn’t been there since 1982. I was very pleasantly surprised by the city. I thought to myself, I could live here.

I haven't spent much time in Knoxville, but have also been pleasantly surprised...

I was there one night for a work holiday party a few years ago (this was shortly after we announced we were closing an office where I had a small team -- so king of an awkward night). I've since driven through 3x on road trips (so stopped at the Supercharger).

There is a menswear shop in Knoxville that goes by the owner's first and middle initials and his last name -- all which are the same as mine, so maybe I have a parallel universe twin who is there :dunno: :lol:

Lol, just noticed this edited post, and of course, I was checking

BAT requirements.
right around the time the accepted the listing, i got the first 'interested' post on Bimmerfest from a poster that had a 0 post count. The same poster also PM'ed me expressing an interest in the car. I said it was going up on auction and per rules, I would only sell it there and the poster disappeared.... sketchy.

As an aside, Bimmerfest sucks that they won't allow you to edit your posts after a couple of weeks. I couldn't get in touch with any admin or moderator either. Very annoying.

15 minutes left.

Oops, I accidentally "flagged" JST's last comment, meant to thumbs up it

Ha ha.

Josh, you must be pleased--that was high end of your estimate, wasn't it?

I had originally listed it on the forums for $12,500 and was happy with anything over $10. The last push exceeded all my expectations. I'm happy. Buyer is from the NY area so it should be a relatively easy deal closing (I assume no shipping).

Thanks to everyone here for the well wishes, comments, etc.

So glad this worked out for you!

Congrats!! :thumbup:

:thumbup:

Awesome!

nice, congrats. First BAT sell on this board right? Been considering it for my turbo.

A lot of late activity. I saw it a few hours ago at $8700 and was wondering how far it would go. You ended up with a nice price at the end - congrats!!

Congrats Josh! I just recently had an opportunity to see what it closed at even though I had planned to watch it live.

To those that have commented re Knoxville, I am jaded re the city having resided here on and off since 1973.

Looked like an awesome finish! WTG! and congrats!

Congrats, Josh! Very strong sale, but it was the perfect car for it.

Congrats on the sale and final price! I was getting a little worried for you when it stalled around $7k for a few days...

BaT doing that thing where they queue up another to pick up the second highest bidder, and capitalize on a successful auction:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2002-bmw-z3-17/

Wow, I had completely forgotten about the blue leather on the regular Z3 from that era. I love blue, but that car has too much of it!

yeah the blue around the shifter is really bad

Not really as well represented as Josh’s. Do love Topaz, but blue leather not so much. Rocking seats were a problem, which Josh addressed head on. Details here are bare minimum. But, I happened to prefer the LCI body style, with the more rounded hips.