1999 BMW M3

Convertible

M3 6cyl

Automatic

WBSBK033XXEC41596

Flood, Water Damage

Gasoline

1999 BMW M3 Convertible: silver exterior, grey interior, and black top. Nine of the photos were taken in the past week. The two photos of the car inside a garage were taken July 17, 2015. They show the reinstalled, repainted front bumper cover. New fog lights were installed, replacement passenger side molding was installed, and a number of other fixes were made. See the list of parts/services purchased/installed. The most recent work was completed April 21, 2018: new fuel pump, steering rack, and battery. See scan of receipt. If you want to see/drive the car, send me a message and I'll tell you where to go to look at it. It is not at my house. Ditto, likewise for any questions: send me a message and ask me your question(s). Buy this BMW and drive it home! This is a good news/not-so-good news 1999 BMW M3 Convertible. Good News: - This is a NO RESERVE auction. If you are the winning bidder, you have bought the car! - The car looks great, runs reliably, and nearly everything works. - Paint looks good, no rips in the leather interior, and the top is good. - Sale is by a private seller, not a dealer. - My wife has owned the car since June 15, 2015 and I can share with you the car's history from that date up to today. - The Black Book Cars of Particular Interest (CPI) Collectible Vehicle Value Guide for January - February 2019 shows a value of $8400 in #4 Fair condition for this car. Good #3 is $15,000 and Excel #2 is $24,300. See scan of CPI book. Not-so-good News: - The power top upper/downer doesn't put the top up/down; top upping/downing must be done manually. - This BMW has a curious history and has a "branded" title. See scan of the title. Under "Other Jurisdiction Brands" two-thirds of the way down the page on the right it says (1) "VA-Flood Damage," (2) "NY-Rebuilt," and (3) "May have previously been declared a total loss vehicle due to damage. - The car history report I pulled in 2015 had at least 90 hits and not all of them were happy hits. Of course, I can't find my copy of the vehicle history as I write this. You can click on the "Vehicle History Report" tab beneath the thumbnails and read it now. Everything I can think of that I know about this 1999 BMW M3 Convertible and its story while part of my household: - I know that I do NOT know what happened with this car in Virginia and New York and I do NOT know for a fact if it was previously declared a total loss due to damage. Vehicle history reports do not tell you those sort of details, only that an event occurred. - I do not find any obvious indications of previous damage, flood or otherwise. The VIN stamped on various body parts is the same VIN as the VIN on that is on the title. I don't see where any identifiable parts have been replaced. - The rest of the history description is prose because I'm tired of making bullets. My wife purchased this 1999 BMW M3 Convertible from a private seller in Jacksonville, FL on June 15, 2015. It was on Craigslist. My wife and her friend "John" went to look at/drive/buy the car. I learned that John insisted that she buy it and that he would help her fix its mostly cosmetic flaws. John is a rabid BMW fanatic, he tells us that he is a certified BMW mechanic, and he probably was at a time in the past. "Of course you have to buy it, it's a BMW!" John used his AAA membership to have it flat-bedded to our house the next day or so. We discovered the branded title when my wife and John returned from Jacksonville. Then we obtained a copy of the vehicle history with the 90+ hits. My wife transferred the title on July 14, 2015. The show-stopper that prevented them from driving the car home was a noisy rear wheel bearing. It's been replaced. The headlights were faded and fogged. They've been replaced. The front of the car looked like it had been driven through a swarm of Love Bugs (Florida folks know what I'm talking about) that were not cleaned off before they damaged the paint. The front bumper has been removed, repainted for $220, and reinstalled. Missing molding on the passenger side was obtained and installed. A fog light was broken. New yellow replacement fog lights were installed. A power rear window wouldn't go down (or up). It has been repaired. The power top didn't work. John replaced the thing I'll call the eccentric (I drilled out the bolt in its center for him) that connects to a rod, also replaced, that makes the top up/down magic happen. John replaced a number of top parts with used parts from Lost Mountain Auto Parts in Dallas, GA, paid for them out of his pocket, but never gave my wife the receipts. So I don't really know for fact what he did to the top. The power top doesn't work; you can put the top up/down manually. John stopped working on the car and tried to sell it a number of times, asking more than folks were willing to pay. It didn't sell because the price was too high for a car with a branded title. John found a new girlfriend. John disappeared just before Hurricane Matthew passed by us on October 6, 2016. John lives elsewhere in Florida with his girlfriend now. They made some feeble attempts to sell this car, but no one showed up to look at the car when John said they would. The car sat in my garage until January 25, 2018. We flat-bedded it to a shop on that day because we couldn't get it to start (failed fuel pump). The most recent work on the car was completed April 21, 2018. See picture of receipt. Replaced fuel pump, steering rack, and battery. Put the top up properly/completely so the top can be operated manually. The latest theory is that the gears associated with the power top motor are stripped. I don't know if it really has gears. The motor makes noise when you try to lower/raise the top, but nothing happens. I assume the replacement top motor from Lost Mountain Auto Parts was fine before installed. Once installed, it lost its will to be a top motor anymore and perhaps now thinks it is a boat anchor. Next is a list of parts/services obtained and installed per the receipts that I have: Fender molding, quarter molding, antenna seal, glove box button (June 18, 2015) Hood struts (June 18, 2015) Rear wheel bearings (wrong ones, I still have these) (June 19, 2015) BMW E36 Fog Lights OE Type - Yellow (June 20, 2015) Molding clips (June 20, 2015) Headlight assemblies from Speedway Pull-N-Save Auto Parts (June 21, 2015) Flat head screw, 1x Torx screw, 1x washer for top motor from Fields BMW of Daytona (June 22-24, 2015) Quarter window regulator; convertible top motor from Lost Mountain Auto Parts (June 29, 2015) Paint front bumper cover and grill surround at A-1 Frame & Collision (June 30, 2015) Seat belt (wrong one) from Speedway Pull-N-Save Auto Parts (July 4, 2015) Seat belt (correct one) from LKQ Self Service U Pull It (September 6, 2015) Rear wheel bearings (correct ones) (November 23, 2015) Battery (December 1, 2015) Hose, #8 stainless liner from Central Hydraulics, Inc. (January 26, 2016) Fuel pump, steering rack, another battery (April 21, 2018) ...and other stuff for which I have no receipts. Buyer arranges to pick up the car and/or have it shipped at buyer's expense. $1000 deposit is due within 24 hours of end of auction. See the "fine print" for payment options: cashier's check, cash in person, PayPal. You can fly to Daytona Beach, pick up the car, and drive it home. We will help you get a 30-day Florida temporary tag. What else do you want to know? Ask me questions! On Jan-16-19 at 12:15:49 PST, seller added the following information: Please note that in the second picture, the "M3" emblem in the passenger side door molding is missing. I can't see where eBay added the Q/A, so I'll make my own. I have received the one question. See below. Q1: Does car have cold working air conditioning? A1: No. The A/C does not work. I visited the car today. When we tried it, the pressure seemed okay but the compressor clutch did not engage. On Jan-18-19 at 18:04:06 PST, seller added the following information: Q2: maenge-29 asks - I see three of the wheels are black and one silver ? Also what is spare (black, silver, full size, condition...) Thx A2: No, the first four pictures, taken on January 8, 2019, show FOUR wheels with black centers. The two photos of the car inside a garage, taken July 17, 2015, show the silver spare wheel on the right front. Purchase the car and you get all five wheels, four with black centers and a silver spare. The spare is in the trunk. All tires are full-size tires. There is a little usable tread on all the tires. Not all the tires are the same. I think the two on the front on January 8, 2019 are the same tire.On Jan-19-19 at 14:48:30 PST, seller added the following information: My past experience selling a car on eBay Motors is that eBay car shoppers tend to ask the most questions on the last day of a 7-day auction. If you ask a question between now and the end of the auction, you may not get an answer before the auction ends. Once there is less than 24 hours before the auction ends, I cannot guarantee that I can answer questions as fast as you can ask them. Better later than never: Ask your questions NOW so that I have time to answer them and so that YOU have time to read answers so you can bid in the last few seconds before the auction ends. ...because you know YOU WANT TO BID!