Kinda scared to add it up...

"Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!" (eurylokhos)
12/14/2018 at 19:00 • Filed to: None

As I posted earlier, I crossed the finish line with the $500 2002 325Xi wagon I bought back in September. NH has state inspections yearly. No rust that is structural or perforates the body, all lights and accessories on the car have to work, the check ball joints, tie rods, brakes, tires etc. Then it hooks up to the computer, no CEL, and all monitors have to be complete and clear. It’s fairly comprehensive, it knocks a lot of older cars out.

Day 1. Looks much better from a distance. Cant’ see the rust and all the broken stuff.

So what did I have to do to get it road worthy?

$120 Battery

$305 Windshield

$230 4 new rotors and pads

$35 Parking brake shoes, screws, springs etc

$50 Caliper

$88 2 new front axles

$208 Thermostat, all hoses, expansion tank and bracket, rad cap, sensors, coolant, misc cooling bits, oil level sensor, cabin filter.

$35 Oil and filter

$23 Valve cover gasket

$48 Intake boots and clamps

$146 Rear springs

$24 Tensioner and deflector pulleys

$250 Dunlop WinterMax SP tires mounted on Ronal wheels

$67 Rear window glass handle/switch

$60 Radiator fan

Totals up to $1689 in parts I put into it. That doesn’t count misc sandpaper, paint, putty etc for the body work. Also doesn’t count tools I bought, but I never count those since buying tools is awesome and I love having an excuse.

That’s also not counting the Ozone generator I bought for $65. The biggest obstacle to the car being viable for me was the cigar smell. It was FILTHY with cigar butts all over when I got it. I cleaned it really well but didn’t put much of a dent in the smell. Then I talked to a detailer who said they use Ozone generators. Put that thing in there and an hour later the smoke smell was gone. It was magic. It’s been over a month and there is still no sign of the smell.

Add the $500 I spent for the car, and I get $2189 invested before registration/title which was $200. I’m not going to count that, because when I sell this I can transfer it to my 911 which I let the registration lapse on since it sits for the winter.

So what’s the plan now? First, I love the car. I’ve bonded with it over the last few months getting it fixed up. It handles great, has good power and a great transmission. With the tires on it, it’ll be a real winter beast.

At this point, I also have my 2018 Outback which is a lease. I’m over the mileage by about 2800 miles already. So I’m going to put the Subaru away and drive the BMW until March when I will be back at the where I should be on the Subaru mileage wise. At that point I’ll reevaluate. Maybe I’ll keep it. Maybe I’ll sell it. Maybe I’ll put it out there for trade and see what comes my way. Dunno. I certainly don’t need 4 cars especially when 2 of them are AWD wagons. If the Outback wasn’t a lease, I’d put it up for sale. I enjoy this E46 that much.

My commute to work is 80mi each way into Boston, once a week or so. I’m generally between 75-85 until I get to the city. I did it in this car last week and it was great. Very solid, smooth, and comfortable. I’m more than happy to continue doing it in the BMW for a while.

So that’s the text heavy odyssey of the $500 wagon. It is now a $2200 wagon. But it is solid AWD manual transportation, inspected for a year on basically new snow tires with an extra set of (ZHP) wheels. I figure if I put it up for sale I’d get between $1800 and $2000 for it with a little effort. That’s not bad. I didn’t do it for a profit, I did it for the fun of the rebuild, and I’ve had a great time.

DISCUSSION (13)

promoted by the color red > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!
12/14/2018 at 19:56

Wow, not even California’s this thorough.

Does your post-’75 car pass the smog test? If the answer is yes , your registration sticker will be in the mail as soon as your check clears.

UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!
12/14/2018 at 20:02

I know that we talked about that other wagon in your other thread, but if you do consider selling, keep me in mind. You could offer $3k or some more and I’d still be interested.

4kc > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!
12/14/2018 at 20:06

OOh nice work.
I bought the Oxford green 2003 of this on Boston craigslist a week ago . The posting was only up for a couple days, but it was 2k and only needed a ball joint to pass ins pection!
Buuuuut t he sunroof is screwed in place and it has rear fender rust and the shifter bushings are shot and the rest of the suspension needs a go-through and the exhaust rattles when cold....
I love it anyways and have put about 2200 miles on it already.

4kc > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
12/14/2018 at 20:14

The guy I bought mine from last week says he’ll have a white one for sale once he and his buddy swap the clutch. Mine was 2k with 160,000. The white one supposedly has 90,000 and is better shape, think they were going to want around 3-4k for it. The couple of others here around Boston were trash when I went to look.

functionoverfashion > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!
12/14/2018 at 20:14

This is great. And now you can see why I replaced my ‘01 325xi wagon with an ‘03 of the same. I hope I can keep mine going for a long time still. Mine’s just over 174k and is absolutely solid, I love driving it still, despite having driven nearly the same car since 2009.

Some of the prices you put up seem low, like $88 for two front axles? $146 for two rear springs. Is that used stuff? I don’t think I’ve found them for less than $150 each, in both cases . But I could be remembering wrong.

I do add up ALL the money I put into mine - insurance and registration included - and it’s still less than a lease payment (NO other costs included) on a base-model Civic. Totally worth it, to say the least.

functionoverfashion > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!
12/14/2018 at 20:18

Side note: if you find you need a new FSR - resistor that controls the fan speed - I have two, both new in box. I guess I forgot I ordered one, then ordered another to get over a shipping minimum... and still haven’t gotten around to replacing it on my ‘03.

I’m in NH so shipping would be cheap.

Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! > functionoverfashion
12/14/2018 at 20:51

Yep, Rockauto had Cardone axles for $44 each, and the springs were $73 each from FCP Euro. Everything else (aside from wheels and tires) was bought from Bavauto, they are local to me. Cardone has some great reviews, and a lifetime guarantee, so I figured I’d give them a shot. I actually haven’t put them in yet, but they look great, and I still have the ones on there for rebuild if I decide to do that in the future. T he axles on there have torn boots but aren’t clicking or anything yet.

I need to give the wrenching a break for a bit, I’ve given myself tennis elbow (seriously!), and it hurts like a bitch. I went and got myself a brace today to help speed the recovery along. After that’s all better I’ll swap the axles and put a new oil pan gasket in.

ihm96 > 4kc
12/14/2018 at 21:00

I have an Oxford green E34 and an Oxford green shoe and now a kid just started working at the same place as me with an Oxford green e46 wagon and everyone started asking me why I bought another car lol. Somehow his is rustier than mine combined lol

MUSASHI66 > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!
12/14/2018 at 21:21

Pretty nice job!

Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! > promoted by the color red
12/14/2018 at 21:34

If we didn’t have salt that eats car bodies and frost heaves/potholes that eat suspension components I’m sure there would be less for the inspection. As it is, cars get really beat up out here. The last time this car passed inspection was 2015 , he’d been driving it without a sticker and avoiding tollbooths (the cops sit there looking for the sticker) and police in general ever since. He said he’d paid one $200 ticket for no inspection last year but figured he’d saved so much vs fixing everything that he would continue to drive it until his wife got pissed and made him sell the car and buy her a new one.

dannyzabolotny > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!
12/15/2018 at 01:08

Man, I’m forever thankful that Arizona doesn’t have anything past basic “emissions” aka plugging in a code reader and checking for engine codes.

functionoverfashion > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!
12/15/2018 at 12:26

Nice to be close to Bavauto. I’m over an hour from there, but still do business with them here and there. I know a few people who work/have worked there so it’s always nice. I’ve still never been in person.

Good work, these really are great cars.

I’ll be curious if you experience anything like I have with my brakes, where they tend to “stick” in cold weather - the calipers don’t release like they do in warm weather, or even once they’re warm themselves. This issue has followed me across both cars, and through changes of calipers all around on both cars, to varying degrees. I welcome your thoughts and/or experience, as you’re driving the same car in the same environment as me.

Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! > functionoverfashion
12/15/2018 at 13:41

That’s a strange brake issue. If I notice it I’ll let you know. Is it just happening when it’s snowing etc or just whenever it’s cold out?