My e24 ordeal is now seemingly at an end :(

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GIR
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Joined: Tue May 14, 2013 3:08 am
Location: Sydney

My e24 ordeal is now seemingly at an end :(

Post by GIR »

I lurk a lot but I have moved around a lot from my beloved e24 from the past 7 years.
It was my first car, the one that I caught the bug off. , purchased from fritz's bits whilst I was an employee there. It needed a little welding from the start, I knew that.
After converting it to a manual, fitting one of their exhaust systems, chipping I had to put it in storage for 18 months, as I couldn't afford the insurance and I was made to leave the uk... ( visa issues) so I did some extra work, new starter motor, new interior ( thanks wattsmonkey) etc., it had a brief stint at Munich legends where they made some beautiful new fuel and brake lines, refreshed all the major bushings and got it up to road worthy. we had a good 18 months together, sadly work and study didn't let me drive her as much as I wanted but we got a lot of compliments together and people would come to talk to me all the time as it was parked outside of the student union where I spent a lot of time working. My partner and I enjoyed our first date in the 6 too. So many memories with that car, so much so that it was a lot more than a car but a friend that was always there when I needed it most (seriously the car seemingly followed me all over the uk being delivered days within personal loss or when my depression started act up again). about 18 months ago my income increased and with the money I set aside a good amount to restore my beloved six series as the front rot had started to become painfully noticeable. Always, I enlisted the help of a highly regarded body paid a small sum upfront in Scotland, they did seemingly good work on it, fixing the inner wings, fitting the new wings I had supplied, pulled it all back to metal and primed then nothing.... silence I was in Australia and they said up front that it was going to be a long resto process, my partner started to ride me about calling them up for an update ( she loves the six too). I call no answer, I look online and it has been struck from the companies house register! I ask my stepfather ( who lives in the uk, I was in Asia at the time) to call the people. no answer for him either, about half an our later he gets a call back. Rob ( the business partner), tells us that the business has shut down and that Ian ( the other business partner) has left rob about 250,000 in debt and ran off to turkey. But my car was unfinished but safe. I organised a closed transporter at short notice and at great expense as my car was literally the only thing left in the shop, enough was enough, time to take it back to Munich legends to finish the job. 10 weeks before I hear anything, at first they were confident to work within the budget of 15k inclusive tax. another two weeks..... I get this message.

Good afternoon
 
As you will see from the photos the work that has been carried out to the car has not been done to a high standard and externally the body will need to be taken back to bare metal to inspect the fibre glass and filler repairs before the car can be re-primed and painted.
 
As we have also mentioned the car has fairly serious internal and underside corrosion mainly to the sills, floors and jacking points, the new front wings have been fitted to corroded sills, to corroded inner front wings and corroded front panels, we have tried to take further photos of the corroded spare wheel well the inner wings and rear panel, the body shop expect the essential welding repairs to take around 100 hours ( £45.00 per hour plus vat), to bare metal the shell and all panels to repair prime and paint would take around 120 hours again at £45.00 per hour plus vat and the further less urgent corrosion work would be around 50 hours work, we would expect there to be around £1,000 in paint and materials to re-prep the car, we have also supplied photos of a lot of the interior and exterior trims and panels as over 50% are too badly damaged to re-use even the leather door cards are snapped and broken and most chrome work is in poor condition.  We have started to look into price and availability on parts required and a lot of the components are no longer available as new parts, we have listed below some of the other items that the car would require just to make it road worthy.
 
1.       Brake hydraulics poor
2.       Rear sub frame bushes perished
3.       Rear pitman arm bushes perished
4.       Front brake reaction bushes split
5.       Fuel and brake lines partially fitted/corroded
6.       Wiper arms and mechanism missing
7.       Light fittings missing
8.       All exhaust fittings missing
9.       Wiring partially removed
10.   Washer system partially removed (damaged washer bottles)
11.   Exterior waste mouldings missing
12.   Exterior chrome gutter mouldings badly damaged
13.   All interior panels and trims badly damaged
14.   Some central locking door fittings missing
 
 
We would expect the re-build of the car to take our technicians around 2 weeks which in labour terms would be around £6,000 plus vat but this does not include any parts that maybe required, it is our opinion that this car cannot be re-built cost effectively and would far out way the value of the finished car.  out biggest worry is going to great expense with the body shell to have a car that is re-trimmed and re-fitted internally and mechanically, with very poor condition trims.
 
We are well aware of the time and money you have already invested in this car but it would be bad advice to continue with it.  This is a car that not only requires a physical restoration but also a cosmetic and mechanical restoration which we would realistically budget anywhere from £30,000-£35,000 plus vat.



Disaster, I was beside my self, I cant justify that cost when you can buy a clean example for 20!.... Naturally I was devastated with the news and it came at a really tough time as well. My friends don't really understand, my partner kind of gets it but I still tear up thinking about it from time to time ( sad I know, but when you literally owe your life to something you feel a little bad about these things.).

I have since devised a plan. I live in Australia but spend considerable time in Europe. I found a guy online with a unique white 87 series 2 but with a European rear bar and world front, who swears up and down that its rust free, thankfully they do not corrode as much in aus than they do in Europe but still a little sceptical but ill wait for inspection to pass any real judgement. My idea is to salvage my drive line ( its unique consistently put out higher figures ( 240 to 260 can provide dyno sheets in time too), the motronic shat its self so I adapted at great expense a kiwi based motorsport ecu look after that stuff, running a discrete map etc. The engine responded incredibly well to this!

As it stands, I need a container to move my stuff from the UK to AUS so with the left over space Keep engine, LSD, original recaros, m tech steering wheel, bumpers, and what ever interior trim the body shop didn't break, the new wings.... And save them for another project or as spares.

I don't know what to do with what is essentially a semi complete body.....

Anyways I digress. I don't know what to do, buy another one and move on or try my luck throwing more money to save a car that got the rough end of the stick and I couldn't afford to fix the rust in time before it spread to far...

Photos can be found here on my one drive.
I had an over for about 6 to 8 to fix the body by a fella whos father has a b10 and he has a highly modified e24 running Nissan s13 everything else but they would only do the body and nothing else.

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AkTwz0ojdHnIoP50kk92IqzEyFKOiA
Pod
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Re: My e24 ordeal is now seemingly at an end :(

Post by Pod »

Very sorry to hear your tale of woe. I think you should be thankful that ML gave you an honest appraisal, rather than just taking on the work. I'm sure you will be able to resurrect the "good" bits into another shell.

If you have space in the container, why not take a few RHD dashboards with you to sell? That'll kick-start your rebuild fund!

Good luck and keep us posted!
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GIR
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Joined: Tue May 14, 2013 3:08 am
Location: Sydney

Re: My e24 ordeal is now seemingly at an end :(

Post by GIR »

For reference
This was the condition of the car before they got their mits on it, as it needed new wings and had some underbody rust.

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AkTwz0ojdHnIoP8D8Z5zbmE3V9mUDw
wattsmonkey
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Re: My e24 ordeal is now seemingly at an end :(

Post by wattsmonkey »

Hey Saxon, I am so sorry to hear the fuller story. Your six looked so cool on its schnitzer rims roaring out of the garage back in 2008, was it?

I do hope you get things sorted,

Rob
"Most of it necessary; all of it enjoyable." LJKS
'84 635CSi, dogleg...itbs and supercharger????? Eaton Mess
baders
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Re: My e24 ordeal is now seemingly at an end :(

Post by baders »

That is a sorry tale indeed. Best to salvage what you can and find a good Aussie car. That in itself can be difficult because there have been few good examples available for the last 2 years. I'm sure the Aussie crew would be happy to help if you find a prospective car.
1986 635csi LOCUTUS / Arktis Blau Metallic / Pearl Beige / S38B36/ Close ratio dogleg 5sp
2002 E46 M3 / Topaz Blau Metallic / Black Nappa / 6 speed SMG software tuned / Bilstein PSS10 Coilovers / CMP RACP reinforcement
alpina17
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Re: My e24 ordeal is now seemingly at an end :(

Post by alpina17 »

Wow you certainly have been on a journey...but as 'Baders' said, salvage what you can & move on... ](*,) ](*,)
These cars have a nasty tendency to pull on the heart strings & before you know it you've more into it than worth/justified.
Wishing you the best of luck whichever avenue you pursue... :wink:
Paul.
e24 ~ e60 ~ e90
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slofut
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Re: My e24 ordeal is now seemingly at an end :(

Post by slofut »

Don't look back my friend. These cars are cheap to purchase compared to many other sports cars. Do keep that motor and the parts you mentioned, but since you now have more funds to work with do yourself a big favor and buy the best one you can afford! You want no rust ever, not one that had rust and was repaired to be "rust free". Mechanicals can be sorted but rust is car cancer, period.
Buy yourself one that you can get in and drive on a 500 mile trip without worry, not one you have to work on first. You'll have plenty of time to work on even the best ones, so start as close to the top as you can.
...And post pics here when you get it! :mrgreen:
'87 635csi, 5sp man, dk blu on pearl beige
'88 635csi, auto, black on grey
'63 BMW Isetta
'75 XJ6C, 2dr, warm 350
'86 XJ6, th700r4
'75TR6
'64 Olds 88 conv
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