The $6,000 335i project

[BoostedZHP]

Yes, that's correct. I paid $6,000 for my 335i. My dad and I had been looking for a project car for the last year or so, but didn't really know what we wanted or what we were capable of fixing. We wanted something that we could buy fairly cheaply, have some fun with for a while, and sell to make a profit when we were done. We never buy cars locally, so we had been looking on eBay, craigslist, etc. all around the country and never found the car that seemed "just right,"...until we found this. There's a body shop about 5 miles from my house that we've done business with before, and I had noticed this 335i out behind the shop for a few months. One day I decided I would stop in and ask about it, and when I did I realized there was a for sale sign on it. I talked to the owner of the shop and he told me he had just put the sign on it, not even an hour before and I was the first person who had stopped by. I came to find out that it's a clean title, one owner 2007 335i with 125k miles and Dinan stage 2 software. I was blown away at how clean the car was both inside and out. It literally looked like it had been wrecked on the way home from a detail shop. It was owned by an older asian man who had rear ended someone after canceling his full-coverage. He wasn't happy with the quote he received so he decided to sell the car as-is and buy an f30. I came back the next day with cash, and thus began my $6,000 335i project. Right off the bat I knew it would need a headlight, hood, fender, bumper, and radiator. After taking everything apart I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was missing very few odds and ends, and I would need less "miscellaneous" parts than I was anticipating. A few clicks online and all the parts were on the way. It took a little bit to get started because of my dad's work and my school, but over the next few weeks we began to make some progress. With each new step I became more and more excited to get it finished, and about a week ago, I couldn't stand it any longer so I worked through a good bit of the night with a few friends and got it done. All in all, I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! It's truly an amazing car and I can't help but smile every time I look at the pictures of the process. I also contacted the owner of the car and found out that the HPFP recall has been done, both wastegate actuators are new, one turbo was replaced at 80k miles, injectors and coils are new, along with a few other little bits. I've never owned an n54 before but so far the car is rock solid and runs like a champ!

Here's the pics of our progress:
When I first stopped in to ask about her


The next day when we got her home


The damage


Changing the radiator was a huge pain


Just had to take her out for a drive, couldn't help myself