New'ish Nashville member here...with purchase story

[330i Lover]

I'm fairly new to the Mafia family but maybe a few of you have seen the Imola I just purchased in the classifieds from last week. I wanted to share the purchasing story and give the seller all the kudos he deserves for adoring his car in such a meticulous fashion. I feel honored to know he chose me to carry on his ZHP's legacy and can't wait to grow within this Mafia family.

I live in Nashville and I've been battling "no bmw-idous" for quite some time. I had an 03 330i AT w/sport pckg from Texas and long story short I couldn't afford to date the "suck-u-bus" of my past and keep the 330i so I mistakenly parted with the car instead of her. 5'ish years later I had an opportunity to go for the gold and shop for a ZHP.

Ramtyper listed his Imola for sale last week and I somehow was the first to reply. Reluctantly I internally battled whether or not it was worth discussing, yet again, the ZHP or not to ZHP conversation with my wife. We have a great, paid-off, 2012 Toyota Camry that we paid way too much money for and it didn't make sense to sell it for a smaller car that's more prone to more expensive maintenance that's 11 years old. Eventually I got her blessing and I pursued Ramtyper's ZHP.

The car was in Windsor, Connecticut (holy shniekies Batman that's way too far away from Nashville!) but no, it's not too far away for an enthusiast like myself that's been eagerly awaiting another e46 for 5+ years. I flew to Bradley Airport and the car instantly demanded my undivided attention.

We went over all the questions I had and I quickly learned that this owner isn't the norm. He cherished this car and couldn't be more proud of it. Without a doubt, Michael J. Fox went Back to the Future 11 years and brought this ZHP to this small town in CT. It was that pristine!

I'll speed up the story, getting late.

We went through the PPI at New Country BMW in Hartford, CT and afterwards agreed on a fair price for both parties. I then got a world-famous grinder from the local Italian joint and I prepared myself for the 1,000 mile trek back home.

Here are some pictures from the wonderful trip:

Me on the left, seller on the right


Parking the car for the first time to get a Grinder for lunch


Beautiful sunrise from the hotel room in Virginia


Cows and rolling hillsides


Scenic


Scenic


About 6:30am going through foggy mountain


Today I washed the car for the first time and took a few snaps.

Front


Side


Back


Tucked in for bed in her new garage


Thanks for reading!

[johnrando]

Official welcome. Great looking car and a nice way to get introduced to it.

[330i Lover]

Official welcome. Great looking car and a nice way to get introduced to it.

Thanks, it's laughable to call this a project but yesterday I had such a struggle getting the license plate off so I can send back to the seller. I had to take a hax saw to one of the two screws that attaches the license plate to the license plate bracket because the nut was seized up.

[johnrando]

Time for the 'no plate-holder strip' or the 'no holes license plate holder' so you can put that front plate off set. EDIT: that is, if we're talking the front.

[az3579]

Time for the 'no plate-holder strip' or the 'no holes license plate holder' so you can put that front plate off set. EDIT: that is, if we're talking the front.

It's always the rear one that's a problem. The screws for the license plate holder rusts and as a result usually ends up either just spinning endlessly or being seized. I've had to replace two license plate holders in my ownership because of this.

Sometimes the screws that attach the plate to the holder do this as well, though the screws supplied in the kit I believe are stainless, so if anything the threads on the inside get messed up.

[330i Lover]

It's always the rear one that's a problem. The screws for the license plate holder rusts and as a result usually ends up either just spinning endlessly or being seized. I've had to replace two license plate holders in my ownership because of this.

Sometimes the screws that attach the plate to the holder do this as well, though the screws supplied in the kit I believe are stainless, so if anything the threads on the inside get messed up.

It was a pain but I still conquered.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[330i Lover]

Hahaha. This is the back plate. Nahh I just gotta buy another screw, two actually since the remaining one is rusted. I had a screw that was the right size but longer than the original. I gave it a whirl and it threaded great but it got stuck and had to get some needle-noses to help thread it out.

[Vas]

Great looking Car.

[NoVAphotog]

Welcome! Reading this brings back the fun of my "first drive!" Glad to see you enjoyed yours as well!

[BMWCurves]

Welcome! The car looks great and sounds like it was well taken care off. Another Imola in the group