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Thread: I want your opinion on road legal race car project. Yes you

  1. #1
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    Default I want your opinion on road legal race car project. Yes you

    So I purchase a couple year old 135i back in 2011 and have had grand plans of slowly making it a road legal race car. Currently I have spent about 20k above the purchase price on stuff. I havent installed much of the parts myself for a number of reasons. Car has 60,000km

    So fast forward to today. Life has carried on and now I'm married with a 1 year old and a 3 year old. The car has been in storage for going on 3 years. I don't need to sell it, but have been thinking about selling it and buying something in the future. When I can actually use it. My issue is, I know I won't get out what I put in ($$ wise) but having it sit will cause it's own issues. In the future, I could buy something more track focused without needing to upgrade to the same extent. Also, worried that I may never buy something as a "fun car" in the future.

    My mind is all over the place. So, internet, tell me what to do.

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    Racecars are money losing objects almost always. Minimize your losses and maximize your enjoyment.

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    At the end of the day the value of a used car or project really.. is what somebody is willing to pay for it. Decide if that value is worth it to you. I have been finding specially with older cars that parts availability gets more and more expensive as the car gets older.

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    Part it out and move on.
    I like neat cars.

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    If you aren't going to be able to use it soon or for the foreseeable future, get rid of it. Whatever you buy down the road when the time is right for you will probably be better anyway.

    Whenever justifying a purchase or keeping something, you have to ask yourself how much will you use it, and how much joy will it bring you. If neither have been applicable for the last ~9 years, I would cut losses and move on.

    I learned years ago that dumping money into mods was just not worth it (for me). Resale often gets even worse, and you are lucky to get $0.10 on the dollar for your mods unless you find a Goldilocks buyer. When the time is right, maybe look at getting something that is already track capable rather than having to mod it (unless that's the fun part for you).

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    .
    Last edited by 01RedDX; 09-23-2020 at 04:23 PM.

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    What year? Is it a manual?...I just bought a black on black 2012 N55 6mt and although it's not as sought after as the N54,I do think these cars will get harder to find, especially the 6mt, you might kick yourself for getting rid of it.BMW only made these available in North America for a few years... the 2 series that replaced it is garbage, with the exception of the M2 of course, but that car is in whole nother league in terms of $$
    Last edited by JohnnyHockey13; 07-16-2020 at 01:45 PM.

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    I don't even look at listings for cars that are modified beyond surface level shit. I'm not dealing with your mistakes.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 90_Shelby View Post
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    Part it out and move on.
    This. It's not actually super rare, and there's better cars out there (by orders of magnitude) for track duty.

    Direct the proceeds towards upgrading your DD to something that's fun and works with kids, there's plenty of options out there for this.

    Someday when you want a track car again (... and a track exists within 350km of the city), figure out what you want to serve that purpose.

    Quote Originally Posted by A790 View Post
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    I don't even look at listings for cars that are modified beyond surface level shit. I'm not dealing with your mistakes.
    This is another great reason for the part out option. Greatly expands your customer base.

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    Drop it, with your kids being that young you won't have time
    Its already been 3 year, it'll be at least another 5 before you have time to do anything. By that time, your idea of "fun" might be something else (guns, games, new home theater etc)

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    I think everyone here has given you some great advice. I'll only add that when you do decide to go racing, don't try to do road legal race car. It's too much of a compromise and the car ends up being mediocre at both. If you just want to do track days, that's a different story. Build what you want and have fun with it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnnyHockey13 View Post
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    What year? Is it a manual?...I just bought a black on black 2012 N55 6mt and although it's not as sought after as the N54,I do think these cars will get harder to find, especially the 6mt, you might kick yourself for getting rid of it.BMW only made these available in North America for a few years... the 2 series that replaced it is garbage, with the exception of the M2 of course, but that car is in whole nother league in terms of $$
    That's what I'm taking into account. It's a N54, 6 speed manual, no sunroof, coral red interior. Try to find one like it....I don't think I've ever seen another one without a sun roof.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Everyone is telling me what I think I knew. It's just going to be a hard pill to swallow.

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    Since we know you will take a huge bath on it... just let it sit? Sounds like a great way to teach the kids any life lessons in the future? Do the classic “this will be yours one day” thing too.

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    I was a bit confused when you said you spent $20k on stuff. Was it on parts that are sitting, or was the $20k parts + labor?
    I think the mention of you not installing the parts yourself threw me off and made me think it's a stock car but with a bunch of "go-fast" mods sitting around.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ercchry View Post
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    Since we know you will take a huge bath on it... just let it sit? Sounds like a great way to teach the kids any life lessons in the future? Do the classic “this will be yours one day” thing too.
    I've already started telling them that.....too young to understand. When I was young, my dad had a nice CJ jeep and a 2 door 67 Cadillac Deville. I wish he didn't sell them, because I would love to have them now. I just don't know if this 135 will have the same lasting desire. I did get engagement photos with it....figured once its a 40yr old car, it will be cool again

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    Oh, it will be for sure, manual alone!! Plus ICE will be very special by then, plus classic bmw... look at say E30’s now

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    Quote Originally Posted by Disoblige View Post
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    I was a bit confused when you said you spent $20k on stuff. Was it on parts that are sitting, or was the $20k parts + labor?
    I think the mention of you not installing the parts yourself threw me off and made me think it's a stock car but with a bunch of "go-fast" mods sitting around.
    Parts are installed on the car. Except a half cage that's sitting. Alpine Autowerks did all the install. No real race car parts, I suppose, since I wanted it to be ok on the street. I will add a list of what's done tonight.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ercchry View Post
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    Oh, it will be for sure, manual alone!! Plus ICE will be very special by then, plus classic bmw... look at say E30’s now
    That's what I was thinking. I would kill for a clean e30. Like most though, if I wanted a 40 year old BMW, I would want it stock.

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    Period correct performance parts are always neat though

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    its worth more now than later..

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    Quote Originally Posted by ShermanEF9 View Post
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    its worth more now than later..
    Doubtful... bmw depreciation curve is weird... plus Covid

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