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This BMW E30 M3 Buying Horror Story Should Teach You a Thing or Two

Ahh... The BMW E30 M3, a car that grows in value faster than gold, a car that represents all that is pure in this world and can get you the satisfaction you need. This is the one to get, right? Well, the desirability factor of these things sure is sky high.
BMW E30 M3 with a carved pumpkin 1 photo
Photo: m3forum.net
That’s also the reason why you need to be extra careful when buying one, to make sure you don’t end up in the hole and with a car made from scrap parts or worse, as this unlucky fellow discovered.

The story we’re about to tell you is only fitting for this day. Today is Halloween and all around the world people are gathering around the proverbial fire to share horror stories. For a petrolhead, it doesn’t get any spookier than this.

It all starts with a random guy with some spare money to spend and a burning desire to own a BMW E30 M3. As is the case with 99 percent of the "too cheap to be true" cars for sale on the internet, he went for a car that was simply... too cheap to be real.

The pics were low res and he thought that nothing dangerous could be hidden in them when looking and drooling over them. He called the man up and the seller reassured him that not only was he working for a fine company that dealt with the likes of NASCAR but he was also a true gearhead.

After asking time and time again about all possible details about the car and getting satisfactory answers, our guy decides to take a 3,000 mile (4,800 km) trip down to Florida to see it in person and eventually buy it. We need to let you know that this happened about a decade ago so the prices were not as high as today.

Here’s when trouble starts. The seller picks our innocent guy up at the airport and takes him back to his home. With the wife making dinner and the kid begging for attention, our man soon starts to lose focus. Having slept only a couple of hours, the hopeful buyer is rudely awaken the next day and taken to the car, to drive it around and give his thoughts on it.

A lot of things didn’t seem right and then again, every petrolhead reading this story knows that when you’re set to buy a car you just tend to overlook the details. This poor fellow didn’t see a lot of things.

He didn’t run a CARFAX on the car, he didn’t check the VIN numbers, and against his better judgment, he ignored all the blatant dents on it as well as the wavy paint job on the sides. Everything was screaming "get out of here" and yet our "hero" decided to stay. You know what happens to this kind of guys in horror movies, right?

Well, he ended up succumbing to the charms of the beast and bought it. He didn’t even get the seller’s signature on the deed and drove off with it. It was at his first shop that things started tearing apart and a veil was supposedly starting to peel off from his eyes.

The back windows were not aligned, there were suspiciously big spaces between the doors and the body and the problems just kept on going. The engine wasn’t running right and the headlights were nearly falling off. Slamming the door shut would make the passenger’s side kidney grille fall off and the electrical system was all shot.

After some calls back to the seller and no affirmative answer, our man decides to investigate a little deeper. What he would find would change him forever. You can read his full story here but for those who don’t have an hour to spend on it (even though it’s really entertaining), here’s the TLDR version:
  • One man sees a cool M3 for a low price in an internet ad, flies 3,000 miles to Florida to check it out
  • Everything feels off and yet he still buys it even though he couldn’t run a CARFAX on it
  • Before leaving town, he stops at a shop to buy various things he might need for the road, finds out the car was rubbish
  • After talking to the police, he finds out the car was stolen and made from spare parts
  • Asks for money back gets rejected, starts talking to the man’s employer, etc., gets him fired
  • Posts ad on the internet asking for other people to be cautious when buying anything from this guy
  • Gets help and testimonies from other guys he wanted to cheat
  • Gets a full refund in the end and it turns out the seller didn’t know the full history of the car either. Apologizes for calling him a thief.
The whole thing is really an enjoyable read and it will teach you a lot of valuable lessons such as: never believe what a seller is telling you. Enjoy!
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