My Story

I have been a car enthusiast my whole life, loving cars of all shapes and sizes, models and makes. However it was when I was in college that I found the car that I would eventually have to have. It was a BMW E30 M3. At the time three guys on campus were lucky enough to be owners of them (though one would argue that the Burlington VT, weather was not the right climate for care of such a creature) I was driving a 1989 1.8-liter GTI 16V, and was only left to admire the M3 from afar.

After college and a year in China, I came home to start my career and to save money for my then dream car. I was targeting the 1991 BMW M3 in Silver, no small feat in 1992 with limited numbers available on the market and labor intensive search means at best (the internet was not available at that time). But to my surprise I found one after 2 months of searching along the east coast, only about 15 miles from my home at Prestige BMW. It was a 1991 Sterling Silver BMW M3 with 7,000 miles on the clock. Although I would’ve preferred a gray interior to it’s black, it was the car I had hoped for and nearly perfect with the exception of some small paint imperfections on the rear spoiler.

I enjoyed that car for seven years and 33,000 until I decided to give it up as it became increasingly difficult to keep it while I was about to move overseas to work for an undetermined period of time. The car had traveled with me from NJ to Arizona and ultimately back east to Florida, where it was sold sight unseen (with the exception of some digital pictures and a local pre-purchase inspection) via Roundel’s advertisement section.

The current owner, Luis Martinez, is still enjoying the car in Northern California. Luis mainly uses it on weekends and driving schools. I’m told the motor is currently being converted to a 2.5 liter from the original 2.3 liter after blowing the motor recently at a driving event.

The Persuit

After moving overseas (to Singapore), I decided that no time should be wasted saving and searching for my next vehicle the E30 BMW M3 Cabriolet. I first came across the Cabriolet in 1992 chatting with my good friend Mike Gallino. Mike and I met (he’s a fellow BMW enthusiast) via our mutual appreciation for each others cars. Mike’s cars – Both the M3 and the M-Technic convertible were Brilliant Red. He shared with me a copy of an official European M brochure within which was a picture of the Cabriolet.

In 1998 while internet searching was improving there were still not many sites available to do a proper search.

So I relied heavily on BMW Car magazine classifieds and would follow up on leads accordingly from there. Through those ads I came across Munich Legends and Independent Motors both of which are specialized BMW resellers in the UK.

In January 2000 while visiting friends in the UK I made a visit to Munich Legends. Unfortunately they did not have any Cabrio’s there at the time, but as luck would have it a customer was visiting with his Sterling Silver M3 Cabrio! That surely wetted my appetite and my pursuit grew stronger. Even just seeing the car made the whole trip worthwhile.

I returned to the States (Arizona) in May of 2000 and was able to continue my search much more effectively. Through the various resources I learned that there was in fact one cabrio in the U.S. imported by Phil Cataldi. I began to email Phil, who graciously informed me of what was involved so that I would be prepared once I found the car. Phil’s information also helped me narrow my search by sharing with me that cars younger than 1989 would have to have air bags installed to meet U.S. standards. I chose to search for an ’89. Having said that my database of 50 plus E30 M3 Cabrio’s would need to be refined, and would now include cars built in the 1989 timeframe, preferably Silver, with air conditioning and a catalytic converter (like finding a needle in a haystack). If my research was accurate (based on production numbers) there were 88 cars built in that timeframe with Catalytic converters.

Needless to say my searching would last for months and months (and even more months) with no luck. I gave in a little and started looking at different color options, but would not give in on the AC (a requirement in the desert heat), but not very common in European cars but my luck was about to change.

Choices, which one to buy?

In the summer of 2001 while traveling to Spain for friends wedding I was able to build in a stopover in the UK for another visit to Munich Legends(ML) and Independent to see the current stock. This time I did see and drive a 1989 E30 M3 Cabrio with a dogleg gearbox being sold on consignment at ML. In all respects it was nearly perfect; 30,000 KM (about 19,000 miles) and red with half leather interior with the Ravagolia cloth – virtually identical to Phil Cataldi’s car. It was beautiful with a full service history and its history was even documented by BMW CAR magazine. The only item missing was the AC.

I was tempted to say the least where it not for yet another one on the market at the same time. It was a Macao Blue 1989 E30 M3 Cabriolet with only 4,600 miles on it. This car was fully loaded; it had a Wiseman Hardtop, 16 x 7.5 OEM rims , AIR CONDITIONING, as well as all the standard features. The biggest area of uncertainty with this car was that it was several hundred miles away (in the UK) and had a questionable service record despite its low 4600 miles. The seller at the time was unwilling (due to the distance) to bring the car to ML for and inspection, and my own travel time did not permit for a visit to see it. Both cars had certain limitations, including the premium prices demanded by both sellers, so I stuck to my guns, to hold out for perfection and walked away from both.

My anxieties for a fun car began to get the better of me though and so I turned my sights back (temporarily) to the E30 M3, were I was repeatedly beat to purchase or outbid on several cars in the U.S. Eventually I decided to buy a 1987 E30 325is to turn into a weekend/track vehicle. It had all the original VIN stickers, looked pretty clean and was ready to be worked on. Purchasing that car and getting it ‘track ready’ turned into quite a fun project and now hobby. I got Eibach springs, Koni shocks, Ground Control rear shock mounts, a Sparco front street bar, a butt strut, E30 M3 lower control arms, 4.10 LSD and a custom burned chip. With the help of local mechanic and friend Bruce Beyer the car was ready to run.

In the end as most hobbies go, I had spent more money on the sum of these parts than what the car cost me to begin with. It was Murphy’s Law that not much later I will find (and purchase) a locally owned high mileage 1988 E30 M3. While it was only owned by one family, it was fairly neglected certainly no comparison to my previous M and would not live up to my expectations. I gave it some much needed TLC and posted it on several sites (Roadfly.com, Turnermotorsport classifieds, and the now defunct E30.net board.) for sale. It sold a couple months later to the first person to see it, Andy Sites in San Diego who will enjoy driving it on the street and at track events. Though sad to see it go, it was much needed cash for my next purchase.

The goal

I’d like to think good things come to those who wait, and for me it was happening. Around the same time that I purchased and subsequently sold the black M3, I came across an ad from a seller in Germany a Nogaro Silver E30 M3 Cabrio with Black leather, full service history and you guessed it; Air Conditioning! I emailed the seller and he sent me some digital photos confirming it was a dream come true. I almost didn’t know what to do, in the sense that this was it… now I’d have to make this all happen.

I negotiated a price with the seller Bob Van Nort. The process took almost six months from first contact to an actual agreement (he was asking a pretty heavy premium well above the average selling price for others on the market). Getting closer and closer to sealing the deal, faxing the letter of intent to Bob was a true Adrenaline rush! With most of the financing in place the final piece was in place when we sold my wife’s 1998 SLK230. It was wonderful gesture on her part to offer to sell her beautiful daily driver so that I could obtain my goal (she insisted that we take on no debt to pay for the new car). I’m so grateful for that, that she has nominated herself for the Wife’s Hall of Fame, and I completely agree.

The timing of the money transfer could not have occurred at a less opportune time for purchasing Euros. The dollar was at a low and Euros were trading at near parity with the US dollar (Just my luck) and the car actually cost even more in US dollar based on the less than favorable exchange rate my local bank offered. Were it not for Bob and his professional and courteous approach to our deal, it could’ve turned into nothing more than an expensive headache. We stayed in contact throughout sharing information back and forth. Bob even agreed to pick up another mechanic friend of mine, Jake Larsen at an airport two hours from his home for a pre-purchase inspection. Jake and I met during the 2001 summer trip to Independent Motors. He drove my wife and I around to see a number of BMW’s on the market at the time. (We met via the BMW Car Club SIG List, which was the beginning of what has now become a great friendship.) Jake who is stationed with the Air Force in the UK, offered to inspect the car for me (he is a helicopter mechanic by trade, and in the process of restoring his own E30 M3). I had full confidence that he would give me an honest and thorough report. I provided the plane ticket, Bob helped with local logistics and Jake provided an inspection that exceeded my expectations!

The Final Steps…

The next steps were to arrange for shipping, final money transfers, and to find a reputable registered importer that could federalize the car. Bob helped on his end by agreeing to deliver the car to the port in Bremerhaven, Germany for exportation. I chose JK Technologies in Baltimore as my Independent Commercial Importer (ICI) / Registered Importer (RI). After a lot of research JK became the natural choice. Not only did they receive many positive recommendations from other sources who were familiar with the complexities of importing cars into the U.S. from Europe, but they also had the specific experience, having imported the first E30 M3 Cabrio into the U.S. It was JK Technologies that referred me to EH Harms that I contracted to handle the logistics of shipping.

Unfortunately for me (and in no part the fault of my importer), JK Technologies was completely back logged with federalizing Ferraris (see the article on the petition filed by Ferrari with DOT, in the links below), which caused my car to sit in the storage facility for a number of months before they could officially start the federalization process. It’s worth noting (and if you read the articles you’ll see) this backlog not only effected JK Technologies, but all importers. I’ve since found out there are importers that haven’t been able to clear cars in over 2 years. I consider myself very lucky because JK is currently the only importer (along with some of their customers) that is fighting on behalf of their customer to get their cars through this process (see Washington Post articles below).

The process of importing a vehicle normally takes an average of 90-120 days, and then USEPA and USDOT have 15 and 30 business day inspection periods (respectively).

I did finally get to see the car nearly two months after it arrived in the US on Nov 4th. However, the car still sits in Baltimore at JK Technologies awaiting to completion of the federalization process.

Stay tuned for further updates!