Finally! The BMW is Home!!!

Last weekend, I went back to the seller's house with a bag of tools and a new plan to get the car out of the driveway. During the week leading up to the visit, I also upgraded my AAA membership to the "Plus" package, allowing me to get tows of 100 miles. My wife also did some legwork, reading that many people have gotten tows from AAA for old unregistered project cars with no problem, so I was feeling pretty confident about the outcome of the day.

When I arrived, the seller was already unloading her garage space, freeing the car up for access. I jumped in to help finish, then we were onto the game plan! The right rear tire had lost some air over the week, so I gave it a charge before getting under way.

First, I jacked up the front of the car to see if those wheels would spin. Nope. Okay, now I've got work to do. I started with the right side. I opened up the nipple to relieve what pressure was there, then I unbolted the lugs. That front brake caliper was stuck on the disc pretty good, so I squirted it with a healthy dose of Liquid Wrench, then started banging on the brake caliper with a hammer. Soon enough, I had that hub turning! Success! I went to the left side, loosened up the nipple, but when I started removing the lugs, the wheel started turning already! This was going to be easier than I thought!

I let down the front of the car and proceeded with the rear, but first, I let the emergency cable slack all the way, so that I knew that couldn't be the problem holding up the brakes. I put the jack under the pumpkin, then lifted the rear end. I started with the right side, unscrewing the nipple, and again, this wheel was ready to turn all by itself! I went to the left side, and the same thing happened to that wheel! Okay! So we've got a free rolling vehicle now!

I jumped in the cockpit to get the wheels straight only to find that the steering was locked! Umm...yeah, because there's NO KEY IN THE IGNITION! The seller had lost all the keys, even the half key that she swears has the other half in the ignition. Okay- time for an amended game plan. I had to jack up the back of the car again, so that we could align the car in a path down the driveway, so that it wouldn't hit that big-ass palm tree on the left! We finally got the car out of the garage- the clouds parted and the angels sang. That was hard work! So we took a break and got some lunch.

The next phase of our day began. I called AAA and successfully got a tow truck driver out to the house. When he pulled up, he looked at the car and asked me for the registration. Of course I this car isn't registered! Again, we were refused a tow! He offered to tow it privately for about $260. I said forget it- I'll just get the registration completed this week, then we'll take another whack at it next weekend.

Fuck! So we were able to get the car out of the garage, which was a good thing, so that the seller wouldn't have to dig the car out anymore- all her crap could sit peacefully in its newly freed up space. I figured, well, as long as the car is accessible and we've got a little time on our hands, we might as well call down a peace officer to get the car "verified" for the DMV. We called the local PD and it really didn't take long, before a squad car pulled up. He was happy to help, but after looking over the forms that he had to fill out, he backed away, when he realized that he wasn't "properly trained" to verify vehicles and that his name would be on this legal binding document.

At this point, the seller was feeling nervous about leaving the car unlocked in her driveway for the upcoming week's time. She felt that I had put a tremendous amount of work into trying to get this car home, so she said that we should just call for a tow and that she would pay for it. I graciously accepted and we were off to the phone banks making calls. Three of the tow companies just plain hung up on us after beginning conversations- most of them wanted $250-$300. I finally found a nice tow company that said that they would tow it for $125!! No fancy hookup fees, no special fees for a flatbed. Yay!

Amazingly, this guy only took about half an hour to come along! I was kind of expecting some total piece-of-shit tow truck, since they weren't on the AAA preferred tow list and since the price was so low. But no! This was a legitimate tow that showed up- big flatbed truck, all shine and new with all the bells and whistles on it! The driver, Bobby, was absolutely fantastic! It didn't matter that the car couldn't turn its steering wheel- he knew just what to do. He took his time and got my little BMW on the truck with little issue. The seller slipped a wad of cash in my hand and hugged me good-bye, and I was off chasing the tow truck down the freeway!

Half an hour later, we were at my residence. I asked Bobby if he could put the car inside my garage- he said no problem. Bobby was so good about being careful about everything! He had to take two stabs and lining up his truck, since my car wanted to roll to the left, but he got it done. Soon enough, the car was safely parked inside my garage! The seller already built in a $15 tip for the driver, but I was so pleased with the job he did, I ran upstairs and grabbed another $20 for him!

Anyway, what a long day! I'm glad the whole episode has come to a close! Now I just have to start my discovery process and see what kind of trouble I'm getting myself into! This project is going to be pure joy!

The Deal Is Done!!! (almost)

It's been a could of months since I last talked about the possibilities of buying this BMW 2002 project car. Well, so much has happened since....slowly albeit, but at least we made some real progress.

After I returned from vacation, it still took weeks before I was actually able to see the car. Apparently, the garage from where it sits houses tons of garage sale treasures, as the owner is somewhat of a hoarder and just can't keep from picking up a real bargain! After another month of prodding, I finally convinced her to let me come over and help her dig out the car for my viewing.

The car, for its age, is in very good condition! The car has been sitting registered in non-op for 30 years! There's only 50,000 miles on the odometer! The interior is in great shape- a little weathered, but looks great nonetheless. The body is in good condition with a couple of areas where it might need a little work. There is very little rust. None of the windows are cracked and the sunroof works. It is an automatic, but that doesn't bother me. The car has been positively identified as a 1974 car, which means that it will never have to be smogged once running. We agreed on a price of $1500 and she went to find the title.

A couple more weeks have passed. I've already started buying parts for the car, parts that are very specific to that car and year. At this point, I'm thinking that if I don't end up with the car, I'm going to be screwed. I've already named the car Holle, which means "beloved" in German.

Today was going to be the day for the transaction and pickup. I asked my friend, Ross, to help me move the car. We met the seller at a nearby restaurant to grab some lunch before doing the work. Afterwards, we headed to her house and got to moving shit out of the way.

I used my newly purchased Ryobi handheld air compressor to pump up the tires and we were good to go! or so we thought.... I put the car into neutral, but the car wouldn't budge! My first inclination was that the brakes were frozen, but later moved to the notion that the transmission was stuck in park. After a few attempts at trying to move the car, we decided to try and just call AAA for a tow. Apparently, AAA will only tow a car if it's registered and insured! Go figure!

I tried calling another tow company. They wanted $290 for the one-way tow- add $100 if "special equipment" is needed, since the car won't roll.

So we exchanged money for the title and we agreed that I would take a week to get the car's legal stuff in line.