SAVING A
Andrew Everett buys a Cat S BMW Z3 from Copart to break and realises it’s a bit too good to split for spare parts. So, he gets to work fixing the damage and finally, once roadworthy, sells to a mate.
My sideline (beyond writing) is selling second-hand older BMW parts. I bought this 1998 Boston Green BMW Z3 1.9 to dismantle having bought and dismantled a few Z3s previously over the years. Don’t worry, I’ve never pulled a good one apart and I sell every last nut and bolt – proper recycling.
I spotted this one on Copart Sandy’s website one day and put a derisory bid in – £350. It was a lazy day for me, involving a mid-afternoon G&T, when suddenly the phone pinged with ‘YOU HAVE WON A Z3’ kind of tone to it. Indeed, I was now the possessor of a S-registration Z3, pre-facelift narrowbody, in Boston green with black leather and a shade over 80,000 miles.
I paid online – the total was almost exactly £450 with fees. I booked my mate Glenn and his Mercedes Sprinter recovery truck and two days later we were barrelling down the A1 to Sandy. What would we find? A hopeless patched up old shed nailed back together every year for a borderline MOT? Something with far more damage than the photos suggested? Or a tarnished gem? The car was recorded as a Category S (structural damage) which was a bit unfair. Sure, both the nearside rear wing and the sill were damaged, but they are bolt on panels and not part of the structure – I suspect the insurance assessor didn’t realise this but hey ho.
The nearside door was absolutely destroyed to the extent that the door card was bent as well but amazingly, the door glass – which was in the down position when the car was hit – wasn’t broken. So, we were there like a couple of lemons in Copart’s yard waiting for the Z3 to be brought out. It’s a situation I’ve been in many times and it’s the same level of trepidation every time but at least I don’t pay much for the cars I buy here. Finally, out came the Z3 on one of Copart’s massive forklifts. It was carefully lowered onto the back of the Sprinter and strapped down whilst I had a good look around it.
It was filthy dirty with dust inside and out and Copart had taped some serious plastic sheeting over the open side window. The negatives first. Both sills were knackered – the passenger one damaged and both rotten at the ends as usual.
The rear plastic screen was split but I knew that already. The catalytic converter had been replaced by one of those cheap and nasty aftermarket ones, and the battery was finished. That was it.
