New member in Seattle!

[ZHPurrr]

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!

After a long and only somewhat patient search, I finally found the purrrfect ZHP match for me.

The search was heavily inspired by this forum, BTW! I only discovered the existence of this amazing model during my research because this active and uber-helpful community keeps these forums near the top of google rankings on e46-related topics.

Thank you, all! I love my new/old car!

(even though it's "not special.")

For pics, all I have handy right now is the craigslist listing photo, which certainly does not do it justice. I'll update with a proper sig after I've got it looking the way I want it, and properly shined up.

Cheers mates!

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t455/PixHost1/ListingPhoto_zps315f568d.png

[gmurphy]

Sweet welcome! I look forward to some more photos


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fredo]

Welcome, sir ! I was in Seattle last year. Nice place to visit. :biggrin

[Avetiso]

Welcome!


Bring money.

"Arnold smoking a cigar in the Red Square; your argument is invalid." -Galaxy S5

[HockeyGoon]

Omg nice , two new TIAgs in a week

[mbeckel]

Welcome to the family.

Sent from in the bushes

[brettbimmer]

Welcome to the Mafia! Enjoying your screen name & intro. post, which reminds me of a customer's cat boat :p:

13677

[ELCID86]

Welcome. Congrats.


Thumbs, iPhone, Tapatalk.

[imola red zhp]

Welcome

sent by new technology DA

[danewilson77]

Welcome to the mix.

[Stewbie]

Greetings from your northern neighbor.

[oldzilla]

Welcome

[Oli77]

Big fat welcome to the family.

[johnrando]

Looks great. Congrats, and welcome.

[BavarianZHP]

Welcome fellow Seattleite! I hope you're enjoyed the sun today, heck this week's been quite glorious for the most part.

[3ZHP]

Welcome


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ZHPurrr]

Wow what a warm welcome nicest forum ever.

@bavarianZHP Nice to see another Seattlite! Cheers!
@brettbimmer Thanks, my screen name is based on that sweet sounding engine note that I fell in love with. Would make a nice vanity plate, right? hmmm.

I know we all love our cars, and we all have our preferred options, but guys I gotta share with you the origin story on this because it was like a superhero movie miracle.

So you know how when you're looking for a used car, and you have in mind EXACTLY the car you're looking for?

And then you find it, EXACTLY, right down to the color, but with way less miles and for way less money than you expected? And it has a bunch of options you secretly wanted but didn't expect to be able to find, and a bunch of preventative maintenance has just been done, and it's in perfect condition, and then the nice old man who's been keeping it preserved in a garage for you all these years hands you all the maintenance records and the clean title and keys, one of them still in its protective sleeve because he didn't want to scratch up the other key unnecessarily? And then you hand him the money and you drive it home and it's all real, not actually a dream?

Yeah that happens to me too.

Here's how it went down.

I was struggling just to find a 4dr ZHP with a clean title in decent condition that had the Steptronic 6 speed that I wanted. Since that only leaves me 2004-2005, it was hard. (Yes I know, auto transsacrilege, but it's my choice if I want to be lame, dammit!)

In my defense, my previous sporty cars have been sticks, even my prev. Bimmer, (E39 530i with the M package, very rare to find the 5 speed manual) and it was really fun for a while. Until I totally "got over it" because of the steep hills we have all over this town. Lemme tell ya, stoplights at the top of hills+Wide tires+rain+steep slope+a little oil on the pavement=no fun with a stick, especially because people tend to scootch up right behind you, especially downtown. So I was determined to get the Auto this time. ANyway, on with our story...

I saw the listing at midnight, about 4 hours after it had been posted, and pretty much freaked out.

I woke up my wife and was like "Honey, I know we talked about buying an old Honda for cheap transportation and saving up for the Beamer later, but... I've just found the perfect car, with less miles than I've ever seen, for a lower price than I've ever seen, with features I didn't think I could get, in perfect condition, and *in the color I want*. It's a screaming deal. A complete miracle. This just does not happen. And yet, it has."

She rolled over, paused, and said "So basically, If you don't buy this car, you're going to regret it the rest of your life."

I was like, "yep."

She sighed, and then said "Can I drive it too?"

I love my wife.

Check it out:

84K Miles.
One ownerish. (father bailed out son who couldn't afford it, then kept it as a weekender).
Garaged always.
Complete cooling system replacement: done.
Also new: valve cover gasket, all belts, battery, good tires.
Flawless exterior.
Interior a bit musty from not being driven much but otherwise flawless.
Wheels mostly good, only mild burrs on a couple of them.
Cold weather package, with the ski bag and everything.
Split fold-down rear seats (a feature I loved on my previous BMW and could not live without).
Leather wrapped steering wheel option.
OEM ipod interface.
no Nav (which I prefer).
Clean title.
(drum roll please)... $9,995 as listed on craigslist.


Yes, $10K for the car, as listed. I emailed the guy saying "Sold! I'll pay your price as long as the condition is as described." Got a phone call early the next morning from a sweet old guy who proceeded to tell me "We were a little surprised to see your email, most people want to negotiate." I told him "no need. Your price is fair, as long as the car is as described."

He then proceeds to tell me "This is a very special car, you know. It's a ZHP. It's got... (lists all the features in minute detail)." When I drove down there he handed me the craigslist printout on ZHPs along with every maintenance record he had.

I loved this guy. He knew exactly what he had--he just valued the convenience of a quick sale over money, and wanted the car to go to someone who would appreciate it I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP.

It was like a dream.

I am still on cloud 9 about it, obviously. Sorry about the gushing TMI, I just cannot believe this car is mine.

So pysched. You guys were right about these ZHPs. Like the other fun cars I've owned, every single mile is a pleasure.

STILL, there is work to do. Even though it was only driven 12K miles in the last 6 years by an older gentleman, it's still a 10 y/o car, and it needs a little love.

First thing I did was flush and replace all the fluids and have it inspected. It came through not too bad, just a couple of control arms and bushings to replace. OEM clear corners have been ordered, along with black kidney grills. I put in OEM bluetooth already, and moved the location of the ipod interface from the glove box to the center compartment. Once the corners are in and she's properly waxed, she should look pretty good.

So that was why I was like "GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAL" on the first post. Woo hoo!

On the way home I stopped at a park near my house to take some "before" pics, just to preserve the memory because I thought "I'm going to wake up any moment or something bad is going to happen to it tonight. I need to take pictures so I can remember what it looked like before this story ends tragically when it's hit by a meteor, crushed by a falling tree, or stolen, all of which will probably happen tonight."

It's not even washed at this point.
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t455/PixHost1/Front_zpsd5dc97b8.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t455/PixHost1/Angle_zpsca3c594d.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t455/PixHost1/Mileage_zps4a8d71c1.jpg

[slater]

awesome story - congrats!

good wives are the best. i hugged mine after i read your post. :)

peter

[Avetiso]

Great story!

"Arnold smoking a cigar in the Red Square; your argument is invalid." -Galaxy S5

[mbeckel]

Good story. Good to hear that you found exactly what you wanted. Do you have any plans on mods for it?

Sent from in the bushes

[fredo]

Great find ! Wow, you even got a car with a full tank of gas. :biggrin

[Stewbie]

My story's not quite as good as yours, but similar. I wasn't looking for a ZHP, just a sports car. A friend is a big BMW fan and old me to look at E46 3 series. I was looking for awhile, but nothing nice came on the radar until I raised the "High" amount on Craigslist's price filter to a couple grand more than I had to spend. I saw an Imola ZHP listed. That's when I did research on ZHP's and found this website. My interest was piqued. Went to check it out with my friend the BMW fan, had it inspected at a BMW indy and talked the guy down to my real upper limit.

It's the perfect car for me. It has everything I want and nothing I don't want. If I was ordering it new from BMW in 2004, this is the way I would have ordered it. Based on the info in another thread, there were only 351 sedans in Imola with 6MT and alcantara interior produced. I was really lucky to find this car.

Do you go check on it before you go to bed at night? I did when I first got mine and I know others on this forum did when they got their cars. :)

[danewilson77]

Win.

Samsung Galaxy S5...

[yura]

You don't sound the least bit excited or anything... bummer.

:p

Welcome!

[ZHPurrr]

Right now I'm pretty happy with it except for the minor mods mentioned 3rd paragraph from the end. Mechanically I think I'll get used to what I have before thinking about changes. it's likely to stay pretty stock for a while. Looks like you've done a lot to yours! I presume you're happy with the changes?

[fantinno]

Congrats on the great find from another Seattle based ZHP owner here :-)

[ZHPurrr]

It's the perfect car for me. It has everything I want and nothing I don't want. If I was ordering it new from BMW in 2004, this is the way I would have ordered it. Based on the info in another thread, there were only 351 sedans in Imola with 6MT and alcantara interior produced. I was really lucky to find this car.

Do you go check on it before you go to bed at night? I did when I first got mine and I know others on this forum did when they got their cars. :)

Right on Stewbie. I am laughing so hard right now. I totally check on my car. Just did it a few minutes ago, looking out the window from my desk while "working"
:blushing Busted!

[Rice Picker]

Since we have underground parking and I drive our 2004 Volvo Xc70 to work. I walk by mine everyday when I go to work admire it as I walk by. When I see my car's reflection while driving by a Store Front glass. I'd check out my car's reflection. All the time!