Been a member of bimmerpost for 7 years now and joined when I first picked up an E92 M3 which ended up giving me terrible luck with all the major issues the car had and ended up dumping it 9 months after ownership. Since then, went through many other cars such as an Audi S5, Lexus GSF, and Porsche 991.2 911 which were all great experiences.
I had been hunting for the perfect spec G80 M3 6MT in Alpine White for over 6 months when all of a sudden came across a listing on Craigslist in Sacramento area (450 miles from me) as I reside in Southern California. Spoke with the owner and did my research on the car and was literally my dream spec M3.
2023 Alpine White with Fiona Red Full Extended Merino Interior
Laser Lights
Executive Package
Parking Assist
Ventilated Seats
CF Interior
Shadowline Headlights
Drive Recorder
The car was also rocking KW HAS and had Apex VS 5RS wheels in bronze finish.
After going through all the vehicle records, Carfax reports, full video / pics of the car, bought a one way flight to Sacramento. Seller ended up picking me up from the airport and was love at first sight when I saw the car. Went to my bank, wired the money, signed the paperwork, added the vehicle to my insurance, and I hit the road back down to SoCal.
What. an. AMAZING. MACHINE. Was blown away with all the tech, power, and most importantly, the manual transmission rowing my own gears for the first time in 7 years!
When I was finally 65 miles from home near Glendale on the 210 freeway, some random road object fell on the road and it all happened so fast when I heard a loud bang. My mind immediately went to panic mode and I found an immediate exit ramp from the freeway and as I was pulling off, I noticed the error messages on the screen with reduced engine power and low coolant. Unfortunately for me, it ended up being a busy intersection and I was trying to pull the car off the side of the road and car lost all power. I immediately jumped out of the car and looked at the front end and my heart sank to my stomach.
Full front end of bumper hit and radiator smashed in with coolant continuing to leak. I called my insurance provider and they were in disbelief and it triggered an automatic investigation on their end since the car was only added to the insurance policy 6 hours earlier
They couldn't send a tow truck since they still needed to verify I was the appropriate owner of the vehicle and to continue my bad luck, the spot where I was pulled over had low cell reception causing even further distress. Finally ended up calling AAA and getting the car towed to a local collision center where I then ended up paying for a $120 Uber ride back home.
Opened my garage door and saw the empty spot where my new G80 M3 was supposed to have been parked and went inside my house and poured myself a glass of scotch to dwell on my misery.
At this point, I will be waiting to see what the shop says after pulling the error codes and when they remove the bumper to further assess the internal damages. I am hoping that there is no internal engine damage as I probably should have shut off the engine sooner right after the incident hoping the high internal heat didn't cause further damage to the engine.
Will keep this thread updated with the outcome. In the meantime, I hope no one else runs into this type of bad luck!