This idea might be of value to you if you own, or want to own, an E24 car.

Part-time, I sell used parts for 1980s BMW cars. In the process I sometimes have the opportunity to buy a good-deal car, so I do. I tend to hang onto such cars for many years in the interim. For example, this one I’ve owned for more than 10 years but now it is for sale.

Often, the person who buys a car like this has owned one in the past, or owns one currently. For many people, the decision to sell a car like this means a lost battle against expensive repairs. As someone who owns several of these cars, I know. That’s what inspired me to start my part-time BMW-used-parts business. I needed a steering rack for my E30 and it was going to cost me $400+ just for the part.

If you own a car like this, perhaps in the last year or two you’ve spent $500 on a new exhaust, $300 to get the interior improved, put new tires and brakes on the car for another $900 and so on. And now the transmission is going out or you’re facing some such expensive new problem.

You are upset not just because you finally have to admit defeat and let the car go. You also don’t like how you sunk all that money into it for parts that are now going to go away. At most you’re going to get a couple of hundred bucks for the car in its present, damaged state.

Here’s my proposition: trade in your car for mine … and mark your new parts with special paint, and tell me what they are. I’ll transfer these valuable-to-you items from your car to mine. And, I’ll include some sort of peace-of-mind warranty since my mechanic is savvy about working on these cars plus I have a stash of used parts. So, you end up driving the same kind of car you used to drive, but now it’s covered in case something big breaks, plus your investment in parts was carried forward from your old car to the replacement one: the new exhaust, the interior, the tires and brakes … whatever you value, gets moved from your old car to the replacement car as part of the deal.

If you like this idea, please let me know what you have vs. what you’d like. Many of these parts fit multiple models, so if you have an E28 and you want an E24 instead, many of your high-value parts will move across.