2001 BMW "M Roadster"
Purchased:  September 19, 2005
 

My BMW was purchased in Phoenix, Arizona for $27,700.  I believed this to be a VERY fair price at the time, since sellers on eBay and in the Auto Trader were typically asking $3,000 ~ $5,000 more for comparable models.  These figures fall in line with the NADA Used Car Guide, which at that time was showing an average retail value of $31,000 for this vehicle.  What's even better is that this car was purchased from a private seller, which in Arizona means that I avoided $2,119 in state sales tax!

The car had been previously owned by a man in his early-70's, who had succumbed to cancer about a year prior to my purchase.  It was being held by his widow for whatever reasons ~ she was not driving it.  It was in beautiful mechanical condition, clean, showed 36K miles on the odometer, had over 2 months remaining on the original new car warranty, and 26 months remaining on the BMW extended maintenance warranty.  All-in-all, I was pleased with the deal!  :)

The engine on this car is the famous BMW S54 power plant, putting out an advertised 315 HP.  It will accelerate from 0 to 60 in 4.9 seconds and will do a quarter mile in a little under 14 seconds.  This coupled with a top speed of 140+ MPH means that car has a LOT more power than I'll ever need.  Additionally, I've been averaging about 21 MPG around town, so it is not a gas hog at lower speeds.

Many of you may have heard of the BMW Z3.  The M Roadster can be described as a Z3 with enhancements.  An even better way to describe it is in the text that I copied from a message in the Bimmerforums Z3 message forum, posted by user JPWheelr:

M models are BMW's that are made/designed/influenced by the Motorsport division of BMW.  It was once called BMW Motorsport, but now is just BMW M.  Often the parts and components of M cars make their way onto non-M BMW's of the same chassis (and sometimes aren't even limited by that) as they are usually much more superior to their non-M counterparts with very little increase in price.  M cars seem to show better longevity, and although still prone to break, they are less prone to break than their non-M compatriots.  M essentially means "Wholly Superior on All Grounds" or "Best of the Best".

Having owned many M and non-M BMW's, many of the same type, it seems the M cars and M parts are just better than the normal ones, and in the long run any higher cost is truly negated due to this.

To the above it should also be noted that there were only 748 of these vehicles produced for North America in 2001 ~ the car is rare and it is a classic!  :)

The following photographs were taken over a 3-day period.  I took about 250 pictures, then as described in my photo tips page I deleted all but the following 28 pictures ~ enjoy!

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Top down.	AA4M is my ham radio callsign, although it's been a few years since I actively pursued the hobby.			Our house at the right ~ 3,000 sq. ft. on 1 floor!
	I just installed the shark fins (stone guards).	The shark fins were purchased from Z3Solutions.	Top up.
Nice wheels!  This is a back wheel, which you might notice is deeper than the front wheel shown to the right.	The tires are almost new ~ lots of tread for me to wear off!  :)	M Roadster "gills".		Very nice convertible top boot and style bars!
This is a BIG trunk for a sports car!.	Showing the airbag cover in the door.  Between 4 air bags and the BIG engine between passengers and the traffic, this may be one of the safest sports cars on the road!  :)	The car was this clean when I purchased it!		These are VERY comfortable bucket seats.
Part of the center console.	The UGDO (Universal Garage Door Opener) ~ I've programmed all 3 buttons to open my garage door.	Nicely laid out dashboard and center console.  This picture shows the original shift knob.	I'll have to see if I can pin the speedometer at 170 MPH!  :)	Close-up of the center console, complete with a new Whalen Shift Machine!
Big clean engine.		Put away for the night.

You may use any of the above pictures for any purpose and may do so without giving me credit.  Note that these pictures have been downsized for those with slow connection speeds.  If you'd like copies of the original JPG pictures, send me an E-mail telling me which pictures you want and I'll be happy to send the original pictures to you at no charge!