M535i Magnet - or is it Magnate?
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Drew in NYC
- Posts: 1625
- Joined: Mar 03, 2011
- Location: New York
Thanks Mike! I was driving home saying to myself that Mike won't think I brought home a "stray." Haha. If only rlomba8204 could see me now.gray635 wrote:Chris:
That's a fine looking car and a nice Christmas present to yourself! Congratulations. I've had the itch for a M535 for awhile now and seeing this car just makes me want to scratch it even more!
Thanks! It actually is a nice car. I'm having a hard time adjusting. I keep looking in the garage through the laundry-room door. I have two nice cars in there. I used to walk into the garage with some dirty crap I got at the yard and set it on the E12. Now, I just have to stand and hold the dirty crap.Justin_FL wrote:By all appearances it seems to be a nice car! Good and essentially original condition E28s with long-term ownership are so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.
Thanks! I'm flattered. Of course, Everyone else did all the hard work on this one. So, maybe now I'm sad. Either way, I'm glad others think it's seriously cool.Drew in NYC wrote:Gobsmacked. This is the perfect M535i if there ever was one. Congratulations on the acquisition -- it's unquestionably my favorite one from your fleet
I think I'm bringing the 528i to that. We'll see though.OcCoupe wrote:I'm looking forward to seeing it at this years St. Paddy's Day event.
I was hoping the car had shadowline like yours, but I'm actually pretty happy with the bright trim.GBel wrote:Great looking car Chris. Its like looking at my own except for my style 5's. and cloth Int.
86M535I Lascilber Silver
Gary
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hubble1953
- Posts: 866
- Joined: Dec 25, 2007
- Location: Boise, Idaho
nice m535
Chris: This has to be one of the cleanest m535s in the usa! Glad you were able to pick it up....maybe it will come up to Portland this summer..
jm
jm
Thanks Jake. It will certainly be roadworthly by then (pretty much is now, but not where I'd want it), but which car will make the trip is still up in the air.
Devinder - we will have to see what that's like. Sounds scary.
Thanks for the comments. I'm glad others think this car is as cool as I do. I can't take credit for anything. Darn.
I spent some time tooling through the records, but spent the majority of the time going through the envelope which contained the paperwork pertaining to the purchase of the car.
The original owner began the process in July, 1986 by contacting the NHTSA with a letter. I don't have that letter, but I have the one sent back to him outlining the requirements for a 1987 model year vehicle. In August, he had a Phoenix company Elite Motor Cars (now defunct) contact Hardy and Beck in CA to order an M535i. The initial order was for a Bronzit over pearl beige car with comfort seats, the alarm, dogleg, etc. Then Hardy and Beck were going to add their chassis kit and a brown stripe down the side of the car. The quote for the car said there would be a 2-3 month lead time, shipped to San Francisco, looking for delivery at the end of Sept or Oct. They would federalize the car and install the requested parts, then either ship it or have it available for pickup in Berkeley. A $4,000 deposit was required to place the order.
I initially thought this document was a template or something given that there weren't Bronzit M535s and there was an options list for 1985 models. Many notes were made in pencil around the document, which aligned with the way the car was built. Of course, then I found a sternly worded letter from an attorney to Allen Hardy.
There was a collection of magazine xeroxes with various road tests for the M535i paperclipped together. Seemed to go on for a while, then I found more fun documentation, including the lawyer letter. The letter claimed H&B were in breach given that more than seven months have passed and there hadn't been a request for the balance. The exchange rate had changed considerably causing the price of the car to increase considerably and he wanted to pull out and get his deposit back. If he didn't have it back by a certain date, they'd file a suit in California. This was followed up with a sternly-worded reply from Allen Hardy saying nah-uh. You're in breach. You changed your mind in December about how you wanted the car optioned. Oh and it's done and sitting in Munich awaiting the balance. And since you seem to not want to complete the deal, we will put $500 out of our pockets as an "incentive to hold up your end of the bargain."
No more documentation on that deal, but next was a copy of the cashiers check from a business loan including the car. Then power of attorney for a company in Scottsdale that would finish up the deal, arrange for transport and would then collect the money on the car. I have the bill of lading and then the report on the federalization process, along with the initial registration info, receipts for the phone, window tinting and the radar detector.
Pretty cool. I'm glad he changed his mind in 12/86. Whew.
Devinder - we will have to see what that's like. Sounds scary.
Thanks for the comments. I'm glad others think this car is as cool as I do. I can't take credit for anything. Darn.
I spent some time tooling through the records, but spent the majority of the time going through the envelope which contained the paperwork pertaining to the purchase of the car.
The original owner began the process in July, 1986 by contacting the NHTSA with a letter. I don't have that letter, but I have the one sent back to him outlining the requirements for a 1987 model year vehicle. In August, he had a Phoenix company Elite Motor Cars (now defunct) contact Hardy and Beck in CA to order an M535i. The initial order was for a Bronzit over pearl beige car with comfort seats, the alarm, dogleg, etc. Then Hardy and Beck were going to add their chassis kit and a brown stripe down the side of the car. The quote for the car said there would be a 2-3 month lead time, shipped to San Francisco, looking for delivery at the end of Sept or Oct. They would federalize the car and install the requested parts, then either ship it or have it available for pickup in Berkeley. A $4,000 deposit was required to place the order.
I initially thought this document was a template or something given that there weren't Bronzit M535s and there was an options list for 1985 models. Many notes were made in pencil around the document, which aligned with the way the car was built. Of course, then I found a sternly worded letter from an attorney to Allen Hardy.
There was a collection of magazine xeroxes with various road tests for the M535i paperclipped together. Seemed to go on for a while, then I found more fun documentation, including the lawyer letter. The letter claimed H&B were in breach given that more than seven months have passed and there hadn't been a request for the balance. The exchange rate had changed considerably causing the price of the car to increase considerably and he wanted to pull out and get his deposit back. If he didn't have it back by a certain date, they'd file a suit in California. This was followed up with a sternly-worded reply from Allen Hardy saying nah-uh. You're in breach. You changed your mind in December about how you wanted the car optioned. Oh and it's done and sitting in Munich awaiting the balance. And since you seem to not want to complete the deal, we will put $500 out of our pockets as an "incentive to hold up your end of the bargain."
No more documentation on that deal, but next was a copy of the cashiers check from a business loan including the car. Then power of attorney for a company in Scottsdale that would finish up the deal, arrange for transport and would then collect the money on the car. I have the bill of lading and then the report on the federalization process, along with the initial registration info, receipts for the phone, window tinting and the radar detector.
Pretty cool. I'm glad he changed his mind in 12/86. Whew.
loved the story on this page
reminds me of rainman the movie where tom cruise is this high flyer car importer trying to sell lambos awaiting epa and dot certifications to buyers who were tired of waiting for their cars and wanted their deposits back.
another reason to back in time, there was def something cool about importing fancy cars back then, unfortunately you can buy imports at your local dealer now.
reminds me of rainman the movie where tom cruise is this high flyer car importer trying to sell lambos awaiting epa and dot certifications to buyers who were tired of waiting for their cars and wanted their deposits back.
another reason to back in time, there was def something cool about importing fancy cars back then, unfortunately you can buy imports at your local dealer now.
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Drew in NYC
- Posts: 1625
- Joined: Mar 03, 2011
- Location: New York
You could buy imports at your local dealer then, too.bunty wrote:another reason to back in time, there was def something cool about importing fancy cars back then, unfortunately you can buy imports at your local dealer now.
Last I checked, models that aren't meant for the US market still need to be federalized, just like in the good 'ol days.
Great treasure trove of history on the car, Chris! Just goes to show you how very, very, badly the original owners must have wanted the gray market cars. The months of order lead time, overseas shipping, followed by weeks of federalization - not to mention the additional costs. Seems like us downstream owners should be paying royalty fees to these '80's "angels." 
Jim
Jim
When I saw that movie back in the day, I decided my goal in life was to be a grey market importer.bunty wrote:reminds me of rainman the movie where tom cruise is this high flyer car importer trying to sell lambos awaiting epa and dot certifications to buyers who were tired of waiting for their cars and wanted their deposits back.
Rare pic of Alan Hardy and Hans Beck circa 1986:
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jodystevens
- Posts: 314
- Joined: Oct 10, 2013
- Location: Canada
Not much has happened with the car. I have title and registration in my name as of a couple weeks ago.
The big thing I wanted out of that was to keep the red AZ plate (original to the car). I figure it made it this far, it should stay with it. The PO bought the car in November 2001. January, 2002, the state of AZ changed the law from the plate and registration staying with the car to the plate belonging to the owner who has 30 days to transfer it (for a fee) or file for a credit (also for a fee) or forfeit the remaining registration . Nothing but a cash grab and a waste of license plates.
Originally purchased to keep miles off of his E30 M3, he soon realized that it was too nice of a car, so it went into the garage. The registration was never renewed since it expired in July, 2003. Fortunately, we don't have NON-OP requirements here, but he certainly would have filed for that if we had. He transfers title to me and then comes this interesting question of what happens to the license plate. It was interesting to me, not so much to the MVD.
At the MVD, I was sitting patiently. I got there right when they opened, with four people in line ahead of me. Unfortunately all four people had title transfers. Eventually, what appeared to be a rather unhappy woman opened up a window and called my number.
Standing at the counter, I was expecting an issue as the last car I tried to get titled didn't show up in the computer since it was last registered in 1999, and while title had transferred once, it was never re-registered, so it fell off. This car did the same thing. She asked when it was last registered and I had the plate, so I showed her the '03 tag. I then asked if I could transfer this plate to me and use it on this car? She tersely said, "No. That plate doesn't belong to you. It belongs to the previous owner." I like arguing, so I said, "Realistically, it hasn't been registered in 10-and-a-half years, so it doesn't belong to anyone." No response. She kept typing away as to be in a heated argument with her computer. To myself, I said, "Well, we tried our best, but our best wasn't good enough, eh?" After a while, she said, "Let me see that red plate." I nervously handed her the plate expecting some well-used Makita Extreme Plate Shredder 2000 to destroy what I had worked so hard to save and her to say, "HA! Well now it IS no one's plate!" followed by hyena-esque laughter. She then set it on the printer. I didn't know it was a printer. I thought it was the Makita EPS2000 MkII. My heart sank. Then I realized it was a printer. A Lexmark printer. I then started thinking about how long it had been since I've seen a new Lexmark printer. After a couple seconds of that, she had me sign a form and pay $31 which registers the car through January 2016 with the plate EAZ 535. 
I left happy.
I put the plate on the car when I returned home. I ended up removing the old month sticker (it's one sticker now), then the stack of stickers in the upper right. Was taking the lower right ones off and they all came off but the 1988 one, so I decided to leave that since it was the first one.
No further progress until this morning.
This car sat in a garage under a cover for a lot of years. For several years, it was driven periodically to keep things rolling. Then it pretty much got to the point of starting it every month, running it a while and running the AC to keep it working. Well, suffice it to say, it acquired some dings. The worst were in the left rear door, referred to as "Mother-in-law dents."
Hard to see them, but there were about eight dings in the top of the left rear door. A bummer on a car that looks as nice as this.
Yesterday, I called my PDR guy. I actually do have a guy. I've never had him do anything for me though mostly due to laziness. He was going to do the 533, but then it got itself sold. Expecting to hear that sometime next week would be fine, how about Thursday or something, he actually said, "How does tomorrow morning work?" I figured it worked great. I'm not on a jobsite this weekend and am pretty much working at the computer, so great.
Turned out that each panel had at least one ding or at least minor depression. He was amazed at the condition of the car for being original.
I had to take some things apart, particularly in the left rear door (door latch mechanism). All four door cards came off, the trunk liner and then very carefully one piece of hood cowl vent insulation. Whew. There was even a tiny one behind the sunroof he took care of. Looks great now! Looked great before, but it's awesome now.
Interestingly, with the door panels, off, they didn't weld the bars into the doors. They bolted the one end, notched the other end to fit into the something and then used a set screw to hold them tight. No welding. The left front door doesn't even have one. It did, but I guess it started rattling or something.
So, that's all for now.
The big thing I wanted out of that was to keep the red AZ plate (original to the car). I figure it made it this far, it should stay with it. The PO bought the car in November 2001. January, 2002, the state of AZ changed the law from the plate and registration staying with the car to the plate belonging to the owner who has 30 days to transfer it (for a fee) or file for a credit (also for a fee) or forfeit the remaining registration . Nothing but a cash grab and a waste of license plates.
Originally purchased to keep miles off of his E30 M3, he soon realized that it was too nice of a car, so it went into the garage. The registration was never renewed since it expired in July, 2003. Fortunately, we don't have NON-OP requirements here, but he certainly would have filed for that if we had. He transfers title to me and then comes this interesting question of what happens to the license plate. It was interesting to me, not so much to the MVD.
At the MVD, I was sitting patiently. I got there right when they opened, with four people in line ahead of me. Unfortunately all four people had title transfers. Eventually, what appeared to be a rather unhappy woman opened up a window and called my number.
Standing at the counter, I was expecting an issue as the last car I tried to get titled didn't show up in the computer since it was last registered in 1999, and while title had transferred once, it was never re-registered, so it fell off. This car did the same thing. She asked when it was last registered and I had the plate, so I showed her the '03 tag. I then asked if I could transfer this plate to me and use it on this car? She tersely said, "No. That plate doesn't belong to you. It belongs to the previous owner." I like arguing, so I said, "Realistically, it hasn't been registered in 10-and-a-half years, so it doesn't belong to anyone." No response. She kept typing away as to be in a heated argument with her computer. To myself, I said, "Well, we tried our best, but our best wasn't good enough, eh?" After a while, she said, "Let me see that red plate." I nervously handed her the plate expecting some well-used Makita Extreme Plate Shredder 2000 to destroy what I had worked so hard to save and her to say, "HA! Well now it IS no one's plate!" followed by hyena-esque laughter. She then set it on the printer. I didn't know it was a printer. I thought it was the Makita EPS2000 MkII. My heart sank. Then I realized it was a printer. A Lexmark printer. I then started thinking about how long it had been since I've seen a new Lexmark printer. After a couple seconds of that, she had me sign a form and pay $31 which registers the car through January 2016 with the plate EAZ 535. I left happy.I put the plate on the car when I returned home. I ended up removing the old month sticker (it's one sticker now), then the stack of stickers in the upper right. Was taking the lower right ones off and they all came off but the 1988 one, so I decided to leave that since it was the first one.
No further progress until this morning.
This car sat in a garage under a cover for a lot of years. For several years, it was driven periodically to keep things rolling. Then it pretty much got to the point of starting it every month, running it a while and running the AC to keep it working. Well, suffice it to say, it acquired some dings. The worst were in the left rear door, referred to as "Mother-in-law dents."
Hard to see them, but there were about eight dings in the top of the left rear door. A bummer on a car that looks as nice as this.
Yesterday, I called my PDR guy. I actually do have a guy. I've never had him do anything for me though mostly due to laziness. He was going to do the 533, but then it got itself sold. Expecting to hear that sometime next week would be fine, how about Thursday or something, he actually said, "How does tomorrow morning work?" I figured it worked great. I'm not on a jobsite this weekend and am pretty much working at the computer, so great.
Turned out that each panel had at least one ding or at least minor depression. He was amazed at the condition of the car for being original.
I had to take some things apart, particularly in the left rear door (door latch mechanism). All four door cards came off, the trunk liner and then very carefully one piece of hood cowl vent insulation. Whew. There was even a tiny one behind the sunroof he took care of. Looks great now! Looked great before, but it's awesome now.
Interestingly, with the door panels, off, they didn't weld the bars into the doors. They bolted the one end, notched the other end to fit into the something and then used a set screw to hold them tight. No welding.
The left front door doesn't even have one. It did, but I guess it started rattling or something.So, that's all for now.
So glad you had a triumph with your local civil servant (even though they are anything but civil).
But I do think I have heard about, but never actualy seen the
"Makita EPS2000 MkII." That is truly awsome..
Pretty ingenious the different ways to put door beams in to grey market cars, some were done as well as the factory, while other would not even protect you from a side impact of a bicycle!!
Nice to see the progress.
Jeff
But I do think I have heard about, but never actualy seen the
"Makita EPS2000 MkII." That is truly awsome..
Pretty ingenious the different ways to put door beams in to grey market cars, some were done as well as the factory, while other would not even protect you from a side impact of a bicycle!!
Nice to see the progress.
Jeff