Smolcks 323I Destruction Thread

Vario, I take it smolck had a bit of work to bring this back up to snuff, then proceded to maximize it in every reasonable way (read: not sTuPiD powah crap) for what he would have liked if ordering new. Ghosts and incompatibility just sort of caught up with it, I presume. But, through that process, he's one of the most knowledgable and handy 'festers around for the e46! Yay us, since he's staying with the platform!

I was just gonna say...Why junk yard instead of selling or parting out? What's done is done though. Congrats on ZHP!

Just read this in the other thread and it makes sense now
"So here is the latest. The salvage could only pay me $1500 right now for the car. They said they need a few more days to get the other $750. Sucks because as soon as I get the $2250 in hand, the ZHP is MINE! The owner is going to let me have it asap. More waiting."

Originally Posted by jvr826

"I blip my throttle to you!" - awesome!

That was The best part.

I'm sad to see it all apart like that

The car is dead so it is all moot, but here is the best explanation I can give as to why I took the course of action I did vs selling it or parting it out myself.

Yes, I can fix anything on an E46, that is true. But I am a father of 4 kids and only one income. So money for the parts it needed was never all that readily available and I always had "other things" that came up (teeth, doctors, school stuff, daughters car, etc) and the car fell to the back burner. I also used my car as a "test bed" for some pretty stupid ideas. For instance I put a flowmaster muffler on it, just for kicks and ended up melting a good portion of the rear bumper. I wanted a black roof so I painted it with a roller (followed a DIY some guy did) and it didn't turn out very good. I converted it to manual but never coded the computer to the car so it wasn't "right", drove fine but had CEL and no clutch safety switch etc. And then there was the failed seat dying which looked like crapola. It just wasn't worth it, nor did I feel right about selling it to someone. As far as parting it out personally, I just didn't want the hassle and I don't have a place to house the car while stripping it down. And even though I live in Alabama, my house is pretty nice and I didn't feel like junking up my yard (not to mention pissing off the homeowners association) with a parted car. I decided the best thing was just to let it go and get what I could without the hassles. Yea, it cost me a grand or so, but well worth it IMO.

I did have my friend that works at the parts place salvage some of the newer parts from it and my expensive adjustable sway bar links. Going to pick them up today.

So there you have it, long story but hopefully it makes more sense now.

Hard to believe you got more by salvage then selling whole..

I also just (sadly) parted (sort of) with my 2000 328i with 140K miles. Smolck many of your videos were of great help and inspiration to me in maintaining the car. I say sort of parted because my son needed a car, his 2004 TSX was becoming way too unreliable. I gave him my 328, 4 years older, but as an over maintained car was essentially in new condition (but clutch is still original, not sure how much longer it will last). So I will still be maintaining the car and get to drive it from time to time.

I used his TSX as trade for a 2011 335d for me (used - dealer service loaner - 6 months old 8K miles). I will say that 425 ft-lbs of torque and a 5000 RPM redline is a very different driving experience from the 328i.

....the end of an era!


...The start of another!

....Godspeed...

BMW should have bought it back and put it in their museum. "Smolck's Car" would have been one of the museum's most popular exhibits.

Originally Posted by sisspc

BMW should have bought it back and put it in their museum. "Smolck's Car" would have been one of the museum's most popular exhibits.

Ha. I appreciate the comment but most people would merely say "who the hell is smolck?" "and why do we have this POS car in a musuem?"

Originally Posted by smolck

blahblahblah So money for the parts it needed was never all that readily available and I always had "other things" that came up (teeth, doctors, school stuff, daughters car, etc) and the car fell to the back burner. blahblahblah

Originally Posted by SPDSKTR

lol - I can relate!

Originally Posted by SPDSKTR

Oh no... That would be a terrible way to send off a BMW...

Instead, it would have been nice to see a million mile BMW here or in a museum or something...
And maybe smolck would stand to get a complimentary 2012 or 2013 Bimmer from the manufacturer,

just like that million mile Honda Accord guy...

***Check out the link - http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/...lion-mile-car/

Originally Posted by new_kid

Oh no... That would be a terrible way to send off a BMW...

The pic was spdsktr's way of being funny about my DAUGHTER's KIA. He is a customer of mine and has been to the house on occasion when I was working on that God forsaken machine. Since he has witnessed my rants (and holes in the garage) about it, he always suggests I put the KIA to a fiery death.

I would rather sandpaper a bull's ass than work on that car!

Originally Posted by smolck

I would rather sandpaper a bull's ass than work on that car!

How do you know for sure?

Originally Posted by smolck

But I am a father of 4 kids and only one income. So money for the parts it needed was never all that readily available and I always had "other things" that came up (teeth, doctors, school stuff, daughters car, etc) and the car fell to the back burner.

I thought it looked waaaaaay too nice to scrap. But yes, I understand! Still, a 323i with 250k was much nicer than my daughter's first car! (Which she, predictably, destroyed.)

Originally Posted by RSPDiver

How do you know for sure?

Grew up on a farm.....

Ha, a bovine ass-smoothing farm?

It will probably return as part of a 2014 F30. So if you are walking through a lot one day, and you hear..."Psssst, Smolck"

The car on fire is supposed to be his daughter's car, which is a KIA. I don't really know of any BMW's that deserve a firey death.

EDIT: Although Shad would probably love to firebomb my car every now and then...

RIP. What a year. first you had to say goodbye to your dog and now to the car.

Originally Posted by AlboBMW

RIP. What a year. first you had to say goodbye to your dog and now to the car.

Yea, sure wish Baron was around to take a ride in the ZHP. He so loved to go for car rides.

Baron will be right there with you when you lease expect it. Don't worry about when it'll happen...you'll feel it.

So here is the 323 as it sits today. I walked over to it, took this picture, and touched it lightly on the side. It still has a date with the crusher sometime in the future, expect a video when that happens. For now........

How long will they leave that there until they recycle it?

My condolences you have to see her in that shape.

But now she's left so you could have an even better opportunity! ZHPeeeeeee!!!!! **insert Smolck ZHP giggle**

Originally Posted by roverT

My condolences you have to see her in that shape.

But now she's left so you could have an even better opportunity! ZHPeeeeeee!!!!! **insert Smolck ZHP giggle**

Ah, it doesn't bother me. That car was falling apart. I don't miss it at all. The ZHP is a blast and so much better of a car.

Originally Posted by rbaisa

How long will they leave that there until they recycle it?

They crush cars about 3 times a year so probably late spring.