[urq] FW: Fw: Audi Museum miniatures

[Del Tergo, Mike]

Sean,
Better to be remembered for some rash decisions almost 20 years apart (you’d think I’d have learned)  than not remembered at all I suppose!  IIRC I bought my 81 UrQ, with very low miles if true,  in ~1991 for $10K.  I must have borrowed the money as I certainly didn’t have that kind of money sitting around but even then I realized the probability of finding another like it was very slim.  Even just factoring in the big dollar items, body restoration, engine, (twice unfortunately), I have the purchase price again in the car, then I’d hate to account for chassis works, numerous brake upgrades, turbo upgrades, well we all get the idea.  Hard to say but maybe I get $15K as it sits.  Catch me on a frustrating day and I’d happily sell it and move on.  Then catch me on last Father’s Day when my wife and 9 year old daughter are driving through Boston to a German Auto show when a 20 something in a Dodge Diesel pick up rolls to the stop light and motions me to roll down the pass window.  He then begins to ask me if I know how important my car is and how storied its past is and how it is an all-time favorite for him.  The monologue goes on for the duration of the red light.  My daughter thinks we are now rock stars, ha!
I bought the M3 about 5-6 years ago as it sat on the side of the road on a stretch I would pass regularly. It had ~120K miles, very good interior and a body showing it had been bumped around in a barn for a few years.  I paid $8,900 with receipts for about $2,500 in very overpriced service work done in the last 3 months.  I have put roughly 30K trouble free miles on it since then, but have done brakes, suspension, lights, (all my cars have E codes), trim personal upgrades etc. and budgeting for an engine rebuild which will cost about twice what an I5 turbo will.  I dare say, in its current state needing paint $12K+- is very doable.  I have done a number of track days in the BMW as their and PCA events are cheaper than ACNA events and it is tough to beat the extreme balance of the M3, even with the higher output and longer legs of the UrQ.  Though many folks who have driven both of my cars on the street prefer the UrQ because it seems more lively on the street where the E30 is really a track bred car.
I am more sanguine about taking the e30 out for day to day and track events because you can still get most bits, including body work, from the dealer!  Granted some is generic e30 with many tens of thousands produced, but much is also M3 specific, and remember this is the smallest M3 run of them all and the oldest.  Interior timing chain guides and rails, Interior door handle, done last year, interior trim anchors, done, under body cladding and belly pans, done, radio antenna and wiring, $60 done and done (try that on an UrQ).  The list goes on and we are not talking BMW Classic or Tradition here, just a call to any dealer.
I am at the stage were $25 for a visor clip would not break me, but it would kill me to bite the bullet!  Audi has dropped the ball on support for business reasons I am sure.  I have done many group buys for these cars over the years with lots of help from enthusiasts here in North America and Europe.  Trust me it can be like herding cats.  Last summer a GB for windshields fell apart after many clamored for the oppty to get on made and then disappeared when it came time to pony up.
Maybe we need to buy a group 3 D printer so we can do a bunch of runs for visor clips, bumper plugs, window regulator spacers, interior trim buttons and the like.  It seems the only way to get what you want as Audi is clearly forward looking though reaching into the past when it suits them. (advertising)  I’m pretty sure Audi could ”give” each current UrQ owner one of the miniatures we have been discussing for about the cost of 2 of the 8 or so driving school giveaways they are sponsoring as prizes for securing new club members.  And therein lies the crux.  For whatever reasons, BMW CCA and PCA membership far outstrips ACNA membership.  Audi is trying to up the engagement level of its owners and future owners to those other premium brand levels and that focus clearly has a much bigger windshield that its rear view mirror.  I suppose I can’t blame them.  I am squarely in their target demographic for their cars, but I think they are overpriced and somewhat less reliable than their competition though admittedly tops in fit and finish, so when it breaks you’re still looking good and comfortable!  I’d say they seem to be making strides on the pricey side though as whoever bought my 200 20V wagon new paid $48,000, which would have bought the house I was living in when I bought the car in 2007, you can buy its reasonable replacement from Audi today for almost the same absolute dollars and probably less inflation adjusted.
Rant off, carry on!

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Subject: Re: [urq] Fw: Audi Museum miniatures
First of all Mike, your my hero.  I have always envied your ownership of those two cars.  If the M3 didn't keep two steps ahead of my budget I'd have one parked between the UrQ and the Integrale.

Few would disagree here that most urq owners just won't, and historically haven't kept up with this $25 part and that $25 part during the ownership of their cars.  In fact you name a part, accessory, or service and I guarantee someone will chime in and complain about the price of it - regardless of how much time and money was invested into making or re-making that particular part.

In my experience I have seen the opposite from E30 M3 owners, and that's a good reason those cars have out valued the more significant and rare UrQ.

Sean.

Sent from my iPhone for, the one with the bigger Gee Bee's

On Nov 13, 2013, at 19:36, Mike Del Tergo <mdeltergo at hotmail.com<mailto:mdeltergo at hotmail.com>> wrote:
Any elaboration here?  Could save thousands in therapy as I'm one of a few Urq/E30 M3 owners....

> From: audiqtrocp audiqtrocp at aol.com<mailto:audiqtrocp at aol.com>
> That my friends is the fundamental difference between an E30 M3 owner and an UrQ owner.