2001 Z8 #60706 Black / Black one owner 9,680 miles - Sold on BaT for $257,000

[BigGar]

My client has decided that it's time to part with her gorgeous Z8. I have looked after this one since her husband purchased it brand new in Encinitas, CA. When he passed away in 2012 this was the only car in his collection that she decided to keep but she is just not driving it enough. Brand new tires all around, new battery, alignment, new rear ball joint bushings. Car was thoroughly gone over at BMW of Vista and if there was anything else it needed we would have gotten it done. No leaks anywhere. Car runs and drives flawlessly. Everything works. Radio, NAV, CD, HVAC, etc... Needs nothing.

This is a very complete Z8 that is only missing the phone and front license plate holder. All four keys, plus one brand new button key. We thought one was lost, jumped through the hoops to get a new one, then found the missing one! Oh well... All books, tools, bags, coffee table book, manuals, charger, first aid kit, etc...

Performance package and brand new headlights were installed in approximately 2013. Replacement headlights are still perfectly clear.

Never any accidents or bodywork. Still 100% original paint that is in excellent, perfectly detailed condition. There are a few stone pecks behind the tires and minor scratches on the bottom of the front spoiler but nothing unexpected on a twenty year old car. Hard top headliner was just replaced and is perfect. The soft top headliner shows wrinkling but it's not falling down or falling apart.

Mileage has been documented by regular bi-annual smog checks and CarFax is clean. It does show three owners, but that is because it went from Jeff when he bought it new, to the family trust, to the updated family trust.

I literally have the car in my garage and am happy to show it to anyone who might be interested.

Update as this will be on BaT tomorrow morning.

Bid early and often!



Gregg Park
760.497.1015

[macfly]

What a stunning example, in such perfect condition, and knowing it's one of your cars, I'd say it's a $275,000 car in today's market.

[BigGar]

Known history since day one has to be worth something. I'll get paint meter photos in the album later. The only thing I have left to do on the car is hand rub the interior black trim. It appears worse in the photos than it actually is but I have no doubt it will look fabulous with some carefully applied elbow grease. Things got delayed a bit as I was in the hospital with Covid for six days. I've been home for almost a week now and feeling pretty much back to normal. Anyone who would like to see the car in person don't hesitate to PM me. Currently located in Vista, CA, about 35 miles north of San Diego and 90 miles south of L.A.

Thanks for getting a photo up for me Andrew!

[macfly]

Seeing that Topaz/Cream with 31k miles just top out at over 400k on BaT, I'd like to revise my estimate and say this car should bring at least 325k as a 1 owner sub 10k mile car.

[BigGar]

That is just an incredible number that definitely lets us all know that Topaz / Crema is the top color combo ever. That said, a rising tide lifts all boats!

[BigGar]

Going to list it on BaT.
First time with them and I'm really looking forward to it.

[macfly]

To be honest I don't know, but I'd seriously suggest getting a BaT slot, it's definitely the best marketplace.

Google has pretty much killed our site, we used to be in the top three hits if you searched for BMW Z8 before they started monetizing the algorithm, now we don't appear for pages and pages. Honestly we get so little new traffic that I think the site is basically the old community just hanging in there keeping in touch with each other.

[BigGar]

I'll check with BaT and see what the wait is like. I'd like to give it a shot but don't really want to wait months and months.

[BigGar]

I submitted to BaT and we'll see what the wait time is. Not really excited about waiting until summer to get it listed so we'll just have to see what the story is. I'm not committed to them yet. Just filled out the paperwork and sent it in.

[Musta10000]

@BigGar - if you do end up listing with BaT, it would be great if it would possible for you star a new thread on the process providing periodic updates on the journey of getting actually listed.

[BigGar]

Musta, it's been accepted so I will definitely provide updates here. If any of you have checked my album link, please give me your thoughts as I'm on the fence as to whether I should do the $350 and have a BaT photographer come by or just spend the $99 and use my shots. I need to get them paid to move forward.

[Musta10000]

The photography of the cars on BaT is absolutely critical as every reflection and shadow is being questioned in addition of wanting to show the car “in the best light”. The $350 sounds incredibly inexpensive and a great investment in order to present the car well and eliminate some of the noise from what I referred to earlier. I did look at ypur album and while lot of the photos are great, I believe you would benefit from their service.

[macfly]

I'd agree, but black is the hardest color to shoot, light and location is everything, if they want to shoot in the midday sun then pass, black cars are best just as and after the sun is setting in an open space free from reflections. These shots of Ian's old car at Buttonwillow are some of my best of a black car - https://www.bmwz8.us/galleryclr.php?...gID=440&page=8

[Musta10000]

I have an idea! Nobody in the world would be better to shoot those photos than Andrew!!!

[BigGar]

You're not wrong at all Skip! I've already got it set up with the BaT photographer from "Snapper" or some such photo contractor. We are set up for 1-3 this Wednesday the 9th. I sent him a message asking if maybe it's a better idea to shoot later in the day. I'm going to leave it up to him. Seems like a very nice guy.

[macfly]

I'd def push of later light, good luck either way!

[BigGar]

I've got him coming at 4:00 tomorrow so that should work out very well.

[Norcal]

I look forward to seeing the pics!

[2112]

Do just like the magazines do when submitting the pictures to BaT.

When showing the side from the front 1/4, have the front wheels turned slightly inward.

When showing the side from the rear 1/4 area, have the wheels turned slightly outward.

It makes a world of difference.

[BigGar]

The Snapper guy spent a good three hours with me and I probably moved the car fifty times. I'm going to be sore
Pretty sure he got some nice shots. He didn't know much at all about Z8's, but I'm going to submit my album of photos to the BaT people as well as his and they can do with them what they like.
We tried to get a drone "walk around" video, but we're not far from Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, CA and the poor guy is only trying to fly the drone about ten feet off the ground every time a plane was coming in it would basically shut his drone down, which was about every thirty seconds it seemed. We'll probably just use the amateur hour walk around that I shot. He might have some decent stuff with the drone of me driving the car a bit, but I won't know until it's all edited. He got most all of the minutiae expected of a Z8 photo shoot, and I have most of that stuff in my own album. VIN sticker shots, keys, tool kit, books, etc. . . . I'm pretty sure he got nicer "beauty" shots than I already have. It should be a good mix and I'll be happy to get any extra shots and answer any extra questions as the auction progresses. Aside from a wrinkly soft top headliner, the car is a rock star. I really hope it does well. (the laughing emoticons are supposed to be up by where I said I'm going to be sore, but this software can be an exercise in frustration).

- - - Updated - - -

Do just like the magazines do when submitting the pictures to BaT.

When showing the side from the front 1/4, have the front wheels turned slightly inward.

When showing the side from the rear 1/4 area, have the wheels turned slightly outward.

It makes a world of difference.

I had those front wheels in a myriad of positions, so I'm hoping we got some "good" ones!

[Gregesq]

PCarmarket?

[DLM]

I'd agree, but black is the hardest color to shoot, light and location is everything, if they want to shoot in the midday sun then pass, black cars are best just as and after the sun is setting in an open space free from reflections. These shots of Ian's old car at Buttonwillow are some of my best of a black car - https://www.bmwz8.us/galleryclr.php?...gID=440&page=8

I would say those are the best of any black Z8, awesome. It even takes aspects of the look of a 507. Stunning.

[BigGar]

@BigGar - if you do end up listing with BaT, it would be great if it would possible for you star a new thread on the process providing periodic updates on the journey of getting actually listed.

Skip, it goes live on BaT tomorrow morning sometime. I'll put up a thread or post about the listing process and my experience as it goes along. I'm hoping y'all check out the auction and look at the photos that were taken by the "pro" and I'd love to get your thoughts. He did get some cool shots, but I also preferred a lot of my own shots too. In the end, I just had them add most of my album along with the ones taken by their guy. I've always put together all of my own ads, so it was kind of weird them doing it, then sending it to me for approval or to suggest edits.

[Musta10000]

Gregg - saw the listing. Looking good !!! GLWA - I am sure it will bring top dollar as it should! I’ll be watching every comment… have a great rest of the weekend!

[[email protected]]

That is just an incredible number that definitely lets us all know that Topaz / Crema is the top color combo ever. That said, a rising tide lifts all boats!

My Topaz crema one owner cream puff 7k mile sat on here for a long
time before I stepped up and bought it in December of 2020, I’m sure glad I did!
the car is amazing!

[BigGar]

Thank you so much for the kind comments on the BaT auction. Seems to be going well so far. I'm sure things will settle down during the week but hoping for a big finish next Saturday!

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-bmw-z8-64/

[BigGar]

Three hours or so left! Hoping for the "or so" part with lots of last minute bids! Thanks again for the kind words and positive comments. Absolutely crazy day yesterday finding out the bizarre story of this car when it had three miles on the clock before my client picked it up new at the dealership with 11 miles on it.

I never have luck posting photos or documents here but basically a bidder requested a pre-purchase inspection at a place that was very close (1.5miles) to where the car is stored. I was of course happy to oblige. The place I took it to apparently has access to virtually every bit of history on the car, even before it was purchased new. Great. I have no problem with that as I strive for full transparency.

Unknown to everyone, the history report listed damage and paintwork from when the car had three miles on it. This was before my client and I picked it up, brand new, from the dealership. None of this was ever revealed to us, or anyone else, prior to yesterday. The oddest thing is that I have never seen any evidence of paint or bodywork on the car. I inspected it when he picked it up, and I've taken care of it since then. In preparing the car for sale, I've probably spend fifty hours going over the car top to bottom. The paint thickness reading are all in the accepted range of "original" with no evidence of repainting anything. All of the VIN stickers are in place. There is zero evidence of tape marks, overspray, or any non-factory paint on the car at all. The OEM orange peel texture is consistent throughout.

I can only surmise that the items on the damage report listing "Paintwork" were simply scratches or scuffs from shipping that were polished out before we picked the car up. I suppose it's possible that the rear plastic bodywork was replaced as a "crack" was listed in the report, however, the rear plastic looks perfect and also has the VIN sticker that's under the license plate.

It's all so very strange but I had no choice but to reveal the report regardless. I'm hoping it doesn't scare bidders away from a very excellent car.

[macfly]

Sadly this is an all too common issue with these cars. BMW were far from careful in the shipping process, and many of the cars I've inspected have had similar stories. I think the key thing is that the car remains in the condition in which it was delivered from BMW, as you really have no control over what happened to it before taking delivery.

[BigGar]

Sold for $257,000 on a $240,000 reserve. Considering the crazy news on the car history hitting me yesterday morning, and oh, there's a war going on right now that could have a profound effect on the economy, and the rest of the world at any time, I think we did o.k. I would have loved to squeeze another 10 or 15K out of it, but I'm also happy it passed reserve and is going to a new owner in Texas who's going to enjoy the car as it should be enjoyed. Well bought and he's getting a great Z8.

[Bend]

Congrats, Greg.Besides the good sale in light of recent events, you have established yourself as a highly credible seller on BAT. Great job after a lot of effort!

Now onto worrying about this world. There is nothing like the all real risk of a world war to minimize the importance of the paint thickness of our cars.

[Musta10000]

That was a great auction to watch! Nice price at the end and you did a phenomenal job communicating and being transparent! Congratulations!

[macfly]

Congrats on the sale, terrible luck on the timing, without the darned war starting at exactly the wrong time I think it could have got another 50k.

[BigGar]

Thanks guys. I feel pretty good about it. Looking forward to my next BaT opportunity.