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Ramblings

Announcing the MotoringBlogs Automotive and Motorcycling Blog Network

First I want to say how much fun I’ve had bringing readers at dancrouchblog.com the diamonds in the rough over the past 4 years. I have really enjoyed connecting with like minded enthusiasts and I look forward to making that experience even more meaningful moving ahead.

Now it is time to take my career more seriously, and that means making a transition from passive enthusiast to eventual full-time automotive and motorcycling, web and blogging specialist. I’m a bit premature in the announcement of this plan, but I want to keep dancrouchblog.com readers in the loop!

The most immediate and visible change is that I am splitting the topics that are most popular at dancrouchblog.com into their own blogs: German Cars For Sale Blog and Rare SportBikes For Sale. If you’re a fan of dancrouchblog.com, you’ll love these two blogs! They both follow the familiar “best of for sale” listings and resource guides you’re used to at this site, but both have much nicer .rss and email subscription options than I have utilized before. I hope you’ll consider subscribing. If not, don’t worry, I’ll still be highlighting these new blogs on dancrouchblog.com on a regular basis.

These two blogs are the first to be part of my new automotive blog network, MotoringBlogs. My hope for the network is two fold:

  1. Provide greater focus and detail to the automotive and motorcycling niche that the enthusiast searches for. The ability to provide more than a highlight reel or summary of information, and instead cater to the intense and educated enthusiast with detailed and opinionated editorial blog content.
  2. Build a network of authors, websites, and enthusiast readers that grow together to gain access and knowledge via an entertaining and informative blogging style to address sports cars, motorcycles, amateur motorsports, and the latest in breaking industry news.

The MotoringBlogs concept is in it’s infancy, but will grow quickly. More details will follow in the coming months. I will of course keep dancrouchblog.com readers informed first!

I hope you’ll find MotorBlogs to be an even better resource than dancrouchblog.com has been and I welcome your feedback in the comments below.

dc

Categories
Automotive Classifieds of Interest German Cars For Sale

1991 BMW e34 M5: Get Out The Drool Bucket, Only 3000 miles!

What can I say, this one really does best my top post, e34 m5 For Sale: Drool Factory. It has only 2730 miles!! And it really does look the part:

1991 BMW M5 Less Than 3K Original Miles on eBay Motors

1991 BMW e34 M5 Red For Sale1991 BMW e34 M5 Red For Sale Rear1991 BMW e34 M5 Red For Sale Leather Interior

Really it is anyone’s guess on what this car will actually sell for. You’d have to be a complete e34 M5 fanatic (and Powerball winner) to pay the $40k buy-it-now. That said, the richest 1% have a lot of disposable income and who knows which prospective buyer might fancy a brand new, 1991 BMW M5.

dc

Categories
Automotive Classifieds of Interest German Cars For Sale

1995 BMW e34 540i M Sport: A Completely Legitimate Alternative to the M5

Anyone who has seen Ronin knows how badass the BMW e34 M5 is. But even though lots of ‘affordable’ M5’s are showing up on eBay and Roadfly for under $15k, I wouldn’t touch one with a ten foot pole. The M5 motor is very sophisticated and maintenance intensive. Properly maintained cars trade hands for more like $18-25k and up.

Which is what makes the 540i M Sport so attractive. It’s practically an M5 with a more simple V8 engine under the hood. And while the V8 won’t spin and sound like the inline 6 in the M5, the power isn’t off by much. Considering the very low production numbers, I’ve seen at least 6 for sale in the last 6 months. Here’s a nice looking one in Vail for $9500(!) :

1995 BMW 540i Sport 6 speed on Craigslist

1995 BMW 540i M Sport Interior1995 BMW e34 540i/6 For Sale Craigslist

[…]Nearly fully refurbished ’95 BMW 540i Sport 6 Speed manual, Calypso Red Metallic (burgundy) over Natural (tan) leather interior in excellent shape (built 9/95), with BMW updated Alusil engine block at 60k. Sport package & cold weather package: traction control, heated leather sport seats (driver and passenger), M Sport suspension, body trim, sunroof, am/fm/cass/cd changer, with 282 HP and 295 Ft-Lbs of torque (stock). Garaged, non-smoker, cruise, pw, pdl, pm, BMW alarm w/remotes, memory seats/mirrors, and climate control w/ice cold a/c. No accidents or leaks, with 122k of mostly hwy mlg, & no tears/cracking in interior (only minor wear).[…]

The biggest issue of concern has already been addressed with the replacement of the long block. Read more about this unique model at the 540i Sport FAQ.

For such a low entry price, this looks like great fun and easy cruising!

dc

Update: This listing has long since expired. Check out these other e34’s for sale right now:

[AffomaticEbay]bmw e34[/AffomaticEbay]

Categories
Automotive Classifieds of Interest

1995 BMW e34 540i M Sport: With Dinan Supercharger!

Wow, what’s not to like about this really clean, enthusiast owned, e34 540i M Sport with every Dinan goodie known to man:

Souced from Roadfly and link to personal for sale page:

1995 BMW e34 540i M Sport For Sale Dinan1995 Dinan e34 Silvere34 dove interior

Now I know there are actually some things to nit-pick, like the worn driver’s seat, a few nicks here and there, and that naff Ferrari or Ansa sticker on the back. BUT, consider that this car is going on 13 years old, only has 93k miles, is loaded with Dinan goodness, has 414hp and a sub 5 second 0-60, and is only $13.5k, I think this is a screaming good deal! This better be gone before I get back from vacation or I might have to squeeze it into the budget!!

Update 3.30.08Looks like the car sold in only 12 hours!

dc

Update: This listing has long since expired. Check out these other e34 M5’s for sale right now:

[AffomaticEbay]e34 m5[/AffomaticEbay]

Categories
Automotive Classifieds of Interest

$5000 Dog Car within 500 miles

My buddy Ed contacted me about a finding him a sub $5k car that fit the following criteria:

2:48 PM edwardwilson749: Up for a car challenge?

me: sure!

2:50 PM edwardwilson749: You can take your time with this one, but we are looking for a dog/visitor car. Open to all makes/models with a max of $5000. Looking for something we can haul the 3 dogs in comfortably, let visitors drive when they are here, and not be embarrassed to park out front.

2:51 PM So far we have been looking at wagons, but would be open to a small SUV, or anything if the right one comes along.

me: hmmm, interesting.

2:52 PM edwardwilson749: Figure pick something up, drive it for a couple years, then sell it for a little less than what we paid for it. Figure it’ll cost us a couple grand to own, as opposed to a complete junker that might cost that much in maintenance.

So it will need to have a fairly good service record as well.

2:53 PM And being located somewhere close to the SE as well 😉

me: gotcha, sounds like fun!

You can fake having 3 dogs in a 4 door once in a while, but it’s sure not ideal. In my mind, that means wagon or SUV.

So I took a swing at some logical choices for Ed and G. I may have to come back to this later in the week with some more ‘creative’ examples though!

The first car to spring to mind was an e34 touring, that Ed also had found. His response was ‘meh’ for this 1993 525i Touring on Craigslist for $4k:
e34 Touring Craigslist For Sale

Right behind the BMW e34’s on my list was the W124 Benz Wagons:

1995 Mercedes 300TE Wagon on Craigslist in Orlando
1995 Mercedes 300TE Craigslist For Sale

1995 E320 Wagon on Craigslist $4595 in Orlando
1995 Mercedes E320 Wagon For Sale

And if you’re going to consider BMW’s and Merc’s, well you have to consider the Audi’s with Quattro:

1998 Audi A6 Avant on Craigslist Treasure Coast:
1998 Audi A6 Avant For Sale Craigslist

Or this 1998 A6 Avant with only 83k miles in Virginia on Autotrader.com:
Audi A6 Quattro

I’ve always thought a Landy was a sharp buy for the money. I’d take a look at these as well:

2000 Land Rover Discovery on Craigslist West Palm, $4130, 123k miles:
Land Rover Discovery II For Sale Craigslist

And this 1997 Land Rover Discovery SE with only 92k miles for $4996:
1997 Land Rover Discovery II SE For Sale Craigslist

And it’s hard to ignore a Japanese option:

1997 Infiniti QX4 on Craigslist Birmingham ($4950):
Infiniti QX4 For Sale Craigslist

But of all the cars I looked at tonight, the value leader and enthusiast bargain has got to be the Volvo R series wagons from the late 90’s. Check out these two barn burners for under $5k:

1996 Volvo 850R Wagon on Craigslist Atlanta. I really dig the beech interior and the stout black exterior. Volvo 850R Wagon For Sale Craigslist

And along the same lines, this newer 1998 Volvo V70R on Craigslist Savannah:
Volvo V70R For Sale Craigslist

Honorable Mentions:

Fiat 500 Station Wagon on eBay (exceeds price limit by $2k 😀 )
Fiat 500 Station Wagon

1993 Cadillac Fleetwood Hearse on eBay (too creepy, but probably meets or beats most of his criteria LOL!)
1993 Cadillac Fleetwood Hearse

dc