Here’s baT Auction Success Story: BMW Z3 1.9 Goes High & Dry
Last year, BaT member mlc66 and his wife completed the High & Dry Rally in the 1998 BMW Z3 1.9 that he won from burtsmith1600 in an October 2024 BaT auction. He recently wrote to us all about his experience:
At the start of 2024, I promised a friend that my wife and I would join his vintage car tour across California and Nevada that fall. October came around and it was two weeks from the start of his “High & Dry Tour” and, unfortunately, my 1998 Subaru Impreza “STI” conversion was woefully short of being ready to run. What should I do? After a short budget negotiation with my wife, we hatched a plan to buy “an interesting old car” specifically for the event. We set the budget at no more than $10,000 and compiled a short list of “interesting” cars with three pedals, which included Miatas, MGs, Triumphs, and an assortment of BMW E10s, E21s and E30s. Ultimately, I placed the winning bid on a 1998 BMW Z3 1.9.
It was a week before the event, and I had purchased the Z3 sight unseen. It was in Sacramento, and I live in San Diego, so there was no time to collect the car, drive it home, and fix any issues before the start of the event. However, there was just enough time to fly into San Francisco, work for a few days, hop on a train to Sacramento to collect the car from the incredibly hospitable seller, and then drive to meet my wife near Yosemite for the start of the tour. The seller assured me that car was in great shape equipped with new tires and fresh fluids and filters, etc. He did seem a little surprised when I told him that my wife and I intended to start a four-day tour the very next day.
The tour would take us across three mountain passes over 9,000 feet ASL (the “high” portion of the High & Dry Tour) then down to minus 200 feet ASL in Death Valley (the “dry” section of the drive). We would ultimately end up in San Diego 1,500 miles later.
I was straining to feel, hear, or smell any signs of impending disaster while driving the car to Yosemite the evening before the start of the tour, but there was nothing to observe other than a surprisingly compliant ride, a bit of bump steer, and a very functional soft top and heater. The next day, the Z3 took its place in the parking lot alongside a plethora of Porsches, Jaguars, BMWs, and an achingly pretty Alfa Romeo Montreal. On first day of the tour, the Z3—christened “little red riding hood” by the assembled group of car enthusiasts—dropped her soft top, and we completed the next four days of driving in that fashion—heater on, top down. The Z3 never missed a beat despite spiritedly chasing some 911s, M3s, etc. We turned off traction control after realizing it was on, and the little 1.9L four-cylinder even managed to wag the Z3’s tail a little.
After the tour, we temporarily donated the car to our son’s quest in learning to drive stick-shift, which he successfully did over the holidays. And now, despite being away from home for most of the year, he’s petitioning hard to keep “his” car—at least until he can do another track day with it. During the summer, we drove it some 200 miles to its first track day at Willow Springs. My son earned a couple of hours of track time, and became scarily quick by the end of the day. Once again, we drove it home without accident or incident.
Our hasty purchase plan never really considered what we’d do with the car after the tour. Truth be told, I wasn’t really expecting to enjoy driving it all that much, but having performed flawlessly over the last year during a variety of tasks, it’s found a place in our family car and bike menagerie.
If you have a Success Story about a car you’ve bought or sold on BaT, please send a few lines and pictures (or a video) to community.content@bringatrailer.com, and we’ll send you a $50 credit to the BaT Gear Store when your story posts to the site.
We love to hear from satisfied BaT buyers and sellers, and a Success Story feature is a great addition to any car’s history when you’re ready to sell.
