I found time capsule BMW V12… it was caked in dust & broken – but I still forced my wife to take it on our honeymoon
A MOTOR expert has told how he transformed a broken time capsule BMW V12 caked in dust.
Car enthusiast Sreten, who runs the M539 Restorations YouTube channel, just couldn’t say no when offered the chance to restore the classic motor.
The V12 BMW E31 850 model, the first generation of the BMW 8 Series and a real hit among car lovers, had been locked away for seven years as a result of recurring general module issues.
Its owner, a man named Doug, had failed to find someone who could fix it up and was left with no other option but to let it rot in his garage in Phoenix, Arizona, US.
But after reaching out to Sreten, Doug soon saw his luck change.
Documenting his progress with a video on YouTube, Sreten revealed how he’d even forced his wife to let him take the vehicle on their honeymoon together.
But the 6-speed manual motor had been draining its battery “badly” according to the motor expert.
With just 87,000 miles on the clock, however, there was plenty to be positive about ahead of restoring the two-door coupe.
What’s more is that this BMW 8 Series had only one owner since 1998 and came with a complete service history.
It’s unclear how much Sreten spent on new parts needed to restore the vehicle, but it certainly wouldn’t have been cheap.
Nonetheless, a detailed plan was put into action, and after several tweaks and improvements to the interior and exterior, it wasn’t long before the car began to look back to its best.
The plan was to revive the car right there on the spot inside the garage and drive it to California afterwards, and that’s exactly what Sreten managed to achieve.
Having managed to bring back the original beauty of the car, he was also able to add one or two personal touches to make it truly unique.
Inside the vehicle, a truly unique selling point is the original car phone, something almost unheard of in the modern age.
There was also the original window sticker from when the car was first made, listing it at a healthy retail price of $77,600 (£61,603).
In today’s market, that would cost approximately $163,250 (£131,288).
However, you’re now likely to get your hands on one for as little as £27,000, although prices vary.
Found inside the glove compartment of the vehicle, it even revealed the breakdown in costs on the official document, showing just how much it cost for certain services more than two decades ago.
Sreten ends the video by taking the E31 to another garage, where he explains everything under the bonnet is all original and hasn’t been tampered with since the car was first made.
He then has all of the cosmoline removed from the engine as the final touches to his restoration, giving it a renewed and more pristine look.