Well this got interesting!
There is a fine line between educating prospective buyers and condemning a listing based entirely on anecdotal experience and speculation. Yes E9’s rust. Yes there are signs of rust on this car. We don’t know if the rockers are shot or if they are fine. The buyer should absolutely assume that the car has rust issues and the price may reflect that. Short of the $135K superman e9 that sold last year, this assumption is safe for all e9’s. It is the calculated risk that one takes when buying something sight unseen (not talking about pictures). It is no different than buying a house without inspection, or the set of multi-piece BMW wheels I bought this morning without pictures of the lips.
I feel that I know as much about rust in these cars as anyone. Short of fading paint, my e9 project car looks pretty on the outside but it needs new rockers and floor pans. I drive my car once a month just to shake the spiders and rust flakes out. I don’t feel that my life is in danger and it is certainly safer than a motorcycle. Perhaps it is because I grew up in the Midwest. My father-in-law’s current pickup truck has no rocker panels anymore (Body on Frame I know). My first hand-me-down (unibody) car had no rear floor, and I riveted in a new one during my HS shop class. If you are worried about safety head over to youtube.com and watch a 45mph crash test of anything built before 1974. The results are all the same. Driving another old car, rust or not is yet another calculated risk.
Now, If you are worried about restoration costs, do your research on the cost of the motor, interior, rubber, and chrome. Take the extremely subjective paint job cost out of the equation. A complete used e9 dashboard is at least $1K and a fully restored dashboard is $3K. Good carpet is $600. Seats are $2,500 + Labor. Full rubber is $2K. Chrome and polishing is subjective as well but you are again in the thousands. The list goes on. Now that you have accounted for a good $10K in parts, go find yourself a $15-$20K project with rusty bumpers and a shot interior. See if you can get back to the state of the car listed here after factoring in those costs. If you are a DIY person – I salute you as you just might come out ahead.
With all of that said I agree with the folks that said that this car can be driven and enjoyed without addressing any issues.
@SCOTTeVESTceo has been vocal and shocked that the buyers don’t demand to see the bare rockers. I agree with many that this request is unreasonable. If you want to get into the weeds, an auction has *never been the place to do it. What
@SCOTTeVESTceo failed to mention is that he did nothing of the sort when he purchased his e9 ~10 years ago. Then he took it on numerous road trips across the country. He could have have continued to do the same for years to come but his cosmetic respray initiated a moderate (I say that in jest) amount of scope creep. Most e9 owners are dealing with, and casually ignoring rust issues. Nobody short of the pointy-elbowed-super-model-critiquing e9 experts are the wiser. I say that with the greatest respect to the e9 community they are wise beyond their years and exceptionally helpful. One thing you can count on with this car is an amazing amount of support from fellow owners, the likes of which I have never experienced before.
