Our story to date: Will buys 1994 BMW 525i with 204k on the clock for $950 ... should have offered the kid $500 for it. He probably would have taken it.

ANYWAY ... just got my $193 rebate check back from Citibank Driver's Edge, so I've really only got $757 in it to start.

Needs brakes and lots of suspension work. So far, I have purchased about $750 in parts ... I have accumulated almost all the brake parts I need -- rotors and pads all the way around, plus a pad level sensor. I'm waiting on the brake master cylinder to arrive today or tomorrow, and I'm going to have the garage put all the brakes on. (I don't want to do it, particularly in January/February temps.)

I have also bought some suspension parts, but I'm gradually accumulating those and will have them put on in late Feb/early March.

I paid $150 parts and labor for a transmission flex disc that VASTLY improved the shifting. Car starts, runs, and shifts very well.

So, to sum it up: brakes late this week, suspension in 3-4 weeks. I'm excited about the suspension in particular -- the control arms and struts on this car are SHOT. It clunks and floats its way down the road.

I have cleaned up the interior ... my daughter and I (no-SHUN rule) removed the ghetto purple window tint from the back windows, and then I noticed that there was some gray tint on one of the front windows, so my 18-year-old son and I removed that as well. HUGE improvement.

I'm currently waiting for some parts to come in so I can put the driver's door interior panel back on. When I bought it, the panel was hanging loose and has finally fallen all the way off. Inspecting it revealed that out of about 10 door clips, 9 of them were crushed/broken beyond use. Honestly, I don't know what the kid was thinking/doing -- how do you destroy 90% of the door panel clips on a car? Goofball.

This past weekend, I replaced the black plastic grill parts. There were three parts: the center kidney grill, and headlight surrounds for both sides. They were all faded gray, one side (driver's) worse than the other. Took me about 3 hours to get the old parts off and get the new parts on.

It was a lesson in buying knockoff parts. The original BMW parts were about $65 apiece, so we were talking close to $200 in parts alone. I bought parts that were about $12 apiece, so I only spent about $35.

BUT ... the center grill piece didn't fit very well. At all. The headlight surrounds were fine, but to get the grill piece to work, and to get the car back together, I had to break off two tabs that didn't line up. No big deal; this assembly had so many tabs that you can lose a few of them (I out-and-out shattered a third tab taking things apart) and things still go back together and hold tight and look fine.

Before, during, and after pics below. They really don't show how big the improvement was. They *sorta* show how bad the driver's side was, but the pics don't really show the improvement in the center grill and passenger headlight surround.

I've currently got $1,800 in the car. Finishing off brakes and suspension is probably going to take another $700 or so, parts and labor. I probably shouldn't be spending this much on the car, but I'm having fun rehabbing it.

I will, of course, keep you posted. :)