Austan Luna's E24 L6
Photography by Brandon Primes
We'll start this story back around November 2014 when Peter Kaczynski purchased this L6 because I think it's an important part of the car's history. Peter wasn't actually looking for an E24 at the time, but he had always wanted one. He used to look for them occasionally when he was in college, but never pulled the trigger on one. A week after buying himself a motorcycle he was browsing through cars on Craigslist at 1:30am laying in bed. He found this one relatively close to home and got in touch with the owner.
The car wasn't running properly but the interior made him fall in love. The car came with all service records including a binder from previous owners, which is always a plus. Unfortunately the hood, trunk, and rear quarter were keyed and the rear wheel well and front of the hood had developed some rust. They finally made a deal and Peter's dad drove it home, as he followed behind in his car. The timing was off so it was very jerky, now that he thinks about it, it was an extremely amateur move and he should've trailered it.
They couldn't figure out why the timing was off so they had a specialist look at it. After many hours the specialist figured out that the pin from the automatic flywheel was broken off. This pin adjusts engine timing and is adjacent of the speed and reference sensor. After that was resolved she was stating to "get there", but the electronics in the car were out. They had to get it rewired, along with the blinkers and headlights.
Shortly after Peter started working on the body, a friend of his took care of the rust removal and paint. the car was equipped with Broadway Static super low setup custom coilovers with high spring rates. He also installed a race skid plate, and began looking for wheels. A local friend was selling his chrome BBS RS with 17" faces stepped up to 18"; this was just the look he was after. He played with the spacers and adjusted the coils only a million times but he finally got it where he could drive the car and still have a nice stance.
One day Austan Luna messaged Peter on Instagram to see if he was interested in selling the car. Peter put it off and delayed the sale for a few months but Austan was persistent. Peter picked Luna up from the airport at 11pm and had him drive them back to Peter's house for a beer. Peter planned on proposing to his girlfriend for the longest time, but he knew he'd have to sell his gem. After the car was sold he bought the engagement ring. He's neither sad or bitter; he had his fun and got to meet a lot of great people because of this car, "I have my photos and videos and more importantly I got the girl" Peter said. He's content and wishes Luna the best.
Austan grew up loving BMW's because his dad drove nothing but BMW's and Volkswagens. He bought Peter's E24 because he fell in love with it from the moment he saw it. It was everything he wanted in an E24. He actually owns three of them, two E28's, and a 1991 E31 850i 6 speed.
Something he's proud of is that they have never taken their cars to a shop to be worked on. All work is done by him and his dad. Once the car was in Austan's possession they replaced all of the belts and hoses, thermostat, water pump and fan clutch. They also installed a full air ride suspension from Air Lift with AutoPilot V2 Management. Being an advocate for coilovers I was curious why he decided to switch over to air. Well if you own a classic bimmer, I'm sure you're aware of their oil pans lack of clearance. Long story short, Austan's busted an oil pan before and didn't want that to happen again. Plus, he's always wanted a bagged E24.
He says he has more plans for the shark and they consist of a shaved engine bay, wire tuck, steam punk trunk set up, possibly different wheels, and a full respray. We can't speak for everyone but this is one of our all time favorite E24's out there.
