What Should I Pay? 2016-2017 e30 Pricing

[Sail Boat]

Hi all,

This is my first post - I was able to gather some info from the classifieds section to gauge pricing, but I have questions regarding e30's with limited availability in the states, particularly the e30 Touring and other Euro-Spec imported examples. It seems the e30 market is constantly rising and I have no idea what pricing should be.

What would you all pay for an e30 in the following condition? Would you pay more for a touring of similar spec?

1990 325i Sedan - Grey
Automatic
30,000 miles
No LSD
Cloth Interior
LHD, Gauges read kilometers
Most, but not all, service records
Inspector indicates cosmetic and mechanical condition is very good.

Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

[kronus]

low mileage cars are very hard to price, because they're entering the collector market rather than the beat, old, fun daily driver market. a lot of people here with nice cars got their cars by hunting for a deal or stumbling into something that was advertised at an unrealistically low price.

are you looking for a collector-grade car? are you looking for a normal car?

to answer your question about the 1990 sedan, I wouldn't pay what it's worth. If I was a collector looking to pick up something to keep in the garage, I'd get something that isn't quite as bog standard as the car you've described, which is somewhat of a 1997 Toyota Camry of e30s. Going by the market, the car is worth at least 8 thousand, but whoever's selling it will need to find a buyer willing to pay that much for an automatic, open-diff car.

a touring in that sort of condition would probably pull 12-15k if everything was taken care of and there was no body rust. (there usually is on european-import tourings)

[djjerme]

..depends.

Is it really 30k miles or Km.
Depending on where it came from, could be a rust bucket.

There is nothing that really makes it particularly stand out other than mileage.

Without actual photos, it's hard to assign a value, could be anywhere from $2K (rust bucket) to $15K (spectacular survivor!)

If it was a touring, it could be about the same, but once again, rust is a deal breaker.. Especially if it's in the back hatch area.


Once again, this is all questimating without any photos, so it's hard to gauge true value.

[Sail Boat]

..depends.

Is it really 30k miles or Km.
Depending on where it came from, could be a rust bucket.

There is nothing that really makes it particularly stand out other than mileage.

Without actual photos, it's hard to assign a value, could be anywhere from $2K (rust bucket) to $15K (spectacular survivor!)

If it was a touring, it could be about the same, but once again, rust is a deal breaker.. Especially if it's in the back hatch area.


Once again, this is all questimating without any photos, so it's hard to gauge true value.

Perhaps you all can relate - I love e30's and I want a close to perfect example that I can drive daily for the next xx years.

I don't want to be a collector per se, but I intend on keeping this car perfect and establishing a history so to minimize loss of value, if any.

I'm reluctant to post photos since they are not my own, but these cars were imported from Japan. Inspector notes (who happens to be a member on this forum, idk who it is but perhaps he'll chime in) indicate no rust, no repaint, and mechanically sound. I think 30k miles is about right, odometer reads 50k kilometers.

[MR E30 325is]

Touring is going to pull more cash than a sedan, all other things similar, definitely.

30k miles over 26 years is a turn off for me actually. All of the bushings/mounts/etc. are still 26 years old.

Even the new E30 me that wants an E30 that is in great shape and is meant to be a DD that is mostly OEM is not interested in this car. It's just too bland.

[roguetoaster]

If it's from Japan does it happen to be RHD? If so, I wouldn't consider it as a daily.

If you put miles on a low mileage E30 it's no longer a low mileage E30, so you will lose money, especially when you consider upkeep over two or more years.

Although we don't know what the person is asking for that car (probably 10k or more) I suspect you'd have a better time buying a US spec car and simply paying someone to do all of the maintenance. This way you can be sure that the car will be fine for years to come, and you'll increase the value of that US car at least slightly. An automatic sedan is also a great way to not have a collectible/valuable car IMO, as sedans suffer (unnecessarily) from lower pricing across the board.

To me, low mileage means nothing, and actual condition should always be the decider if you plan to use the car instead of lock it up in the garage.

[stonea]

To me, low mileage means nothing, and actual condition should always be the decider if you plan to use the car instead of lock it up in the garage.

^This

[jasonbk]

If it's from Japan does it happen to be RHD? If so, I wouldn't consider it as a daily.

it would most likely be LHD car - since a lot of 'foreign' luxury/sport cars were imported as LHD into Japan. In Japan you can actually choose between LHD and RHD depending on what you wanted, and a lot of Japanese generally choose LHD for upper range/sporty cars (a lot of foreign economy cars or large sedans were imported in RHD for that matter).

[kronus]

guys it says LHD in the OP

[Stanley Rockafella]

If it's from Japan does it happen to be RHD? If so, I wouldn't consider it as a daily.

I dont' think it is. Most j spec cars here in Canada are all LHD.

[uturn]

Everyone forgets that just because there's 30k miles on the odometer doesn't mean there's matching clock hours on the motor. Japanese cars spend a lot of time idling in traffic due to the congestion.

[Das Delfin]

30k miles..

dude just look for the one that has like 150k sold by the old man who's taken care of it and had it since it was almost new. Let price be a factor of the car's condition and the owner's story.

Any older used car with some kind of culture in decent shape will be at least 4k

[Nader393]

A grey 1990 325i with 30K miles and "very good" condition is $10-15K all day long. It's a young crowd that inhabits this site, but I can tell you that my cohorts, middle-aged Gen-X guys starting in on their mid-life crises, are willing to pay real money for clean stock examples. After all, these are the cars we admired when they were new, while we were in high school.

[ParksMyCar]

It all depends on how much it has been drivin in the past 2 years. If it's just sat. Theirs way to much to do yay pay over 12k for it.
When I bought my e30 6 months ago.
I payed 11,600 for a 87 325IS
It's red with less than 70,000 miles and a full mtech 1 kit with the great flannel interior. It was Daily drivin the past 3 years which was good because all maintenance done. NO RUST also


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[decay]

guys it says LHD in the OP

"if i wanted to read shit, i'd go to school" -r3v