E36 M3 Value?

[Hawk]

Hey all just wanted to know what you felt fair market on an E36 M3 is? Car is in good shape with a few mods. Paint is a little weak but other than that seems clean?

I have been looking for an Z4M but ran across this and wondered what fair market is on an E36 these days?

[phreshkid]

Hey all just wanted to know what you felt fair market on an E36 M3 is? Car is in good shape with a few mods. Paint is a little weak but other than that seems clean?

I have been looking for an Z4M but ran across this and wondered what fair market is on an E36 these days?

Can you give us more details? History? Mileage? Color combination? Packages? Mods? Maintenance? Photos?

[Hawk]

110K on the chassis 50K on the motor. Silver on Black Vader Seats. Its slammed on BBS wheels on H&R springs. Has some CF spoilers and a CF splitter on wing. Stoptech brakes. I would say paint is 80% at best. Has after market xpipe stromung exhaust. Sorry dont have pictures yet. Car is clean overall no major issues I know of. I need to take it to get it checked out if I pursue it.

[phreshkid]

Sounds like a 4-5k car. But the big question is why the engine replacement, what happened to the old engine, and what's the latest on maintenance (suspension bushings, cooling system, vanos, steering components, etc.) Those things add up way too fast. You can spend $3k on the car just bringing it back up to par, in a matter of days.

PPI is something I'd strongly encourage. I'm guessing this is a coupe? How are the tires?

[Hawk]

Yikes the guy is like in the low 5 figure range. I dont know that much about the E36s. Tires are good. Like I said I saw it at a car show and he said he was thinking about selling.

I was always an E30 E46 nut and I have been out of the game for awhile.

Hard to find used BMWs in my area of the classic sort. But I am way off on E36s then.

I have seen a few trade around 10 on M3forum.

[KIRIEIW]

e36 M3's are somewhat a hard car to price. One can be $4,000 while another is $14,000. I'd say they seem to be posted in the $8,000 range in my area, and they also seem to be hard to sell. I see the same M3's posted for 2-3 weeks before the ad. on Craigslist finally disappears. I'd also like add my gut feeling is about 75% of these cars aren't stock any longer and are lowered, ect. I'd buy a stock example and hold onto it, I can see it being worth something in a couple years.

[Hawk]

Thanks KIRIE

They are all over the place. Blah lol.

I am looking through some classified it seems noone is quite sure what they are worth. Seen some clean ones for 10K and some beaters for 14K LOL.

[phreshkid]

I have an e36 m3, 4-door, 5-speed car. Bone stock. The only upgrades I've done to the car are add vader seats and lightweight wheels. I've replaced every suspension bushing, replaced all shocks/struts, the entire cooling system, the entire steering system, rebuilt the head and added a new vanos system, fresh tires, fresh brake rotors and pads, and plenty of other things with all stock, OEM parts. I didn't want a modified m3, I wanted a perfectly stock car.

And I love it. It drive so smooth, handles better than 98% of e30s, and is a real pleasure to drive. As tempting as modifying it is, I like it completely stock. They are great cars when left alone.

[reelizmpro]

Great car and all but could have and should have been much better. With that said, I think the ceiling for E36 M3's should be about what you can get an E46 M3 for which in SoCal is about 9k-10K. $5k is about what I see most fair condition high mileage cars go for. Some feel they have bottomed out and can only go up.

[matthugie]

Holy hell, SoCal prices are dirt cheap compared to the east coast. A $4-5k e36 M3 here will get you 200k+ miles, clapped out interior, and no real mods other than depo lights and maybe some shitty aftermarket wheels. And e46 M3's don't dip much below $13k without a salvage title even with 150k+ on the clock.

OP, depending on maintenance (as phreshkid mentioned) that would probably be an $8-10k car here. My bet on the motor is it was replaced due to a $hift, or if it's a '95 it could have been the weak valve retainers the early ones were known for.

[KIRIEIW]

Has anyone looked at KBB suggested sale price on both cars? It's funny because if I see a e36, or e46 listed at those prices I assume the worst and wouldn't even call the seller. Also keep in mind these are Bay Area prices (used my Zip code), where everything from Cars to Food, and especially rent is much more then it should be.

[Javier h]

Kbb Values

KBB for M3 E36s are super low. I see sellers asking double maybe triple the price. I agree at 14k, I would skip the E36 chassis and go for the E46 M3.

Also try to get the last production car for either model. E36 M3 quirks include detents, EWS issues (hard start), vanos, suspension requires attention, and usual maintenance but nothing worth discouraging buying one.

I keep seeing E36 M3 owners replace their engines. Unclear why. There is no reason with proper maintenance these engines shouldn't see 200k. At least with my M52, I am way pass that with the original clutch to boot.

I agree, the US production E36 M3 "should have been much better". The European E36 M3 came with 300 hp 6 speed manual making it a decent successor. Fortunately, the E46 made it down to the states .

[TobyB]

Here's my take: It's a hell of a lot of car for the money right now.

However: it's a hell of a lot to go wrong, left in the wrong hands. If it's not maintained
really well, you can be looking at 10-15k just to get the worn- out stuff fixed-
and it uses parts that cost a LOT more than the standard E36
(rear bushings, front rotors, etc etc- and there are a LOT of consumable parts
on an E36)

So a well- maintained car is probably worth the 15k that gets asked,
and some of the 5k cars will cost 15k+ to be made half as good as the $15k car...
...and yes, agreed, for the same price, the E46 might well be the better deal,
as it's a generation newer and probably 2 generations better- sorted. But less... direct.

For the savvy who aren't scared to drop the rear subframe, there are certainly
deals out there. For those who have to pay rack rate for maintenance jobs,
there are some ugly money pits.

Yes, I want one. No, I don't really want the traffic tickets I'd get with one...

t

[reelizmpro]

Easy, lots of E36's have been owned by cross over JDM crowd, etc. Many have been moneyshifted as was stated previously. My buddy's shop has replaced many S50's in there time.

[Javier h]

99 m3

Find one with a complete service history.

Trust me, they are out there, you just have to look for them.

There are plenty of M3 beaten to death and the repairs will add up.

I wouldnt be discourage or dismiss them. They are very reliable. You'll be looking into the $6500 to $8500 range though for a good unmolested example. Premium, sport, winter package, keyless, HK sound......again, the later, the better. Hopefully one driven by a woman or some professional (doctor) that kept it as a weekend car and was super anal on the maintenance. You'll recognize the car once you see the Michelin pilots...hehe.

Seriously, because of the KBB and volumes of beaten M3, that should give you good leverage to get one for a decent price. Otherwise, skip the generation and go for the 2005 M3. The E36 M3s are not really, worth that much right now, and if you are expecting to get financing for the car, the lender will point out you're over paying which pushes you really to the E46.