Value of e30's - Manual VS. Automatic

[Schnitzer318is]

My :

$2500-3000 car if it drives/handles well. Exterior and interior look rough in the pictures. As mentioned clean up the car, inside and out before taking good pictures. Go take them in a scenic location just after dawn or before dusk hours. Will do worlds for your ad.

I just sold an automatic alpine white 87 325e with 400,000 miles and piston slap for $3000. The difference... the interior in that car is cherry and I had it repainted a couple of years ago. Buyer is loving the car, he still texts when he has a question. In fact, he keeps the build/maintenance thread going that I had started for the car back when I rescued it from the crusher. If you want a condition comparison to value your car, check out the thread in my sig.

Sorry, got slightly off topic there. You have going for you that it is an m20b25 vs the b27 I had. Clean that car REALLY well, do the buff you mention, and go get some good pictures. The guy who said it's an $1800 car is an asshole (he is probably on this board btw) and is trying to steal the car from you. I had similar claims for my eta which I quickly dismissed, they almost always came up substantially as soon as I told them not to waste my time.

[flyboyx]

i just have to ask....what is up with that pic where you are standing behind a bush? no offense, but get that shit out of your ad! what are you thinking? what does that picture do to help you sell your car? good lord!

i have no recourse but to agree with others that say your photos are generally...not very good.

find a cloudy day that is still bright outside. take quartering pictures off all 4 corners of the car with no shadows. take them as close as you can so the entire car is pictured. then take close ups of the imperfections on the car's body. your interior pics aren't too bad. at least they show the condition pretty well. lastly, shoot pics of the engine and tires/wheels

[Stanley Rockafella]

i just have to ask....what is up with that pic where you are standing behind a bush? no offense, but get that shit out of your ad! what are you thinking? what does that picture do to help you sell your car? good lord!

dammit flyboy, OP's showing off his creative talents!

[shameson]

Even though I loathed driving any auto e30's, I bought my low mileage cabrio even though it was an auto, purely for the fact that it was so pristine and unmolested it's whole life. Last two were manuals but needed a lot of tlc. For me, it was worth buying an auto just for how unabused it was. Already have a manual trans and driveshaft so I can get the swap started anyways.

While being an auto it will detract from the value, I think cleaning it up a little more and giving it some better pictures will help a lot in getting you your asking price as mentioned...by pretty much everyone else. Considering detailing it and tidying up some of the little things. Your car would definitely make a great project, as it's desirable being a late model coupe in a popular color, so let the next guy deal with the swap.

[Das Delfin]

OP buy all the trim pieces and clean up the car to make it look better.. If you can find a new drivers seat. These things will help you sell the car faster and at the price you want.

The guy replying to your ad was just trying to lowball you. But you should do yourself a favor and make the car more presentable. You will attract more buyers, one of whom will have a bigger wallet than the others and will see the value in your head job (lol)

[mr2peak]

Definitely more people looking for a manual car, no way around that.

[e30crazie]

i just have to ask....what is up with that pic where you are standing behind a bush? no offense, but get that shit out of your ad! what are you thinking? what does that picture do to help you sell your car? good lord!

i have no recourse but to agree with others that say your photos are generally...not very good.

find a cloudy day that is still bright outside. take quartering pictures off all 4 corners of the car with no shadows. take them as close as you can so the entire car is pictured. then take close ups of the imperfections on the car's body. your interior pics aren't too bad. at least they show the condition pretty well. lastly, shoot pics of the engine and tires/wheels

LOL... I dont know... It looked cool when I took it. Thanks for the advice and I will remove from my ad. Thanks, believe me that I am not known for my photography skills.

[Das Delfin]

OP.. I like automatics. I think they're much smoother and make for a good cruiser. Which is what I like doing in my car. But I couldn't buy a bmw and have it not be a manual. And most people think the same. So if your car is an auto, you have to make sure every other part of the car is in tip top shape. Luckily you have a late model alpine coupe. But do yourself a favor and clean it up, replace the missing shifter, vacuum the carpets, wash the car etc before taking new pics and post an asking price of 3500 and see what happens

[staysideways]

Hey there R3V, been a while since my last post. I wanted to pick all your brains and see whats is the difference in pricing if I want to sell my e30 that happens to be Automatic. Here is a brief description of my car.

Because I am kind of a purist, I try to keep my car as German or Euro as possible.



89 Alpine White Automatic 325i Coupe.

Paint needs some attention but a good buff will take care of that.

Euro HVAC, plate filler and grills.

Momo Leather/Wood steering wheel.

Replaced broken comfort with OK condition sport seats

Installed IS spoiler and premium speakers

Recently fully rebuilt head installed with new water pump and timing belt with less than 3k

Bilstein sport all around and Bilstein lowering springs

Will be installing new tie rod ends and cat back system

Interior is ok with a broken door handle on the inside of the driver door but an easy fix

Its a hell of a fun ass car to drive

The only issue is that its an automatic



I put it up for sale for 3300 but some asshole is saying that I should know better than to post is for more than 1800 despite of all the mentioned above work that I have done. Its a clean title car that I bought from the second owner 5 years ago.



Does the fact that its automatic devalue my car that much? Is it worth form me to do the 5 speed swap just to sell if form more than 3k? I've put more than that into the car and putting in another thousand seems a bit unreasonable.



As a community what are your thoughts?

If you really want to sell it don't even bother doing the 5 speed. It's transforms the car and you will fall in love with it again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk