What's this e30 worth? Appraise it

[freeride53]

Out of my curiosity, anyone know how much one could get for this e30?
here are the facts, then pics:
-1991 Bmw 318i (4d) M42
-Diamondschwartz
-roughly 206,000mi. on the clock.
-5spd.
-Tan leatherette interior
-Newish clutch
-repainted hood
-faded paint on bumpers
-2 of the windows are stuck
-door locks do not function properly
-needs new belt






Appraise it!

[TDE30]

$1800-1900.

[88e30is]

Do you have documentation? Any rust? I'm sure you could fetch $2000 tops.

[freeride53]

Do you have documentation? Any rust? I'm sure you could fetch $2000 tops.

no rust whatsoever.
just some faded paint on the front bumper. the hood and roof were repainted last year.
just some random problems like the a/c's kinda retarded, missing the fog light space cap on side, antenna's stuck, etc...

im' trying to see if it's worth doing a full project on this car (ie doing a S50 swap)

[Collin]

1600-1900?

If you're doing a full project and it's straight, mostly clean, and rust free go for it.

[deutschman]

$25 sell it to me!:D

[reelizmpro]

In CA? $1000-1400. Just too many 325i's going for the same money. If it were a 318iS two door, thats a different story.

[wodcutr]

First of all the M42 does not have a timing belt it is a chain and much more involved to replace than a belt. Also the appraisers on this forum are cheap bastards as they are used to getting stuff for minimal cost. This is all fine and dandy, but a car is only really worth what a buyer is willing to pay...end of story. The market sucks right now for selling cars and is great for buyers as they can negotiate down a desparate seller. If you can get that car for 2k that is a great deal. For me the killer to any purchase is if the car has cancer, bad paint or poor maintanence. The fact that it needs a timing chain means poor maintanence. Unless they can document a bunch of stuff done recently then you have to assume the worst. I think that these cars are on the verge of becoming collectors items and will start to increase in value. When I read threads about guys that can drive a new BMW every six months and are not excited to drive that car as their E30 then that says a lot. Only you can decide what to pay for a car as we are not there to kick the tires. Not much help as an appraiser, but just thought I would chime in on this thread as I thought you might be getting some bogus opinionated advice!

[TDE30]

First of all the M42 does not have a timing belt it is a chain and much more involved to replace than a belt. Also the appraisers on this forum are cheap bastards as they are used to getting stuff for minimal cost. This is all fine and dandy, but a car is only really worth what a buyer is willing to pay...end of story. The market sucks right now for selling cars and is great for buyers as they can negotiate down a desparate seller. If you can get that car for 2k that is a great deal. For me the killer to any purchase is if the car has cancer, bad paint or poor maintanence. The fact that it needs a timing chain means poor maintanence. Unless they can document a bunch of stuff done recently then you have to assume the worst. I think that these cars are on the verge of becoming collectors items and will start to increase in value. When I read threads about guys that can drive a new BMW every six months and are not excited to drive that car as their E30 then that says a lot. Only you can decide what to pay for a car as we are not there to kick the tires. Not much help as an appraiser, but just thought I would chime in on this thread as I thought you might be getting some bogus opinionated advice!

So, what you are saying is the above estimates are essentially correct? Call me a "cheap bastard," but I'm not paying anything over $2k for a 200k mile E30 that needs paint and mechanical work.

Reevaluate your post.

[M-technik-3]

So, what you are saying is the above estimates are essentially correct? Call me a "cheap bastard," but I'm not paying anything over $2k for a 200k mile E30 that needs paint and mechanical work.

Reevaluate your post.

Agreed, no sport seats, no 13 button obc, has bottle caps, has window issues, and locks are not functioning. Shocks are original?

I'm going on a limb and saying 1200 to 1600 max. Exhaust ever changed?

[ethree]

Agreed, no sport seats, no 13 button obc, has bottle caps, has window issues, and locks are not functioning. Shocks are original?

I'm going on a limb and saying 1200 to 1600 max. Exhaust ever changed?

Exhausts don't really need to be changed often here, unless you mean cats, my exhaust has 226k on it and it looks great. I agree with your estimate.

[wodcutr]

The OP said that the bumpers were faded...that does not constitute the car needing a paint job. It also said that it might need a timing belt. Mechanically that is a bigger job than most garage mechanics want to touch, but certainly not out of the question. It mentions nothing else being wrong except a couple of electrical items that are easy to fix. The AC is bogus I guess and that can be a big cost to get into so to me that is the only questionable thing that this car has wrong. I agree that 200k+ miles is a turn off to me as well, but if the car has been taken care of that should not be an issue. I would rather have a car that has been driven and maintained than one that sits half the year and only gets driven a couple of times a month. Ya it has low miles, but the seals and rubber is rotting from the inside. You might spend more money getting a car up to par that hasn't been driven. Anyway I said that that car was probably worth about 2k which was on the high end of your estimates. I would really take a close look at other things before I spent that, but to me this car is probably worth that. As far as not having sport seats or weaves this is nonsense. The 318i did not come with sport seats and to have bottlecaps was an upgrade! Big deal about the 13 button OBC too. The damn things are not that accurate anyway and the 6 button one is just as functional. Ya it is nice to have all the goodies, but does that really make a car worth a lot more? You guys are just nit picking. IMO if the car is rust free with decent paint, good interior, good tires and suspension, and over all the thing looks good then it is worth 2k. No it is not a two door modified coupe with $1500 rims, but that is a totally different machine. People have to start somewhere to get into the E30 world. Hell I have seen guys trying to sell a totalled car here for $1500. You can't tell me that this is worth less than that! I could be wrong but this is just my opinion.

[kronus]

$1700 is the most that I would not feel cheated paying for that car.

[Danny]

Just buy my turbo kit for 1700

[M-technik-3]

Hell I have seen guys trying to sell a totalled car here for $1500. You can't tell me that this is worth less than that! I could be wrong but this is just my opinion.

See that is the difference here is an enthusiast site and we want to make as much back as possible.

Are you telling me that you see this for sale on the side of the road and you wanted to buy it that you aren't gonna attempt to pay as little as possible? Or do you have some vested interest in this car. He asked what we think the max he should offer for the car to a private sale not anything about a car listed here.

Hell my 90 with 218K on it with a bad throw out bearing I wanted 1600 and it had crappy paint, but it's rust free and in the northeast where cars ROT due to salt.

The KBB estimate for the car as a private sale is 1550 excellant 1310 good and 960 fair. So imo we were pretty darn close.