Those that have sold or purchased an E30 M3 resently...

[Sean]

I got this e-mail from the BMWCCA E-mail talk thing:

A member of Bayou Chapter BMW CCA recently purchased
a 1988 E30 M3 - and Katrina arrived shortly thereafter. The car
sustained some water in the interior, and the insurance company's
policy is to total any car which is wet inside. The company tells the
owner that the value of the car is $5,000. We need help in convincing
the insurance company that the car is worth more than $5,000.

I can get askng prices for E30 M3s for the past several months from the
Roundel, but actual sales information would
be more convincing.
If you - or anyone you know - has purchased or sold an
E30 M3 in the past several months, it would be helpful if we
could get the following information:
Buyer's name _______________________
email address or phone number ______________________
Seller's name _______________________
email address or phone number ______________________
VIN: _______________________________
Model year _____ Month of mfg _____ Year of mfg _____
Mileage at time of sale _________
Sales price $ ___________

Please reply to me at the address below as soon as possible - time is
of the essence. Many thanks,
Harmon Fischer BMW CCA member #1806
Harmon-M3F@att.net

If you could help out a fellow E30 M3 owner, do it! Send that information to the guy above! :D

By the way: I would also include any major modifications to the car, since that can easily affect the price.

[asubimmer]

i hope i don't sound like a jerk but is the insurance company gonna sell it for like 3000?!?! What about the guy on here that just bought a m3 from someone on s14.net or the guy who's selling 2 m3's for 17000 (i think they have not sold yet though)

[DarkWing6]

tell the insurance company if thay have any m3s for sale i'd like to purchase one :D

[uflnuceng]

He could sell the engine for that much. Insurance companies are idiots and I don't think they are gonna change their minds. They have been writing a lot of checks due to Katrina I'm sure.

I'm thinking he needs to tear the car apart or take it in the pooper. Even KBB gives the car a value of about $7500 if it has 98000 miles on it. I'm sure he paid closer to $15000. Maybe this will help drive down the price of these cars. I love them, I will own one soon enough, but its the only car I like that is priced above its actual value.

I wish this guy the best of luck though... just sucks we are all getting taken for a ride paying upwards of $15-20k for a 17 yr old car that sold for $40k brand new. I paid $10,100 for the 1988 M6 that I just bought which sold for $60k new.

[whakiewes]

This has always been my problem with E30 M3's. I bought mine for $7,000 two years ago and sold it for $7,000. You don't buy a house that is valued at $450,000 for $800,000 because there is only one of them. You will never get the insurance or the loan. Its a danger driving an E30 M3...you get broadsided and you lose 10,000 on the spot.

Unfortunatly when I had my E30 M3, there was a petition similar to this. It did nothing, and there were probably 500 prices on there. The most you will get is what KBB offers, and it has always been a problem throughout the range of E30 M3's. They only way around this is to get the car custom appraised and pay for the appraised value, but even then my car with 105k miles on it two years ago only appraised for $10,200. That means now you would be lucky to get $7,500 as listed above.

Wes

[Joey Link]

This is a VERY good reminder than many insurance companies offer "stated value" policies for enthusiast vehicles such as these. If they total the vehicle, you get that ammount. This CAN include mods and whatever else, you just pay a bit more. I had this on my 1975 FJ40. Look into it...

[Alecs MacDonald]

This has always been a fear of mine, my policy only covers me up to 9800. If I could just get another car in my name to let me qualify for collectors insurance.........