The E30 Prices Are TOO DAMN HIGH!!

[redsubdivisions]

Give it time and it will eventually become the next 240SX... le sigh.

[dannyyisntt]

I'll sell you my rusty ix for $3500 if it'll make you feel better :p

[flyboyx]

We've seen the same thing with 2002's, E9, Etc. There was a day you couldn't pay someone to haul away your 2000cs, 1600, Isetta, etc.

Pretty basic.... Car model hits bottom of depreciation after 20ish years, stays there for a few years and then starts to rise slowly as the car gains "classic/keeper" status. I would expect the prices for E30's start to rise fairly steadily over the next decade.

this.

the examples of the modified cars above are priced stupidly for sure and will not sell in the near future for what is asked for them. in particular, the swapped car with all of its issues is probably worth a little over half what is asked for it. however, nice unmodified cars are DEFINITELY going up at this time. it really is a matter of being able to pay to play. we all have to wake up and get used to it. if not, there will be no other choice but to get into some cheaper make and model. this impending value increase is going to leave most of the penniless 16 year olds on this forum in the dust.

i read an article in the last month or two where the magazine was interviewing some guy that has been dealing classic cars for years. they asked him what vehicles from the 80's would he suggest as investments. his answer was jeep grand cherokee's and 3 series bmw's.

for me personally, whenever i find a good deal on one, i snap it up.

[nando]

I think parts are getting much more expensive too, specifically OEM BMW stuff.

[redsubdivisions]

I think parts are getting much more expensive too, specifically OEM BMW stuff.

Agreed. And I work as a BMW parts guy. lol

[E30SPDFRK]

Even stock ones are overpriced. I've been looking on cl for a clean early model and the cheapest one is a 4 door with mismatched fenders and autozone wheels for $2200. I could have bought that for $500 2 years ago.

Where are all the $1000 old people's cars at?

[iamsam]

Vinne, I didn't actually post this, I think you quoted someone else actually.

"What made E30's so appealing to me was that you got a well built, reliable, rear wheel drive, sports oriented car with a great platform to build on for around three grand. Now I'm more inclinded to go towards Miata's, E36's, E28's, or 944's as opposed to E30's. You're going to get screwed over by insurance if you get in a wreck because they'll never give what it would take to replace your car."

For one, I would never consider owning a miata.

[VAE30FTW]

A lot of people would rather have an e30 like that one for the money instead though. I for sure would rather have the e30. If you care about having a "newer" luxury car that gives you a certain image then the e30 isn't the right car for you anyway.
Why do you think people buy 2002s when you could get an nice e46 for the same price or less than a nice 2002? I shouldn't have to explain why to someone that owns an e30.


I like e30's for all those reasons but that fact that they are/were relatively inexpensive is just an added bonus. I would still own e30s and like them just as much even if they were more expensive.


For me e30s are more of a hobby and interest than simply a utility or form of transportation, even though I have been daily driving nothing but e30 for years, year round. There is simply no other car that can fill the same boxes as the e30 regardless of initial cost, and I have thought a lot about it. Just to name a few: size, weight, availability, aftermarket support, enthusiast scene, age, styling, simplicity, balance, RWD, build quality, modification options, swaps...

If your spending upwards of 10k on your e30 project, the fact that a good starter e30 cost 5k instead of 3k is relatively insignificant. You should be glad it doesn't cost double that, because it does cost easily double that for an equivalent condition 2002. It's going to have an impact on people looking for a cheap beater or cheap kids looking to rice them out but I have no problem with that, it keeps them away from the clean ones.:D

+1, agree with you there.

[slammin.e28]

E30 prices aren't high, nobody has any money is the problem.

[iX-treame]

Blame it on the hipsters. Beat car, rusty hood, shiny wide wheels that don't fit with bicycle tires, cut stock springs and so many stickers you can't see out the back window = 6k

[ReallyDirtyThirty]

I guess I'm just mourning the loss of the culture that comes with the price hikes. For me, some of the best parts of driving an E30 was the hilarity that came with owning a cheap, old, german car. I liked being part of a culture that included true seasoned enthusiasts as well as moronic 16 year old kids with three springs cut out of their suspension for us to laugh at. Once these start becoming $6k+ cars there will be less people using fish tanks as heater cores. Gone will be threads on going in to thrift stores and looking for money in donated clothes. It won't be nearly as funny when someone pulls an R3V because instead of wrecking your $1500 E30 you just ruined a ride you just paid $7.5k for.

I guess I just feel like by virtue of these cars going up in price, we're all either going to have to grow-up and/or be surrounded by grown-ups. I am a reasonably successful 27 year old professional, but my E30 was my escape to feel like a poor college student again. It was my time machine. Now, instead of being the moron on a good salary in my office who confuses everyone by driving a $2000 twenty-one year old car, I'll just be the moron who paid M3 money for it.

[Wschnitz]

Vinne, I didn't actually post this, I think you quoted someone else actually.

"What made E30's so appealing to me was that you got a well built, reliable, rear wheel drive, sports oriented car with a great platform to build on for around three grand. Now I'm more inclinded to go towards Miata's, E36's, E28's, or 944's as opposed to E30's. You're going to get screwed over by insurance if you get in a wreck because they'll never give what it would take to replace your car."

For one, I would never consider owning a miata.

Miatas aren't that bad honestly. They drive nice and are decently priced. I guess if you are seriously worried about your sexual orientation being questioned.....

[Vivek]

The biggest things that I see on CL that are really too high are things that I would consider almost worthless like comfort seats ($250+) and eta engines (I've seen like 750 fucking dollars, and of course "reconditioned" means nothing without details). But e30's as a whole seem to be slowly increasing in price. When I bought one back in september I remember >4k being reserved for really awesome stock cars, and a couple thousand above that was 24v swap only territory.

[Komzorz]

The e30 tax is real, but it hasn't gotten too bad yet. A decade from now, solid cars will probably be a lot harder to find, especially as more stuff goes NLA.

If you want to see some really ridiculous shit, get into vintage volkswagens. I sold my piece of shit beetle for a profit just by hanging onto it for five years. The busses are even worse. My dad pays $100 for the ugliest, most beat up fifty year old piece of cardboard wrapped in vinyl I've ever seen ALL THE TIME. Boggles my mind.

[Dsun]

Little offtopic but to the e30 price gurus, i paid a little over 4K for my current e30 sedan, 115K miles, 2PO, great paint, very clean interior with 9/10 vinyl sport seats, 5sp, 2 sets of wheels (1 bottle cap, 1 aftermarket xxr), H&R sport springs. The only mods are H&R lowering spring and new set of 16' aftermarket rear speakers.

What it needs work on is CABs, driver CA, tie rods, diff bushing. Could use Billys sports to compliment the H&R sports

I assume that I paid a bit of a premium but the condition of the car really sold me

What you guys think about the price i paid?

And e30 parts are def. getting more expensive...supply and demand is a bitch