89 325is R-Title help

[psmura]

Hey guys just drove out to check out this 89 325 is from craigs and basically made a commitment to buy at $1600. Came home and ran the vin and it was salavaged :( I was so anxious to buy that I didn't even think to run the vin first.
So here is the info on it.

I have a BMW 325is 166k, 5 spd..rear wheel drive, 635csi motor and transmission installed. Needs a little TLC. Dented front fender, needs e-brake cable, alignment. Solid car, nice project. No Trades $1800

Engine::
M30B34 bottom, B35 Head, B35 CAM, B35 sensors, B35 engine harness
Head was rebuilt after a rocker broke 40k ago
All gaskets redone at the head rebuild, tchain checked, waterpump
Running m1.3 ecu from '90 535i, Dinan Chip
Full exhaust from manifolds back, No cat, Has res+muffler
Funkmaster mounts, firewall was banged in some behind head to fit cant see it unless motors out
BEHR rad last year, fan delete with electric fan installed, switch where the AC switch used to be

635csi trans
M5 clutch, has about 20k, grabs just fine
New clutch master 3months ago, slave last year
New hardlines front to back

7 series larger brake master/booster
ABS delete (still have unit)
Pads/rotors a year ago
1.5" lowering springs (less than 1k miles, may settle more)
Bilstein rear shocks

Recaro Sport interior, Has some rips, rear is good
No radio, but i have a alpine i can include
NO a/c, blower motor isnt plugged in but its all is hooked up so will work
Tach wire was never spliced in

Factory BBS basketweaves
Kumho tires have less than 1k miles

Car runs great has a bit of work that needs to be done, little bit of surface rust but nothing major. Apparently the guy had no idea since he never actually registered it. He is going to look at it on a lift tomorrow and align it.

He is a car guy and was one of the most legit people I have met on craigs. How much would you pay for the car. He said he'd come down a bit.

[nrubenstein]

At this point, r-title is only meaningful in terms of resale value. If you can get a few hundred bucks off for the r-title, yay. Otherwise, the big question is whether or not it has any real damage and how much of a pain it will be to register/insure. In some places that's an issue, especially with a swap.

[obes]

yea should've ran the vin
but then again...a clean title...clean late model doesn't go for that cheap...

lol

[jlevie]

A salvage title on a 20'ish year old car might, or might not, be meaningful. It all depends on how the car acquired that status and when. If it was in an accident recently, a relatively minor "fender bender" that did only sheet metal damage to replaceable parts could be the reason.

[psmura]

Car shouldn't be a problem to register at all here in NY since they won't do any further inspection of it. It happened in 2006 in DE but there was no accident reported on the AutoCheck here is what it says:

01/10/2005 YORK HAVEN, PA 114,336 Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title #:60910076)
SALVAGE
POSSIBLE TOTAL LOSS - VEHICLE TITLED/REGISTERED TO AN INSURANCE COMPANY
09/25/2006 DOVER, DE Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title #:U0639338)
RECONSTRUCTED
11/07/2007 GREENWOOD, DE Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title #:00909644)
RECONSTRUCTED

Just wondering what you guys would pay for it or if you would just pass at $1500. The swap seems done well and it pulls hard. What real damage should I look for? Guess I wouldn't restore this like I had in mind but would be a fun drift/Autocross car

[nrubenstein]

Car shouldn't be a problem to register at all here in NY since they won't do any further inspection of it. It happened in 2006 in DE but there was no accident reported on the AutoCheck here is what it says:

01/10/2005 YORK HAVEN, PA 114,336 Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title #:60910076)
SALVAGE
POSSIBLE TOTAL LOSS - VEHICLE TITLED/REGISTERED TO AN INSURANCE COMPANY
09/25/2006 DOVER, DE Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title #:U0639338)
RECONSTRUCTED
11/07/2007 GREENWOOD, DE Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title #:00909644)
RECONSTRUCTED

Just wondering what you guys would pay for it or if you would just pass at $1500. The swap seems done well and it pulls hard. What real damage should I look for? Guess I wouldn't restore this like I had in mind but would be a fun drift/Autocross car

$1,500 for a decently executed (if it is) M30 swap in a decent shell, even if the title is branded is fine. What's a few hundred bucks? If anything, a car that you can tell yourself not to spend money on because it's got a branded title could be a plus.