Contemplating Another (2nd) E30

[e30james325]

Hi there R3v, I'm in the process of deciding whether to get another E30...

Here is the (long) story:

Early last year, when I was in the process of looking for my first E30, I saw this 1991 325i Convertible which have the following description:

All Original Stock Condition
Everything in Good Working Condition
Mauritiusblau in good condition
Grey Leather Interior with no tear except top part of rear bench
Dark Blue Cloth (good condition)
Working Power Top (newly serviced mechanism)
Crackless Dash
Basketweaves
Well Maintained/Serviced
Very Cold AC
Automatic
100,000ish miles (working odometer)
Clean Title (2 owner car i think)

Im not a great fan of the vert, and was not looking for one, but I fell in love with the color. I remember the guy selling it to me for $4800 with the basketweaves or $4400 with a 15" aftermarket 5 spoke rims. So I told him its kinda out of my budget, so we agreed that he hold on the car for a month for me. When I have all the funds ready and was planning to get the car by the weekend, I suddenly got a text/call that he needed to sell it because of some emergency and the buyer is his friend with cash on hand. So he had no choice but to sell it to the guy.

And that's why I ended up buying my current E30 which is a 1990 325is.

Now back to a week ago, I saw the car is back in the market, now being sold by the current owner who got it a few days ahead of me. So I went and see the car, and he was surprised when he knew I was the potential buyer before he, and he thought that the seller was just messing with him. Anyways, as of today the car sits as follows:

Some dents on top of hood and trunk
Split Rear Seat leather
Redone rear bench which is not very good quality wise
Cracked Rear Bumper Center Plastic Trim
Side Trim Below Drivers Door has an unclipped section
110,000 miles but odometer broke a month ago
obc busted
cracked dash
missing right door latch trim
rear left passenger window not working (switch malfunctioning)
coolant light on
15" aftermarket (he went with the cheaper option when he bought the car)
slight hesitation of engine from stop

Reason for selling: He got a brand daily driver.

And now he is selling it for $4500. Initially I thought the price was fair (got carried away by the color :giggle: ), he has no idea of the "fair" price. Since he knew my history with the car, he was willing to hold it for me, and I told him im gonna need time first (because the one I have, suck the living hell out of my bank. ) he agreed.

So right now, what would the fair price be based on the description? Is it worth the buy? Or should I just let it go AGAIN, and wait for another Mauritiusblau E30?

Hope to hear some opinion from you guys. :-?

Thank you for reading and sorry for the long post.

[dannyyisntt]

I didn't read any of that. But if everybody had multiple e30s, the world would be a better place.

[rcsoundn1]

We need pics to make a good assesment. I paid about 1800 for my vert. If you love the car, that itself has extra value. PICS PICS PICS please

[kickinindian]

soooo u lost the car the first time for cheaper, year later its been driven by someone who treated it like a 50's housewife and beat it up a little, and he wants to make $100 on it? fuck that guy.

1. for taking it from you.
2. trying to make you a bitch for $100... jmho

[e30james325]

@dannyyisntt - 100% agree lol

@rcsoundn1 - let me find the pics i took. hope its still in my phone. will post as soon as i find some. thanks for the insight sir! :)

@kickinindian - hahaha! nice analogy there lol he was saying he got it for $5000, which was the original sellers asking price before i started the negotiation. thank you for the reply sir. :)

[kickinindian]

;) Good luck! jew that guy down as much as you can!

[NeedaE30]

definitely devalue the car as much as humanly possible point out every little flaw and rack up all the dollar signs in repairs it will need.. he should not make a penny off of you my man

[e30james325]

@kickinindian - "jew"?

@NeedaE30 - yeah im planning to list all flaw i can find from the car. but based on a perfect scenario, how much would his vert cost assuming it is in a very good condition?

[butters]

how much would his vert cost assuming it is in a very good condition?

I think the price it was at previously, in good shape, would be about right. Start from there and work backward accounting for all the things wrong with it. My 2 cents.

[matthugie]

The coolant light on and not running well bothers me. He obviously doesn't give a shit about the car, which doesn't bode well for maintenance. Also, he has managed to do a fair bit of damage that hurts the value. Cracked dash, bumper, and dents alone would knock off about 1k in my opinion. I would recommend first making sure there is no major mechanical fault. If that checks out, pricing out what it would take to get it back into the previous condition, and I don't think that will be particularly cheap. Finally, you should know that if the PO negotiated with you, he did with this guy too. I highly doubt he paid 5k going for the cheaper option.

[e30james325]

@butters - thanks for the input on possible pricing. :)

@matthugie - thanks for the input, im gonna try to take the car to someone who knows WAY more on e30s here in my area. yeah the way it runs bothers me to. good thing is no milky stuff on oil...

[kickinindian]

@kickinindian - "jew"?

come on you know what i mean!;)

[e30james325]

good day r3v, here is the update on this car (its been a while):

so the seller decided to repost the car,

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/4058160765.html

seems firm with price. i brought the car to Castro's (thank you Chris) for Inspection weeks ago and this is what was the finding on the car (see attached)..

Not included on the inspection was the cost for the power top work, dash replacement, rear seats rewrap, obc, new top, dents and dings removal, retouch paint, window issue, etc...

i really like the car, but seems like the price is way out of the fair value of the car... seems like car should be around $2000 to $3000...

what you guys think?

side note: if ever someone knows this seller, im not here to bad mouth the car and/or seller, im just want to know the insight of the e30 experts. peaceout!

[808e30325i]

Def not worth over 3k imo.

[e30james325]

yah, its such a shame that the seller is kinda firm on the price...

now im thinking to just have my current e30 (black 90 325is) just repainted in that color since the paint on it died a century ago lol