What do you think my M3 is worth?

[VadGTI]

I've been toying with the idea of selling my M3. I don't want to but I can't give it the attention it needs at this point and it's either sell or lock it up for a year or so until I can get it into perfect condition.

It's a 1988 with two owners. Originally a VA car, moved to CO, from where I bought it and brought it to SoCal. It has 165k on it but the gauge cluster reads 7k as the original cluster fried and was replaced by a NOS one. Runs fine but it has cosmetic and rust issues.

The rust is confined to the battery box and the passenger door frame/scuff panel area.

Battery box:



Passenger door frame (looks worse than it is, about a half-dollar sized area:



The paint on the passenger rear quarter is peeling (this part was previously repainted at some point in its life, apparently poorly):



There is also a minor indent to the sail panel, barely noticeable, but it's there (you can see the crunch marks by the taillight lower inboard corners)...



The paint is not in the best condition.







Now has an Autopower rollbar, Racing Dynamics wheels and (uninstalled) Billy Sports, H&R Sports, and a Sparco Rev.









Cleaned up:



So, what can I get for it as is, r3v?

[Ray Smoodiver]

I have no idea about the US M3 market, the "$15K rule" springs to mind, but I am not sure that it's valid any more.

Kudos to you for sticking your hand up and saying it's beyond you at this point, rather than letting it die a slow death.

[Shangsta]

In this market you will get more than you paid for it lol

[ksjdan]

If that's all the rust, you can probably get quite a bit. Better yet, take it to a welder and just fix the battery tray. Will be worth a lot more with it fixed.

[TurboJake]

First things first, I promise you the "looks worse than it is", is a lot worse than you think it is.

[VadGTI]

First things first, I promise you the "looks worse than it is", is a lot worse than you think it is.

Had the car up on a lift at Castro's while it was getting some work done and we checked it out pretty good underneath. Nothing else found. It looks like the quarter panel was replaced and possibly joined at the spot where it's rusting and the joint somehow went bad. Just a guess, it's really a bizarre place for rust to form. I can't figure it out. Then again, being from SoCal, I'm not well-versed in rust :p

[oliver.r]

First things first, I promise you the "looks worse than it is", is a lot worse than you think it is.

this so god damn hard.
what you see is only the tip of the iceberg

i'd pay 8k for the car, maybe need 3-4k in parts and 2-300 hours of work to make it a nice one

[M-technik-3]

Rollers were fetching 7-11k, this still has an S14 correct? Interior color? What color? Market is so volition I have no clue. There have been so many resurfacing over the last two years due to the rising prices.

[VadGTI]

Rollers were fetching 7-11k, this still has an S14 correct? Interior color? What color? Market is so volition I have no clue. There have been so many resurfacing over the last two years due to the rising prices.

S14, yes. Diamondschwartz with light gray interior.

[E30 Wagen]

This is exactly the kind of fixer upper I want. How was the roll bar installed? Do you have to drill into the unibody?

[Farbin Kaiber]

Underhood shots?

[ahlem]

Ask 15 take anything over 12.
I have almost the identical car w/o pipes inside.

[VadGTI]

Underhood shots?

[/URL]

This is exactly the kind of fixer upper I want. How was the roll bar installed? Do you have to drill into the unibody?

Drilled, yes.

[mshii]

Hmmm… I'd expect your selling price to be around $12,500 right now. That said, you'll probably get offers starting around $6,500. The fact that it has the s14 helps it out, and it doesn't sound like when it was hit that it was hit too hard based on your description. It sounds like it mainly needs bodywork and paint, and if that's the case, it's still a very desirable car.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

[LSM3]

First things first, I promise you the "looks worse than it is", is a lot worse than you think it is.

X100. Rust is like an iceberg...most of it is unseen. I guarantee if you pull the carpet it will be much more extensive. Take the side skirts off and start poking around ths rear dog legs and the portion behind the rear of the front fenders. Good luck.