Totally Restored Market

[fakeplstctrees]

Hello fellow R3vvers. I have a question to get a feel for the market. I'm always looking at the forums, checking out people's listings, and am ready to jump on the right e30 at almost any time, but it hardly gives me an idea of the demand for an idea that I have, so I'm putting this out there to get some feedback on how we as a community feel about something I want to do. I'm considering restoring e30's, and not just run of the mill restoration's either, I'm talking about full, down to the metal, no corners cut, restomods. Essentially building brand new e30's with lots of love and modern technology. Is there a proper demand for a business like this? I know I would like something like this, not only e30's but e28's, e24's, etc....... Great German cars from the pre-cupholder era. Am I alone in this, or is the demand substantial enough to justify a legitimate business? Thanks for the input guys, it's definitely appreciated.

Maybe not to the level of them, but something similar to what Singer does with Porsche's?

[rcsoundn1]

Well this is not the first time this has come up on this forum. IMO, what it comes down to is this. The cost to do this outweighs the resale value of the car. How many people are interested in spending 50k on the BMW E30 platform? Most would rather take that $$$$, buy an M3 and have a far wiser investment.

[rmdashrf]

i love singers.

gotta agree though with the above though. this might work out better in 20 more or so years.

[Stanley Rockafella]

Most would rather take that $$$$, buy an M3 and have a far wiser investment.

Considering a nice stock e30 can be found relatively easily (in comparison to an old 911), I agree

[mr2peak]

Those resto-mods are starting with cars the are recognized as some of the most beautiful cars ever designed, something that the e30 isn't known for. They also charge ~$500k...

There are already many shops that do M/S5x swaps, and a few places that do restorations, and almost no shops that do that work before finding a customer.

[mr2peak]

Well this is not the first time this has come up on this forum. IMO, what it comes down to is this. The cost to do this outweighs the resale value of the car. How many people are interested in spending 50k on the BMW E30 platform? Most would rather take that $$$$, buy an M3 and have a far wiser investment.

A basic respray and a proper suspension rebuild is more than the resale value of most e30's, doesn't stop a lot of people..

[ForcedFirebird]

They are just now making that turning point. It has taken us about 5yrs to nose our way into the market, but we still can't make a living on e30's alone. Take it for what it's worth coming from a shop owner.

[fakeplstctrees]

So the current values aren't high enough for a business? And yes, there are plenty of really nice e30's out there, but there are also lots of 911's, and Singer doesn't just bring them to their original glory, they make a totally new kind of animal out of them. I was thinking of something comparable.

[funcrew]

So the current values aren't high enough for a business? And yes, there are plenty of really nice e30's out there, but there are also lots of 911's, and Singer doesn't just bring them to their original glory, they make a totally new kind of animal out of them. I was thinking of something comparable.

Correct. Everyone loves air-cooled 911's. Only a tiny niche of impoverished fanbois even know what an E30 is.

[E30X5]

Here's a bottom line perspective: my newly purchased '89 325i w/ 156K mi, which State Farm qualifies as "classic," is only covered up to $10K in the event of a total loss ........ I will have spent 1.5Xs that amount since purchasing the vehicle, fixes and updates (no engine mods).............. my final two cents: majority of owners mod these cars to death since they are bulletproof ... the minority of owners seek original aesthetics ... focus on the niche models (i.e., M3s and 2002s) .. BUT DON'T LET ME STOP YOU!

[ForcedFirebird]

So the current values aren't high enough for a business? And yes, there are plenty of really nice e30's out there, but there are also lots of 911's, and Singer doesn't just bring them to their original glory, they make a totally new kind of animal out of them. I was thinking of something comparable.

Didn't say that, not all of them we work on get restored/modified, but the e30's alone aren't enough and we live in an e30-abundant area since cars stay fairly nice here in South Florida.

Here's a bottom line perspective: my newly purchased '89 325i w/ 156K mi, which State Farm qualifies as "classic," is only covered up to $10K in the event of a total loss ........ I will have spent 1.5Xs that amount since purchasing the vehicle, fixes and updates (no engine mods).............. my final two cents: majority of owners mod these cars to death since they are bulletproof ... the minority of owners seek original aesthetics ... focus on the niche models (i.e., M3s and 2002s) .. BUT DON'T LET ME STOP YOU!

You can insure your car for much more, it just can't be a daily driver. e30's qualify for classic car insurance and through companies like Hagerty, you can state the value.

[fakeplstctrees]

That insurance issue has been bothering me a lot lately. For instance, someone slashed the plastic rear window on my 87 cabriolet, and the insurance company gave me a hard time about the cost of a new top, and the value of the car. Their valuation is about half of what it's actually worth on the open market, and what I paid for it about two years ago.

[dubdub]

Maybe you can get enough margin on selling a mint M3 E30, but even then I am not sure you can find enough space between purchase price and selling price to make any profit.

[MC Hammered]

My touring is as good example of a refurb using the BMW parts catalog and minus a new paintjob. I don't think there are many out there that are crazy enough to do the same, or pay for it to be done, as they would drop the $$$ into an M3 instead.

[wodcutr]

The typical E30 buyer on this forum does not have the money to pay you for a nice fully restored car. You would have to want to lose money to do this as a business. Ten years down the road, maybe and only if all these guys grow up and make some cash and want to remember the good ole days!