Project - Fix up and sell or Part Out?

[dudem3]

Just picked up someone else's project car and need some input on what the value of this car might be if I get it back on the road.

It's a 1989 325i, 4 door, auto, black/tan, 4.10 lsd, original paint and body is in good overall condition, bottle caps, 150k miles, vinyl non-sport seats that are not ripped and the rest of the interior is all good except the normal cracked dash. I crawled under it and checked all the normal spots for rust and found none. Some of the plastic bits on the bumpers are cracked as well.

I'm in it about $1,250 but it came with about $800 in brand new parts that PO bought and never installed.

It currently has a bad auto trans, but I have 2 good auto trans from previous parts cars that I can put in it.

If if I swap in a good auto trans and do the timing belt and water pump and just a basic service, fluids, belts, plugs, etc. and do a thorough detailing job I'd be in it about $1500 with about $400 left in parts from the PO to sell or use on one of my other cars. Plus 20 or so hours worth my time to do the work.

Would this car be able to sell for enough to make it worth the time? I've checked prices on ebay and CL and they are all over the place. What have you guys been paying lately for similar cars?

I've already parted out 2 rusted out cars and I know for sure that I can make money parting this one out but I would like to save it if I can make a little money.

This is the only pic I have at the moment, gotta love those gold bottlecaps.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

id fix it e30 arent cheap anymore gotta take what you can get

[e30austin]

Looks like a pretty decent car. Fix it!

[Northern]

It's not worth the time to take it all apart and sell shit piece by piece. Also it looks like it's in good shape compared to anything I'd ever see around here.

[dudem3]

It's not really a matter of it being in good shape and that it could be fixed up. It's for sure in good enough shape to fix up.

It's kind of a money issue of how much is a 4 door, auto with no sport seats, cracked bumpers, etc. really worth.

[fiveightandten]

It's not really a matter of it being in good shape and that it could be fixed up. It's for sure in good enough shape to fix up.

It's kind of a money issue of how much is a 4 door, auto with no sport seats, cracked bumpers, etc. really worth.

More than $1100. It's a question of how much you value your time. It doesn't sound like it needs a lot of work. To me, it sounds like a no brainer. I think you can easily double the money you have into it.

[McGyver]

it'd sell for more as a manual. I also have a good g260/5 for sale in richmond...

[RCtheRed]

Definitely save it, even if it takes some time you are more than likely going to have an investment that doubles in value in the next coming years if you decide to keep it that long. A great condition chassis will be a good selling point when it's a running car.

Really the question should be why not save the E30?

[stonea]

I'd say save it just because your local and I want to see more e30s around here, lol. Also McGyver how much? If its cheap and dudeM3 doesn't want it I might be in the market.

[ELVA164]

Honestly, what's your time worth? 20 hours is a lot of time, but I guess if it's all "free" time and you don't mind losing it you can't really count it. You're right about the transmission being a negative, but I really don't think the 4-door thing is much of a downside for most people. It looks like a "stripper" in terms of options, which is also going to hurt resale. I'm bad at pricing stuff, but if you're going to invest that much time in a bare-bones car you may just want to keep it for a while.

[dudem3]

I'd say save it just because your local and I want to see more e30s around here, lol. Also McGyver how much? If its cheap and dudeM3 doesn't want it I might be in the market.

Thanks for all the replies and opinions. I'm going to go ahead and fix it as long as I don't find any other serious problems that would make it not work financially. I'm not going to do a manual swap on this car, I just did it on my previous project and I don't want to go thru that with this car.

Stonea, if you guys do any more local BMW get togethers, let me know and I'll try to come out and bring my son if he's in town and one of our other E30's. Just looked thru your ix build thread and it sounds like you and your dad are almost the same as my son and I driving and fixing these old cars. He's in school in Nashville and unfortunately not in town too often. He has an 89 325is with him at school and I have an 87 325is that was my spring project car that I'm driving and still working on and I also have an 88 325i touring that I just took over to my shop to paint and fix up this fall and winter.