People saying that I've been screwed

[fakeplstctrees]

There are certain haters out there, that think they know what another person should pay for their cars. 89 325i, mint with under 60K miles on it. What is it worth?

[Wschnitz]

I wouldnt say you got taken, but My car was pretty much in that same exact condition, albeit with 219k miles on it, when I bought it a little over a year and a half ago. It really goes to show that a low miles car can be taken care of less, and a high miles one babied, and look the same.

IMG_4767 by Wschnitz, on Flickr

Mine when I got it.

[101]

Rule #1 - If you're happy with it, to hell with what anyone else thinks.

I personally don't think you overpaid. It would take at least as much money as you paid to take an "average" car, go through it and bring it up to the condition yours is in. To find one in that condition east of the Mississippi is rare indeed.

If you feel left out because it's not an "IS", those bits could always be added later. You've got the important stuff - its a coupe, it has sport seats and the 5-speed. And that lovely Delphin / Black color combo. One of my favorites, but I'm biased of course.

Find yourself a set of center caps for those 15" wheels and enjoy that car! Just keep it out of the salt.

[LJ851]

Why do you give a shit about what anyone else thinks about your purchase?


You liked the car, you bought the car. End of story.

[Wschnitz]

Yeah looks like a really nice car dude, just enjoy it. Reminds me of mine.

edit: fix your tires by the way, ones going the wrong direction.

[SkiFree]

I would say those who start by stupidly blathering out stuff like that are the ones that don't have a concept on market value. Sounds like r3v facebook (the paragon of e30 knowledge in this world).

[mbonder]

Ripped off isn't really correct in this case. I think what people are getting at that may look down upon your purchase is what other possibilities were out there at $12k. This of course is all a matter of perspective, because it all depends on what you want out of a purchase.

For you it was a low mileage car that is for the most part stock (minus the suspension bits). The idea seems to have been to find the lowest mileage car out there with as little faults as possible.

For others, they are often searching for engine swaps, or suspension upgrades, or rarity (in terms of model). For this group, low mileage isn't really that much of a selling point as the car isn't original any way. So for this group, you've overpaid because you didn't get any of the upgrades that they would have been searching for.

In all honesty, its really about what you were looking to get out of the purchase rather than what anyone else would get out of it. For me, if it isn't a daily driver, I look for resale value, can I get my money back out of the car. Looking at your vehicle, its in fantastic shape, but I would have never bought it because I wouldn't want to wait around long enough for the value to increase past the purchase price, plus every new mile put on the car would decrease the value. But that's me, and that's ultimately the point, you bought it for you, so enjoy and don't worry about anyone else!

[reelizmpro]

Extremely clean car, low mileage, some OE+ upgrades...cool, but I can understand why you got some heat. It's still just a 325i. Yes, you can fit all the 'S' goodies on but it will never be a factory iS. It matters to some people, myself included. I know any clean E30 will fetch a premium these days and that's understandable but $12k is e46 m3 territory and a base 325i is nothing special even if it's extremely low miles. As stated earlier, you can still find clean cars with higher mileage for less money. Mileage isn't as much of an issue as maintenance is, so fewer DIY people are willing to pay that kind of premium for low mileage. In the end, you paid what you felt the car was worth and that's what really matters. There's also a guy who paid $23k for an ultra low mile 91 318iS from EAG who got similar heat. Whether or not it's a good deal all depends on ones perspective.

[george graves]

For 99.9% of people on this forum, buying a low mileage stock "mint" e30 is a dumb thing to do - and if you pay north of $10k it's even more of a mistake.

First thing most all of us start to do is take everything apart and upgrade to slightly better parts - suspension, engines, m3 rear seats, blah, blah, blah...So for most of us, spending all that money would be like flushing it down the drain. Like, who cares if your motor only has 50k miles on it if you're going to put a s50 in there? What's the point?

So for myself, if I was in your shoes, I would feel that I got bent over - but that's just the way I look at e30's - a base to start with - almost everything is upgrade-able. Maybe you look at them differently.

Only thing a low mile e30 is really good for is mint factory paint. But that's not worth $12k IMHO.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

After what I've been through restoring mine I would of rather paid a premium for a mint example

[Dirty325ix]

^^^^^
But isn't all the sweat, blood and tears part of the fun

Extre There's also a guy who paid $23k for an ultra low mile 91 318iS from EAG who got similar heat. Whether or not it's a good deal all depends on ones perspective.

Buying from eag is totally different if you ask me...through them you are getting a car that is in perfict condition and you know every thing has been checked thoroughly and you are actually buying a basically brand new classic car that is all oem and is truly a collectable

Low milage cars can sometimes be a curse because all the rubber can still be shot and you can still have problems

Judging by the lowering springs I'm guessing your not gonna keep the car stock

But I own a e30 because its a damn cheap car to own and i have only put 3000$ into my ix(including buying the car itself) since I bought it around 5 years ago and if I had 10,000 extra to spend

But its your money so screw the haters, just because I'm cheap doesn't mean you have to be as well

Oh and awsome car btw

[BklynE30Dude]

My two cents.

Most R3V members are under age 30 and make maybe at best 30K a year. Quite a few of them live at home or are garage-heads with more time than money. Some actually live in their E30 (epic thread). Point is their priorities are way different.

I got my 325ix for a great price but have proceeded spend the same amount on upgrades, maintenance and repair. But it's because A) I had a decent budget. B) I knew I wanted certain upgrades. So I bought the cleanest version knowing what my priorities are.

My buddy just got a 325 vert. He paid 14K for 50K miles super mint condition. But he wanted low mileage pristine version.

Fully restored E30 versions are going for 12-15K. You have roughly the same condition car. So at worst I'd say you are paying market value. At best, you'll have a car that won't go down in value - though it won't likely go up. I'd say you are a winner either way, no?

One last thing. Take a look at some of the build threads on here and see where starting at 2 or 3K gets you. And see how many years some of these builds take. I don't know about others but I don't have 3 years of my life to spend on a car.

You did the right thing. Now go enjoy the dang chariot. Give us a thumbs up next time you see a fellow E30 on the road.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[george graves]

One last thing. Take a look at some of the build threads on here and see where starting at 2 or 3K gets you. And see how many years some of these builds take. I don't know about others but I don't have 3 years of my life to spend on a car.

To each their own....but working on these cars is half the fun! 3 years? I hope I don't ever finish building, doing and making stuff!

[Stanley Rockafella]

I seriously love threads like this. It makes me feel better about my old beast that I constantly spend more and more $$ on

[ELVA164]

It's so weird for me--as someone who is very concerned with the minutiae between "base" and "special" versions of vintage cars--to read reelizmpro's argument about "i" vs. "iS..." but I guess at some point he may be correct. E30s just seem different than those cars but they're definitely approaching "vintage" territory so who knows. I mean, you can make any old Lotus Elan into a 26R, but you can't overcome the ~300% markup in price by doing so. Maybe someday the E30 "i" and "iS" will be the same? I hope not, since I effectively have a 4-door iS :razz:


OP, I agree with others that your happiness is really the only thing that matters here. I hope you'll keep your car mostly original considering your starting point. It would be great--especially as most E30s continue to...degrade--to have a clean, mostly-original example around. Either way, make sure to have fun! :D