Potential trade -- my e46 for his e30

[flyboyx]

first of all, i don't have the slightest idea what your swapped e46 is worth.

second, i'm going out on a limb to say that there is probably no way in fucking hell that 318 has only 89k on the clock. a car fax would help, but i assume you know e30 odo's are always broken. even if it works now, it is because someone fixed it, not because those are the original miles. you live in the rust belt. assuming this car came from your area(you didn't state differently), there are probably some rust issues under the car and the interior is way too trashed for those miles. the paint is trashed too. the bullshit polish someone did for those pictures will probably only last a month or two. you can tell by the oxidation level of the rest of the car compared to the door. that car needs a lot of work. assuming it is rust free(which i doubt), i would objectively appraise it in the 3-3,500 dollar range. this is also assuming it is mechanically in good enough condition that one could take it on a 1000 mile drive without issue.

the one thing you do have in your favor is that 318is value is climbing while your e46's value is still descending. personally, i would make the trade if you can do it in a way that makes economic sense. keep in mind that the red car will probably need to be off the road for some period of time while you are fixing its issues. hopefully this will be a backup car for you and not your only daily.

[keine30]

Looking at a potential trade for my car, thought I'd ask for r3v's weigh in, since you guys can be way more objective than me. Thinking about offering a trade: my manual 2003 325ci (m54b30 swapped) with 160k for an '91 318is with 89k. Hopefully with some cash on top from his end.

I've always wanted an e30, and this is a pretty good opportunity for me to get one. I'm assuming that the e30 has some things that need taken care of, but I'm a Mech E major and did all the work on my car's swap, so whatever this car needs would probably be cake, and the cash on top from his end would help with that.

Now, where I need your advice; my car needs some work. If I'm being objective, it needs the following:

New struts up front
New bushings out back to fix an intermittant clunk (I'm thinking diff)
New giubo
And eventually probably a new transmission. The one in the car shifts fine and doesn't pop out of gear or anything, but it's starting to be very noisy and clunky at idle when the clutch is disengaged.

Here's some shitty pics of my car:

IMG_3081 by Ryan Van Dyke, on Flickr

IMG_3082 by Ryan Van Dyke, on Flickr

IMG_3083 by Ryan Van Dyke, on Flickr

I've since put clears on all the corners, so it looks more like this:

IMG_3863 by Ryan Van Dyke, on Flickr

And some probably equally shitty pics of the candidate:

00A0A_i3qI3x6xT5N_600x450 by Ryan Van Dyke, on Flickr

00B0B_9Q4P6q2WRNb_600x450 by Ryan Van Dyke, on Flickr

e30 by Ryan Van Dyke, on Flickr

What do you guys think? And, more importantly, what do you think I should ask for cash on top from him?