Bring a Trailer Auctions, E30 edition

[djjerme]

85 318 4door added!

...yeah. Um. Hooray?

But seriously, I agreed with you comment. The only thing that should prop the price up on it is the mileage.

[2mAn]

Im wondering what you Alpina experts (Jeremy) think about the E21 Alpina? It looks like it would be a good deal for a CA car. Reminds me of a few years ago when I was super tempted to buy a 323i that had a 2.7i swapped in. Was CA legal and everything. Wouldve been a fun car I think. The E21 is known to be a tail happy car, but I dont know if its a controllable tail happy car like a E30 is

[djjerme]

Im wondering what you Alpina experts (Jeremy) think about the E21 Alpina? It looks like it would be a good deal for a CA car. Reminds me of a few years ago when I was super tempted to buy a 323i that had a 2.7i swapped in. Was CA legal and everything. Wouldve been a fun car I think. The E21 is known to be a tail happy car, but I dont know if its a controllable tail happy car like a E30 is

Hard to say.

E21's are still that sort of bastard stepchild forever stuck in between the 2002 and the E30. There was only so much Alpina could do with the chassis at the time and even modern reviews of the old B6 2.8 in the E21 express their disappointment when compared to the comparable E30 model. Most of it of course is related to the rear suspension design..

You can still find a lot of the E21 Alpina bits on the open market for cheap, and I have yet to see the prices of them reach E30 based models.

All that being said, they are still an Alpina and as such will hold their value. Considering there was never and "M3" E21 model to steal the spotlight, time may prove the Alpina models the version to collect.

I still have a bit of a soft spot for them since my first BMW was an E21. I'd be surprised if the auction breaks 20K..

[2mAn]

I think the one that they linked to sold for ~15k and I think it might've been cleaner, however it wasnt a CA legal car. I think 15-20k is still a lot of money for a E21

[djjerme]

Agree.

But then again, 5 years ago, 40k was a lot for an M3. I guess it just depends on where you are in life. If you've got the means to store something for a decade, you can stand over paying now and maybe be rewarded then. It's like buying bonds I guess, but my broker probably wouldn't get behind me "investing" in older Bimmer's. Not to mention my wife still doesn't understand it either..

[2mAn]

Another M3 added, this time a well prepared race car

[djjerme]

Someone's going to get a great track toy in that one.

I also really like the E28 with the LS swap. That would be a great car to just cruise around in I have to say..


Getting back to the E21 though, man the wheels are falling off that auction. I wonder if it's too far gone to save from a rare parts perspective now.

[iXguido]

45 min to go on the alpina c2 and its at 13,750

[flyboyx]

45 min to go on the alpina c2 and its at 13,750

This one should sell for a lot more than that.

[2mAn]

Sold for $34,000 ... Original Rare must feel dumb. Market is speaking

[reelizmpro]

Sold for $34,000 ... Original Rare must feel dumb. Market is speaking

Okay, now I have to ask...how in the hell did the 4 door Alpina pull $63k?!

[djjerme]

Simple, you had two guys who really, really wanted it!

Problem was, as soon as that happened, all the dealers saw $$$ and rushed theirs out to auctions. Market appeared flooded, and so bidders started setting a more reasonable limit.

Bring a trailer in its rush to become mostly an auction site has been helping to create artificial bubbles within it's own user base. They are constantly allowing auctions concurrently or overlapping with cars targeted at the same audience. It happened/happens constantly with Porsche models, the Alpinas and the now it seems the M3's.

So the best bet is to be the first auction of a particular model/series, otherwise, wait until you are.

I know most people seem to play nice or not get too ruffled when two e30 M3's are running at the same time, but if I was the seller, I'd be pissed.

Even if one model is a pristine 50k example and the other is a stripped and caged track car, they do affect each other's bids.

[Shock(/\)ave]

I was one of the two guys who finally forced Bring A Trailer to take down the auction for the 2007 BMW 116i after we uncovered the car was actually a stolen leased car currently still owned by BMW Financial. No matter how much evidence they had that the listing was fraudulent and a huge risk to any potential buyer, they still pushed ahead with it for days until we posted proof they just couldn't ignore anymore. Instead of thanking me for the help, they quietly changed my account to moderate before posting status without so much as a notification, and now I can't post anything with it being approved, edited, or deleted by their moderators.

I was a fan of theirs, and even listed a car of mine with them before their auction format launched, but I think you'd be crazy to think their listings are special at this point.

[flyboyx]

^wow! I didn't know about this until I read your post. What a shit show.

As far as bat is concerned, I've been saying for months now that those dingleberries started out with good intentions, but they are in well over their heads. They don't know what they are doing. Everything is so arbitrary. It's like a bunch of little napoleons sitting on top of of their automotive Internet fiefdom.

They won't be replacing eBay any time soon.

[djjerme]

..not to mention there is a lot of "regulars" now posting cars in the Auctions. Too many auctions and too little unique/rare/crazy car "articles."