Whats my e30 S54 swap worth?

[LowR3V'in]

and adjustable seats.

[Kershaw]

You guys are funny, I knew this was the wrong place to ask a question like that. I guess Berlow is asking 12k too much for his car.

I take it you're the type of person to list all the modifications done to the car under the heading "Investments"? Maybe write something like, "OVER $20,000 INVESTED IN THIS CAR!!!!!111"?

Mods are not investments. Never will be. A stock, low mileage car will always be worth more than a car that's been modded to such an extreme it barely passes for a street car anymore.

Let's say you took an 40k mile 318is. White, with a tan leather interior. Swapped in an s54 and 6 speed manual. Flawless paint. Flawless interior. Everything works as it should. Suspension is nothing crazy, Bilsteins and H&Rs. Probably go for over $25k. There's a huge market for that car because it's easily streetable. The crazy thing is though, that car would probably sell for something like $30k completely stock.

Yours? Very narrow market. Before I saw everyone else's post I thought $12k, like so many others. I wish you the best of luck getting more though.

Tips to get more money:
- Remove the cage
- Reinstall the heater
- Order paint matched spray cans and paint the bumper and lip
- Reinstall the fog lights
- At least include the driver high beam
- Make sure all your underhood wiring is as neat as possible and wrapped

[lukeADE335i]

Bought if for 10k, put another 30k and counting into it.

In that case - unless you really need to sell it - I'd keep it. Looks a great car to drive that is well sorted - you could get years of grins out of it.

[varg]

Modifying a car is not an investment, it's an entertainment expense. Only in the most rare of cases will you get back what you put into it, and even more rarely will you get more. Stock-ish streetable E30s are rising in value now, not highly modified track cars. E30s have been all over the internet and people want them, but the modified track car market isn't going to grow like that, it's just too small.

[LowR3V'in]

i was just thinking about this today.

Take it to the extreme.

a 92 civic (e30) with a lambo motor in it would probably only be worth whatever the lambo motor is worth.

[flyboyx]

well, good luck with your sale op. i hope it turns out well for you. it'll probably be a tough road to getting it on to the next owner, but hopefully, you will get there.

i can say personally that i would LOVE to drive it but i really don't have any interest in owning such a car.

[MR E30 325is]

I am going to have to agree with everyone in this thread. 12k seems reasonable to me.

* I had an S52 "track" car, with all of the fixings. S52, ZF320, Half cage, 1 piece driveshaft, 5 lug, coilovers, fixed back buckets, 6 point Scroth harnesses, etc. etc. Tons and tons of money into it. Roughly 28k I think. Very little of that was labor.

It sold for nowhere near 28k. Not even close. Not even close to half of 28k.

What you and I both (and many others) did is definitely not any type of intelligent investment, whatsoever.

I know it hurts. =(

[2mAn]

I was asking $12k for the Aluminum Monster and got close to it, but it took forever to find the right person who was looking for the type of car I built. Depending on the quality of the cage, you might be able to get close to what you want by selling a S54 swap with motor, wiring, cluster ,etc with everything to get a S54 installed, then selling the caged roller, because then the next person can build the car to the spec they want. I think the $15k+ arena is close to what you could get, but it wont be a quick sale unless you get lucky

BaT is NOT the right place for that car IMO

[TheDirtyS54Thirty]

how much did you want for it? just curious for real.
race only e30 with a s54.
idk how much e30s are worth, so not even going to guess.

i have a m30 turbo probably not worth much over a stock car
but i don't even give a shit though.

Id probably take 18-20k for it.

[IronJoe]

In my situation, I went in knowing I wouldn't get very much cash for my car, as I built it for Me, and nobody else. That saying "you can't please everyone" applies here. But I had a blast building it and was an adventure I'll never forget.

If I were the OP, I'd enjoy the car that I built for myself. You'll never get out what you put in, so keep it and mash on 911s in your perfectly built E30.

[flyboyx]

^ah man....that's just brutal.

Op, I know you don't want to hear your car is worth 10 to 12k, but honestly, you simply did not take the car in a very desirable direction. I am trying really hard to think of a heavily modified e30 that sold for more than some one had in it. The only one that may have crested this plateau is Jordan's lesmiester. If it did, it wasn't by much and that was one spotless build. I think he let it go too cheap,buts that's just my

People want nice interiors and pretty paint jobs. They don't want striped interiors, roll cages and track rash.

Sorry man.

[IronJoe]

As said above, this (incredibly awesome) car is going to suffer from the limited market that exists for heavily modified cars. I was in this situation a few years back with my c900 - modded to death, all the rarest parts, Holset + custom tune 500whp build. Internationally known car, Euro tuner magazine feature and all, $40k+ into it and I sold it for $10k.

There's just not too many folks around that want to take on someone else's project.

[e30austin]

Sorry to hear. I'm about that much in one of mine and have quickly found out how weird the market is on an extremely well sorted street car with lots of expensive and rare parts, as well as an expensive paint job.

Given the fact that your car is a track car at this point, I simply do not see it getting the same price as a well sorted street car.

[TheDirtyS54Thirty]

Bought if for 10k, put another 30k and counting into it.

[LowR3V'in]

ok i saw the vid. So you probably bought it for like 10,000 right?
that sucks man i feel you on that but it is what it is. maybe make it a street car make it look good and stuff first.
The guy from the vid said he'll buy it so there you go. :D