Value of 64,000 mile car?

[nrubenstein]

The basic answer is that an undesirable engine/transmission/color/body will never justify the kind of restoration that that car would need. (You don’t really even get there on highly desirable combinations.)

Engine swapping will make the car more desirable (because auto eta is very turdy), but I think you’d be lucky after a swap and restoration to end up with a car that is worth more than $6k. And you’d probably spend $10k to get there if you do nearly all the work yourself.

Basically, if you can find a decent 325i, you’d be better off that way.

[Andre3127]

The basic answer is that an undesirable engine/transmission/color/body will never justify the kind of restoration that that car would need. (You don’t really even get there on highly desirable combinations.)

Engine swapping will make the car more desirable (because auto eta is very turdy), but I think you’d be lucky after a swap and restoration to end up with a car that is worth more than $6k. And you’d probably spend $10k to get there if you do nearly all the work yourself.

Basically, if you can find a decent 325i, you’d be better off that way.

I have everything I need to drop in a 325is driveline minus the differential. Why go out and buy a 325i now? I bought the engine, trans, clutch, driveshaft, flywheel, pedals everything for $500. The car and the 325is swap totals to $1750 together. Not bad! Plus, I get to learn a lot more about the car by swapping it then just buying one.

The car may very well cost $10k, but when it's done it should probably be a bit higher than 6k. Long term goals are to push 300-350rwhp, and have this car in very presentable condition.

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[nrubenstein]

I have everything I need to drop in a 325is driveline minus the differential. Why go out and buy a 325i now? I bought the engine, trans, clutch, driveshaft, flywheel, pedals everything for $500. The car and the 325is swap totals to $1750 together. Not bad! Plus, I get to learn a lot more about the car by swapping it then just buying one.

The car may very well cost $10k, but when it's done it should probably be a bit higher than 6k. Long term goals are to push 300-350rwhp, and have this car in very presentable condition.

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Because it’s *always* cheaper to find a car that doesn’t need to be painted, for one. And because a shitty starting chassis with the wrong drivetrain will always be a shitty starting chassis with the wrong drivetrain.

That said, if you plan to turbo it, none of that matters. FI destroys the value of the car for people who are interested in paying up.

[infanterene]

Body and interior condition is more important to me than mileage. A well taken care off car with high miles over a low mile car with damaged paint, been sitting in the sun, not loved for 10 years while it sat in a grass field etc.

[lukeADE335i]

All E30s were classified as sedans - even the M3. There is no such thing as an E30 coupe - but I get what you guys mean.

Yeah - true. The e21 was also a 2 door sedan.

[dnguyen1963]

If you want to grow your money, E30 is not the game.

[mbonder]

Generally, there are very few cars where you can really "make" money. Even those that appreciate over time require maintenance and insurance as well as parking space, so whatever value it has appreciated is cancelled out by the carrying costs.

Only e30 that you maybe could have made some money on (and this is 100% past tense now), was the e30 m3 if you bought in around 2001-2002, when you could get a nice one for $6-10k that will now be worth $30-50k. Assuming $2k in carrying costs per year ($150-200/mo for insurance and storage space) for 15 years puts you $35k in or so, meaning you could probably make $5-10k based on current e30 m3 values in good condition.

You'd have been far better off putting the money in the market ($6k initial plus $2k per year for 15 years), you'd have a ton more money. But cars shouldn't really be just about making money, otherwise you'd never drive them and where's the enjoyment in that?

I've simplified things a bit here (and I know someone will complain) but that's a general sense of things.

[varg]

Mileage alone is worthless as a driver of value. That car needs an assload of work and even if it was a beautiful all original survivor it's still probably the least desirable variant of E30. Even auto convertibles are worth more than auto etas.

[roguetoaster]

Mileage alone is worthless as a driver of value. That car needs an assload of work and even if it was a beautiful all original survivor it's still probably the least desirable variant of E30. Even auto convertibles are worth more than auto etas.

I only wish everyone would adopt that mindset, but most people seem utterly afraid of any car with more than 150K miles, and perfectly willing to pony up big bucks for low mileage heaps.

[nando]

honestly I doubt it's 64k miles anyway. It looks like it has 364,000 miles, and then was left in a field for 15 years. The E30 odometer is ridiculously easy to roll back, or just swap a cluster from another car with lower miles. it doesn't mean anything.

[dnguyen1963]

Instead of talking about low mileage, we should aim for achieving one million miles for our cars. Of course, if someone wants to spin his/her odometer to get to 1 million...shoot him/her.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/g121/million-mile-club-the-worlds-longest-lived-cars/

[Stanley Rockafella]

honestly I doubt it's 64k miles anyway. It looks like it has 364,000 miles, and then was left in a field for 15 years. The E30 odometer is ridiculously easy to roll back, or just swap a cluster from another car with lower miles. it doesn't mean anything.

shhh! the OP might read this. You'll hurt his feelings!

[Andre3127]

shhh! the OP might read this. You'll hurt his feelings!

No, actually it's very true. Although the owner history and carfax check out, it did sit on a farm forever and has a lot of surface rust everywhere.

The windshield doesnt have a pit in it, all glass is original, the sunroof rails are in mint condition, I have no reason to believe this car has been driven more than 100k. It just had a very hard life. The cylinder bores have zero ridge and no scoring whatsoever. My heater core doesnt leak, dash isnt cracked, and seats are near mint besides some staining. The carpets are very clean as well, and my steering wheel and shift handle shows nearly no wear.

True mileage is always unknown on e30's, but from what I can tell the mileage reading is fairly accurate.



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[nando]

My 280,000 mile parts M20 had no scoring or ridge either. That means nothing other than they are well built and last a long time.

How is the sunroof rail related to miles driven?

In any case, it doesn't matter. Restore the car or don't - but it's not an investment that will return a profit. The provenance of it is questionable at best.

[JJCTHE1]

Just by those couple of photos we can see this car lived outside and has rust. Not worth restoring unless its purely for personal satisfaction - if you love the car thats your call, but with the intent to resell and/or build value - no way. People get so caught up on mileage. I feel like so many E30 odometers are broken, buy from the condition not the odometer.