Should I- 1997 328is?

[BigDiesel07]

What is the opinion on purchasing the following vehicle? Starting bid is $300... What would be a reasonable purchase price on it?

Description from auction site-

1996 BMW 328is, 2.8L Inline 6 Cylinder Motor, 107,000 Odometer Miles, VIN:WBABG1325YET01424, 5-Speed Manual Trans, PW, PL, Cruise, AC, Sony AM/FM-CD, 2-Door, Recaro Seats (drivers seat needs to be aligned), K & N FIPK Cold Air Intake, Recently Tuned Computer, New Thermostat and Fan Clutch. Aftermarket 17 Wheels (have less then 5000miles on them). Has some scratches & chips, rip on the center console, could use front end alignment (drives straight but wheel points a bit left), the check engine/ ABS/ (0) Lights are on

[97 RED 328is]

what is the general conditon of the car is it beat to poo with terrible paint and rust or is the paint/body in good condition? the lights may not be on but are they burnt out from being on so long???? ive seen it before

[RED328is]

wow. 300 seems extremely low. Anything that cheap i would be suspect of. But thats just me. btw..how close that guys above me name to mine? freaky.

[97 RED 328is]

Damn and you were here first lol but really what is the body like if it is terrible it changes the value of the vehicle drastically.

[BigDiesel07]

The body seems nice enough.. Has Custom Rim's and some scratches (per the descript), but the pictures look good

[97 RED 328is]

i would expect to pay around 6000 for that car in as good of shape as it apparently is in, if it really has no major problems and the body isnt too awful that would be a fair price to pay.

[flyfishvt]

You would need a lot more info to bid on it. At 100k most of the suspension, bushings, struts, clutch, radiator, water pump are all things that will need to be replaced soon. If they've all been addressed then I would still not buy it sight unseen. If you can get it for under $2500 I..... maybe. Sight unseen is too risky. $300 is only the stating bid. Im sure there is a reserve amount on it.

[BigDiesel07]

It states no reserve.. Would $500 max sight unseen be worth it? Just placing the $300 minimum and if nobody bids, then it should be an alright pick up, no?

[dfreshx00]

i would just place a $2000 bid if your serious. its a good start for a bid, and def a steal for that car. but flyfishvt is also right about the car needing new things..

[RobbyH]

Are you sure about the VIN? I was going to run a carfax on it and it comes back as an invalid VIN

Robby

[BigDiesel07]

I believe they posted the VIN incorrectly.. The pictures show no noticeable body damage.

[flyfishvt]

God loves the e36 but hates the guy who buys one. the outside of the e36 is probably the only part that never comes up as "This is a well known issue"

The problems with almost all e36's are not visible from the outside. Unless you can verify that the suspension and cooling system have been addressed I would never buy the car. The suspension alone can cost $2000 to replace all the bushings and control arms and everything else that probably needs to be addressed.

Think about this: If he had taken care of these items he would have had at least a minimum bid of $2000. My guess is he got an estimate of what was wrong with it and decided it was too expensive to fix. "I'll put it on ebay and see what I can get".

Walk away

[Section9]

Personally, I tend to bid so that my final price is what I could part the car out for if its a total POS. - my two cents.
Otherwise, go see it in person.

[jhstealth]

I say top bid 2500..

[RobbyH]

I believe they posted the VIN incorrectly.. The pictures show no noticeable body damage.

But looks can be deceiving. I never buy a car without running a carfax on it. Granted it is not a guarantee but I have looked at cars that appeared super nice only to find out they had salvage titles even though the owner showed me a clean title.

Robby

[RNeil]

I believe they posted the VIN incorrectly..
RED FLAG!
$300 or $3000 would be a bargan for a 328. But if you don't get the car, than anything is too much. I would want to see it and meet the seller no matter how low the price.

[BigDiesel07]

Found a 1996 BMW 328i for $2850.. Going to look at it later. Anything specific I should know? It is a 5 speed.