Is it just me or does everyone think their M3s are worth gold?

[gwvg]

This isnt referring to anyone in particular, but as an overall trend, I see people asking WAY more than blue book value for most of their M3s. Mods, technically shouldnt add much value to the car at all, but people are asking to be completely recouped on the money they put into their car. Is this just a joke, or do people actually pay these ridiculous prices? I've only met one seller who was even close to selling his car for bluebook.

[RobH]

The cars are worth what you can get for them. Some people ask for way too much money and sometimes they find someone to pay it. Other times, they just refuse to sell. But most times they get a reality check and have to take what the market will bear. I'm not selling my M3. I'll be a hip old dude in 30 years driving around in it.

p.s. if you want to really see some inflated prices on BMWs, check out the roundel classifieds. Most of these people are delusional.

[bcart1991]

However, what you see them selling for at a used car dealer or by the non-enthusiast is diluting the price.

I would gladly pay a couple/few thousand more for an M3 that I know was meticulously maintained over one that I could not say that about.

These cars have racing egnines. However, the E36's were much more plentiful and therefore more available, so people who might otherwise buy other cars were getting M3's.

In contrast to this, they may not have given the M3 the attention and maintenance it deserves, thus the cars will not be in as good shape as one owned by an enthusiast.

I'd even buy an M3 that I knew had been tracked/auto-x'ed before another if I know the car was maintained and needed parts replaced.

I don't have an M3, by the way. This is just how I feel about it.

Carter

[mrclam]

the m3's you find for blue book will get you a car that was improperly maintained and with a few visual imperfections. finding an absolutely clean car is worth the extra money, not many people put that kind of time and effort into their car anymore, especially as the cars age and younger and younger people get their hands on them...

[Daved]

Is this related only to M3s or to every BMW car?

[rwindleyme02]

I agree to some extent. I am in the market for an e36 M3 and while I've seen some that I know are well maintained and deserving of a higher price tag b/c of the attention paid to them by their owners, I've also seen some completely stock (or with other small mods like clears) asking for almost the same price.

That being said, anyone have a Blk/Blk M3 for <=$16K? ;)

[Don Nguyen]

hah how dare you say younger kids dont take care of the cars lol jk, i pertain to that younger group and yes i do seem to see kids with E46's who looks like they never even washed their wheels once since they got the car or the car is black and has dirt/water stains ridden all over it. I for one have probably made my car even cleaner and better condition then when i got it from a older person. Hell i almost wax/wash my car everyweek, clean wheels, and do vacuming and interior every other week or so. I just find it sad to see people with such nice cars but the car so porely maintained or treated sometimes :/

[mrclam]

i'm 20 myself and have made that observation about many of the younger bmw owners. lots of the guys who run around with mods have a really nice mod list, but when you take a look at the car itself, much of it was poorly installed, looks like ass, tacky, etc. it really is a shame

[Sam L]

i think m3's are worth more than they are going for. =]

[JSN]

I've said it once, i'll say it a thousand times. kelly blue book don't mean sh*t. God himself can come down from the heavens, point to a car and say it's worth 15k. the market will say otherwise

[yotone]

people still pay alot of money on 98 and 99 E36 M3's. one guy recently posted questions on a dealer 98 M3 for $24,000. he ended up paying $23,000 for it. even tho he knew that price was a little high he felt it was worth it cosidering the good condition of the car and buying from a bmw dealership.

[iwannadinanm3]

in someones eyes, the car might be worth a couple grand over book if it's very clean.

The people who want like 20k for there 95 m3 with 120k miles on it are smoking some good shit, open up roundel, you'll see.

[Aldo]

As someome said, "It's worth what someone will pay for it".
You never get out of it what you put into it regarding Mods.
There are those buyers looking for only a stock ride and there are those looking for mods. The perfect marriage for buyer and seller with mods is, that buyer looking for just those mods you've done. It allows you to recoup a portion of your mod money. Its a soft market. When I bought my M3 7 months ago I paid 5k less then he was asking and it was on the market for 3 months.
If buyers are patient and put in their due diligence they will always find a seller thats motivated for whatever reason to take less. Key word is Patience.
Then again, Im just an old 70's hippy reliving my youth with my M3 and Vette that only see day light on weekends

[gwvg]

Originally posted by yotone
people still pay alot of money on 98 and 99 E36 M3's. one guy recently posted questions on a dealer 98 M3 for $24,000. he ended up paying $23,000 for it. even tho he knew that price was a little high he felt it was worth it cosidering the good condition of the car and buying from a bmw dealership. If it has under 60K miles, I'd sure as hell pay 23 or even more for one.

[stjobs]

"These cars have racing egnines."

Yeah, somewhat. Less so than the Euro S50B32. :)

Jokes aside, a lot of sellers are, as RobH put it, delusional. Especially Roundel. Filled with people that think just because they love their car they can brazenly ask WAY over the going rate. Yeah right. Anyone who buys from these people is equally stupid.

Best bet is to find someone who treats the car properly but isn't some weird CCA freak who pays twice retail for parts and asks a price commensurate with that waste.

I saw an ad from an older guy who wanted $17k for his 1995 Alpine White M3 with 70k miles. Nice car, decent guy, but it's not going to happen, if not NEVER, then at least not for a while. I contacted him in August.

The car is still on Autotrader.

[Mark85]

theres alot of people out there though that start having all these expensive problems, but there only expensive because there taking it to the dealer and its got a couple problems so they think its not worth much and dont want to rip anyone off and sell there cars for extra low prices...those are the sellers i like for

the seller listed my car as good condition, but when he went to look for a price to ask he took the poor condition price...but if he actually fixed the car he'd realize the brake light just had a bad connection, and the reason it missed was because of the valve cover. But most people just think there cars fallen apart and want to get rid of it fast

[iwannadinanm3]

http://www.roadfly.org/bmw/classifieds/cars/detview.php?view=21148&sortby=&dir=

http://www.roadfly.org/bmw/classifieds/cars/detview.php?view=21170&sortby=&dir=


Now those 2 goons are just F*cking plain crazy......

[Dnz]

It never hurts to ask for more than its worth. That way you may get more than you want, or you can drop the price and make the other person feel even better about getting the car.

Car dealers do it all the time...

[iwannadinanm3]

Yeah, but in reference to those 2 m coupes? 20k-30k more than what the car's worth is a bit too much lol.

Most of the cars we sell, we usually leave it at a set price with little room to negotiate, so they know they're already getting a good deal, if they lowball, we tell them to basically f*ck off and make them feel bad for missing out on a deal

[yotone]

to be fair those 02 M coupes are pretty rare and one has less than 7000 miles on it.

[InfernoM3]

Pricing seems to be allover the place for M3's. I am selling mine and when I first posted my 98 hellrot 80K miles, excellent condition w/ some minor mods I wanted $24K and I got a few hits. Now I've lowered to $21.5K and still not sold. I do'nt think Blue book is the right pricing. I priced my car on their website and it doesn't have an option for condition. Just Private party, trade in and Dealer. No excellent, average, etc... plus some of the options that my car has not listed. The price came out to $20K. Edmunds I think is a better pricing mine at $22. Anways someone buy my car. I love it and dont' want to let it go. I think $20K+ for a beautiful M3 is a great price. If you think about it people are buying $40K car for half the price and still the same great performance.

[JSN]

http://autotrader.com/findacar/vdetail.jtmpl?car_id=139764205&dealer_id=&car_year=1995&make=BMW&distance=50&max_price=25000&model=M3&advcd_on=n&end_year=2004&min_price=&certified=n&address=94904&search_type=used&advanced=n&start_year=1983&color=&cardist=34

I told you the Bay Area prices were freakin' tarded.

1995
88k
auto
$19600

[big A]

Originally posted by AirborneDEN
hah how dare you say younger kids dont take care of the cars lol jk, i pertain to that younger group and yes i do seem to see kids with E46's who looks like they never even washed their wheels once since they got the car or the car is black and has dirt/water stains ridden all over it. I for one have probably made my car even cleaner and better condition then when i got it from a older person. Hell i almost wax/wash my car everyweek, clean wheels, and do vacuming and interior every other week or so. I just find it sad to see people with such nice cars but the car so porely maintained or treated sometimes :/

There is much more then washing and waxing to maintaining a car.

[M3_boogie]

Inferno,
for what it's worth, I bought my 1999 E36 M3 (stock) with 57K miles in MA (which is a relatively pricey market, probably similary to Cali) for $26,000 in August. [KBB value was $28k]. Be patient, it will sell.... and then you'll be as sad as the guy I bought mine from :)

[RRdawho?]

I'm part of the younger crowd to and I can say that I properly maintain my car to hell, against your "young crowd stereotypes" :rolleyes: I "wash and detail" my car meticulously (for those who have been serviced by me, you know exactly what I do to each car, its a 4 hour job....), serviced all the common fix its on the E36 (water pump, thermo housing, thermo, replaced plastic yellow headlights, replaced water pump, only high quality oil filters and oil (Castrol syntech 5W-50 oil), tie rod replacement, suspension and rsm replacement, rtabs, bushings, and up and comming rear subframe reinforcement, blah blah blah). Where do I get money to do all of this you say? I WORK, in fact, I WORK at the friggin ER saving all of your old ass' lives from a heartattack :complain! The car has 151k and still runs like a champ. I keep up with the M3's all the time during the mountain drives. Sorry, just had to vent, im sick of being stereotyped. :pissed:

[RRdawho?]

:pissed: Grrr! And its one of the more Rare colors on an E36! I see more Daytona Violet M3's than this! Only other rare color E36 that I know of is teh Bynzanz (sp?) M3 :pissed:

[rwindleyme02]

I think I must have missed something. What is this last post referring to?

[RRdawho?]

That I take care of my damn car and im a teenager at the same time.

[stjobs]

"to be fair those 02 M coupes are pretty rare and one has less than 7000 miles on it."

Give me a break, that's above the new price. They aren't THAT rare.

[iwannadinanm3]

Yeah, those guys are definitely out of their minds. I mean yes, they are very rare, but still, that doesn't justify it to appreciate, it's still going to depreciate, it's not like it's an enzo or something. I mean i see a lot of others with s54 m coupes asking over book, a few grand over book price is alright with that, which will give some room to negotiate, but like i said, 20 or 30k over book is pretty nuts ;)

[JasonJ75]

I think you're just seeing a lot of people under water on their loans hoping to get lucky....

[rwindleyme02]

Originally posted by RRdawho?
That I take care of my damn car and im a teenager at the same time.

No, I meant the picture you attached. What color is that?

[mrclam]

Originally posted by RRdawho?
:pissed: Grrr! And its one of the more Rare colors on an E36! I see more Daytona Violet M3's than this! Only other rare color E36 that I know of is teh Bynzanz (sp?) M3 :pissed:

i'm glad that you dont' fall under the stereotype, but you have to admit that MOST people do ;)

clean car btw, that's granite silver?

[iwannadinanm3]

color's glacier blue i believe

[RRdawho?]

Ok I'll admit that most people in my demographic do fall in that stereotype I guess...

The Color code is 280 Glacier Blue, the interior is Navy Blue / Black / Gray inside.

Here's a better picture of the color you can see the blue more, since its a metallic paint the color shifts w/ the lighting.

Since M3's didnt have Glacier blue, I bought an Alpine White M3 bumper and painted it in the front of my driveway :biglaughb

[mrclam]

wow that REALLY doesn't look blue :)

[RRdawho?]

First Alpine White

[RRdawho?]

Now Blue :wave:

[Stinky]

Originally posted by RRdawho?
I WORK, in fact, I WORK at the friggin ER saving all of your old ass' lives from a heartattack :complain!

LMAO:laugh ....I know how you feel...I work on a telemetry floor.

[RRdawho?]

Originally posted by Stinky
LMAO:laugh ....I know how you feel...I work on a telemetry floor.

Oh Yeah, I send u the sickly ones. ;) Only in the ER can you say you literally "Shocked the $hit" outta someone...I've seen it, it smells....

But going back onto topic, I'd pay more than blue book for a very well maintained, meticulous M3...

[Yasir]

It's all a matter of Supply and demand.I bought a 98 M3/4-5 speed and found a car that fits all my criteria,like
1)-1-2 owners
2)-Service history
3)- Absolutely no paint work
4)- Miles under 40,000 miles
5)-Condition should be near perfect
The book on the car was right around $24,000 and since i didn't want to wait too long and didn't feel like travelling around the US i decided to buy it.I paid $24,800 but then again it just had a Service 2 done,is still under CPO warrenty and the owner also had all 4 new Michelin tires put on.So all together i think i got what i paid for :buttrock
Bottom line is pay less initially or buy a low mileage car and pay a little bit more upfront.
Later, Yasir

[Deutscher Konnt]

Originally posted by Sam L
i think m3's are worth more than they are going for. =]

Me too. :) With all these kids destroying E36 M3s, maybe they will increase in value like the E30 M3s? Although, I can't imagine selling my M3 anytime in the next 5 years.

[RRdawho?]

Grr....there we go again with the kid stereotype :pissed: see if I'll be saving your ass in the ER old man! :flipa: ;)

[jvit27]

"there is an ass for every seat."

[DOO]

I see dead people

[MrBlah]

I'm not sure why, but here in georgia, E30 bluebook's are spot on, but E36 M3's are WAY off.

They show a 95 with a blue book of 14k, not gonna happin, I looked at 20+ cars before I bought mine, none were below 15k, and most of them were pretty ratty, dings, scratches, etc. I ended up paying 18k for a 95 with 65k miles, that's 4k over bluebook, litterally, EVERY single car I looked at, was over bluebook. I gladly paid 4k over bluebook for mine, after looking at all those cars, I knew what they cost here.

I dont know where KBB gets thier numbers, I think people understate the selling price, to get out of paying sales tax, and KBB uses these numbers. Not really sure why, but they are WAY off for this area.

[Don Nguyen]

big A, i also did the repairs on the seats where it was torn, repaired the roof on the top from tears, re-wire the roof canvas when it ripped off, do minor touch ups, check all the fluids, changed my coolant sensor when it broke, and bundles more, i just said wax/wash cause that is how i was maintaining it's body.

[MMNJTWA]

Originally posted by MegaDeTH
I dont know where KBB gets thier numbers, I think people understate the selling price, to get out of paying sales tax, and KBB uses these numbers. Not really sure why, but they are WAY off for this area.

i will tell you exactly how KBB comes up with their numbers. my whole family owns car dealerships so i know where the numbers are derived from.....

KBB is on the intrnet for EVERYONE to see so when people want tobuy a new car they will look to see what their current vehicle is worth (are you still following me?)

then they go to the dealership (thinkig they know what to expect to get in trade for their car) and when the dealership "shows" them more $$$$$$ in their trade they are eager to give up their car for that price (thinking they have screwed over the dealership)

KBB is made for and by dealerships to get SALES!!!! it seems to be a win win situation for the consumer, yet it is there for the seller. that is why KBB is not worth shit for private party sellers or buyers. just the "trade in my car" consumer!:)

that is where KBB gets its numbers:D

[RicN]

some potential buyers love to lowball also, especially people on message boards.

[themadhatter]

Originally posted by RRdawho?
Grr....there we go again with the kid stereotype :pissed: see if I'll be saving your ass in the ER old man! :flipa: ;)

you guys sound like the cast from Scrubs....what hospital do you work at? I'll be sure to die somewhere else. :laugh :D

[AdamL]

Thanks for the quick lesson "M_azn_3" about the whole KBB question.

Even speaking in terms of private party sales, KBB ... in most cases... can be looked at as a "guide" of sorts. I believe KBB takes into consideration where the car is, ie. NY will be less $$ , and Cali/Arizona more $$$ ....... do to the areas natural elements(ice, cold, etc.)

[MMNJTWA]

yes a "guide" it can definitely serve as. just nothing set in stone! jut lets you have a good starting point

[mkiv98]

wanna see a seriously inflated car? supra, n/a or turbo alike.

[Dnz]

You can never ever put an exact figure on a car.

A market is made up of ALL the consumers of that product..

So, its going to be in a bell shaped curve (hopefully)..

This means that some people will pay more, some will be prepared to pay less. And thats why car prices are also different.

[Deutscher Konnt]

Originally posted by RRdawho?
Grr....there we go again with the kid stereotype :pissed: see if I'll be saving your ass in the ER old man! :flipa: ;)

Uh, I'm 19 :rolleyes:. By kids I was referring to all the fifteen and sixteen year olds that get an M3 as their first car, and in many cases destroy it due to irresponsible behavior on their part.

[MMNJTWA]

yeah i know a 18 year old, who when she was 17 had a brand new M5 and totaled it. now her daddy is getting her a brand new SL500.

must be nice when daddy is the CEO of Intel...

[Dnz]

itll be interesting to see wether people like that will in fact ever achieve or live in the shadow of their parents glory..

[MMNJTWA]

that also intrigues me.... where do they go when eveything has been served to them on a silver spoon.... my parents are very very wealthy (my dad has a few MB's, a powler, some classic collector cars, a yacht, speed boats, lots of property, yada yada yada, etc.... ) but the only thing they ultimatelyprovide for me is shelter, food, clothing... everything else i work for. ifi can't afford it then it is not meant for me, or i just have to work harder. this way i will learn to value things in life and appreciate much more!

[Dnz]

not to mention youll get a sense of achievement for not being an experienceless moron... hahah

Some rich people are very stupid. Its pretty disturbiing sometimes.

[MMNJTWA]

yeah i even feel great whenever i get to work on my own car (not ve to sed it to a mechanic so i don't get my hands dirty) it is a good learning experience.