pricing a wagon

[olds350]

Recently picked up a '12 128 'vert, so my wonderful touring has to find a new home. I have a prospective buyer already, but I need to set a price and I need your advice. Car is a '01 525 automatic with 113k miles and is in overall great shape. Everything mechanical that needed to be addressed was taken care of and I've recently added the dynavin head unit. I have a spread sheet covering everything that been repaired/updated. Great color combo of dark grey over black. Everything works and it currently needs nothing. I was thinking of asking $5k for the touring. Considering mileage and over all condition, I don't think that's unreasonable, but it's hard to get a read on the sale price of these cars. Thoughts?

[StephenVA]

That is in the range. Like everything it depends on the availability of actual buyers not forum thoughts as everyone here owns one. The interest is high here but NOT in the car world. Niche market only. All driven to buy one cheap with everything replaced under someone else's ownership. (Think "I got a steal" mentality)
My thoughts on fair market pricing for E39 wagons:
Super clean, all wear items replaced, etc under 100K = 9-10 K
Super clean, all wear items replaced, etc under 120K = 5-7 K
Take off 20-30% if they are 2.5 motors

Over 140K you are in last owner territory and there is no bottom price as these cars are in two camps: 80% worn out and need everything as it was driven into the ground, the rest are somewhere else. Rarely are they well maintained at this point and the buyers are looking for a value above what the trade in offer...$1,000. Forum member cars are the exception to the rule but we are in the minority of owners by a LARGE margin. That why we are called "car nuts" by dealers and resellers. We get excited by 15 year old cars in their final stages of life and see only what they could be come with a large investment of DIY and parts! The rest of the automotive driving public wants the new car feel and electronic driver aids and gadgets.

[dannyzabolotny]

Yeah, I think $5k is reasonable, considering the relatively low mileage and nice color combo.

That is in the range. Like everything it depends on the availability of actual buyers not forum thoughts as everyone here owns one. The interest is high here but NOT in the car world. Niche market only. All driven to buy one cheap with everything replaced under someone else's ownership. (Think "I got a steal" mentality)
My thoughts on fair market pricing for E39 wagons:
Super clean, all wear items replaced, etc under 100K = 9-10 K
Super clean, all wear items replaced, etc under 120K = 5-7 K
Take off 20-30% if they are 2.5 motors

Over 140K you are in last owner territory and there is no bottom price as these cars are in two camps: 80% worn out and need everything as it was driven into the ground, the rest are somewhere else. Rarely are they well maintained at this point and the buyers are looking for a value above what the trade in was offered...$1,000. Forum member cars are the exception to the rule but we are in the minority of owners by a LARGE margin. That why we are called "car nuts" by dealers and resellers. We get excited by 15 year old cars in their final stages of life and see only what they could be come with a large investment of DIY and parts! The rest of the automotive driving public wants the new car feel and electronic driver aids and gadgets.

And that's why I don't ever plan on selling my 2000 540it... it has 191k miles now and is worth practically nothing to most people.

[Mike WW]

Without even pictures let alone seeing it in person, $5K sounds in the ballpark. A nice touring commands a premium price, but only to a few potential buyers. I'm not sure the price discount on a 2.5 is present in the market, but having had both a 2.5 and a 2.8 I wouldn't argue against it from an intrinsic value even if the market doesn't show it, to me at least it's a much lesser car. About 2 years ago I was selling my 250K 00 touring, in very good shape and it took several weeks to get $2500 for it, which to me felt like it was giving it away given the condition.

It was kind of funny, I've sold high mileage BMWs before, a E28 with 330K on it, an E23 with 300K on it, the E39 with 253K was in much better shape than either of the others but it was also the only one where all the buyers seemed concerned about the mileage.

[dannyzabolotny]

Without even pictures let alone seeing it in person, $5K sounds in the ballpark. A nice touring commands a premium price, but only to a few potential buyers. I'm not sure the price discount on a 2.5 is present in the market, but having had both a 2.5 and a 2.8 I wouldn't argue against it from an intrinsic value even if the market doesn't show it, to me at least it's a much lesser car. About 2 years ago I was selling my 250K 00 touring, in very good shape and it took several weeks to get $2500 for it, which to me felt like it was giving it away given the condition.

It was kind of funny, I've sold high mileage BMWs before, a E28 with 330K on it, an E23 with 300K on it, the E39 with 253K was in much better shape than either of the others but it was also the only one where all the buyers seemed concerned about the mileage.

I guess it's because newer cars are perceived as potentially more troublesome with higher mileage? It took me a while to sell my 2003 540i/6 M-Sport with 198k miles, even though it was in a desirable color (Sterling Gray) with a 6-speed manual, along with being a true M-Sport. It took me like two months to sell it, even though I had full service records from brand new and the car had no real flaws.

I'm gonna have one heck of a time when I put up my 2003 X5 4.6is for sale... it has 214k miles.

[StephenVA]

You are its last and final owner unless you put a price on that is low ball. Keep her as there will never be more of them. Drive until dust....

[itsbrokeagain]

You are its last and final owner unless you put a price on that is low ball. Keep her as there will never be more of them. Drive until dust....

I may have to live by this rule. Paid too much for mine as an impulse buy, and for what I'm dumping into it, I better have an LS swap or an N54 motor sitting under the hood with working AC if I want it to sell for anything...

[StephenVA]

Welcome to old BMW ownership. Lots of parts and DIY = happy owners.

[gaspump]

I've had mine for 2 years, offered 8k last week. Great cars and I've done nothing to it. I'm looking at a 55 chevy, maybe a trade of sorts. Might sell mine too, but it is mint condition and I get lots of comments at the gas stations. Great cars that seem to not age a bit. I might drive mine to 300k.

[StephenVA]

The challenge are always, what can you buy to replace what you have for the same $8K? The answer is always not much that will align up with an E39 wagon build and ride quality. Oh, and your commenters think it is a "high end car"!

[KRUZNBY]

Our current wagon is approaching 200k miles, so the thought of having one with 120k is pretty appealing. I'm not sure I could get much if I sold ours to offset the cost though.

[blackknight530i]

My solution for getting a really good price out of this car would be to find a low mileage M54b30 and swap it in. Then you get the uniqueness of it being a 530it (a manual would help here too if you want to go that route, but would of course cost a bit more) and it's a much more suited engine to the weight of the touring than the 2.5. Probably could get closer to $6k given the low mileage and condition.

[ExJxC]

Do manuals vary much in price? I'm also trying to figure our where to start. I'm going to list my 01 touring, 139k, 5 speed, exterior sport package. I'm the second owner since 2010. I picked up a 11 328it last week.

[KRUZNBY]

Do manuals vary much in price? I'm also trying to figure our where to start. I'm going to list my 01 touring, 139k, 5 speed, exterior sport package. I'm the second owner since 2010. I picked up a 11 328it last week.

I sold my manual 528iT Sport a few years ago for more than an auto, but it's a niche market. There aren't a lot of manuals, but there aren't a lot of buyers with the exception of boards like this.

[rlordjr]

Following this with great interest. When I was looking for an e39 wagon, it was like looking for hen's teeth. Now that I'm looking at e46/e39 vehicles to buy and resell all of a sudden there are wagons all around me and some might be resale candidates. It's the high-mileage and "end of life" scenarios I'm looking to avoid and then as we know the wagons are a niche. Bottom line is I'm still trying to get comfortable with values so am really interested in the conversation here. Maybe I'll switch gears and become an "all wagons all the time" used dealer!