The price of older BMW's: The state of things.
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We all know supply and demand (I hope). I asked this question merely to spark some debate. Also, so maybe people will lower their prices so I can buy a whole mess of parts cars.
E91 328xi - F15 X5 40e - Hopes and dreams of eventually having a cool car
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I see cleaner non-running cars that I would rather have than some of the shitbox "good runners" some people post for 2k plus that are smashed and would cost double that to make look decent again. Just my opinion though.
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I think "BMW" only has a small amount to do with it.
"Compact rear-drive" has a lot to do with it.
Anything small with RWD and a decent chassis (see also: unibody construction) will be in demand. The nice thing about BMWs though is they are actually built well and worth saving/repairing/restoring.
Strange thing about car prices: A POS will cost you the same in the Midwest as it does in the Southwest. The obvious difference being substantial rust and fasteners that will be an absolute ho-bag to remove.
Im not really upset about the price of E30s. im more upset about all the cars going for $3000 that would be considered scrap metal in most other places.
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I think "BMW" only has a small amount to do with it.
"Compact rear-drive" has a lot to do with it.
Anything small with RWD and a decent chassis (see also: unibody construction) will be in demand. The nice thing about BMWs though is they are actually built well and worth saving/repairing/restoring.
Strange thing about car prices: A POS will cost you the same in the Midwest as it does in the Southwest. The obvious difference being substantial rust and fasteners that will be an absolute ho-bag to remove.
Im not really upset about the price of E30s. im more upset about all the cars going for $3000 that would be considered scrap metal in most other places.
Have you seen the $3000 (thats USD) car over in Europe? They need to pass TuV standards, which are pretty strict, and the cars look damn good. These cars are equivalent of the clean stock E30's people are trying to sell for between $5000-8,000. It is mental. It seems like the market just recently exploded.
E91 328xi - F15 X5 40e - Hopes and dreams of eventually having a cool car
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here is what I have witnessed since getting into e30s many years ago.
nice condition e30: prices have risen slowly over time, as should happen because they are lasting very well.
crap condition e30: prices have risen recently, like you stated, because people think that any e30 is 'rare' and 'super awesome'. i don't know if people are actually buying them at these prices, but I really hope not. HOWEVER, paying $1500 for a solid runner w/straight body is worth every penny for what these cars are, even if it is rough around the edges. all the shit that falls apart in most other cars just lasts forever as long as its not broken by careless owners.
convertibles: much higher prices than non-verts consistently until the last couple years. now people can barely give them away. great time now to get one for the same price as any other e30
ix models: same as verts with prices falling in the last couple years. now (unless it is super clean) they cost the same as any other e30 because the awd systems are falling apart more and more and $$ to fix.
m3: dont bother unless you are rolling in cash will always be the story
Dan
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People shouldn't pay prices they aren't willing to pay. If people followed this we wouldn't be where we are! Yes new BMW prices have gone up significantly in the newest generations (+$15k for new M5/M6/M3) but it shouldn't have had such a big effect on used car prices. Somehow it did manage to bump up E30 M3 prices which in turn has raised the values on all E30's and subsequently every '80s bmw model...
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Its simply supply and demand as BMWben put it. Think back to the late 70's when you could buy a 1969 Camaro Z28 for less than a grand and beat the crap out of it and have a ton of fun: now they go for $75k simply because the demand has increased (thanks to baby boomers and nostalgia) and the supply has decreased because most of them have rusted away or beaten to death (...not that I was around in the late 70's, but I have spent a lot of time with muscle car guys that were and have heard a lot about it).
E30's are following a similar route for sure. Spec e30 and lemons have taken a ton of e30's off the streets and thanks to the popularity of the e30 M3 and the general awesomeness of the package offered by any e30 the demand for them has increased dramatically in the last 5 years. I wouldn't be surprised if a really nice condition, stock, late model 325is is going for $15k in ten years.
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EAG already has some low mile e30s for just under $20K. P
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EAG already has some low mile e30s for just under $20K. P
I feel like EAG is part of the problem too! It's a great service but it's also help inflate prices.
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Hipsters.
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now they go for $75k simply because the demand has increased (thanks to baby boomers and nostalgia) and the supply has decreased because most of them have rusted away or beaten to death
E30's are following a similar route for sure. Spec e30 and lemons have taken a ton of e30's off the streets and thanks to the popularity of the e30 M3 and the general awesomeness of the package offered by any e30 the demand for them has increased dramatically in the last 5 years. I wouldn't be surprised if a really nice condition, stock, late model 325is is going for $15k in ten years.
I think you've hit the nail on the head. I've only recently gotten into the BMW hobby. I've been in the Mopar hobby for over 20 years. What's happening with BMW's now is what happened with Mopars back in the late 80's through today. I bought my 66 Charger in 1988 for $1200. It was basically a running parts car. Today, that same car would sell for around $5K. I bought a running and decent 70 Charger 440 six pack/4 speed in 1996 for $8K and spent a bunch to restore it. Today that same car in the condition I bought it would command no less than $20K, and then require another $30K to make it really nice. I'm a late Baby Boomer, and those are the cars I grew up with. I'm only now seeing prices begin to increase for 66-67 Chargers because the availability of the much more popular 68-70 version has nearly dried up, and prices for those is now into stupid money.
The BMWs from the 80's and 90's are from a different era than the Muscle Cars I grew up with, and are now gaining popularity with the 20 and 30 somethings who grew up with them due to their own nostalgia. They are still somewhat plentiful as they aren't that old yet, but are becoming more rare as they age. So, we get into the whole supply and demand thing. Moderate supply plus increased demand equals increasing prices.
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I feel like EAG is part of the problem too! It's a great service but it's also help inflate prices.
Cars there are worth every penny, I picked one up there back in 09.
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I feel like EAG is part of the problem too! It's a great service but it's also help inflate prices.
Cars there are worth every penny, I picked one up there back in 09.
Don't get me wrong, you get what you pay for and yes it's worth every penny but people don't realize what they put into each car they sell. They just assume because they charge the high price, anyone selling a "nice" car can too.
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I've decided Im going to horde rough E30's for my retirement plan. Dump like ten of them when Im 65 and have about 3.5 million in stupid fresh laser dollars.
E91 328xi - F15 X5 40e - Hopes and dreams of eventually having a cool car
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I've decided Im going to horde rough E30's for my retirement plan. Dump like ten of them when Im 65 and have about 3.5 million in stupid fresh laser dollars.
I think its time for me to buy a place in the country for this exact plan... I only have room for 6-10 cars and its all full!
sk8 or die
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I don't know much about the prices of non ix e30s, but it seems like you can't find an ix for under $1k, even for the shitbox non running rust buckets. When you make someone an offer on their pos ix they say, "Na, can't do that its worth more in parts" People seem to think that its worth more parted out b/c of the AWD system and can therefore charge more. My experience is that ix parts are indeed becoming harder to find but they also have an increasingly small demand. Your not going to get what you think you should get out of ix parts without sitting on them for a year waiting for someone to have an emergency. Then even when someone does have an emergency you have 5 other people with the same parts for sale. This summer I bought essentially 1.5 ix drivetrains (engine, t-case, tranny, axles, diffs etc) for a total of $300. This was from people who bought an ix for something like the 855 head and wanted to part it out quick, they need it gone and end up selling everything for cheap. Long story short people need to stop parting ix's. Not worth it if your looking for quick cash and its a shame to see them die. (dabs tear)
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Long story short people need to stop parting ix's. Not worth it if your looking for quick cash and its a shame to see them die. (dabs tear)
Same goes for any of our beloved vintage BMW's. Unless there is frame damage people need to stop parting cars out "for profit"
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