Car valuation

[loogie1]

Hi All,

Been an E30 zone memeber for a few years now, i understand the E30 value has increased significantly over the years, i bought mine in 2003 for £1400 and was very happy with the price and condition of the car. Unfortunately my health has been a problem (heart transplant in 2015) so i have not been able to keep on top of repairs and maintenance to the level i would have liked. basically i've just struggled to keep repairing her and keeping her on the road. Unfortunately the rust has got away from me as a result and thus next years MOT will require significant rust repairs. I've said if my health improves i will try and keep the car running, if i'm honest that doesn't seem likely. this brings me to the painful reality that i should probably pass my trusty E30 on. The rust is embarrasingly bad and this bothers me when talking to friends who demand first refusal on her. I want to be clear that she requires considerable tlc. It's a problem for me to get my head around how i value a car requiring so much work and don't want to appear to rip off a friend. Can someone advise who or where i could get a sensible valuation for her, i get some very conflicting advice and to be honest the price i see being asked on ebay for some real rust buckets outstounds me! But then if people are willing to pay that who am i to criticise the listing.
it's a 1989 325i SE black ish manual coupe . thank you very much in advance.

regards
Steven

[martauto]

Hello Steven, I really do hope your health improves mate, and I promise never to moan again about having two new hips, yours was a biggy to say the least !!
Well your description seems very poor so to try and do the car some sort of justice throw as many pics as you can and let the guys in the know on here give you some sort of advice.
To try and put a price on any car is difficult but without looking at it , it`s almost an impossiblity so the more pics the merrier and at least YOU know you have been as honest as possible and well up front
I think you may happy at what some guy`s may say !!
Good luck and keep safe and well mate

Mart.

[loogie1]

Hello Steven, I really do hope your health improves mate, and I promise never to moan again about having two new hips, yours was a biggy to say the least !!
Well your description seems very poor so to try and do the car some sort of justice throw as many pics as you can and let the guys in the know on here give you some sort of advice.
To try and put a price on any car is difficult but without looking at it , it`s almost an impossiblity so the more pics the merrier and at least YOU know you have been as honest as possible and well up front
I think you may happy at what some guy`s may say !!
Good luck and keep safe and well mate

Mart.

Thank you Mart,

I'll set about posting a few pictures.
As you say the e30 experts are right here in this forum so what better place to get an honest appraisal.

ty

[loogie1]

May have to do this on FB. I used to upload images to my company website to share online, that's not available to me now, so posting pictures here will require me faffing with image hosting sites.

[flybynite]

May have to do this on FB. I used to upload images to my company website to share online, that's not available to me now, so posting pictures here will require me faffing with image hosting sites.

You can upload pics direct here now, been able to do it for a few years now. Attachments >> Add media >> place inline

There is a how-to here

viewtopic.php?f=114&t=277018

As far as price, if you want to deal with all the muppets on FB then just stick it on ebay, Don't worry about it selling, the top bidder will never turn up, Ignore the top 3 or 4 bidders bids and what you are left with is a reasonable price to ask

[Contours]

The way these cars are appreciating now, people are prepared to spend money on them sorting them out. They have a lot going for them driveability wise as a modern classic and seem to get better looking by the day. A black two door car is a very attractive proposition as well.

[loogie1]

Hi All,

Been an E30 zone memeber for a few years now, i understand the E30 value has increased significantly over the years, i bought mine in 2003 for £1400 and was very happy with the price and condition of the car. Unfortunately my health has been a problem (heart transplant in 2015) so i have not been able to keep on top of repairs and maintenance to the level i would have liked. basically i've just struggled to keep repairing her and keeping her on the road. Unfortunately the rust has got away from me as a result and thus next years MOT will require significant rust repairs. I've said if my health improves i will try and keep the car running, if i'm honest that doesn't seem likely. this brings me to the painful reality that i should probably pass my trusty E30 on. The rust is embarrasingly bad and this bothers me when talking to friends who demand first refusal on her. I want to be clear that she requires considerable tlc. It's a problem for me to get my head around how i value a car requiring so much work and don't want to appear to rip off a friend. Can someone advise who or where i could get a sensible valuation for her, i get some very conflicting advice and to be honest the price i see being asked on ebay for some real rust buckets outstounds me! But then if people are willing to pay that who am i to criticise the listing.
it's a 1989 325i SE black ish manual coupe . thank you very much in advance.

regards
Steven

Body work is poor so experimented with the rat look. Not to everyone's tastes i know!

[loogie1]

[loogie1]

May have to do this on FB. I used to upload images to my company website to share online, that's not available to me now, so posting pictures here will require me faffing with image hosting sites.

You can upload pics direct here now, been able to do it for a few years now. Attachments >> Add media >> place inline

There is a how-to here

viewtopic.php?f=114&t=277018

As far as price, if you want to deal with all the muppets on FB then just stick it on ebay, Don't worry about it selling, the top bidder will never turn up, Ignore the top 3 or 4 bidders bids and what you are left with is a reasonable price to ask

Thank you very much. Didn't spot that!

[flybynite]

Thank you very much. Didn't spot that!

No problem

Well once the car needs a respray then the amount of work (cost) doesn't change much for a proper job if the original paint is good or bad.

The value will be in the detail, rust in the wrong place can be an expensive and/or tricky repair. It will depend on how sound things like the roof, sunroof, sills, front footwell corners, bulkhead, inner arches, spare wheel tub, battery tray are. If you can demonstrate they are all sound and stand the screwdriver test then it won't matter as much what it looks like outside people will pay more for it.

I would still be tempted to hit some of the surface rust with some Jenolite and a bit of rattle-can primer to save it taking too much of a hold

[loogie1]

Thank you very much. Didn't spot that!

No problem

Well once the car needs a respray then the amount of work (cost) doesn't change much for a proper job if the original paint is good or bad.

The value will be in the detail, rust in the wrong place can be an expensive and/or tricky repair. It will depend on how sound things like the roof, sunroof, sills, front footwell corners, bulkhead, inner arches, spare wheel tub, battery tray are. If you can demonstrate they are all sound and stand the screwdriver test then it won't matter as much what it looks like outside people will pay more for it.

I would still be tempted to hit some of the surface rust with some Jenolite and a bit of rattle-can primer to save it taking too much of a hold

Hi, yes there is significant rust in all those mentioned areas, would love to learn to be a proficient welder so I could tackle them myself, but i fear it's a job for an experienced car restorer really and my health / energy levels are prohibitive. Whenever i have the health/energy i have been treating and sealing the rust areas, not used Jenolite before though, have used hydrochloric acid before! advised by an engineer friend.
Hopefully this summer my health will stabalise and allow me to put some real time and effort into it. A windfall at thie point would be perfect!

Ty

[Blanca]

It's worth what someone is willing to pay for it. I have seen real rust buckets and chopped about 'custom' jobs going for 10K and nice clean ones for 2K, I reckon mine (totally rust free) is worth at least 4k but again I have seen another 4 door 320i auto nearby going for 8400€

If cash allows I would put it in for a repair and total respray, I am sure you would make good money as it is a nice straight car and possibly double what you might make as a 'rat', (I bloody hate rat looks).

One thing I love are the guys who chop, "modify" or customise their e30s, body (inc paint), interior, suspensions, brakes etc as each 'mod' knocks the value down by sometimes hundreds of pounds and every none OEM E30 pushes the value of the remaining 'untouched' E30s up.