1990 M3 Purchase Advice*UPDATE*

[daimlerman]

Hummm,

Petticoat government wins,again!

Suggest that the iS could be for your teenage daughter,when she is old enough,sell it to her as a 'cool' car....

[bss325i]

Sell the iS in parts! It's worth more like that and you've already taken it apart.

Failing that, pm me the details please as half my family live in Canada including my mum and brother and they have the room to store a car for me.

[Simon13]

Canadas a huge country Barold you should ka know that!

My view? Its better to have taken the chance and gain the experience of owning the car, no matter how short a timescale you kept it. You've got the 318iS its going no where and its certainly not going to decrease in overall value even if its not worth a massive amount. Its the old cliche but its better knowing rather than "what if" all the time.

Ive had an e34 Alpina B10 bi turbo the past 18months and its f**kin ruined me finacially and cost me hundreds of hours in labour fixing it and thousands of pounds in money. And all for nearly 6000 miles is all i've done in it! The car is a good one that came up at a keen price - like this M3. I took a chance buying it as the chance came up and being a realist i doubt in my life i'll get another. The week i put the deposit down we found out my wife was pregnant! There was mighty resistance and logic to not go for it

I wouldn't change it for the world. As an enthusiast i've met and owned one of my "hero's" and its lived up to its reputation in every way! The E30 M3 is a similar car

My long point is when i'm 70 i'll be able to say i had one of them not what if................ I'm glad to say i'll have the memory of it good and bad and i brought the wife and daughter home in it from the hospital after she was born

I'm like you with an e30 in the garage thats in a 1000 pieces that i stripped to a bare shell and it will owe me alot more thats its worth in money and time. I've had it 8 years and driven it only for 6 months

e mail him back saying you changed your mind! Tales of buying these sorts of cars are always filled with dramas!

[Split_S]

Simon13,

Thanks for your post, I really regretted starting this thread.

F*ck it, I'm buying it..

[bss325i]

[Andyboy]

I've only skipped though this post, but is this a US market car or a Euro Import? I ask because in Nova Scotia where my Folks live there are quite a few Euro import BMW's including E30's and E28's.

M3 prices have not peaked. They probably won't ever peak and will at least stay ahead of inflation. If that car can be tidied up and the essential bits done for not much $$$$, it wants buying. It lookes like a straight original car - and considering that 75% of M3's are bodged up abused rubbish, that's a very good place to start.

[M3888]

You know it makes sense!

[Split_S]

Called the owner to buy and as luck would have it, someone came to look at the car this morning. BUT they are undecided. They said they will let him know MONDAY...

He will call me MONDAY to let me know...

You lot will find out MONDAY...

Aaaaarrrgggg.....

[ross_jsy]

Ask for his bank details and give him a deposit, jobs done. No pissing around till Monday...

[Simon13]

yup you were there first! i had all this, hold out

[pacerpete]

OP, have you actually looked at the car, in person ? or just contacted the seller and said you were interested and then told him you were not ?

[Gert_8]

Sellers going to play you off now. Watch and see that, surprisingly, the price doesn't go up come Monday.

[Split_S]

No, seller seems honest, an older gentlemen. Felt bad when I called him but said that this guy had already come to see the car but wouldnt give him answer till Monday.

Remember, this car is 700km away. I cant exactly just pop over!
So I have to wait until Monday...

Potential buyer sounds like some guy who just saw it locally. It was not being advertised anywhere...

[pacerpete]

So you have not seen it . Most of these cars are rubbish , just like your IS . I would not be buying a car at this price blind or on the hearsay of a seemingly honest older gentleman.
If you are serious, you will go and view it with a bag of dollars.

[Gert_8]

So you have not seen it . Most of these cars are rubbish , just like your IS . I would not be buying a car at this price blind or on the hearsay of a seemingly honest older gentleman.
If you are serious, you will go and view it with a bag of dollars.

This. But as I've already said, I don't think you will get this car because the price will go up (old gentleman or not) and this has been an important factor for you.

Good luck. Let us know what happens on Monday please.

[M3888]

shud of just gone with a fistful of dollars -bartered job done

[Split_S]

So you have not seen it . Most of these cars are rubbish , just like your IS . I would not be buying a car at this price blind or on the hearsay of a seemingly honest older gentleman.
If you are serious, you will go and view it with a bag of dollars.

Not sure why your putting my iS down... Paid nothing for it, bought it for the sole purpose of rebuilding it. Rubbish to you, fun project for me. And im not an idiot - of course im going to see the car and inspect it and drive it.. Duh.... Thought that much was obvious...

Anyways - im at the mercy of someone else's decision. I will let you guys know once i know... May go till Tuesday for you Uk folk...

[Split_S]

shud of just gone with a fistful of dollars -bartered job done

Couldnt. Was working and was in the US the whole time...

[Gert_8]

Any news/update on the M3, Split_s? Did you get it?

[Split_S]

As of this morning, Im waiting to hear back from the owner. He texted me last night and said the guy who had looked at it on Saturday was gonna meet him that night.

Doesn't look good unfortunately but one never knows...

[Gert_8]

As of this morning, Im waiting to hear back from the owner. He texted me last night and said the guy who had looked at it on Saturday was gonna meet him that night.

Doesn't look good unfortunately but one never knows...

Thanks. Yes, you never know, so good luck.

[Split_S]

Well here is the latest:

The interested buyer did NOT buy the car.

As a result, the owner texted me and asked when we could meet. We agreed on Friday.

I then did a Carproof search on the car. For those of you who are not familiar with Carproof (or carfax) it has access to all gov't and insurance databases for north america. It will tell you, in a written report, everything that was recorded about the car.. If you have a similar setup in your country , use it!

The car was in 2 documented accidents with the second, in 2005 declaring the car a total loss with over $10000 in damages. Interestingly the car had 174635km at the time and after being repaired it had "miraculously" shed 75 000km. It was registered in 2007 to the present owner with 99000km on the meter!

Knowing this, I have decided not to buy the car. I will speak to the owner and inform him of what I found as he has a real legal liability on his hands and is opening himself up to potential lawsuits if he sells it knowing the odometer has been rolled back. Maybe he already knows, maybe he doesn't...

It p*sses me off because it seems so clean doesn't it?

Buying an M3 = Caveat emptor

[Simon13]

yes but now you know?? there isn't a what if playing on your mind

[Gert_8]

We have HPI in the UK. In 2005, I dont think the value would have been anywhere near what it is at the moment, and that's if it is following the UK trend. A $10000 loss would have been quite significant. I'm not sure on the part prices, but they wouldn't have been cheap. The mileage alteration is quite disturbing.

Anyways, good dodge!

[Split_S]

That's true - great post by the way Simon!

Thanks Gert..

No regrets...

[pacerpete]

Well here is the latest:

The interested buyer did NOT buy the car.

As a result, the owner texted me and asked when we could meet. We agreed on Friday.

I then did a Carproof search on the car. For those of you who are not familiar with Carproof (or carfax) it has access to all gov't and insurance databases for north america. It will tell you, in a written report, everything that was recorded about the car.. If you have a similar setup in your country , use it!

The car was in 2 documented accidents with the second, in 2005 declaring the car a total loss with over $10000 in damages. Interestingly the car had 174635km at the time and after being repaired it had "miraculously" shed 75 000km. It was registered in 2007 to the present owner with 99000km on the meter!

Knowing this, I have decided not to buy the car. I will speak to the owner and inform him of what I found as he has a real legal liability on his hands and is opening himself up to potential lawsuits if he sells it knowing the odometer has been rolled back. Maybe he already knows, maybe he doesn't...

It p*sses me off because it seems so clean doesn't it?

Buying an M3 = Caveat emptor

Thankfully you done your homework BEFORE viewing / buying. It is amazing the amount of people who do it afterwards !


Many of these cars have 'interesting history ' Some hide it better than others but it really is a minefield out there .

[Split_S]

That's totally true. Im kinda bummed about the whole e30 M3 thing now... These are no longer cars you buy to drive the hell out of as they were meant to be , they are "investments". For average blokes like most of us that makes it a totally different experience.

For now, I'll stick with my 'crusty' 318iS, rebuild it, knowing it will never be worth anything, but I will be free to enjoy the hell out of it...

[ross_jsy]

I think they are cars to be enjoyed. They are hardly uber rare. How many were made? 15,000+? And again, they are hardly valuable in the grand scheme of things. A non sport evo is £15-20k, what's that relatively, a new Clio sport roughly? A new m3/4 is around £50k new I think, and I would drive one to enjoy it.

[Split_S]

They are rarer here in Canada than the UK.. Even in the US, on S14net, they figured under 2500 cars based on registration data... So getting rare. Having said that, as a fifth car in my case, at around 30000 USD its a significant amount...

I may replace my e46 320i with an e46 M3 fairly soon. Definitely not as cool as an e30 but many solid examples to choose from... feels like a compromise though...

[Demlotcrew]

Have you spoken with the Seller since finding out about the cars history?

[Split_S]

Yes, actually. I made him aware of the Carproof report which he requested to see. I emailed him the link and he responded via email:

I would not believe this report. Here is a receipt from when I did a drive clean test. note the kilometers on the right hand side. clearly the carproof has it wrong. I spoke to a friend who is a mechanic. he says that he has seen carproof errors all the time especially with the mileage and even with damage reports. carproof is collecting data from multiple 3rd party sources who have manually input data so errors are possible

There were over 6 odometer readings. First in 2000: the car had 132000km. Then in 2005 it had 174635kms at the time of its "Total Loss" accident. Then, after being repaired it next tested at 99000km. And now, in 2014 the car has 164000km...

To be honest, I think the guy is sincere but he bought the car after the odometer had been rolled back. I emailed back and told him, right or wrong, the Carproof report made his car next to impossible to resell at a profit.. Anyone buying an M3 would do a Carproof check and would see the car has, at best, an "iffy" history. So while it looks nice, its a loser investment-wise.