Sick of used silly prices!

[AndyE30]

£165 for an OBC' £1200 for a ropey Mtec 2 kit, 5k for a tarted up cabby, wtf! Yes I can afford it but would choose not too. Are these prices really being achieved?

Sorry, Rant over.

[ross_jsy]

In short, yes

[DHFiS]

So who is it pushing up prices? Not hipsters, they only want fixed gear bikes.

[Z3I]

Demand and scarcity is pushing up the prices. Its not unique to E30s, it happens to everything that people desire. In fact, I think on age, the E30 has been a slow mover. If you want cheap and plentiful, the E46 is there ready for you.

[maxfield]

So who is it pushing up prices? Not hipsters, they only want fixed gear bikes.

No one, supply and demand.

I remember when every other for sale post was an M-tech 2 kit for a few hundred quid.

Now it's rare they come up for sale and are £1200.

[bss325i]

Exactly.

Supply and demand.

End of discussion.

[jimbom30cab]

I used to moan about this. Can't be bothered anymore.

Although i do laugh a bit when i see second hand old tat being pitched more than the new price, or very close.

A 318iS lip spoiler today for £10 less than new...

[bss325i]

Although i do laugh a bit when i see second hand old tat being pitched more than the new price, or very close.

A 318iS lip spoiler today for £10 less than new...

That just boils down to laziness/stupidity.

[jimbom30cab]

Agree

[Rav335uk]

The problem doesn't lie with the sellers, it's the groups of people who want something "Rare" for their turds, and it's not just one who's after something.

Example.........rear louvres, how many now have jumped on the bandwagon this year?

[andysheep]

The problem doesn't lie with the sellers, it's the groups of people who want something "Rare" for their turds, and it's not just one who's after something.

Example.........rear louvres, how many now have jumped on the bandwagon this year?

Im sad c**t id like one, but s##t im not paying that!i do rember when prices for this hobby were good,now i cant afford a front cam cover,but cotswold bmw have come thru a few times and its nice to have new parts,but i wanted my cars to be classic status and now we are there it kinda sucks but im going to watch and spend my pennys wisely,(untill im desperate)glad i bought when prices were ok for the cars as a hole,
Andy

[Topblag]

It's all swings and roundabouts, parts cost more but your car is worth more. I urge people to think in an objective way, for example, £200 for a BMW dashboard without the common fault of cracking isn't all that bad is it ?

Forget the prices of years gone by, if you had the means and didn't choose to buy cheap and stock up at the time, don't complain now. If you didn't have the means, as you spend your car becomes more valuable and a more enjoyable experience with the part you've replaced. Win win.

[corkie]

Im not complaining,i paid £400 for tec 2kit in 2008 ,£300 for a good sport diff and best of all £400 for a spanking set of freshly refurbd new lock and seals staggered 16 inch original alpina wheels !!

[ross_jsy]

I remember when I first joined the forum and many people were getting excited about rising values, now it's a lot of people moaning about how expensive e30's are getting.

Plenty of bargains to be had out there still

[steve_k]

I remember when I first joined the forum and many people were getting excited about rising values, now it's a lot of people moaning about how expensive e30's are getting.

Plenty of bargains to be had out there still

exactly, just got to do a bit of digging to find the barginz

i'll admit, i have a mate over in germany who keeps his eye out for parts & lets me know what he finds.

[Doobit]

There is a patter to it. 2 things affect the price.

Supply and demand. E30's are nice looking cars. Nice looking cars will always be desirable..as they get older they get fewer and they cost more. Cabbys more in demand so cost more, 325 cuts more etc. People in their 40's typically are the ones who look to buy turds. They start the price hike. They look to buy what they desired in their youth. So this indicates when they start going up. Look at the Merc R107. Looks nice. Late 70's/Early 80's car, price got silly about 5-10 years ago.

Second thing is how nice the model looks. Nicer looking the model, the more the absolute cost will be. Generally most people agree on what's nice so they all desire the same thing, the thing is to recognise this and get one before the 40' somethings start desiring it.

Can't see the E36 ever getting to where the E30's are cos they don't look as nice.

[ross_jsy]

E36's have been going a bit mental in price lately. I bought a lovely e36 m3 probably 5 years ago now for £1,500. Well this local car came up for sale the other day. Look at the state of it

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/201596012507?_t ... mwBanner=1

[gnrsoul]

I agree with andye30 on silly used parts prices but on the other hand I do know how hard it is to get good parts now and eBay is one of the worsed for it I seen a 318i gearbox on eBay and they wanted £450 for it. that kind of thing is not right
And on the buying a e30 I have seen the value jump up quite a bit in the last few years I do believe you get what you pay for and I do think 5 to 6k for a very good genuine cabby is the right price and would not pay that for one that has had stupid mods I don't even think I would give it a second look i like try kerp it as original as I can get.
We should work together and try to help each other out to keep our cars alive buy ether swaping parts or selling at decent prices that don't break the bank.

[ChrisHC]

It is a progression you see all the time, the value of a car drops as soon as it leaves the showroom and continues to decline steadily, fast for big cars that are expensive to run, slower for more economical cars. Values reach a point where owners are not prepared to spend much money on them and the poorest examples are scrapped. For many cars that just continues and very few will survive, but for cars that were desirable in their day, people who always wanted one but could not afford one in their youth start to notice how cheap they now are and may buy one, sometimes as a daily driver, sometimes as a second car for fun. Then comes a turning point where the car starts to take on classic status, there is growing demand and nice examples begin to increase in value, soon more average examples do the same and all values rise. This even happens for cars that were never very prestigious but were much loved, like the Morris Minor, but it is never going to happen for something like the Austin Allegro, known in its day as the Austin All Aggro, which no one wants but a handful of eccentrics!

As Z3I says above, the great value now is the E46, I picked up a 330i convertible last year for half the price of my E30, and a great car it is too.

[Kos]

But upon reflection new parts are cheaper than ever. Yes the quality isn't alway great but 10 years ago if you wanted a 6 branch it was £250 upwards for a used & wankered one, now you can get a new one for £150. Yes it's not great but it does a job and looks pretty

Services parts are cheaper, how many options do we have for discs & pads? What about the flash sales from GSF & ECP we all take advantage of ?

Insurance can be on a classic policy which is cheaper

[TriggerFish]

We should work together and try to help each other out to keep our cars alive buy ether swaping parts or selling at decent prices that don't break the bank.

Hear hear!

I gave away an M40 (or M10, I dunno which) gearbox the other week (among other small things) - it's no use to me, cost me £10 along with a load of other bits, and I'd rather see another car stay on the road than line my own pockets at someone else's expense.

[shedrool83]

The e30 is no longer a viable car for me to own anymore due to the way prices have went, so i have moved on to something that is.
For me it was a hobby that gave me something to work on and tinker/mod at the weekends with hours wasted in the garage and i would go for a rag around the country lanes now and then or a meet here and there.

I still love the e30 driving experience and will have another but this time it will be to resto and kept clean and original .I just have to wait until i have another garage to keep it in so i still have the facility for my hobby.

The rise in part prices are supply and demand and if the sellers are getting the high prices you see all over the place atm good luck to them.

The days of the e30 being a cheap daily classic are gone now and i think more and more will become garage queens .

[sweep]

What you got now?

[Benjer182]

I bought a e30 late last year as I had wanted one for a few years and I was watching prices creep up so I sold a mk2 golf gti to get my e30, but you guys think e30s are bad I had a Renault 5 turbo I bought for £900 it was running and mot'd but a little bit tatty, you try and find a project 5 turbo for sensible money now. They make e30s look like a bargain for how much car you get

[shedrool83]

What you got now?

e38

[satvir]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E30-325i- ... SwoudW-TCW

I picked up a set last year, good matching tyres all around, centre caps. All straight and neat. £250.

[Gert_8]

I can understand "morsels" fetching good money due to the rarity factor, but a set of baskets for over £500.00 is a bit much?

[steve_k]

I can understand "morsels" fetching good money due to the rarity factor, but a set of baskets for over £500.00 is a bit much?

as was said earlier, supply & demand.

as more folk move towards OEM+ the parts sucj as stock bbs get higher & higher, what does not help is the fact that quite a few form the classic vw camp are looking for those wheels aswell & we all know they will pay over the odds for them.

as for the price of other parts?? true it is getting a bit stupid, prime example is a while back i needed some new trim clips for the front grill, looked on ebay as normal only to find one "seller" who wanted nigh on £15 for a set of used clips , thankfully i saw sense & went to the local stealership & get them for next to nothing.

uncracked dashes, rare colour leather interiors & a few other "rare" parts i can understand commanding high prices but the prices some folk want is quite frankly stupid.

[bmw9818]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E30-325i- ... SwoudW-TCW

I picked up a set last year, good matching tyres all around, centre caps. All straight and neat. £250.

got about a grand sitting my garden if thats the case!!

For 600 quid id expect a set of fully refurbed wheels with new stickers at least, that is a stupid price!

[Gert_8]

This! He'll eventually cotton onto why they aren't selling and lower the price. Alternatively, ripe for a reasonable offer.

[ross_jsy]

To be honest I am just thankful for how easy it is to get parts. Try going to a Ford/Renault/Puegeot etc dealer and try buy parts for a similarly aged car

[Simon13]

So who is it pushing up prices? Not hipsters, they only want fixed gear bikes.

No one, supply and demand.

I remember when every other for sale post was an M-tech 2 kit for a few hundred quid.

Now it's rare they come up for sale and are £1200.

m-tech kits were never a few hundred quid they've always been around the £500 mark. They were never common in the classifieds on here either

I can however recall x5 318 iS being broken on here in one go

[Kos]

They used to peak at 550-600

You'd see ones that needed a lot of prep and and some repairs for £400

If there were 2/3 kits available at the same time the price would drop and I picked one up for a 4 door/touring for £300

[andyp]

the cars have gone up in price so the parts have as well, they are getting older and rarer so less good parts about

[scottybeemer]

So who is it pushing up prices? Not hipsters, they only want fixed gear bikes.

No one, supply and demand.

I remember when every other for sale post was an M-tech 2 kit for a few hundred quid.

Now it's rare they come up for sale and are £1200.

m-tech kits were never a few hundred quid they've always been around the £500 mark. They were never common in the classifieds on here either

i paid £160 about 10 yr back for a full genuine kit including rear spoiler...yeah it was a real bargain