In market for E30 M3

looking for a low mileage well kept E30 M3, preferences are post 9/88 production, no sunroof, the closer to factory stock the better, I like white/black but color schemes are minor relative to my other concerns


aware of all the usual places to look, Roadfly, EBay, Turner, E30SIG, etc but if you see anything that may not be obvious please point it out to me. IMO many are overpriced trollers but I have time to wait out the right deal

Going STX?

that would be my intention eventually

think the little old lady from Pasadena has one sitting in her garage?

Mark,

I may be talking out of my ass (again)....but I don't think there are any non sunroof US spec cars.

However...I might have a lead for you.

Bruce

Originally Posted by Bruce

Mark,

I may be talking out of my ass (again)....but I don't think there are any non sunroof US spec cars.

However...I might have a lead for you.

Bruce

you may be right, I wasn't sure and none of the info sites seem to say one way or the other, there is an original window sticker for an '88 M3 on the E30SIG site and it doesn't have a sun/moonroof listed on it anywhere so I assumed that they must of been an option

please PM me, I will give you my email addy from there

Originally Posted by TeamZ4

that would be my intention eventually

think the little old lady from Pasadena has one sitting in her garage?

Sweet cars for it.

Originally Posted by TeamZ4

looking for a low mileage well kept E30 M3, preferences are post 9/88 production, no sunroof, the closer to factory stock the better, I like white/black but color schemes are minor relative to my other concerns


aware of all the usual places to look, Roadfly, EBay, Turner, E30SIG, etc but if you see anything that may not be obvious please point it out to me. IMO many are overpriced trollers but I have time to wait out the right deal

Mmm, E30 M3s.

All E30 M3s were delivered with sunroofs, sorry. It's fairly common for racers to weld them shut, but you won't find many street/track and street/autox cars like that. There was a very rare OEM glass sunroof that was available at one time. My car has it installed.

My suggestion is to stick to the regular sources, and to be patient. No matter where you find one, it definitely pays to be extremely careful (almost to the point of being paranoid). Keep us posted.

How about this one from AutoTrader?

I'm familiar with the current AutoTrader offerings

As nice as that one seems on the surface, it's really more than I want to spend

perhaps I should have stated "intermediate" mileage

an '88 with claimed 29k mileage and questionable aero kit sold on eBay for $15k about 10 days ago, but who knows how accurate any of it is

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...&category=6131

FWIW, plan on spending about $15k to have a strong running M3...no matter how much you spend on it initially. The car that went on eBay is definitely a little eyebrow-raising, but I'm guessing that it's genuine. I would rather have seen the owner put the money into other things, but it's not a bad DTM replica (except for the aero kit).

As for that AutoTrader ad...bren, do you know where the owner lives? I have an idea which one it is. If I'm right, that car is freaking unbelievable and worth every penny.

But TeamZ4 -- I'm guessing that you're less interested in perfect cosmetic condition. For a few thou under $15k (depending on how much work you want to do yourself) you can get a pretty solid car, then put in the money and time to get it where you want. IMO, any knowledgeable M3 owner these days will ask somewhere around $12k for a strong M3 that needs a few things to be "right."

I have a friend with 2 of them, and he agrees that '$15k' is the magic number. He has 1 black and 1 white.

Another friend of mine near literally bought one from a 'little old lady from Pasadena' (except it was Huntington Beach) for a song, supposedly in rather good shape, though I haven't seen it yet. And another one turned up in Long Beach recently for about the same price and snapped up by another one of the local multiple-E30M3 owners in the area. So they are out there, at least here in LA. Good luck!

the people selling them want too much money

the problem is these are their recreational vehicles and they have no problem just sitting on them

Originally Posted by TeamZ4

the people selling them want too much money

the problem is these are their recreational vehicles and they have no problem just sitting on them

Maybe you just have the wrong perception of their value.

ha ha...i'm just waiting blair has got to sell eventually

but i don't think thats the red M3 your thinking of, the one your thinking of is also for sale but not on autotrader.

jeff

Originally Posted by JLee

ha ha...i'm just waiting blair has got to sell eventually

I bet there's a waiting list for if/when he ever sells.

Originally Posted by Jetfire

Maybe you just have the wrong perception of their value.

apparently I'm not the only one, I've been looking at the same M3's for sale for many months now

All of you guys trying to find the super-bargain "looks good, runs great, costs less than $10k" M3 are going to be waiting for a while. I'm not saying that they don't exist, but the ones that do have desperate owners, or are not all they appear to be, or simply have owners who don't know much about the car. The "$15,000 rule" still applies pretty well to these cars, even if you're willing to take on a project vehicle.

So...either be extremely patient, or realize that there are always a few E30 M3s on the market, but that they will almost always be at the right market price.

Originally Posted by TeamZ4

apparently I'm not the only one, I've been looking at the same M3's for sale for many months now

Have you contacted any of them? No flame, just curious.

Originally Posted by Jetfire

Have you contacted any of them? No flame, just curious.

a few, most are fairly adamant about a firm price, at least for the one's I'm interested in

part of the problem is an '88 model won't fit the rules as well as an '89-'91, which unfortunately was the year of greatest production and the majority of what's for sale at a reasonable price/owner

I have a couple I'm working on, not saying there's not any at all, the few that are seem to be the exception though

did you see the one on EBay with a Buy Now price of $19,500 ...

well i started this thread in s14 to try and get a read on the market

here

and its interesting. and it shows that sub 40K mile cars are going for close to $20K, and sub 100K mile cars for around $12K and everything else just ranges...

but if you look, some people got some killer deals..so they are out there and we just have to be patient

i may just pick up a high mileage one and take my time with it since it we be a recreational vehicle anyway...

jeff

Originally Posted by TeamZ4

a few, most are fairly adamant about a firm price, at least for the one's I'm interested in

part of the problem is an '88 model won't fit the rules as well as an '89-'91, which unfortunately was the year of greatest production and the majority of what's for sale at a reasonable price/owner

Hey Mark, what is different about the '88 that makes it less desirable for STX?

Thanks,

Rex

PS: I am seeing the same pricing syndrome with low mileage E36 M3's, that you are seeing with E30 M3's.

PPS: There are bargains out there if you can be the first one there. A local friend got a really nice E30 M3 for about what my tire bill was last year. He could easily sell it for 3 times that amount.