Price for a high mileage E46 M3!?
Discussion
A workmate of mine has an 02-reg E46 M3 with, wait for it...188,000 miles on the clock(!). I always knew he had one, but had no idea it was so high mileage. Thats got to be one of the highest miler M3s out there, surely!
He was offered £3,000 part exchange for it against a £12k 05 Audi S4 (which he didn't buy) about a month ago, however he's hoping to sell it privately and i think it will easily sell - it's in good condition overall : bodywork/electrics/mechanicals etc, with just the usual - and expected - wear & tear, such as the seats & controls (although not bad).
I'm finding it hard not to buy this, and he's given me first refusal on it - which was good of him - but we're both struggling to decide what it's actually worth, i think it would easily sell for £4-5k privately, although i'm happy to be proved otherwise!
2002 02-reg Coupe
188k miles (he bought it from BMW dealer 9 years ago at 3k miles!) So 2 owners - ex demo.
Estoril Blue / Black Leather (or Nappa, not sure?!)
Manual
18" wheels (not the big 19"s!)
No real options, i think - no sat-nav for example...
full service history - stamps/invoices piles of receipts ;
BMW main dealer up to 130k then an independent BMW specialist...i know it's cliched but it has been no expense spared.
So, any ideas of (genuine!) worth!?
He was offered £3,000 part exchange for it against a £12k 05 Audi S4 (which he didn't buy) about a month ago, however he's hoping to sell it privately and i think it will easily sell - it's in good condition overall : bodywork/electrics/mechanicals etc, with just the usual - and expected - wear & tear, such as the seats & controls (although not bad).
I'm finding it hard not to buy this, and he's given me first refusal on it - which was good of him - but we're both struggling to decide what it's actually worth, i think it would easily sell for £4-5k privately, although i'm happy to be proved otherwise!
2002 02-reg Coupe
188k miles (he bought it from BMW dealer 9 years ago at 3k miles!) So 2 owners - ex demo.
Estoril Blue / Black Leather (or Nappa, not sure?!)
Manual
18" wheels (not the big 19"s!)
No real options, i think - no sat-nav for example...
full service history - stamps/invoices piles of receipts ;
BMW main dealer up to 130k then an independent BMW specialist...i know it's cliched but it has been no expense spared.
So, any ideas of (genuine!) worth!?
I agree it will sell within days if he advertised it for £4000-£4500, simply as it will be the cheapest on the market and it's been so well manitained. Also not a Cat-D/C/stolen etc, so i reckon it's still a desirable car... I think it boils down to my workmate doesn't want some barryboy to buy it - he wants a good home for it...and perhaps the ulterior motive of being able to buy it back in the future i suspect!
As for the comment on what i would be prepared to buy it for, well i never really considered it one before. I had just recently made a thread about buying an Alfa saloon! I'm in a bit of a quandry as i have £5k sitting there waiting for a new car and it would be some step from an E46 320i, i currently have, to an M3.
It's worth pointing out though, is i don't have a spare £5k lying around for it's upkeep, but i'm reluctant to let this go so quickly. I'm going to have to think long and hard about it!
As for the comment on what i would be prepared to buy it for, well i never really considered it one before. I had just recently made a thread about buying an Alfa saloon! I'm in a bit of a quandry as i have £5k sitting there waiting for a new car and it would be some step from an E46 320i, i currently have, to an M3.
It's worth pointing out though, is i don't have a spare £5k lying around for it's upkeep, but i'm reluctant to let this go so quickly. I'm going to have to think long and hard about it!
jon- said:
PaperCut said:
I had just recently made a thread about buying an Alfa saloon!
<snip>
It's worth pointing out though, is i don't have a spare £5k lying around for it's upkeep
<snip>
It's worth pointing out though, is i don't have a spare £5k lying around for it's upkeep
does not compute. You're not telling me that a 4-cyl Alfa will cost more to run than an M-Powered 3 ! 
Please stop. All of you. You are dangerously talking me into this! I know it's such a good example and it's just a number. I'm keen to get right into those receipts and see how much has been spent over its lifetime. He's never totalled it up - too scared probably - but i bet it's in the tens of thousands. It's been all over Europe and has had a regular mix of motorway and 'hoonage' mileage...
He's sitting by my desk like the devil trying to persuade me to buy it! Although he's just announced it does need new tyres all round - they're legal but need changing asap - how much will that be for 4 ...£1k?
He's sitting by my desk like the devil trying to persuade me to buy it! Although he's just announced it does need new tyres all round - they're legal but need changing asap - how much will that be for 4 ...£1k?
Ok, he has, rather kindly i'll add, given me the rest of the week and the weekend to think it over and let me do various things like insurance quotes and calculate some 'man-maths'. I would say i'm 40/60 ATM, that's 60% to not buy it, although no doubt that will change on a daily basis...oh, dear...
PS, if i don't go through with it i'd be more than happy to let someone on here make an offer to him. He's not actually advertised it yet, so could be a PH bargain for someone!
PS, if i don't go through with it i'd be more than happy to let someone on here make an offer to him. He's not actually advertised it yet, so could be a PH bargain for someone!
Nedzilla said:
What is he prepared to take for it?If he has been offered £3k for trade in and he is keen to get shut I would expect he would except anything above that which would be a bargain!
You should get a good set of new tyres for around £600. I recently paid £700 for a set of vredesteins for my M3 on 19s and they are superb and I prefer them to the more expensive michellin's I ran before.
Also if you are not wanting to spend much on it have a look at the brakes and see which and when the next service is due as the inspections can be quite pricey even at indys.Also ask him what has been done with the suspension as at that mileage it should of all been overhauled at least once by now as things like this can prove very costly come MOT time.
Having said that,if it was me and i was getting it for that price I wouldn't be to bothered about sticking to the service shedule and would probably just give it an oil change and maintainance as and when it needs it.
Thanks for that post. I'm trying not to be blinded by the temptingly low price (which is a firm £4k by the way - he wants more than trade money for it) and i'm trying to think about the real cost of ownership - such as the brakes and suspension that you mention, plus the tyres! As said i've not had a real wade through the service history, but i've been guaranteed there are no surprises and he's been very honest with me. You should get a good set of new tyres for around £600. I recently paid £700 for a set of vredesteins for my M3 on 19s and they are superb and I prefer them to the more expensive michellin's I ran before.
Also if you are not wanting to spend much on it have a look at the brakes and see which and when the next service is due as the inspections can be quite pricey even at indys.Also ask him what has been done with the suspension as at that mileage it should of all been overhauled at least once by now as things like this can prove very costly come MOT time.
Having said that,if it was me and i was getting it for that price I wouldn't be to bothered about sticking to the service shedule and would probably just give it an oil change and maintainance as and when it needs it.
He is not desperate to sell. It was simply by chance he saw a local Audi S4 for sale and enquired about it and was actually quite shocked at the trade-in price (really, he was) and has since 'come to terms' with it shall we say
The car he's ultimately going to buy is a nearly new M3 or one of the last current Audi RS4s and start over again putting the mileage on.Insurance is a reasonable (for me..i'm 25!) £890 p.a! Surpising considering my 320i was £650 last year!
Hmmm...
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