E30 M3 history
Discussion
Hi all
I'm thinking of buying a friend's E30 M3. The car is in Spain, where it was first registered in January 1987. It's a highly original early car, with no sunroof, no air con, cloth seats, manual windows. The only non-original item is the steering wheel, which is an Evo alcantara item. The car was treated to a full refurbishment in 2012, which involved a bare shell respray, gearbox and diff rebuild, all-new suspension and brake componentry, new wiring looms, and a full engine rebuild with new seals, timing chain, pumps etc. All backed-up by 20k of invoices, plus a large file of photos showing the restoration work. The car is in incredible showroom condition, and is sitting around the 70k miles mark. Original windows all-around complete with running in stickers on the windscreen, original owner manual, tool kit and log-book. OEM componentry throughout, even down to the battery. BMW have supplied a Classic certification, and the car even wears number plates from the dealer that supplied the car in '87. So far, sounds very good. However, there's a problem...the car was initially registered to a company, and was with this first corporate owner for 20 years, until 2007. During that time, the story goes that the car was maintained by the company's in-house mechanics (it was a construction firm with a big corporate fleet). Nobody bothered to stamp the book, or keep any kind of records, and the company has now been wound-up. It was then acquired by the next owner who started the paper trail, and commissioned the refurbishment in 2012. So we have a paper trail from 2007 but a nice 20 year black hole prior to that. Finally, whilst we have servicing and restoration records since 2007, nobody has stamped the book since 2007 either. So although we have a nice paper trail, and the car is in super condition and drives very well, I can't get my head around the paperwork issue. My initial reaction was to walk away, but I remain intrigued by the car - it's a beautiful spec and in superb condition, and I wonder if I am being a little harsh dismissing it on the basis of the paperwork. How would the market view the car, and what kind of value would it hold? I see that the best non-Evo examples are now fetching north of £30k, but I have little idea of how the price of this particular car should look.
I'm thinking of buying a friend's E30 M3. The car is in Spain, where it was first registered in January 1987. It's a highly original early car, with no sunroof, no air con, cloth seats, manual windows. The only non-original item is the steering wheel, which is an Evo alcantara item. The car was treated to a full refurbishment in 2012, which involved a bare shell respray, gearbox and diff rebuild, all-new suspension and brake componentry, new wiring looms, and a full engine rebuild with new seals, timing chain, pumps etc. All backed-up by 20k of invoices, plus a large file of photos showing the restoration work. The car is in incredible showroom condition, and is sitting around the 70k miles mark. Original windows all-around complete with running in stickers on the windscreen, original owner manual, tool kit and log-book. OEM componentry throughout, even down to the battery. BMW have supplied a Classic certification, and the car even wears number plates from the dealer that supplied the car in '87. So far, sounds very good. However, there's a problem...the car was initially registered to a company, and was with this first corporate owner for 20 years, until 2007. During that time, the story goes that the car was maintained by the company's in-house mechanics (it was a construction firm with a big corporate fleet). Nobody bothered to stamp the book, or keep any kind of records, and the company has now been wound-up. It was then acquired by the next owner who started the paper trail, and commissioned the refurbishment in 2012. So we have a paper trail from 2007 but a nice 20 year black hole prior to that. Finally, whilst we have servicing and restoration records since 2007, nobody has stamped the book since 2007 either. So although we have a nice paper trail, and the car is in super condition and drives very well, I can't get my head around the paperwork issue. My initial reaction was to walk away, but I remain intrigued by the car - it's a beautiful spec and in superb condition, and I wonder if I am being a little harsh dismissing it on the basis of the paperwork. How would the market view the car, and what kind of value would it hold? I see that the best non-Evo examples are now fetching north of £30k, but I have little idea of how the price of this particular car should look.
If you are buying the car to enjoy then I wouldn't give a toss about the paperwork. It sounds like it has has an extensive restore done, so any missed items from the 20 years of maintenance should now be largely irrelevant. If you are buying as an investment then the paperwork may be a thorn come sale time. However, if the restore is that good it shouldn't be a massive deal breaker, but probably wouldn't reach top dollar.
Value wise, I guess if it was perfect with all the paperwork you are looking at 25+. As it stands, probably up to 25 would be a good start.
Values are so difficult to gauge as it really comes down to how much someone wants the car.
Value wise, I guess if it was perfect with all the paperwork you are looking at 25+. As it stands, probably up to 25 would be a good start.
Values are so difficult to gauge as it really comes down to how much someone wants the car.
I would be inclined to agree with RLK. In a nutshell I would much rather a rot free properly prepared car with a gappy history than a fully stamped car that is likely hiding some horrors. I would think that not all 25k cars out there are as issue free as you might imagine. If you like it and want to enjoy it I would say buy it.
If it's as good as you say then it's £30k all day long.
A scrappy shell (when was the last time you saw one for sale???) is well into 5 figures and ask anyone who has done it, you can sink tens of thousands into restoring one properly. Plenty of parts are becoming NLA too
Yes without the history it might not attract quite top money if you ever decide to sell it, but frankly if it's been restored that well plenty of buyers will see through that issue and will still be keen.
They are getting rarer at the 'affordable' end of the spectrum.
A scrappy shell (when was the last time you saw one for sale???) is well into 5 figures and ask anyone who has done it, you can sink tens of thousands into restoring one properly. Plenty of parts are becoming NLA too
Yes without the history it might not attract quite top money if you ever decide to sell it, but frankly if it's been restored that well plenty of buyers will see through that issue and will still be keen.
They are getting rarer at the 'affordable' end of the spectrum.
I would buy on condition rather than history, although it could prove a useful bargaining point? My own car came with next to no service history but it's surprising what you can find when you put your mind to it. (I've traced the past 3 owners of my own car)
E30 M3 are getting harder to find at sensible money and owners of the better cars seem understandably reluctant to let them go. If this example is as good as you state, I would say it's a £30k car on its condition alone.
I would go for it, rather than miss out on a good car because it doesn't have all the service book stamps. You wouldn't buy a rusty example just because it had a more complete history would you?
Buy it, enjoy it and start your own comprehensive history file, just incase you ever decide to part with it.
Any pictures?
E30 M3 are getting harder to find at sensible money and owners of the better cars seem understandably reluctant to let them go. If this example is as good as you state, I would say it's a £30k car on its condition alone.
I would go for it, rather than miss out on a good car because it doesn't have all the service book stamps. You wouldn't buy a rusty example just because it had a more complete history would you?
Buy it, enjoy it and start your own comprehensive history file, just incase you ever decide to part with it.
Any pictures?
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