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!?
Its probably not worth a great deal more than £3k because of its mileage but will sell the second it is advertised around £4k because of what the car is and the perception of what the car is worth plus the fact it will be the cheapest E46 on the market.
If you want it offer him £3750 for it and no more. If you did buy it for more youve got to think about whos going to want to buy it from you with 200k+ on the clock as that would be one very big benchmark.
Its still a 45-50k car so will have some hefty bills which are more likely at 200k
If you want it offer him £3750 for it and no more. If you did buy it for more youve got to think about whos going to want to buy it from you with 200k+ on the clock as that would be one very big benchmark.
Its still a 45-50k car so will have some hefty bills which are more likely at 200k
Buy it and rape it into the ground. I don't think the resale market will be tiny, as long as the price is right. I mean you're prepared to buy it aren't you? I think a lot of people would probably take the risk even if it was over 200k as long as it was cheap enough. Lets say you bought it for 3000 now, drove it for 20k then sold it. You'd still get 2500 easily from people that would like one but can't afford 10k for a low mileage example and would just take the risk. The good thing for you is that your mate has owned it so you know it's been looked after and it will cost you bugger all so you don't have to worry when you give it some welly.
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 ! 
I've just bought one which has covered 127000 miles and I'm very happy with it. I paid £7.5k for it which was probably a bit too much, but heart ruled head etc. 
I think the higher mileage ones are the more honest cars tbh. I just dont buy the 10 year old ones with 55000 miles covered. It all seems a bit fishy to me in some ads I see....
I think the higher mileage ones are the more honest cars tbh. I just dont buy the 10 year old ones with 55000 miles covered. It all seems a bit fishy to me in some ads I see....
Baz Tench said:
I've just bought one which has covered 127000 miles and I'm very happy with it. I paid £7.5k for it which was probably a bit too much, but heart ruled head etc.
I think the higher mileage ones are the more honest cars tbh. I just dont buy the 10 year old ones with 55000 miles covered. It all seems a bit fishy to me in some ads I see....
Theres a few variables with miles though. If youve bought one with 127k on that has done a steady 12k per year and had the correct scheduled service each year which has been documented then thats an awesome car that will sell all day long because people buy on condition and service rather than miles (to an extent).I think the higher mileage ones are the more honest cars tbh. I just dont buy the 10 year old ones with 55000 miles covered. It all seems a bit fishy to me in some ads I see....
If the 55k miler has done 40k in its first few years with credible service but then for 6 years only done 15k and missed a couple of services here and there, thats the time to worry and walk away.
I know mine is a little different being an E30 but whether mine has done 1,000 miles a year or not turned a wheel it gets a full service each year, maybe 2.
swiftpete said:
Buy it and rape it into the ground.
I think there's something to be said for this. Three years ago my Focus cost me roughly £3k. Now it's worth so little I'm debating whether to sell it or run it into the ground. But whereas losing three grand on a mk1 Focus is a pain, it doesn't seem like a lot to be hooning round in one of the great M-cars.
Plus, I'm assuming at that mileage it was mostly motorway stuff? Could be better than something that's done 99,000 miles of Welsh B-roads.
sparks_E39 said:
It's just a number, it should have no bearing on the condition of the car really. It's probably in as good condition as a £7k example.
I bet it's absolutely immaculate and I doubt it will be any more ruinous than a 100k mile would be (Thats not to say it wont be ruinious, but because it's a 10 year old M3 rather than because of its mileage). Pretty much every M3 is due a suspension refresh at 100k+ anyway so even if you have to do that its nothign you wouldnt have had to do on a car with half the miles.Only a few people will agree though, so get it for a good price and enjoy it.
nonuts said:
It's worth what you're happy to pay for it over and above the £3k offer, just bear in mind that if you ever want to sell it on, the market for a car with that mileage will be tiny.
I think worse than that. Very high mileage cars are simply unsellable currently.Unless you get down to a price where the buyer can genuinely afford to bin it.
If you can enjoy the car yourself for three years at that price that is not a bad deal at all. £1000 a year drop on an M series BMW is pretty fair.
The car might be worth the gamble. I think I would risk it. Nothing ventured.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff