E31 - to Sport or not to Sport??
Discussion
After playing with a 225 TT for the last few months, i think its time to move up to an E31, hopefully either mid Dec or early Jan.
In the short time i've been looking i'm seeing the prices start to rise, some stupidly so, but in addition a few cars that appear to have been with dealers a very long time (i.e. 6mths +)
Big question though - is it worth holding out/paying more for a Sport over a Ci? I quite like the look of this 96 car - other than the hideous wheels.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-8-series-840CI-SPORT...
but this Ci with lower miles is cheaper (and been for sale for a long time)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-840-4-0-auto-Ci-/111...
What seperates the 2? is it just the move from the 4.0 lump to the 4.4 and a few bits of styling or is the drive/ride significantly better? I admit i have not had the time yet to test either and due to the fact that they tend to be spread around the UK i think its going to be un-realistic to do a back to back test of the 2 models.
Ideally I want to keep the budget somewhere between 7-10 - i'm not scared by mileage at this age, its all about condition and history at this sort of age. Its going to be a daily but I only do short station runs and the occasional motorway so running costs are not an issue (and it has to be an auto)
The only fly in the ointment is that the E63 is in that price range too, but after having a 04 645 cab with a gearbox issue I'm a little bit worried i'll get another and that would kill the car for me as a long term prospect. I think the E31 is a better long term commitment which will potentially go up in value whereas the E63 has a little way to fall still
Any advice welcome
In the short time i've been looking i'm seeing the prices start to rise, some stupidly so, but in addition a few cars that appear to have been with dealers a very long time (i.e. 6mths +)
Big question though - is it worth holding out/paying more for a Sport over a Ci? I quite like the look of this 96 car - other than the hideous wheels.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-8-series-840CI-SPORT...
but this Ci with lower miles is cheaper (and been for sale for a long time)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-840-4-0-auto-Ci-/111...
What seperates the 2? is it just the move from the 4.0 lump to the 4.4 and a few bits of styling or is the drive/ride significantly better? I admit i have not had the time yet to test either and due to the fact that they tend to be spread around the UK i think its going to be un-realistic to do a back to back test of the 2 models.
Ideally I want to keep the budget somewhere between 7-10 - i'm not scared by mileage at this age, its all about condition and history at this sort of age. Its going to be a daily but I only do short station runs and the occasional motorway so running costs are not an issue (and it has to be an auto)
The only fly in the ointment is that the E63 is in that price range too, but after having a 04 645 cab with a gearbox issue I'm a little bit worried i'll get another and that would kill the car for me as a long term prospect. I think the E31 is a better long term commitment which will potentially go up in value whereas the E63 has a little way to fall still
Any advice welcome
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff