Have I drunk the Kool Aid?

[Jimmy No Hands]

3GGy said:

Do the buyers of these 10k old sheds know they will spend every 3rd month fettling with it regardless of miles? Or is it pure nostalgia? Surely no one is garaging these things.

I just don't get it.

I'm just pissed off al the old cheap cars are disappearing

No, they don't.

They'll buy it and assume they are now in bed with the seller for 18 months and will be banging on the dealers door after 6 weeks when a bulb goes demanding it get fixed immediately.

They are lovely cars. I had a 323i with the M52 in and it was a brilliant thing. To this day, Miss JNH states it's her favourite car ever. I paid £700 for it!

This? I could see somebody paying £4,500 or so.

[donkmeister]

Riley Blue said:

hiccy18 said:

donkmeister said:

CoolHands said:

I hate the stupid expression in the title of this thread

It's a phrase I've used, it's never struck me before your post that it's actually in very bad taste when you think about it. But then we also say things like "I didn't expect some sort of Spanish Inquisition" or call people "grammar Nazi" without flinching.

So I think it gets a pass.

I took it as a Tom Wolfe reference, is there some youth reference I am unaware of?

Having not read Wolfe I've only heard of Kool Aid in connection with the Jonestown massacre.

That is what I associate it with. I wasn't born then but it's referenced in popular culture more recently.

[Court_S]

JakeT said:

They aren’t. These wheels were available on SE models at additional cost. My dad had one new in September 2000, a 330i SE touring with these wheels from the factory, and I had a 325ti SE with them on the build sheet too.

I agree with the general consensus here. Seems a lot of money for the car, and I think the pre facelift E46 is the best looking one too. For £8,000 there’s a lot of other stuff I’d rather have.

Yup, my E46 was an SE but left the factory on these wheels, spec’d by the original owner.

I agree that it seems like a lot of money for what it is. Personally I’d far rather the sport version, which I think looks better.

[hiccy18]

donkmeister said:

Riley Blue said:

hiccy18 said:

donkmeister said:

CoolHands said:

I hate the stupid expression in the title of this thread

It's a phrase I've used, it's never struck me before your post that it's actually in very bad taste when you think about it. But then we also say things like "I didn't expect some sort of Spanish Inquisition" or call people "grammar Nazi" without flinching.

So I think it gets a pass.

I took it as a Tom Wolfe reference, is there some youth reference I am unaware of?

Having not read Wolfe I've only heard of Kool Aid in connection with the Jonestown massacre.

That is what I associate it with. I wasn't born then but it's referenced in popular culture more recently.

I'm a little too young to remember the Jonestown massacre, but took an interest in hippy culture as a teenager; your socialist cult mass poisoning reference is my barrels of OJ laced with LSD. I observe its use as describing a state of being lost in propaganda, belief or marketing and losing touch with reality.

Either way, I'd suggest that even at it's reduced price, the advertiser of the car in the OP has list it, surely £4-5k max?

[braddo]

Hippea said:

Have I gone totally bonkers, I can't stop looking at this and I actually don't find myself saying 'How Much!?!'

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/14764347

Insane pricing or ok in this day and age?

Has the price dropped substantially since the thread started? It's now £8k.

It's just following the same path of cars that go from old to modern classic. Same as what has happened with the E30, has started with E36 and now the occasional E46 too. Remember - exactly the same thing has been said about the E30 325i, which went from £2-4k and is now what, £15-30k?

This car is now very, very rare in this condition. For someone who wants a nice compact family car that is different from stuff of the last decade - including being a more engaging drive (not saying it's the world's best), this could be a nice purchase.

I like that it's SE spec, no tints and no leather but with those wheels. Pretty much an ultimate-spec E46 wagon for me.

[Limpet]

E46s made a lot of sense when they dropped to £1,500-£2,500 pre-Covid but now they're 3-4x the price, even older, and in most cases even more tired with even more issues.

I often wonder who, if anyone, is actually paying these asking prices.

[Hippea]

braddo said:

Has the price dropped substantially since the thread started? It's now £8k.

It's just following the same path of cars that go from old to modern classic. Same as what has happened with the E30, has started with E36 and now the occasional E46 too. Remember - exactly the same thing has been said about the E30 325i, which went from £2-4k and is now what, £15-30k?

This car is now very, very rare in this condition. For someone who wants a nice compact family car that is different from stuff of the last decade - including being a more engaging drive (not saying it's the world's best), this could be a nice purchase.

I like that it's SE spec, no tints and no leather but with those wheels. Pretty much an ultimate-spec E46 wagon for me.

Yes the price has been reduced, it was up at £11k

[hedges88]

I am loving the irony of the title to this thread because I believe the expression of drinking the Kool-Aid is a reference to consumption of antifreeze rather than the popular American drink.

[ambuletz]

surely there must be someone on PH who's bought some seriously overpriced car. would love to hear how they got on, and what their reasoning was for getting it.

[ChocolateFrog]

This countries weird obsession with mileage.

Baffles me but atleast means I can (and have) picked up perfectly decent cars for a 50th of their list price.

[spookly]

Hippea said:

Have I gone totally bonkers, I can't stop looking at this and I actually don't find myself saying 'How Much!?!'

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/14764347

Insane pricing or ok in this day and age?

Is that a green one?
I saw a green E46 touring with similar miles and they were asking about £11k.

Dreaming. Not interesting, not rare IMHO. I didn't even like the engine either in the 330ci I had. Gutless unless thrashed.

ETA: After reading the thread I've realised it's the same car but now reduced £3k. If they lopped another £4k off I think it's a reasonable buy. Not that I'd buy it.

Edited by spookly on Saturday 25th March 16:48

[Missy Charm]

I don't really understand what the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test has to do with this either! I've read plenty of counter-culture stuff, although not recently so my memory might be hazy (man).

Anyway this decidedly non Kandy-Kolored, Tangerine Flake or Streamline Baby is far too expensive to be cruising down the free love freeway in, which is a drag, man. I'll have to keep on trucking in the old Ford car and accept I'm never getting to Heaven...

Anyway, a garage up the road from me has got a convertible BMW of the relevant vintage up for under two grand at the moment!

[conanius]

I had an e46 330i touring I picked up for £2.5k back in 2014 when we bought our first house.

I think a lot of these prices are basically driven by rose tinted nostalgia “corrr I always wanted one of those”. I get that on something quite cool like a Civic Type R breadvan that is some single owner car that lived in a garage.

And

The new car market going mental. We have had years of ultra cheap finance and people leasing/PCPing based solely on “monthlies” which has lead to list prices being an absolute **** take. Now people are going “where is my Golf R for £299 down £299 a month” and that’s driven people to getting a loan for £299 a month instead - driving up used car prices on “wow look at this basically new 23 year old car.

[Sheepshanks]

braddo said:

This car is now very, very rare in this condition. For someone who wants a nice compact family car that is different from stuff of the last decade - including being a more engaging drive (not saying it's the world's best), this could be a nice purchase.

I like that it's SE spec, no tints and no leather but with those wheels. Pretty much an ultimate-spec E46 wagon for me.

Even with the MOT advisory for vehicle structure corroded?

Having said that, the MOT history is otherwise astonishingly clean, although for a few years it's only done a handful of miles (just 20 last year).

Wonder it it's been kept garaged? Until recently I had a 2004 C Class Estate that I didn't use much and it seemed to deteriorate worse with lack of use - it was getting a hefty list of advisories every year. I sold it to to someone in the trade for £800.

[dhutch]

P. ONeill said:

There’s a 540i Touring on eBay for about half that. For some reason I keep looking at old 5 Series estates.

Not this one then....?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285148754932?

[dhutch]

Missy Charm said:

Nah. That's a grand's worth of old banger, nothing more. ..

I mean, I think the £8 it's at now is still strong, but it's not a grand.

Even a high millage 325 auto isn't a grand unless it's rotting from wheel arches and the cill covers these days.

[993kimbo]

I had a 330 se touring once with 17” wheels - shocking ride.
Never found BMW’s comfortable.