The 'M Market' during (and post) the Covid pandemic

[g3org3y]

Who has been keeping an eye on the M market during all these shenanigans with Covid-19?

This thread is suggesting that the market is strong. Fewer examples out there and those are commanding more money.

I'm likely to chop the Z4 in and finally crack on with an E93 M3 but wonder if now is the wrong time.

Opinions/thoughts welcome.

[JMBMWM5]

You are right Price staying high, discounts low, dealerships busy, not a good time to push hard. It of course depends on the car your after and availability.
Stuff hard to shift can be had cheaper.

[Chazaxl]

Ive seen car prices increasing with at least two dealers. One being BMW Oxford and one being another car that I have on my 'watch list'. Its not sold for ages, but its gone up by £1500.

[JEA1K]

Prices have certainly risen in the past 12 months, same can be said for all used cars though. People haven't been spending on meals, booze and holidays so demand for cars and watches, amongst other things, has increased.

I see there are quite a few owners taking advantage of this in the E92 M3 market (not that I blame them) and getting out while prices have risen slightly. I would still say that the E92 is going to be a good long term buy. E46's are already thin on the ground and then there's E36's ...

If you can pick up a good car and are not looking to offload it too soon after, then I can't see a reason not to get one now.

[nickfrog]

M2 prices quite strong. Probably up around 10% in 12 months, perhaps even a little more for manuals.

[Lagom]

nickfrog said:

M2 prices quite strong. Probably up around 10% in 12 months, perhaps even a little more for manuals.

Agreed, I'd go as far as saying they've gone up that much since the start of the year.

WBAC is offering £39k on 1-year old cars which is close to the dealer selling price only a few months ago, dealers are now selling around 45k for a well spec'd car.

[Mr Tidy]

It looks to me like prices for all interesting cars are stronger than they were last year - whether that will last, who knows?

If you could sneak out for a solo drive now and again I'd suggest a Z4M, but if not maybe a 650i Convertible would cover 2 bases? I'm sure an E92 M3 would be fun, but perhaps not for family days out!

[KPB1973]

I paid just under £16k for a 57-plate FSH manual E92 two years ago. I didn't keep it long, but it's just popped up again for a touch under £18k.

It's probably worth that in today's market, but everything I'm tracking at the moment (M4, 987.2 and 981 porsches, lotii) have gone up 10 - 15% in the last couple of months.

I've also sold 2 pretty ordinary daily drivers in the last 6 months for pretty much what I paid for them.

Definitely a seller's market!

[g3org3y]

Thanks for the input chaps, as I thought unfortunately. I admit I assumed prices would drop off with Covid but appears the opposite has happened.

I'm not in a rush and happy to wait. I might get a better price for my Z4 tbf (anyone interested? )

Mr Tidy said:

It looks to me like prices for all interesting cars are stronger than they were last year - whether that will last, who knows?

If you could sneak out for a solo drive now and again I'd suggest a Z4M, but if not maybe a 650i Convertible would cover 2 bases? I'm sure an E92 M3 would be fun, but perhaps not for family days out!

E63 is comically small in the back and I don't fancy an M6. It's either an E93 M3 or F83 M4 on the shortlist I think.

[DC-1]

My M2C value has risen around £3k the past 2 months. It was a similar value during the first lockdown but seemed to drop again a little after that for a while.

If they continue to rise in the coming months I may consider shifting it on as it's very highly spec'd.

It's not a great time to be buying though, particularly used.

Discounts on new cars are not the best either given shortage of supply and the semi-conductor shortage affecting many brands.

[Lagom]

I was just looking at a couple of ads from March 2020. Pre-reg M2C with both packs were available for £42,500 with 100miles on the clock, same demo cars are now at £46k.

[thegermancarguy]

Is it a bubble? If so for what reason? I’m talking about older stock- e9x, e46, merc c63 etc. Surely if it’s a bubble the only way for the prices of them cars to come down we’d have to see far more advertised and sold?
I can see why newer cars would come down in price but it seems that older interesting cars have really come into their own

[KPB1973]

I just checked my old SL63 on WBAC.

I bought it last Sept for £31500, sold it in Jan for £28000 (I needed to free up some cash pretty urgently).

It's now coming in at £32k on their website, which is a bit of a p1sser for me! I haven't seen an equivalent car for less than £38k being advertised anywhere recently either.

I could perhaps get £35k for it privately at the moment.

[liner33]

Same for my m235i up around 10-12%

Had no problem getting a discount on a new BMW from a dealer though got £13k off a M4

[nickfrog]

I posted this elsewhere but might be useful.

2017 M2 manual - bought AUC @ 6K miles for £29,000 March 2020

WBAC:

20/07/20 £29,325
28/08/20 £30,790
30/09/20 £30,210
23/10/20 £27,000
25/11/20 £26,835
23/12/20 £28,000
23/03/21 £28,800
12/04/21 £29,550
20/05/21 £30,615
27/05/21 £31,370

[Court_S]

Prices are strong at the moment.

I’ve been keeping half an eye on AUC M2/3/4 prices for the last year or so up to £30k.

Last year, there was a good selection of cars sub £30k although the M2’s dried up pretty quickly but still £27k or so would have got me into a nice 16 plate M2. Early M4’s seemed really cheap and slightly later cars with a good spec were plentiful and in budget.

I had a look the other week and a nationwide search on the AUC site bought up 4 2014 M4’s all of which were pushing £30k. Sod that. Seems like a big jump in 12 months.

Older stuff like the E9x cars are firmed up too.

[PTF]

liner33 said:

Same for my m235i up around 10-12%

Had no problem getting a discount on a new BMW from a dealer though got £13k off a M4

That's like saying you got a great deal on a sofa at DFS because they had a sale on

[KPB1973]

Court_S said:

Prices are strong at the moment.

I’ve been keeping half an eye on AUC M2/3/4 prices for the last year or so up to £30k.

Last year, there was a good selection of cars sub £30k although the M2’s dried up pretty quickly but still £27k or so would have got me into a nice 16 plate M2. Early M4’s seemed really cheap and slightly later cars with a good spec were plentiful and in budget.

I had a look the other week and a nationwide search on the AUC site bought up 4 2014 M4’s all of which were pushing £30k. Sod that. Seems like a big jump in 12 months.

Older stuff like the E9x cars are firmed up too.

Agree.

Like you say, last autumn (before plumping for the SL63) I could have had a pick from a few dozen 14-64-15-plate M4 coupes or convertibles, decent spec and low miles etc for £25-27k.

They're pushing £30k now which feels like strong money given the number on the market. With over 500 on the 'trader, it's not as if supply has suddenly dried up on them which led to a upswing in prices. I guess it's just being driven by demand at the lower end of the market.

I think I picked a poor time to duck out of having a fair whack of money tied up in a performance car. I did make a small profit on my Elise and it has sold twice since for 15% more than I paid for it.

[Lagom]

PTF said:

liner33 said:

Same for my m235i up around 10-12%

Had no problem getting a discount on a new BMW from a dealer though got £13k off a M4

That's like saying you got a great deal on a sofa at DFS because they had a sale on

so true.

I got 20% off my last BMW from Park Lane, but still one or two broker were prepared to undercut them. Probably could have got more off if I’d taken a PCP, gone are the days of no discount.

[liner33]

PTF said:

liner33 said:

Same for my m235i up around 10-12%

Had no problem getting a discount on a new BMW from a dealer though got £13k off a M4

That's like saying you got a great deal on a sofa at DFS because they had a sale on

Someone said earlier in the thread that discounts were low , its true that not all dealers are offering good discounts especially on popular models but they are still out there