'91 318is Pricing help

So I have a line on a '91 318is that is about as clean as I've ever seen an original e30 in Wisconsin. Almost zero rust on the car, only has a little bit of rust on the driver side rocker panel but it would be really easy to repair. The Interior is immaculate, no tears in the seats or cracks on the dash. It has 102k on it and has never seen a winter. It has sat a bit in the recent past, probably last driven in 2010. The clutch froze to the flywheel but the owner got it separated and everything seems fine there. I took it for a spin yesterday and drives great, probably could use new ball joints and a passenger rear wheel bearing but other than that I cant find anything wrong with the car. Had a slightly rough idle when I first started it up but after driving for about 10 minutes or so it seemed to idle perfectly fine. The problem is the guy really likes the car and doesn't want to get rid of it but he is loosing his free storage and hardly drives the car. How much would a reasonable offer be? Is somewhere in the $3000 to $3500 range to cheap?

If it's as nice as you say, I wouldn't feel about paying that for it.

Especially if it's a slicktop (no sunroof).

in chicago

there was a 325i auto that has been in the chicago CL for about a month at $1250 - garage kept - no rust...maybe I'm out of touch on e30s, but I'd have a hard time paying more than challenge money for one.

oldtin wrote: in chicago

That is a really bad repaint. Like, sub-Maaco job.

oldtin wrote: in chicago there was a 325i auto that has been in the chicago CL for about a month at $1250 - garage kept - no rust...maybe I'm out of touch on e30s, but I'd have a hard time paying more than challenge money for one.

Yeah, in the last year or so, clean ones have gone up dramatically in value. It's why I purchased a Miata for a track build instead of an E30.

I sold my 318is slicktop a couple of years ago for $6k, back to the previous owner I purchased it from 6 months earlier for $3500.

If I still had that car now, I could get $7500-8000 out of it.

oldtin wrote: in chicago there was a 325i auto that has been in the chicago CL for about a month at $1250 - garage kept - no rust...maybe I'm out of touch on e30s, but I'd have a hard time paying more than challenge money for one.

Don't ball up your SE30. Prices for rust free cars have gone up dramatically in the past couple of years. There are still deals out there posted by unknowing sellers, but they're getting harder to find and you have to be quick to buy. Seriously, if I was running a SE30, I'd buy a rust free shell or two if one popped up for cheap just to keep as spares.

Some day I should actually spring for a nice car instead of patching up junk and see what that's like. If you find a shell - I do have a drivetrain for a 318is layting around

isn't the E30 318is something of a cult car too?

oldtin wrote: Some day I should actually spring for a nice car instead of patching up junk and see what that's like. If you find a shell - I do have a drivetrain for a 318is layting around

To be sure, it wasn't stock. It had ground controls and good control arms/bushings up front, Euro Ellips and lower mileage M42 from an E36. I slapped a black leather sport interior wiht houndstooth door cards, redid the brakes and rear suspension, euro trim. And a few other goodies.

I still kick myself for selling that car.

dculberson wrote:

oldtin wrote: in chicago

That is a really bad repaint. Like, sub-Maaco job.

It doesn't look too bad to me.

z31maniac wrote: To be sure, it wasn't stock. It had ground controls and good control arms/bushings up front, Euro Ellips and lower mileage M42 from an E36. I slapped a black leather sport interior wiht houndstooth door cards, redid the brakes and rear suspension, euro trim. And a few other goodies. I still kick myself for selling that car.

So why did you?

Because I'm an idiot.