1997 BMW M3/4
5 speed
45,xxx original carfax certified miles
Cosmos Black on black leather interior
Heated Seats
Power Sunroof
Keyless Entry and Alarm

Interior:
Interior is probably a 9 out of 10 with no bolster wear and maybe some scuffs, etc and the sticker on the shift knob is bubbling. There is also a dark mark on the passenger seat inner bolster. Hardly noticeable. No wear on the leather steering wheel or shift knob.

Mechanical:
Mechanically it is perfect with no issues whatsoever. It is do for a state inspection and will have this completed for a RI buyer or others by request. Pulls hard with no misses, drives and brakes straight, no noises, shimmies, etc. Exactly like you would expect with a car of this mileage, probably even nicer.

Exterior
Exterior is excellent overall however there is a ding on the top of the trunk lid, a ding on the passenger quarter panel and a ding on the passenger fender (actually a reverse ding as it looks like something hit from inside the wheel well). There is some rock chips and normal wear on the front as it was used as a daily driver for part of its life and the side view mirrors have a good amount of rock chips. It shines excellent and all molding is excellent but I did notice one mark on the rear bumper molding. All original panels and no accident history. It has M contours that are close to perfect. I recently bought individual spare wheels so most are brand new and also almost brand new SO3 tires (set of 5 matched set).

Reason For Selling:
I am starting my MBA this week. I have the majority of the tuition covered. I have another car I can drive so I figured I would try selling the M3 to cover the rest of my tuition and expenses.

Price:
I am asking 19,900 or best reasonable offer. If you are local then come see the car and we can talk. I will not discuss price with anyone unless you have seen the car or would be traveling a great distance to see the car.

Trade:
I am also open to a couple possible trades. We may upgrade my wifes SUV this year. She has a Jeep Liberty and we would like to get something larger. If you have something else then PM me and we can talk.

Thanks,
Keith

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Bump, Just got back from being away all last week and all PMs answered. Sorry for the delay.

good luck with the sale, you should get close to your asking price. I'm thinking about selling my 95 with 41k on it for about the same with a bunch of mods.

sorry to hijack the thread, but do you have the stock parts still? And, what production date is your '95 M3? I might be interested in about a month....or less...
Scott

Am I missing something? Book value on this car is under 15K. Even MSRP is well below 17K for what is listed. Are there mods or something else that makes it worth a 30-40% premium that aren't listed in the description?

Interested, but curious. Thanks!

Am I missing something? Book value on this car is under 15K. Even MSRP is well below 17K for what is listed. Are there mods or something else that makes it worth a 30-40% premium that aren't listed in the description?

Interested, but curious. Thanks!

book on these cars mean nothing. the price is right and this car is right.

you will not find a low mile m3 for anywhere near 15k, if you do... steal it:nono

they have there own special value

Good price for the mileage!

sorry to hijack the thread, but do you have the stock parts still? And, what production date is your '95 M3? I might be interested in about a month....or less...
Scott

I'll PM you....bump

If I were you I'd ask for more $.
I'm sure you getting tons of interest at $19,900.
Like you said, the car is right and the 1997 BMW M3's have their own special value.


Good luck

If I were you I'd ask for more $.
I'm sure you getting tons of interest at $19,900.
Like you said, the car is right and the 1997 BMW M3's have their own special value.


Good luck

It's not worth more than $20k, the asking price is dead on where the seller set it. It's definately worth what he's asking, no more, no less. Priced perfectly for the M3/4 market.

It's not worth more than $20k, the asking price is dead on where the seller set it. It's definately worth what he's asking, no more, no less. Priced perfectly for the M3/4 market.

Its a sedan (less desirable) at 20k most people will need a loan, no bank will give you a loan for 20k on a 10 year old car thats worth under 15k, if its totalled no insurance company will give you 20k... This would be why its maybe not worth the price.

It might be, it might not be. There is a buyer for everything, people will speak with their money, if you don't get any takers in a while, its your price. Yeah, you've got lots of sheep chiming in and telling you GREAT PRICE, and I WOULD TOTALLY BUY THAT IF I HAD THE MONEY.

But they don't, and they won't. All I am saying is remain open on the price, otherwise nice car.

In all honesty kfogg, you will likely have better luck in a real classfieds or craigslist. In almost every for sale ad on this forum, you get more comments about your pricing rather than questions from potential buyers.

Personally, I try to keep my comments positive and short. Especially if I have no interest whatsoever in buying what has been posted for sale.

Anywho. Good luck with the sale. You might want to try autotrader as well. I sold my "Crazy priced" WRX for $32k that way.

Anybody that thinks the price is high then feel free to come see it and make an offer. As I said in the ad if the first think you ask is price then don't bother asking at all. If you are serious and have all of your information you need then make me an offer and we can talk.

Also do some searches. Anyplace you like. I guarantee my price is in the bottom 10% of the market for M3/4 5 speeds with 45,000 miles or less. Yes for someone looking for a coupe a sedan is less desireable. But for someone with a family they must have a 4 door and there were a lot less sedans than convertibles and I even think less than convertibles. Obviously they all are different markets.

If I don't sell it then so be it. I have thought about listing it in autotrader but I am not 100% convinced I should sell it. But thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

PS: Anybody that doesn't want to spend this much wait a year and get back in touch. It should have ~60,000 miles by that point and the price will drop accordingly:)

Its a sedan (less desirable) at 20k most people will need a loan, no bank will give you a loan for 20k on a 10 year old car thats worth under 15k, if its totalled no insurance company will give you 20k... This would be why its maybe not worth the price.

It might be, it might not be. There is a buyer for everything, people will speak with their money, if you don't get any takers in a while, its your price. Yeah, you've got lots of sheep chiming in and telling you GREAT PRICE, and I WOULD TOTALLY BUY THAT IF I HAD THE MONEY.

But they don't, and they won't. All I am saying is remain open on the price, otherwise nice car.

What an insurance company will pay out if a car is totaled doesn't have a thing to do with setting TMV's. The buyers do. You're right, you won't be able to get a $20k loan for it but you could definately put $4-5k down and get a $15-16k loan no problem. That's not hard for most bimmer buyers to come up with. BMWFS gave me up to $15900 for my 95 coupe that had 29k on it at the time, one year a one month ago today. I had to put up the rest myself and was happy to do so for such an example. When I brought the car to the BMW dealer I was working for to do a PPI, I had numerous people/techs/salesman trying to buy the car out from under me for a higher price. It IS worth the asking price to the low mileage m3 sedan buyer, no doubt about it. It might take a few months to sell, but it will go for around that price if the seller holds out long enough. It'd be gone tomorrow at $18k, assuming everything is up to snuff and current on the car.

I paid about the same with the same mileage almost three years ago. I thought I got a good deal. E36 M3 prices seem to be plumetting with the e46 dropping, but the low mileage harder to find sedans will probably always command a reasonable premium. Your car will take a little a longer to find the right buyer who wants your exact car, but don't move from your price too much. 40,000 miles is like buying a new car.

Great car and good price for what it is but it will be a hard sell on a site like this unless the right person happens to be looking.
I HIGHLY recommend you get a classified add in your regional BMWCCA newsletter, websites, and in the Roundel, thats where you'll get top dollar or something like this.
I wish I hadn't sold my 97 Estoril M3/4 back in 2004 but it was cherry and had all the desireable options on it and some nice mods and I got close to this price very easily back in 2004 through someone on this site.
The bank loan issue is unfortunately a valid point and why I tend to get rid of my cars before they get older than 7 model years old. Most people couldn't get a loan on this car because of age alone. I credit union you have a relationship with and a good credit score you might be able to pull it off but it would be a short term loan and high monthly payment.

I would love to have this car but unless you'd take my S2000 as trade I couldn't buy it right now.

Good luck, great car, out of all 7 of my BMW's the M3/4 was my favorite driver.

Man, i would honestly consider holding on to this if I was you. 4-doors are a rarity. And low-mileage m3's are becomming exceedingly rare. There was a posting here a few weeks ago about this...check that out

g/l either way

Beautiful car. If you can get that amount, then more power to ya!

Great car and good price for what it is but it will be a hard sell on a site like this unless the right person happens to be looking.
I HIGHLY recommend you get a classified add in your regional BMWCCA newsletter, websites, and in the Roundel, thats where you'll get top dollar or something like this.


I'd have to disagree and say bf.c is the best place to find a buyer for this car.

As a former E36 owner, I have to say that is overpriced. Nothing personal - if you can get that amount, then more power to ya!

A sedan with 49k just sold at manheim a few weeks back for $17k. That's at a dealer auction, which means that dealer was definately going to sell it for $20k+. Your 328 lost it's value a lot faster than the M3/4's. Look around and see what low milage M3/4 sedans are actually selling for b/f you tell someone their car is overpriced. 2 posts? :confused

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=214870526&dealer_id=59202059&car_year=1997&model=M3&num_records=&make2=&start_year=1996&engine=&keywordsrep=&keywordsfyc=&certified=&fuel=&body_code=8&only_price=1&search_type=both&distance=0&make=BMW&color=&min_price=&body_style=SEDAN&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&max_mileage=&style_flag=2&sort_type=mileageASC&address=15090&advanced=y&end_year=1998&doors=&transmission=&max_price=&cardist=2104

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=209481537&dealer_id=58471601&car_year=1998&model=M3&num_records=&make2=&start_year=1996&engine=&keywordsrep=&keywordsfyc=&certified=&fuel=&body_code=8&only_price=1&search_type=both&distance=0&make=BMW&color=&min_price=&body_style=SEDAN&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&max_mileage=&style_flag=2&sort_type=mileageASC&address=15090&advanced=y&end_year=1998&doors=&transmission=&max_price=&cardist=2153

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=210259055&dealer_id=56335027&car_year=1997&model=M3&num_records=&make2=&start_year=1996&engine=&keywordsrep=&keywordsfyc=&certified=&fuel=&body_code=8&only_price=1&search_type=both&distance=0&make=BMW&color=&min_price=&body_style=SEDAN&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&max_mileage=&style_flag=2&sort_type=mileageASC&address=15090&advanced=y&end_year=1998&doors=&transmission=&max_price=&cardist=251

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=212184596&dealer_id=56335027&car_year=1998&model=M3&num_records=&make2=&start_year=1996&engine=&keywordsrep=&keywordsfyc=&certified=&fuel=&body_code=8&only_price=1&search_type=both&distance=0&make=BMW&color=&min_price=&body_style=SEDAN&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&max_mileage=&style_flag=2&sort_type=mileageASC&address=15090&advanced=y&end_year=1998&doors=&transmission=&max_price=&cardist=251

And there's at least 40 more over $20k with more miles than his car so you need to keep quiet unless you know what you're talking about. It does nobody any good to come in here and beat a seller up over what is more than a fair asking price. Please go back to DTMPower now or else edit your previous post as to not hurt this sale thread. Oh wait, just saw that you're driving a C class which means you can't possibly know what you're talking about. Cheerio!

"I'd have to disagree and say bf.c is the best place to find a buyer for this car."

Great supportive input but by posting all the information to reinforce the price by other sources than this site didn't you just confirm my quote you disagreed with ;)
Just bustin' your balls.

I've sold several M3's on this site over the years but the ones I got more money for were sold on places other than here. People on this site are used to competing in a larger market that goes coast to coast, therefore driving down average prices of cars on this site.

Back to our regularly scheduled thread :)

Hmmmm....all those low mileage M3/4's with asking prices over $20,000 are still for sale. That's odd.

Geez,you all will faint if you guys ever find out how much i paid for my recently acquired '98 AA Turbocharged 10K miles one owner manual sedan ...:eyecrazy
Did i ever tell you how much FUN this sucker is to drive...........worth every penny i paid..........:redspot

Hmmmm....all those low mileage M3/4's with asking prices over $20,000 are still for sale. That's odd.

Well it's not like we can access a big list of cars that have already been sold on autotrader and verify their selling price. But if we could, I assure you these cars do sell for $20k all the time.

Nice car...paid $22k for mine 2 months ago. Car only has 32k miles on it now...31.5k when I bought it. Someone will want your low-mileage car if you're willing to wait for the right buyer. Fewer of these left as each week goes by. I keep seeing threads of owners ripping their cars into trees and light poles, or turning them into track cars. Pretty soon, yours and mine will be the only ones left!!
:drink1

Wow... I have not checked the thread in a while, a lot of controversy. I think it just went into roundel but am not sure. It isn't listed anyplace else as subsidized student loans came in for graduate school, free money for 2.5 years. Because of that I am reevaluating what I want to do.

Madsedan,
Would absolutely love your car but right now I have to atleast have 4 seats. Also I once tried taking one for a ride and it was to small for me.

If anybody has an interesting trade don't be shy.

Bump ...

For everyone that keeps sending Pms, if price is your main concern then I am sure I am not flexible enough to get the car in your price range.

Nice Car. I have a 02' Nissan Pathfinder 4x4. Black with tan leather. It's probably no bigger than your liberty though.

JJ

Hi JJ,

I love pathfinders, I think they are great but you are right. Only slightly larger than the liberty.

Keith

i like it, you should keep it a year then i will buy it. i just bought a house and need to cut costs right now.

PM if you decide to keep it

No hurry to sell so you never know ...

Trade for a 1992 M5 with 74k miles?

Another comment on the price.

It is right where it should be for a quality M3 with that kind of mileage and known history. It could even be a little higher I think. I know because I have been looking for 2 years and well kept M3's with under 50k miles are getting really hard to find. Think of it this way, you can buy a new FWD, cheesy, dime a dozen rice rocket for $22k or have a classy BMW M3 that is twice the car for $20-$22k. (If you can find one) Also, I found that the pricing guides don't mean much when you are talking about the E36 M3.

Nikos,

You are killing me. I am glad you are in Arizona because that is tempting.

Keith

Its a sedan (less desirable) .

speak for yourself... :confused

Wow, great low mileage M3/4! I sold my M3/4/5 in late 2005 for $17.5 with about 58k on it. Sold it to "upgrade" to a 745i, one of the worst mistakes I have ever made. I eventually traded the 745i for a e39 M5, but Tropical Storm Ernesto took it away from me:mad . Overall I think the e36 M3/4/5 fit me better than even the M5, which was an experience to say the least. Gas mileage and maintenance were pretty scary also. I will be in the market after I return from Kuwait in October, and if it's still available you will hear from me. Good luck with the sale regardless!

anything less then 60K is 'low milage' for most of these E36s cars...

Price is fine, I sold my M3/4 last summer for $19,000 and it had 54,000 miles. Best of luck to you.

I think the notion that a 5spd M3 sedan is less desirable is silly. For a lot of people it's the only 'desirable' option unless they spend more money to step up to the M5. What else are you going to buy, an Audi S4? Cool touring car but hardly sporty (I can say this because I had one).

I'm traveling almost 1000 miles to pick up an M3 sedan I just bought. Hardly 'less desirable'. While I wouldn't spend anything near 20K on this car I can appreciate that somebody would. You likely won't find that person here, advertise on roadfly.org for $9 or spend a little more and advertise in the Roundel.

Price Lowered to $19,800

Exact Mileage is 46,324

The notion that the sedan is somehow less desirable is ridiculous. Good M3/4's carry a premium, and deservedly so.

beautiful car .... very desirable to say the least. hang in there with the price ... now that winter is over ... you'll have more potential to sell it. the right buyer will come around. m3/4/5's rock!!!

Original post dated 01-28-2007, 10:17 AM. Approaching three months for sale here - I guess having a lowly C-class definitely makes me incapable of recognizing an overpriced M3 after all!

:wave

Oh - I do wish to add however that the notion that the sedan is somehow less desirabe is ridiculous. Good M3/4's carry a premium, and deservedly so.

M3Eater,

I haven't directly responded to any posts on price. But are you even interested in the car or are you just a complete ass hole that has nothing better to do with his time?

Mods please delete this thread because I am sick of reading dumb ass comments from children. The car will be listed again in a couple of months for anybody that was truly interested.

Keith

Keith, I apologize. The market should be allowed to determine the true value of a car, and you deserve no better or worse than the market dictates. I have edited my comments to be less inflammatory. I suggest you do the same where possible.