There is a 1988 M3 on Ebay, Hennarot, 101k, blown motor, faded paint, etc... It is at $3k right now and the reserve has been met... Just looking for opinions.

Jeff

I'd say 5-6k depending on what the body looks like...tops.

I saw this car and spoke to seller a few days ago. If you are going to bid, you are going to want to see it. My quick reveiw...Paint is shot, completely faded needs new. No radio, antena, glove box, wheel covers, and some other small stuff. Needs new tires and the body has rust. Didn't get to involved but the corners, quarter panel rear lights... all the usuall. Guy selling it owns a shop and is selling it to get back what his stepson owes him?? It is actually the stepsons car. Motor overheated and blew it is currenly out of the car and dissasembled as are other parts of the car. Was said to be in running condition when incident occured. Don't know about condition as no records avail. But the stepson had another car on the lot 05 bmw that had damage from driving so my impression was he was hard on it. Definatly going to want ot look at it before bidding. Good luck. Also carfax show inconsistant odometer reading.

Its worthless. Will cost a fortune to save that car, better off buying another one.

Thanks for all the input. The car is sitting at $3500 with over 4 days left so who knows where it will go. My goal was to have a clean straight car with a little more power than stock for less than $15k so that opportunity might be dwindling.

Here's a better start haha.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=668764

Guys I have seen this car many times and have tried to buy it many times as I live right around the corner. STAY AWAY!!! this car needs major work and has a considerable amount of rust. It has been sitting outside with shit piled on it, has all sorts of body work needed as well as everything imaginable replaced. If you could pick it up for 2-3K and turn it into a track rat it would be O.K, other than that I would not reccomend.

Did you pay a visit to Car Locators? They can help you find a car.

If you are open to an S50 or S52 powered model, they can be found in your range as well.

I was very close to buying the white 89 at CarLocators but I can't get over the power of the stock S14. So, finding a rolling chassis sounded good because then I could afford to put 10k under the hood and have a substantially quick E30 M3. I used to have a 360+ HP Subaru and an 05 Competition Package M3 so I am power hungry but I would like to have ample power in the E30 M3 package because the car is just perfect in every other way. I have decided to stay away from the one on Ebay especially since it is already at $3500 and still has several days to go.

I was very close to buying the white 89 at CarLocators but I can't get over the power of the stock S14.

I came to the same conclusion after driving the S14 as well. It would be fine for the track, but tough on the ego for the street. (Yes, I have gotten slack for buying one with an S52: not a real M3 anymore, not ideal for the track, etc...)

Would you do the work yourself? It may be less expensive to buy one with the swap rather than doing it yourself or paying a shop to do the work.

This one looks rather nice:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=214980503&dealer_id=59213785&car_year=1991&mod_bookmark_id=3563416&search_type=both&make=BMW&distance=300&model=M3&transmission=Manual&address=43026&make2=&certified=&advanced=y&max_mileage=100000&max_price=&sort_type=priceDESC&min_price=&first_record=26&end_year=1999&color=&start_year=1981&drive=&pager.offset=25&engine=&doors=&fuel=&cardist=300

I have a friend with a beautiful 88 Salmon Silver with an S52. He is an instructor with some of the local BMW chapters if you ever decide to do a school in OH or IN. :alright

Well, I'm not even so sure I would want the S50/52 swap. I was thinking more along the lines of a built S14, maybe Metric Mechanic, keeping it's originality and value in line... I love the idea of the 6 cylinder but I am also a fan of keeping the weight and balance of the car in check.

As far as that autotrader link goes, I emailed him a long time ago and he won't even send me more pictures of give me more info on the car. He was being extremely difficult for someone who wants to sell a car.

As far as that autotrader link goes, I emailed him a long time ago and he won't even send me more pictures of give me more info on the car. He was being extremely difficult for someone who wants to sell a car.

That's a big red flag. :mad

The Cinci BMW chapter is very active. You could attend one of their monthly meetings, it may be helpful in your search. They used to have a large meet at the Just BMW shop in May (not sure if it will go on this year or not). I'm sure the owner of Just BMW could give you advice.

Be carful with carlocators inc. I was looking at one ofthier cars a while back, and found the same car listed in an add a month or two prior to thier getting ahold of it. The two adds did not match. The first add, which was posted on s14.net by the owner was very complete, the add on carlocators left out all the negatives including a repainted fender, bumper from a bump and lack of some records. That owneer had also run the car on the track and while there is nothing wrong with that, the Carlocators adds said it was never tracked or painted. Also stated never had any repaint and had all records. The cars were definately the same... appearance mods and vin matched.

On top of it thier price was higher than the original sellers.

Wow it went for $6750, thats insane. The buyer is gonna be pissed as it is really in alot worse shape than descibed. I should have put my running with less issues M3 on the bay, probably could have gotten 8K instead of 5.5K.

Yeah, 6750 shocked me too. By seeing the pictures and knowing what it will take just to get the car back on the road, I wouldn't have gone more than $4000 and that was a stretch.

Friend of mine went to look at this car also, I told him not to offer more than 3.5k for it which he decided not to even due that. Wise choice. Cage it, Turbo M/S5x and race it.

He got more than he was asking for the longest time on S14.net. But it was fs for over 5 months.