good deal?? your 2 cents please! - BMW Forum

kholt · 10-09-2005, 12:37 AM

what up people!

my first post. awesome site; been reading lots of threads!!

looking to buy my first beemer car (already have a bmw '71 r75/5 motorcycle)

been looking at lots of e36s; finally found something beautiful:

97 328 is / avus blue (special order color for that year)/grey leather
sport seats (not really sure if sport package - steering wheel is 4 prong type and I thought sport package was 3 prong, but sports seats are most important to me!)
16 " aftermarket rims
exterior/interior practically flawless
60000 miles
all scheduled service; all records; new shocks; tires pretty worn
i would be 3rd owner

blue book private party is about 12K US, retail about 14K US for excellent (which I think this qualifies)

its private party and we agreed to $13000 US

what do you guys think - fair price?? tired of looking and wanting to DRIVE!

BMWjesterFAN · 10-09-2005, 01:25 AM

sounds a little expensive to me

Cruzin 323is · 10-09-2005, 12:16 PM

first off... a car that is about 9 years old.. is never in perfect conditon...

also.. i just did a kbb value, and your looking at about... $10.4k, for it... u should bargin, and get him down to 8....

then it would be a decent buy,

but for 12 grand.. its a little pricey!

Hamfisted · 10-09-2005, 12:39 PM

I paid 9K for a '97 328i with 60K miles on it about six months ago, it was garage kept and flawless as well. Even had the official little ole lady driver stamp on it and new Yokahama tires

. I just waxed it and put a set of Bilsteins and gave it to my daughter.

Mike

kholt · 10-09-2005, 01:27 PM

thanks for the feedback everyone; I've never claimed to be a great negotiator

i am on the west coast and kbb is higher over here (excellent with sport package here is $12K vs. $10.7K in NY). good thing is no worries about salted roads (but sales tax bites!!).

i'm in a bit of a tough spot as my current car is going fast and i don't want to sink more plough into it. and i don't want someone to outbid me on it and have to spend weeks more looking. I know, i'm breaking all the rules of negotiation

car is sweet, though! just haven't seen any others close to this. i think it still has that new car smell :lol:

Delmarco · 10-09-2005, 02:43 PM

STOP:
way too much money for that car.
w/ that milage: you are looking to spent $9,000 to $10,000 for any NON-M3 E36 BMW car.

I've seen M3s with similar milage sell for $13,000 - $15,000.

If you got $13,000 to spend and you are not specifically looking to BUY an E36 3 series and just want a BMW. I would reccomend getting an early model E46 328i,
or a 1997 - 1999 E39 5 series sedan.

NOTE ABOUT SPORT PACKAGES and Pre-Ownership Modifications:
Never let the seller ask for lots more money, because of sporty modifications. Most of the time sport packages are nothing more than bigger rims/better tires (which are wear and tear items), a three spoke steering wheel, manual stick, and different looking front seats. That is all.
Sport packages DO NOT mean that the car is inherently faster or has a better engine than a non sport packaged car. Sport Package is a trim modification and not a performance modification (in terms of engine enhancements).
That is why BMWs made M series cars for the 3,5 and 6 series models. The M series BMW have both Sport Package AND Engine/Performance enhancing factory modifications.

It seems that guy is trying to sell the Sport Package as if it was something that made the 328is into a M3 sedan. Not the case.
It took me about 1-2 years before finding the car i wanted at the price i wanted to pay. The best place to guage pricing of cars is EBAY. There you get samples of specific cars in every possible condition and priced to sell at every range of the book values. So you get a great "market value" idea of what a car is worth. Also the KB value does not reflect "Market Value-demand/supply" which is way more important in determining what you'll actually pay.
Good Luck and Welcome to our forums. Always feel free to ask questions and browse around.
Delmarco

Quote:

what up people!

my first post. awesome site; been reading lots of threads!!

looking to buy my first beemer car (already have a bmw '71 r75/5 motorcycle)

been looking at lots of e36s; finally found something beautiful:

97 328 is / avus blue (special order color for that year)/grey leather
sport seats (not really sure if sport package - steering wheel is 4 prong type and I thought sport package was 3 prong, but sports seats are most important to me!)
16 " aftermarket rims
exterior/interior practically flawless
60000 miles
all scheduled service; all records; new shocks; tires pretty worn
i would be 3rd owner

blue book private party is about 12K US, retail about 14K US for excellent (which I think this qualifies)

its private party and we agreed to $13000 US

what do you guys think - fair price?? tired of looking and wanting to DRIVE!

kholt · 10-09-2005, 05:58 PM

:lol: hey what up delmarco. go seminoles!

i get the sense you east coasters have a different market than over here on the left coast

If you got $13,000 to spend and you are not specifically looking to BUY an E36 3 series and just want a BMW. I would reccomend getting an early model E46 328i,
or a 1997 - 1999 E39 5 series sedan.

i do want a coupe which seems to be harder to find

and i hear what you're saying on the sports package, i just like the sports seats

and i need something to drive for the next 1-2 years while i'm looking for my ole lady stamped M3

drz · 10-09-2005, 06:08 PM

From my experience, cars always seem to be priced decently low in the west coast. Don't rush into anything. Wait for that really good deal to come.

thekid · 10-10-2005, 12:43 AM

60k on the car isn't bad at all, but as others are saying it is a little pricey. Remember you are shopping for a BMW. Almost all of the BMW's from the years that you are looking for are going to be 1 or 2 owner cars, they are all going to be garage kept with records, service and maybe old ladies near by. You are looking at paying a premium price for a BMW that has been treated as most other BMWs have been treated. But if you are like me, you find the ones that have not been garaged kept and have peeling clear coat... then you get a great deal on it because it has not been taken care of like all of the others that are for sale.

theironm0nk · 10-10-2005, 10:15 PM

Delmarco your forgeting that in some sport packages they had lsds