Help me decide a value for my 1998 M3

So I'm having a hard time pegging a value on my car.  It's set up as a Time Trial car, but still is licensed for the street, has cruise control, A/C, a radio, etc.  It'd be pretty easy to turn it into a full on street car, as I have the entire stock interior for it.

It's got some really nice mods for the track tho, things that most cars don't have, like dual fuel pumps, welded chassis reinforcements, welded oil pan baffles, welded oil pump nut.

All maintenance is current, needs nothing.  Low mileage (107k on the chassis, 87k on the motor), clean title, all original paint/panels with no damage.  Some unobtanium parts like the OEM E36 M3 LTW rear wing with risers.  I've seen just the wing risers sell for $1200-1400 alone!  Other high dollar parts like MCS 2WNR suspension, stoptech BBK front/rear, recaro SPG XL seats, etc, etc.

Alot of it I can replace with other good alternatives, but potential buyers are asking me for a base price on the car. 

So here are two examples that are built up, not quite like mine but close.  I have more expensive suspension, the LTW rear wing and low mileage.

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=596239
http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=598822

Here are some in California...

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/se...title_status=1

Truth be told, I'd prefer to not have to strip the car.  That's a bunch of my time, plus the time to take pictures, list the parts, deal with buyers, pack it up and ship it.  So there is some value to me to selling the car whole.  I'd have to endure much less bitching from my wife for spending a bunch of time in the garage wrenching, so there's that!

It seems like $14-15k is where this car is at, given the factory paint/panels/low mileage as a base price.  That would include OEM brakes, Koni's, 1 set of wheels, the ltw rear wing, all the motor stuff, front splitter, etc.  So basically no track pipe, no MCS, no stoptechs, no race interior.

That seem about in the neighborhood?  Problem I have is once stuff starts to get added back onto the car, it gets to be a pretty large number, not sure people will be willing to pay it.

Test post

Sorry, no clue.  The target market for that seems like the NASA TT guys, and I'm just an HPDE flunky.

If the MCS goes up for sale separately, I might be interested.

In reply to EastCoastMojo :

Still no email ping.

JBasham, I've gotten a few people who are interested in the car basically as it's built, but then the price is quite high.  My race interior I could sell for $2500, MCS' $2000, Stoptech $2000, so then it's a $20k+ dollar car.  I'm bumping into E46 M3 price territory then, although stock, not track prepped.

Firstly, nice car. Seems like a really solid build. 

I'd caution you that posted for sale prices and transaction values are two different things. Also, modifications rarely ADD value to the transaction price  I think, for you, this is a question of getting to most money out of the car or limiting your time investment. 

The other option is to leave the car as is and wait for the perfect buyer.

In reply to NordicSaab :

Yeah, it seems that way.  Either I put in the time and take the car back to as close to stock as possible and list it on BaT and sell all the parts seperately or I decide to just keep the car. 

I'd hoped to not have to go thru the labor of that but it may come down to that

I know my car is a completely different animal with 150k but I am planning on selling my 1998 m3 sedan for $7,900.00.

It is decent shape, has up to date maintenance, and would make a great hpde car.  Mine has konis, eibachs, Turner sway bars, hawk pads, lightweight fly wheel, new clutch and a square wheel setup with new rs4's.

Hope that helps...

You're going to have to give up something to move the car. It's either going to be your time or money left on the table. What do you want to give up to get the car to a new owner?

If you want to maximize the money you get, then spend time and pull off the racy stuff, and part it out separately from the rest.

If you want to maximize your free time, then leave some money on the table, put a lower price on it than you think it's worth and sell it as is.

I have no idea what streetable track E36s go for. I'd say if the car is worth $15k-17k in stock form, then something around $20k would probably move it fairly quickly but that's just a wild ass guess.

I just bought a E36 M3 TT car. Still streetable though no a/c. Stripped interior. Two sets of wheels. Much, much done to the suspension. Good cosmetically though has a few scratches and dings. Around 135k miles, which for one of these is pretty low. I paid $7500-ish.  That said, I feel like I got an incredible deal. Though I could find other M3s in that price range or slightly more they were usually pretty bone stock. My car has over $7000 of upgrades on it. I couldn't build one for anywhere near what I paid. I honestly think the car was worth closer to $10k but it would have been a harder sell for the owner and needed a few more things perhaps to bring it to that level.

I think once you hit $10k with these as a track toy they become too expensive. You can buy a E46 M3 for around that or a bit more and get way more performance (as well as additional headaches).

I think the OP should sell his car to the track crowd and not focus on any street driving. Street cars can be had for as low as $5000 if you are patient. A person like me who wants a well sorted track toy may be willing to pay the higher price to not have to build one from scratch.

Can't find E46 M3's for $10k around here.  Decent one of those is closer to $20k.  E36 M3 street cars for $5000 are beat. 

That's my issue.  My car isn't beat.  It's a low mileage, no stories, factory paint/panel car.  That alone prices it above pretty much 95% of the other E36 M3's out there.  Then you add all the parts that have substantial value, especially if I remove them and the price sky rockets. 

I have to make a choice.  Either try and sell the car as it is and take a huge loss or revert it back to OEM, sell off all the parts and then list the car on BaT and just accept whatever it sells for.

End of the day, I like the car a lot and am unwilling to sell it for a huge loss.  $10k for the car as it sits would be a slaughter.  I could sell the parts I have for close to that.  Honestly I think I'm going to put the OEM interior back in it, put in a softer set of springs and raise the ride height.  That way I can carry my kids in it and enjoy it more on the street, yet it'll still do fine for the 3-4 track days I can get to a year.

I'll sell off the harnesses since they're still in date and keep my race seats,rollbar and stiffer springs in my basement.  At some point I'll have more time to head back to the track and I'll reinstall everything to set it back to "race".

I'm in the same boat as you, Doc, trying to sell my car. I ended up taking it mostly back to stock for that same reason, but my car is by no means perfect. I think street-ifying the car and selling the other stuff might be your best bet. As you said, you'll still make it to the track a few times and have a sweet, relatively clean E36.

 

Nice car.  Now I am probably going to be the unpopular one here. This is nothing personal by the way just business is how I look at this kind of thing. 

You have a car that has a narrow audience that will appreciate what it is. Then finding someone in there to pay full price narrows that to a even smaller number. If you want to sit on it for an indefinite period of time ask what ever you want but remember you are not entitled to any return on any mods you make to a car. I have bought and sold many race cars and they always sell for pennies on the dollar spent on the mode. In many cases mods actually decrease the value versus stock. This has always been the way it is. Look at custom cars. Guys spend 80-100k having a car built and it sells for 40k at auction. 

Oh and the saying you make a small fortune from a large one going racing applies here as well. You paid to have fun with the car and hopefully you already got the amount of fun out of it versus what you put in to it. I look at track/race cars as amusement park rides. You spend money for the ride and your return for you money is the fun you had. The ticket stub you have after the rid is now worthless. A race car is the same. The go fast parts are the ticket. Once you go for the ride the ticket is now used and has little if any value. 

Again please don’t take this as a personal attack or me being a jerk. It is me just passing on years of racing and buying selling and building cars for myself and for others. 

In reply to dean1484 :

The one possible exception to that is the sale of winning racecars. You’ll still lose money compared to all the development that went into it, but you might not be giving away all the good parts for free like you otherwise would. 

I know it was mentioned on your other thread on the topic, and I agree that a no-reserve auction on BaT is going to net you the highest price for the lowest net output of effort.  

BaT casts a wide net over our relatively niche car-guy world.  I've sold three cars at no reserve on there and had a positive experience all the way around.  It's a little harrowing that 40-50% of the strike price happens in the last 5 minutes, but that's part of the fun.

Regardless of your chosen sales channel, full documentation, excellent pictures, and a realistic market evaluation are key.

Have you mentioned why you're selling it?  That might weigh into the advice folks lend.  

Ironically right after I'd decided to make the car more of a street car and keep it for myself, a guy I'd been emailing about the car asked to come see it this Friday.  Sounds like he wants it pretty much as is and sees the value in it.

Guess I'll find out in a few days.  If he doesn't want it, then I'll continue with my street car plan.

Tyler H, I agree, if I decide to sell it I'll be making it as OEM as I can.  Take lots of good pictures, right up a proper description and submit it to BaT.

Around here, in Virginia, a clean, low mileage E36 M3 is in the $7500-10000 range.  Beat up drift missiles of dubious quality can be had from 3k.  From my past experience, you're lucky to get 40% of modification value when those parts are added to a car.  That puts you at ~14k, all in, if your parts are worth 10k separately. 

No harm in throwing it on the market with a "pie in the sky" price ($24,999 or something) and see what offers you get. Sounds like you may have a fish on the hook already, so best of luck. Not trying to cut the car down at all, I've loved following your build. 

I just think it's more realistic to put the car back to stockish, drive it/enjoy it, and sell the high dollar parts while they're still in great shape and have lots of value, and keep the irreplaceable stuff in storage until you can do something with it.  Or, put car to stock, sell for ~10k, and part everything, and clear 20k or so once finished (however long that may be from now).  

I'd love to find another M3 in the condition of mine for $7500-10000.  When I go looking, it seems like they're more in the $12-14000 range.

Denver in particular is a tough market for enthusiast cars.  There just aren't all that many here and very few for sale.  So that definitely effects the market.  If you want an SUV, pick up truck, Subaru or Audi tho, this is the place to come!

As far as parts go, I know I can easily sell the Stoptechs and MCS' for $4000, so I don't really have much incentive to leave them on the car for less than that.  I can put other suspension and brakes back onto the car if the buyer doesn't want to pay for the good stuff.

It all just comes down to what I'm willing to do and what a potential buyer is willing to pay...