Pricing a mutt? E36 "m3" content

I dreamed my E36 332Ti was going to be my forever car. But my life has changed quite a lot since I bought it. And it's life has changed too. Thinking about putting it up for sale. Being a mutt and having some issues it's hard to put a price on it. I've seen similar cars going for around $10k but can't find any comps in the post-covid market. And there's that meddling headgasket issue.

Not quite ready to sell, but wondering if anybody could give me a range?

1999 318ti
150k on chassis
130k on drivetrain
Repainted factory Avus Blue January 2017
S52/ZF5/Brakes/Dashboard/Vaders swapped from 1998 M3
Bargain Tirerack wheels with mild curbing and new tires
Interior reuphostered in faux-ostrich
Cooling system replaced at 140k
Window Regulators replaced at 145k
Lowered on Eibach springs, Billstein struts and Koni Shocks

Known Bad:
Likely has a mildly blown headgasket
AC compressor always energized
Glovebox and headliner have gravity issues

That's hawt!

Man, that looks great. 

I don't think $10k is nuts. How bad is the headgasket?

Looks like you were able to swap quite a few parts from the M3. Mirrors, steering wheel look M3. 

Where are you located I know a guy into stuff like this

I don't think $10k is too far out honestly. I paid $8000 (CAD) for my small block swapped 94 325is that also had a fair number of cosmetic issues and is still in need of a fair number of small mechanical repairs as well. And that was 3 years ago when I purchased it. 

Slippery said:
How bad is the headgasket?
Looks like you were able to swap quite a few parts from the M3. Mirrors, steering wheel look M3. 

It burns about a gallon of coolant for every tank of gas. I've only been driving it in 10 mile bursts for the past 2 years for that reason.

Yes, lots of other M3 goodies. My favorite is the Dashboard which I sadly don't have a photo of. I never liked the compact dash, and the M3 dash really fits the overall theme of the car better.

Opti said:

Where are you located I know a guy into stuff like this

The car is in Buxon, NC. Although I am far from there at work for the winter.

I have seen really clean ones at $8500 in Ohio, and others listed in the $12-13k range in NY.

10 is probably about right. I just sold my TI, this would have absolutely made it the ideal car. Really good looking, and the dash swap is nice.

10k for a mechanically sound car sounds reasonable. I think you're going to struggle finding a buyer willing to take on the head gasket repair for 10k. 

any more pictures?  

I'd take on the headgasket and get that fixed, with it in it's current state that is a big question mark for a potential buyer at that price. With it fixed I think the dollars invested to make that happen will be more than made up for in the sale price, maybe it's a BAT car at that point too? You also might fall back in love with the car if you can reliably drive it further.

I'm with Adam, fix the head gasket and ask $15k. As is, I think you would do well to get $8k. It's a VERY specific buyer that wants this car, especially with a HG issue.

Is a "meddling head gasket issue" kinda like being a little pregnant? 

David S. Wallens said:

Is a "meddling head gasket issue" kinda like being a little pregnant? 

It really is just a minor pregnancy. 

Quality of the repaint? How about consumables like control arms, tie rods, FCABs, RTABS, diff mounts? Mismatched shocks not the best sign for a 5 figure price either. 

Love the car but would be hard pressed going to $10k with a head gasket and suspension refresh staring me in the face day 1. Maybe $8500?

Really do love the car and the paint color is hawttttt.

Olemiss540 said:

 Mismatched shocks not the best sign for a 5 figure price either. 

I gotta disagree that this is a problem. It'd be one thing if you had stockers on the front and air shocks on the back...but mixing and matching Bilstein and Koni seems just fine from where I'm sitting.  You might want to change them out for different characteristics, but that's fine-tuning.

I agree with you about the suspension consumables.    Also that the paint color is drop-dead sexy. 

Great color, there are a lot of folks that love the Ti!  I agree that the head gasket issue would be a major turnoff, especially since BMWs are so sensitive to overheating. As a result, that would bring the price down significantly for your target market. I'm with the camp that says fix the HG and then ask double for it.