What's my E34 540i/6 worth?

[bbig119]

Its been a while since I've been active. Its been a good seven years with my E34 540i 6 speed, but I'm thinking of selling. The car has 207,000 on the body, but had an engine swap at 97,000 miles (nikasil to alusil). The car drives good and it in good condition mechanically, but the body is showing some age: The clear coat has worn away from the roof, I have some rust on the driver side door, and the interior is a bit beat up. The previous owner, did the auto-manual swap himself.

I've taken it to an indy to have the car checked out to get a rundown of what kind of issues might need to be addressed-- either by me or the indy. I'm trying to get an idea for what the car is worth. I have an idea in my head, but I'm not sure if its a realistic number. I'm in no rush to sell, but if the right opportunity comes knocking I can sell immediately.

[genphreak]

Probably not much. But if it is any consolation, it is certainly worth more to someone who will appreciate it.

So that depends on how long you want to take to find them, or how well you can find them. If you focus on finding the right person first, the right price second- it is going to be quicker and cheaper. It might depend how you want to see her end or prevail; a lot of people wait years to sell an old Bimmer, and then sell it to a breaker due to neglect or part them out. Also a lot of people are silly enough to buy a 20 year old Bimmer only to find they can't deal with maintenance bills no-one wanted them about.

[bbig119]

I certainly wouldn't mind taking a hit in price to see it go to a good home. I'm not in any hurry to sell at the present moment, so if it hangs around for a while, I get to enjoy the car more.

[Tiger]

Age is relative... if you enjoy driving the car and it cost very little to maintain it... then by all mean keep it... it is the best investment you ever made because at the least, majority of the money you earned are staying in your bank account.

Whereas if you bought a new car or newer car... money flow out of your bank account very very rapidly and kinda never ends.

There is a lesson in this... I recently ran across an ad on autotrader... a 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo with 97,000 miles on it. Yes, you read it right... 97 thousand miles.

So, a $250,000 car plus taxes... then insurance...massive depreciation, fuel cost (est. $37,000) plus maintenance expense.

Sounds expensive right? Well, this guy also fixes his own car... I am guessing he also spent around $50,000 to maintain it... he did spend $20,000 in parts to rebuild the motor and he did redo all suspension and a full paint job (Texas sun).


Other similar Lambo sells for $10K higher but only has like 18k miles or less.

So who is smarter? The one who drove a lot of mileage or the one with very little mileage?

I would say the one with 97,000 miles... at the very least, he enjoyed the car and his money... plus he enjoys wrenching his own Lambo.

The other guy, didn't drive it much and took a beating in depreciation cost.