2001 325xi wagon. What do you think. (Made a low ball offer)

I found one and the owner thinks it is worth $4500-5K. I said well yes it would be all day long if it was in good condition but yours needs:

All 4 tire due to your daughter driving it with low / flat tires down to the gas station to put air in them. This creased/cracked the sidewalls on all 4 tires. (see car not driven much below for why this happened)

New half shafts in the front. One side is completely junk the other has cracked boots.

New Battery (wont hold a charge) charging system tested good

Son got in to a fender bender and creased the right side of the car a couple years back. It was all fixed but it is noted in the car fax as a "major incident"

The left side has rust bubbling on the front fender by the headlight and there is borderline cancer spot where the B pillar of the drivers door meats the sill (Will need to be cut out and new metal welded in) small patch but needs immediate attention or it will become a big deal.

It is not a sport optioned car it is a plain Jane one with an automatic.

There is a oil leak from the front main.

There is a leak from the front transfer case.

The cooling system has never been touched.

Ding in the hood above the BMW emblem (probably have to replace the hood)

Needs headlight bulb

Now the good.

It is it "only" has 117K miles. The last 4 years it has been a 3rd car and been driven very little.

The interior is in very good shape for its age and millage.

The maintenance on the car has been done with reasonable regularity and there are service records back to new.

Other than the half shafts the car runs and drives excellent.

It does have a nice option package on it (has the moon roof / sunroof option)

All buttons windows etc work.

So nothing on the bad list above scares me repair wise. I actually have wanted one of these cars for a long time AWD, with 90 percent of a BMW 3 series 2wd goodness and the versatility of a small wagon. I would use it as a DD in and out of Boston.

However there is the matter of $$$$$$ I offered 1k cash. They were almost offended as they think that there car is worth 4-5K. I came back today and provided Ebay listings and local craigslist listings of similar cars and what they were selling for. I even found a sport optioned one with very similar problems that they were ASKING $1500. Anyway I again pointed out all the issues that the car had and that if all these were fixed the 4-5K number is accurate however as the car sits it is a 1k car to me. Of course they went away a bit flustered but I suspect that they are going to come back with a counter offer and that means I need to be prepared.

The real question is what really is the car worth? I am thinking $1500-2K. I am prepared to go $1500 with out any issue hell f they said 1800 I would do it with out blinking. But more than that and I will have to think about it.

What do you all think?

Am I on the mark? Am I being an SOB and I should take it for more? Are they out to lunch and be happy to get scrap value?

They could drive that car to any used car lot in america and get $2500-$3000 for it. Just saying.

You get thing for challenge money or less you are stealing it..

gofastbobby wrote: They could drive that car to any used car lot in america and get $2500-$3000 for it. Just saying.

I kindof really doubt this.

If they told me bring 2000 cash I would probably do it... but again, i was a euro car mechanic for a few years and bmws dont scare me. id love to find a cheap 3 series wagon with a stick

I don't know what the market is like around your part, but around here, that is a 1.5 to 2K car. The big problem is the rust and cosmetic issues. Even here in rustopolis, it's easy to find an E46 without any rust. But honestly, why are you interested in that car. It's too old and german to make a good DD. It's too automatic to be a race-car. It's too much a station wagon to be seen in. And it's not even a bargain enough to make you pass over those limitations. YMMV

In reply to Swank Force One:

I guess they pull a premium in MI.

I shopped e46 wagons for two years before giving up and buying something else. I'd give $2500 without thinking twice. Okay, I'd think twice, but only about the awd part. Were it a non-awd car I'd probably give closer to $3000, and feel like I got a good deal.

If it were 2wd, sport package and 5-speed, I'd be thinking more like $6-7K.

You didn't make a low ball offer. You made an insulting offer. If I was the seller I would have told you to f-off for wasting my time. Looking at ebay you can buy a 200K runner for 2500. That is the absolute lowest of the low.

As a buyer you want to look at all of the flaws, and subtract from that. I commend you but at some point you have to realize this is a 13 year old car. At this point a level of rust is expected and built into the valuation. If you want a premium car, you're going to pay a premium price.

If you can get the car for 3K, you stole it.....unless you can show us pics of how "poor" the condition is

Up in Canuckland, there is no such thing as a $2k BMW, no matter the mileage or if it is running. E30 or newer, and it is worth minimum $2500 no questions asked. I would imagine some areas of the US are similiar. Considering it is an awd one (which if you guys haven't noticed, only a couple of years ago Subaru was the only major manufacturer of awd cars, now it is basically a requirement as an option on new cars), that commands a premium (especially in a snowy area of the country).

Having said all that, you are dreaming if you think they will meet you anywhere on price. IMO, anything between $3k-$6k has $1k of padding built into the price of how much someone will budge due to how quickly they want it gone. There is no way in hell you get it for $2k. Maybe $2500 if you "sold" them on the fact it is "too expensive".

I think that $2.5-3k is in range based on what you've described. If I was the seller, I would have been insulted with the $1k offer.

HiTempguy wrote: Up in Canuckland, there is no such thing as a $2k BMW, no matter the mileage or if it is running. E30 or newer, and it is worth minimum $2500 no questions asked. I would imagine some areas of the US are similiar. Considering it is an awd one (which if you guys haven't noticed, only a couple of years ago Subaru was the only major manufacturer of awd cars, now it is basically a requirement as an option on new cars), that commands a premium (especially in a snowy area of the country). Having said all that, you are dreaming if you think they will meet you anywhere on price. IMO, anything between $3k-$6k has $1k of padding built into the price of how much someone will budge due to how quickly they want it gone. There is no way in hell you get it for $2k. Maybe $2500 if you "sold" them on the fact it is "too expensive".

Cough, cough, riiiiiiight. Last time I checked, Quebec is still part of Canuckland:

Needs an engine for 1600$
High mileage, but needs nothing for 1900$
High mileage, with electrical problems for 2000$
Lower mileage, needs a battery and rear brakes for 2000$
etc....
Heck, there are more than a dozen E46 for sale under 2.5K right now. And I've never seen one that was rusty.

You 'muricans sure like your bimmers.

And what is all this business of insulting offer? It's an offer, and if the guy thinks he can get more easily, he will. That's it.

Sounds like a $1500 car to me.

So the reality is you all are all over the map. I did do some homework and found that these are not uncommon. The rust is the biggest issue I have.

Why do I want it? I like BMWs I want AWD and I commute in traffic just about every day and doing it in a Porsche is getting old. Stop and go traffic in a manual car gets old really fast. Yes it is a 14 year old ca rbut I am DDing a 27 year old Porsche so a 14 year old BMW will be practically a new car.

I knew it was a low ball offer when I made it and I was almost embarrassed that I blurted it out but it is where I felt the starting point for me is. Hopefully we can meet some where that is reasonable.

There want for 4k is crazy. I found 3-4 of them in NE that are in perfect running order with similar millage for that price. This is far from prefect running order. It needs easily 1.5K in parts plus the labor to install plus the body work so 1K to me seemed like the number to start at. Probably should have had more tact about it but I did get a chance to explain why I was at where I was at and they seemed a bit crest fallen but I think there eyes were opened to the fact that there "baby" was in need of a fair amount of work to be a 4K car. The station where it is sitting is writing up a quote to fix all that is wrong with it and that may wake them up we will see. the owner of the station is kind of brokering the sale and he is a friend of mine so we will see. Not the end of the world if I don't get it. I would like it. Just one of those things I stumbled on. We will see.

Those cars are still expensive in my area, and they seem especially popular with the eastern european owned used car dealers. You don't really see any drivable e46 for less than $4k yet.

Forget that you're going to do 95-100% of the repairs...

Bodywork/welding/paint, coolant system overhaul, fixing both leaks, half-shafts... Sounds like $3,000 devided between at least two shops easy.

$3,000 in repairs to make it respectable, plus your offer, comes out to the asking price.

You are on crack if you think they are going to negotiate with someone who offers 25% of their asking price. I'd be very surprised if you hear back from them. There are plenty of ignorant folks who would buy that car for $3.5 and drive it 20-50k miles before it really needs a ton of work. That's when they really get cheap. If cheap bimmers are so plentiful in your area, why are you even looking at a car listed at $4k?

fanfoy wrote: It's too much a station wagon to be seen in.

Them's fightin' words.

Honestly, I am surprised the sellers are trying to sell that car in such a state of disrepair. I understand not wanting to sink anymore money into a car, but I think a good set of tires would go a long way in justifying a higher selling price.

Pass, find one without rust. Rust sucks.

High-mileage E46s are on our local CL all the time here in the $3.5-4k range. I haven't looked at a single one, so I can't speak to their condition. I've noticed that wagons seem to command a $1k premium over a sedan, and AWD also increases values by around $500-1k over the RWD versions.

In good shape (but with some issues), I'd expect that car to go for $5-7k around here (CT). Obviously, this one has more extensive issues, but the seller hasn't full priced them in. If they're not willing to come down to what you're willing to offer, then I'd move on. Another prospective buyer will see the car, not realize the extent of the issues, and jump on it closer to their asking price.

I'm with the crowd who are saying you made an insulting offer.

The reason people say buy the best car you can is the cost of repairs is always more than the value of a car not needing those repairs. At best if I were them I'd say $4k - 50% of the repairs. If the repairs are $3k I'd knock of a maximum of $1.5k so accept a $2.5K offer - at best

If your logic were true most people would have to pay the 'buyer' when they sold their vehicles.

dean1484 wrote: There want for 4k is crazy. I found 3-4 of them in NE that are in perfect running order with similar millage for that price. This is far from prefect running order. It needs easily 1.5K in parts plus the labor to install plus the body work so 1K to me seemed like the number to start at. Probably should have had more tact about it but I did get a chance to explain why I was at where I was at and they seemed a bit crest fallen but I think there eyes were opened to the fact that there "baby" was in need of a fair amount of work to be a 4K car.

I'll bet if you actually go LOOK at those other cars "in perfect running order", you'll find a long list of things wrong with them too.

If it were me, and I saw that the car had all those issues for that kind of money, I would have avoided the insulting offer and just walked away. That car sounds like a used up POS, and not worth your time. Let the seller find some other sucker to bait.

I'm sure you could find a cleaner example for that kind of money or less.

fanfoy wrote: Cough, cough, riiiiiiight. Last time I checked, Quebec is still part of Canuckland:

Its not part of Canada that anybody west of Ontario cares about Quebec car prices are not inline at all with anywhere else in the country.

Quebec used cars are scary. I was looking a while back and found out that it is fairly easy to get a clean title on a salvage car from another province or even from the US. Accident damage is also not reported. Because of these issues Quebec cars are discounted 15% or more. Then there are the harsh winters, salt and suspension crushing road conditions.