RIP to the E36s in the Junkyard

I went to our local junkyard this past Saturday with a list of parts to target for my E36 track car. 

I got there, walked through the yard and HOLY COW they only had probably 1/4 of the inventory that they normally do. Usually I can find about 5 or so E36s at any point in time in this junkyard. On this day I walked the whole yard and there was not a single BMW there (any model). I guess scrap prices have risen enough that they are crushing stuff as fast as they can? Anyone else seeing this at their favorite pick-a-part?

There hasn't been a junkyard that lets you on site within a 2 hour drive of my house in at least 15 years, if not 20.

Really? Where are you?

I got lucky and there was an e36 on the lot while inventory had it listed as the wrong year. Second E36 I've seen at that yard in the past 10 years. I have noticed that LH chassis vehicles are getting thinner and thinner on the ground tho. 

In reply to Duke :

Oh actually I can see your location on your profile. If that's still the case, my local pick-a-part is about an hour from you. Next time you feel like wading through the mud for some used parts look up Bennett & Cohey in Chestertown. But like I said it's not really worth a trip now. Usually quite a few E36s and Miatas dot the yard.

DjGreggieP said:

I got lucky and there was an e36 on the lot while inventory had it listed as the wrong year. Second E36 I've seen at that yard in the past 10 years. I have noticed that LH chassis vehicles are getting thinner and thinner on the ground tho. 

That's wild. They are really not uncommon in the yard around here... Usually...

I don't know if they're scrapping cars any faster, I wonder if it's a supply problem for them. The local pick n pull has a bunch of BMWs but not a single E36. There's a bunch of E46s though! I wonder if that is due to E36s kind of aging out of the junkyard. Like you used to be able to find a massive number of Volvo 240s in junkyards but now most of what's left on the ground is going to enthusiasts or long term 'I'll get to it some day' types. Maybe the E36 is in a similar stage of its life now.

Or I'm full of crap.

That could be the case. But just overall the yard had significantly fewer cars than normal. Like areas that had them stacked three high previously are now just sparsely populated. No E46s either. Not a single BMW. Maybe it's just this junkyard and they are purging cars for some reason. 

I was also recently looking for E36 parts in the junkyard and discovered the same thing.  Same thing happened to me with EF Civics and DA Integras 10 years ago.  There's a sweet spot between 10 and 20 years old where cars are plentiful, and E36s have just aged out of that.

I have never seen a Miata in a junkyard.  

I just saw an E36 vert in a junk yard. A Saab 900 too. Turbo was still attached.
 

I too have never seen a Miata in a junk yard.

In reply to dculberson :

I agree with the aging-out theory. Same reason you don't see many early 90's car in general anymore. They're approaching 30 years old. A rolling 20 year old bell curve old seems to be the formula for most junkyard inventory. Probably a function of depreciation curves, insurance totaling calculations, and annual mileage of the average driver.

In reply to Appleseed :

Man, maybe I've been unknowingly spoiled. The second to last time I was there, there were two pretty complete NA Miatas. 

Up here E36's are rare in our pick n pull yards, I swear there as many E90's as there are E46's at the moment. 

Edit - just checked our largest local yard, 6 x E46, 4 x E90 at the moment so not quite there yet.

I haven't lived by a Pull-A-Part in 5 years. But back then I was a frequent customer. That lot, CapeFearPicknPull,  usually had a few E36s on the lot.  Currently they have two e36s and surprisingly many e90s.

Now finding E36/5 specific parts... sucks to be me.

They are 20 years old so it's not a surprise they are getting thin on the ground in salvage yards.  I have it worse than you...I drive an e30 and an e28.

The early cars are 30 years old.  My first 325i had a 1991 build date.  They were plentiful in junkyards 10 years ago, all but dried up now.  E-46 cars have peaked as well in my local yard.

The fact is that non-M E-36 cars are really thin on the ground, not just in junkyards but viable cars as well.  They were the cheap RWD solution for a long time and they got used up.  There are more E-30s that have survived.

Maybe you still see some ragtops and automatics but when was the last time you saw a 5-speed coupe on CL that didn't need everything?  Or a sedan for that matter.

The remarkable thing is that E-36 M3 prices are rising fast but the non-M cars are not being pulled along.  The nicest 325i you ever did see barely cracks 5-figures on BaT

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1993-bmw-325is-11/

Heck, I only found a half dozen Ford Rangers in my U-Pull-It a couple weeks ago. Ford Rangers. But fear not, Dodge Dakota owners, as most every one of them is currently in inventory.

Can relate. This is why I bought cheap C900s and put them at the back of my property.