Purchase advice needed

[m3f_lwareham]

Hello all,



I'm in the market for an M3 4-door and an auto broker found me this car:



1998 4dr, 5spd, 58K Bright Blue.



$21,500.00



Is this a fair price, or should I keep looking? Seems like the '98s are a lot more than the '97s.



Any advice would be helpful. Just got out of a '98 323is, so I'm not totally new to e36's.



THanks,



Lee

[m3f_salty_80d4b8491b]

In the winter that would probably be in the 18 range. I looked for three months last winter and found a lot of cars with around 60k in the $17,500-20,000 range. I ended up buying a 98 for $21,400 with 23,000 miles. Might be some wiggle room there, and hopefully the car is mint for that price.

[m3f_97E36SILVE_7eaf2bc582]

I got my 97 m3 mint w/80k for 14,500... but its a coupe.

[m3f_mikasa]

Before I purchased my '99 Coupe 64K I was also looking at a '98 4-door 100K. They were asking somewhere in the high 18s, 18700 if I remember correctly.



You have to keep several things in mind before purchasing used:

1. KellyBlueBook does NOT take much into consideration regarding availability. Yeah it might suggest 18 as an entry price, but if you can't find the dang car....$18K is a worthless figure.

2. KBB does a "rough" estimate with miles. You can't ask for much from a '98 with less than 60K miles. That less than 12K miles per year. Not much if you ask me.

3. For the most part, and this is just roughly, most people who buy a 4-door are either family people, workers or something along those lines. (My friend refers to them as dorks.) What I mean is that they prob did not run the thing as hard as say a teenager would a coupe.



I opted for the '99 with 60K miles for $28500. Pristine condition, tints, M wheels (not the regular M wheels), and really nice interior.



At any rate, I think that price you mentioned sounds good.

You'll know if its yours the second you see it.



e

[m3f_lwareham]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'll check it out and if it thrills me, I'll take it.

[m3f_Jkan2001]

I bought my 97 m3/4 with around 60K miles on it in very good shape for 14,300 but the guy was desperate to get rid of it and get a SUV cause his 2nd baby was about a week from delivery.