Doug Demuro says now is the time to buy an e46 M3, before values sky rocket

[Chas3n]

I think Doug is 4 years too late on this one.

[maw1124]

He’s probably right, in addition to being Captain Obvious. But I’ve owned other “young classics” that have skyrocketed in value, but it didn’t (and doesn’t) stop me from driving them. Sure, garage queens will fetch the eye popping numbers (maybe, and eventually). But the point of these being quarter million mile cars is, your 150k mile example will appreciate as well. And yea, E46M cars are easily good for a quarter million miles. Drive it, take care of it, enjoy it, and you’ll STILL be in the money. Unless you mod it to death and track it (or wreck it), in which case all bets are off — you’re the only one who will want it when you’re done, no matter the color combo or other spec (SMG, Manual, Vert, whatever).

But… another Captain Obvious point… cars are never investments… even the ones that quadruple in value over 10 years (like my 500E). When you back out the maintenance cost necessary to fetch that value, you’re happy if you break even. In any event, 400% will NOT be your gain if you count the fully loaded costs. Cars as an investment is a silly discussion. The same liquidity that produces a bubble in car markets produces an even bigger bubble everywhere else — stocks, real estate, art, you name it. Bitcoin anyone? Non Fungible Tokens? WTF are they, anyway, and why would anyone trade cash for them? I’ll spend that money on my E46M (or 500E, or beach house, or … real investments, what a crazy idea).

maw

MARKET CHECK HERE... https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3pj...m_medium=email

[bmw]

Cars are never investments, no matter how much their value increase relative to what you paid - in a grand scheme of things, they NOT going to make you money. Unless the car is something along the lines of 250GTO or a Alfa Type 33, etc.

So buy what you want, drive the wheels off of it, get the next one, and enjoy that one too. Life is too short to be concerned with loosing value of an "investment" that never was.

"never investments, no matter how much their value increase relative to what you paid"

hmm.

[headlock]

Down here in Aussie land the prices have been skyrocketing on these things for a little while. Particularly manuals. If you want a laugh, check this out:

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/bmw.../?sort=topdeal

The cheapest is $60k with nearly 200k km on the clock. The most expensive is a pretty nice PY with 89k km @ $120~k

[Duck360198]

The only thing I’ll say here is that, in my opinion, the market for a clean e46 is going to exponentially increase in the coming years. So much that it won’t be realistic to have multiples. That’s been the best part about the E46 market the past 5+ years. In 2011 we bought a cream puff stripper to hold onto because compared to the E9x m3 and the e36 m3, it just felt perfect in all aspects. That car was priced higher than anything on the market...by far. There was nothing out there with comparable mileage...even at EAG. BUT you could then go and buy a kick around m3 for the fraction of the price and completely enjoy the car. For the one garage queen there were 6 others (not all at one time) that could be driven worry-free. So I have zero regrets not driving the cream puff that much. In the meantime, it will continue to appreciate in value...or so I hope.

I’m working on securing another investment-grade car because I have that much faith in the E46. To each their own, I suppose. Just love everything about the E46.

[usdmej]

I don't think they understand the competition out here. We're not talking about people over extending themselves to get in. There are millennials/gen z with high incomes out here.

i dont know much about finance and the economics but this seems like the big difference between now and 2008 when everybody and their momma could get pre-approved for a ridiculous amount of money.

the people buying houses here now are LOADED. like, put a cash offer with no contingencies on a 2+million dollar home and spend a couple of years renovating it before moving in kind of money.

[ridebikes]

One thing that makes me feel okay about putting miles on my M3 is that high mileage but well loved air cooled 911s seem hold their value pretty well.

Obviously they won't sell like a garage queen but it's not like a 200k but otherwise clean 911 SC is worthless. Mountains of paperwork? All the better.

Fingers crossed our cars get similar treatment 🤞

[pawa_k2001]

Cars and housing are both pretty terrible investments relative to other vehicles like the stock market, even if they do appreciate. My E46 is worth probably nearly twice what I paid seven years ago … but even ignoring insurance and maintenance I would have made way more elsewhere. Luckily that’s not why I bought it. Similarly my house is worth a good bit more than I paid even two years ago, but it doesn’t really matter … I live here and if I sold I’d just have to buy another. Plus insurance and maintenance on that too.

It does make me question driving and tracking it at 44k miles, which as I’ve said in other threads annoys me. I usually just drive my Miata even though I actually paid more for that (new) and it’s actually a fine substitute and maybe even more fun on public roads, except for that carbon airbox roar.

My E39 M5 probably has to go at some point, I don’t really have a great use for that and it’s rapidly getting too valuable to actually use. Especially since it’s only okay compared to the Miata and E46, and we have a CX5 if we really need a big car. The interior in the M5 with full heritage leather is glorious though, probably half the reason I still have it.

x2.

Housing prices are skyrocketing, I can sell my primary house and make a very good profit but that is only if I decide to move out of the area I am in. A friend of mine did sell a house and walked away with a good 6 digit figure but he had to move to a different location since buying a different house would eat all the profit he made.

[pawa_k2001]

ok, even if it drops
to 200% I'm still
good

As a person that lived in California during the 2008 housing bubble, anything can happen. I saw $500k houses at the peak sell for $150k.

[Phoenix///M3]

This. Gen 2 Lightning, Cobra Terminator, early Charger/300 SRT-8. These cars were beasts in their day and still are today. Prices are starting to go up and it’s hard to buy a stock Termi without an asking price of 28K and up. Might just go for a 4 valve SN95 Cobra since they’re still relatively cheap at around 10K for good examples. They aren’t very attractive though…

As for Stellis going electric I wouldn’t doubt seeing an electric/hybrid variant of the Challenger that makes like 1,000 HP. Definitely a possible goal, unlike the electric Hummer that claims a torque rating of 11,500. Like… huh???

Agree on all those. Had an SN95 4 valve Cobra back in the day as well. Here's Dodge CEO on their "eMuscle" future. Basically saying HEMI has reached it's practical HP limit and they'll launch a 100% EV muscle car in 2024.

and still reminiscing on the old days. One of the great car commercials of all time in my opinion

[Andrew 06M3Cab]

So buy what you want, drive the wheels off of it, get the next one, and enjoy that one too. Life is too short to be concerned with loosing value of an "investment" that never was.

What he said. The reason I bought this car was to drive it. That won't change. Although maintenance is not cheap, if you keep on top of things, the car has been very reliable (especially since I converted SMG to 6MT). And it is an absolute pleasure to drive.

[TexaZ3]

Cars are never investments, no matter how much their value increase relative to what you paid - in a grand scheme of things, they NOT going to make you money. Unless the car is something along the lines of 250GTO or a Alfa Type 33, etc.

So buy what you want, drive the wheels off of it, get the next one, and enjoy that one too. Life is too short to be concerned with loosing value of an "investment" that never was.

[Cubieman]

I too have become conscientious about milage as well as having new stock parts on hand for parts I have modified or sold off. I keep telling myself "you can't take it with you" and "I'll never sell it", but shit happens.


I want to purchase a second E46 M3 to SC or maybe even possibly turbo, I think it would be a blast to have a stupid quick E46 M3 but prices are such that I'll have to lower my standards to maybe a single turbo e9x 335i

[SQ13]

I sold my E36 M3 to buy my second E46 in 2019 bc I wanted to get into a streetable E46 again before prices potentially got crazy. Well, pricing is crazy now, and examples similar to my street car go for more than I imagined. Now I’m tempted to drive the car only 1-2k miles/year, unfortunately. Sad.

[jet_dogg]

So many chargers around here it's crazy. I must admit they sound great with exhaust and widebody hellcats look good but what am I going to do with a huge automatic sedan??