The Official Bring A Trailer (BaT) Thread

[Bimma360]

..

Yeah that’s probably right.

[0-60motorsports]

TLDR. I am too old to think of an e46 as an “investment”.

It is an old car that’s fun to drive.

Im with you! Exactly the same.

[0-60motorsports]

Obviously that car is going to a collector, to be squirreled away in a barndaminium in Texas until it gets passed on to another collector. That car will never accumulate any sort of real milage again.

If I was spending 100K On an E46, I'd much rather buy something like this and actually drive it.

https://m3list.com/listing/e46-m3-234635/

Hell No im paying $100k for that 215k mile M3..........Just because its restored its worth $100k? Hell NO.

[9kracing]

42 is not old right?

..

[Bimma360]

TLDR. I am too old to think of an e46 as an “investment”.

It is an old car that’s fun to drive.

haha, we actually agree. Although I am not old. 42 is not old right?

[02_lsb]

Regarding values, specifically on that $120k example, I'll offer a different perspective. If you factor inflation, the MSRP on that 2005 M3 is $83K. So that particular BAT car sold for 50% over MSRP. When I look at it like that, that doesn't entirely surprise me honestly. And it's all relative I think. I am personally willing to spend MSRP (or maybe even a little more) to experience this car the way I want to experience it b/c I wasn't in position to back in the early to mid 2000's. So I don't doubt that there are plenty of people out there that want to do the same thing in their own way and are willing to spend 50% more. Especially, if their thesis is that when they are done they can get their money back or even make a little bit of a profit. You can do that all day long with exotics, so you might be able to do it with the right e46. At least, that is my analysis on what would go through someone's mind to pay $120k for an e46 M3.

Wait until the CSL's start popping up in 2 years. I think they'll be moving at $250K+. And while I buy and modify cars for me, without a care about value and money, my thesis (hope) is that CSL's hitting the US market will give a nice bump to the nicely/thoughtfully CSL'd regular e46's. B/c it just takes someone like me, that is willing to spend the $80k for the right e46 M3 experience, but in no way thinks $250K+ is worth the ultimate version of that experience. Regardless, I hope I love this car enough for non of this to even matter. But that's been my perspective.

TLDR. I am too old to think of an e46 as an “investment”.

It is an old car that’s fun to drive.

[02_lsb]

Y'all, please stop telling people about N52 E90s.

I sold my e61 6mt with 265k, last I heard it’s got over 300k, still on the road. Superb engine. If you skip the n54 grenade and opt out for a 2 year run of the n52s - can’t go wrong other than the archaic CCC.

unless you’re buying a one year only run of the 330i, spend the money on the upgraded intake manifold and upgrade your disa valves.

[9kracing]

Meanwhile I bought a low mileage Dinan S3-R and put a roll cage in it

#yolo

[discoelk]

Y'all, please stop telling people about N52 E90s.

[tnord]

We recently bought a post-nerf N52 E90. 6MT, RWD, zero options other than paint. 100% stock as of now. I am consistently shocked at how good it is to drive for the specs. Definitely leaves me wanting relative to the M3, but not as much as I'd have thought. And of course it's way smoother and quieter. I keep wanting to mod it, and then I'm like "nope – don't want to mess this up."

if I was going to buy another one I'd get the final year of production then do the intake manifold swap from the 2006, plus the tune to make it work and you should be around 265-270hp iirc.

I would have kept it a long time but it got major hail damage and somebody offered me silly money for it during covid.


back on topic, the auction on C&B is going quite well so far.

[George Hill]

Its all relative. I agree that any of these "low" mileage big money M3s are likely going to sit in a showroom but maybe not.

I have a client with a 2003 Alpina Z8, it has 12,500 miles on it and he's put 4k on it in the 3 yrs he's owned it... INCLUDING driving it Texas from California, lol. You want to talk about devaluing a car, I wonder how much that is per mile on that car, lol. What a maniac (I love it), those guys are out there.

[Slideways]

We recently bought a post-nerf N52 E90. 6MT, RWD, zero options other than paint. 100% stock as of now. I am consistently shocked at how good it is to drive for the specs. Definitely leaves me wanting relative to the M3, but not as much as I'd have thought. And of course it's way smoother and quieter. I keep wanting to mod it, and then I'm like "nope – don't want to mess this up."

We can change that lol



Skip to 4:25. The swirling noise does sound weird as hell. I'm guessing that is from air moving and the Valvetronic system.

[IamFODI]

Underrated platform for a "similar" experience is an N52 E90/E88. I had a 2006 e90 with the N52 before they nerfed it and I thought of it as a modern version of the E36M3 sedan. Transmission was great, I had the Euro airbox, M Performance exhaust, and the front end of the car with a square set of 255s was great. It gave me zero real problems over 5 years of daily use. The 255hp in stock trim was just enough to be fun.

If this platform really takes off and my particular car gets up in the $50k+ range I could see selling it for an easier ownership experience, great driving dynamics, and an extra $40k in my pocket.

We recently bought a post-nerf N52 E90. 6MT, RWD, zero options other than paint. 100% stock as of now. I am consistently shocked at how good it is to drive for the specs. Definitely leaves me wanting relative to the M3, but not as much as I'd have thought. And of course it's way smoother and quieter. I keep wanting to mod it, and then I'm like "nope – don't want to mess this up."

[tnord]

Underrated platform for a "similar" experience is an N52 E90/E88. I had a 2006 e90 with the N52 before they nerfed it and I thought of it as a modern version of the E36M3 sedan. Transmission was great, I had the Euro airbox, M Performance exhaust, and the front end of the car with a square set of 255s was great. It gave me zero real problems over 5 years of daily use. The 255hp in stock trim was just enough to be fun.

If this platform really takes off and my particular car gets up in the $50k+ range I could see selling it for an easier ownership experience, great driving dynamics, and an extra $40k in my pocket.

[Bimma360]

Are you going to drive, spiritedly, an $127,500 e46 m3 where are a large chunk of it's value is tied to low mileage and excellent condition? My argument is that if you're an enthusiast who wants to experience the car you don't spend that money as its inherently unnecessary. Everyone here is well versed in what takes to get his platform "right" and that kind of money doesn't make it more right. I'm willing to wager this car sits in a garage/warehouse. I don't think you experience a car by adding 500 to a 1000 miles and then trying to recoup money because you don't want to devalue it too much.

All that said, money is no object type of thing then more power to them (assuming they actually drive the car).

Well, like I said it's all relative. Would I "drive, spiritedly, an $127,500 e46 m3 where are a large chunk of it's value is tied to low mileage and excellent condition?" If I made 4x the amount of money I do, yes I would. In fact, I would probably still modify it too. Again, if I want a certain experience and it is what I am comfortable spending everything else is irrelevant. The problem is "experience" means different things to different people and it's a fallacy to think that it's universal. I am more than certain you can have the full e46 M3 experience for $30k-40k. While absolutely nothing wrong with that, I personally would not be interested in that.

Having said all of that, I think you are probably right in how this car is going to be treated. But I'll play devils advocate and say it still might be a great way to experience this platform. If you live somewhere where you can only take it out 6 months out of the year, that's basically 200 miles per month. I'd say that's actually not that limiting. BUT I think you can double that, do that for 1 or 2 years, and then move on to something else without actually loosing much if any money. Then take that money and buy a 997.2 Carrera with an aero kit, and do the same thing. Then a 575M, then a 430, then a Gallardo, an e39 m5, etc. etc. Even if you loose some money on every sale, say in 10 years you are $50K under. Who cares, you spent $5k a year to experience a ton of cool cars. I don't know, there is an argument to made on why spending $127k on that specific car might not be that terrible even if you do want to drive it as a second or 3rd car.