The Official Bring A Trailer (BaT) Thread

[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.

[CrisSilberGrau]

Here's the thing, whatever way you look at it, this car, this era is getting serious attention no matter which way you slice it. It was peak civilization late 90s early 00s.

I've driven a lot of other cars in the segment, we all know the formula to get the car right. There are zero things on the market now, and for about a decade that come close to this. Design wise its all an utter crap chute. Looking at this dudes portfolio he "seems" like a "fuck you money" rich enthusiast. This has bad and good sides. We agree mileage is way off being a collector, even the spec. The goat spec IMO is IB, MT, Mtextur, slicktop, stripper if you're collecting with low miles.

The reason these results always make noise is because most ppl drive newer stuff and have no idea unless you've owned or grew up in the era. Nothing new, only shit part is for the new enthusiast I think coming into this platform it just becomes crazy expensive now.

[1000hp]

All of the other cars on that list are priced where I'd expect them to be (the $315k 930 is kinda surprising, but I'm probably just not keeping up with p-car markets).

I don't think these are $130k cars even in like-new consition. But as an e46 M3 owner (with a nice one for sale), I hope they all start selling for insanely high prices 🤷🏽♂️

[maw1124]

More than one of those high dollar buyers has a weird mix of cars they paid way too much for and more attractive cars they let pass at more attractive prices. My inner Mark Cuban voice says "I'm out" when I see such silliness that doesn't add up. But "oh it's worth that because [X]" ain't it ... whether X be low mileage, color combo or whatever.

maw

[oceansize]

The thing that gets me about the 127k car is that it had 28000 miles. Is that really "collector grade" mileage??? I'd argue no.

That was the really weird stat on that car, it is low mileage, but as you said, not collector grade low mileage. The E46 M3 is one of the few non exotics where color plays a vital role, to a degree that seems absurd when looked at it as a percent of value, so I suppose that was the selling point for that particular car. All in all, a super weird auction.

The guy who bought it, also bought the following. Car dealer? Saudi? Private Equity group? Cars are all over the map.

28k-Mile 2005 BMW M3 Coupe Competition Package 6-Speed
Winner – 8 bids to USD $120,000 on February 19, 2026

1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi
Winner – 6 bids to USD $205,000 on January 27, 2026

Jet Green Metallic 2024 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Weissach
Winner – 4 bids to USD $457,500 on December 30, 2025

2023 Mercedes-AMG E63 S Wagon 4MATIC Final Edition
Winner – 5 bids to USD $140,000 on December 15, 2025

9k-Mile 2012 Audi R8 V10 Coupe 6-Speed
Winner – 7 bids to USD $167,000 on November 14, 2025

1995 Mercedes-Benz SL72 AMG
Winner – 1 bid to USD $430,000 on October 17, 2025

Original-Owner 38k-Mile 1997 Toyota Supra Turbo 15th Anniversary 6-Speed
Winner – 4 bids to USD $150,000 on July 22, 2025

No Reserve: Tubi Style Exhaust Components for Ferrari F50
Winner – 1 bid to USD $7,500 on June 12, 2025

No Reserve: 13k-Mile 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo Coupe
Winner – 1 bid to USD $315,000 on January 6, 2025

2024 Nissan GT-R NISMO
Winner – 8 bids to USD $311,000 on October 30, 2024