Hagerty: BMW Finally Nailed the American M3 Market with the E46 Generation

[Slideways]

On a slight tangent but relevant to older BMWs, I think Sreten from m539 restorations has single handedly done more for older BMWs than anyone else in the last 10 years. His YouTube channel has exploded in popularity and I appreciate his approach. Oddly, he doesn't seem to be a big fan of the e46 m3.

He mentioned somewhere else that he is planning on putting an S54 in the wagon.

[D-O]

Word for word what I was going to say. He also thinks the F355 sounds like crap

Ha!

I should say that in spite of the fact that he has shown very little love to the E46 I enjoy both he and Cammisa on Carmudgeon, and his BTS with DTS youtube series is great. The guy is terrifically articulate, which is refreshing these days.

[TexaZ3]

Ok.. and if that stated value is reduced, what happens to the premiums that go straight to Hagerty’s bank account? They themselves have stated that customers are calling to lower the value of their cars over the past year. Not sure why this would be difficult to grasp..

I have 8 M-cars insured with Hagerty. I don't reduce my stated value policy on any of them just because I think the market got softer. My stated value policies were never based on what I think my cars are worth in a marketplace to begin with. It is stated to what they are worth to me - and change in market value of some other car has no affect on a value of MY car to ME. What you wrote is a speculation at best. Decreasing stated value by $5K on a $30K car reduces the premiums by $31 per YEAR. Why would I do that?

On a slight tangent but relevant to older BMWs, I think Sreten from m539 restorations has single handedly done more for older BMWs than anyone else in the last 10 years. His YouTube channel has exploded in popularity and I appreciate his approach. Oddly, he doesn't seem to be a big fan of the e46 m3.

Sreten likes big girls )) He does have a E46 Touring, so...

[heinzboehmer]

On a slight tangent but relevant to older BMWs, I think Sreten from m539 restorations has single handedly done more for older BMWs than anyone else in the last 10 years. His YouTube channel has exploded in popularity and I appreciate his approach. Oddly, he doesn't seem to be a big fan of the e46 m3.

Couple of us in the Bay met him at a meet and talked M3s for a bit. He seemed to like the engine and chassis, but hate the transmission feel and exhaust noise. Seemed fond of the CSL intake though.

But he was also driving a car that wasn't in the best shape. Should have taken one of ours out for a spin

[01SG]

Word for word what I was going to say. He also thinks the F355 sounds like crap

I remember this guy. He's the one that was on that podcast where they talked about the E46 and yet the one guy didn't even understand which generation they were talking about, and this one was talking about "f***boys." I can't take the opinion of anyone who talks like that seriously. That was also where they made such sweeping generalizations as 911 always over M3, which is ridiculous comparing such different cars.

Ferraris are quite simply the greatest sounding cars out there, barring such oddities as the F1.

Just another third-rate journalist.

[oceansize]

Couple of us in the Bay met him at a meet and talked M3s for a bit. He seemed to like the engine and chassis, but hate the transmission feel and exhaust noise. Seemed fond of the CSL intake though.

But he was also driving a car that wasn't in the best shape. Should have taken one of ours out for a spin

This is sort of what I imagined. I love my convertible but I understand the best pure driving experience is in an OEM+ coupe with a CSL box. If he was driving that coupe from his site, yeah, that thing looked rough.

[oceansize]

Sreten likes big girls )) He does have a E46 Touring, so...

Excellent way to state the facts lol.

[JokerElite]

I too thought the article seemed a little late by using “finally”. Was never a fan of them dictating a specific percentage discount regarding convertible and SMG values as it lowers the average on these cars as a whole. In fact, it seems the gap is closing as the cars become more uncommon. The remainder of the article was well written.

[PetrolM3]

I have 8 M-cars insured with Hagerty. I don't reduce my stated value policy on any of them just because I think the market got softer. My stated value policies were never based on what I think my cars are worth in a marketplace to begin with. It is stated to what they are worth to me - and change in market value of some other car has no affect on a value of MY car to ME. What you wrote is a speculation at best. Decreasing stated value by $5K on a $30K car reduces the premiums by $31 per YEAR. Why would I do that?

Maybe you don't but according to Hagerty themselves, many of their customers have been reducing their states values - they've publicly stated this multiple times in the last few months.

We can agree to disagree here but the fact that the dude who wrote the article "hates" (his own words) the E46 M3 makes me even more suspicious of why it was written/released to begin with.

[TexaZ3]

Maybe you don't but according to Hagerty themselves, many of their customers have been reducing their states values - they've publicly stated this multiple times in the last few months.

We can agree to disagree here but the fact that the dude who wrote the article "hates" (his own words) the E46 M3 makes me even more suspicious of why it was written/released to begin with.

Again, speculation.
Hyphen is a very much a car guy, and there is nothing wrong with "hating" a car, but recognizing its significance in the overall order of things.

[PetrolM3]

I don't know the author personally, but he does not seem disingenuous, and he has his facts pretty strait.

Hagerty insures 2.4 million cars. If the overall value of those vehicles declines then it is reasonable that Hagerty will bring in less money, but they will also be exposed to less risk. I don't know if the reduction in casualty loss payouts will compensate for the reduction in revenue, but I believe it is unlikely that a few E46 M3's are going to move the needle for them.

Casinos, banks, insurance companies all make more money when there are more customers around, more sales, higher prices. The house always wins but they will a lot less in a crappy market. Sure, this article and E46 M3 might not move the needle much but this is just one article that we know about since we are the E46 M3 fanatics.... they have probably released a whole bunch more on other brands/models and they must be throwing the kitchen sink at their strategy to maintain profits. That's just how business works - they might be passionate about cars but they are in it to make money. Why would a dude who hates the E46 M3 write an article like this? lol

[D-O]

Casinos, banks, insurance companies all make more money when there are more customers around, more sales, higher prices. The house always wins but they will a lot less in a crappy market. Sure, this article and E46 M3 might not move the needle much but this is just one article that we know about since we are the E46 M3 fanatics.... they have probably released a whole bunch more on other brands/models and they must be throwing the kitchen sink at their strategy to maintain profits. That's just how business works - they might be passionate about cars but they are in it to make money. Why would a dude who hates the E46 M3 write an article like this? lol

"Why would a dude who hates the E46 M3 write an article like this? lol"

Because the facts he presented are true regardless of whether he personally likes the car or not.

A bunch of articles trying to drive up collector car values is not how they will maintain profits. They will simply raise rates to do that.

[TexaZ3]

Casinos, banks, insurance companies all make more money when there are more customers around, more sales, higher prices. The house always wins but they will a lot less in a crappy market. Sure, this article and E46 M3 might not move the needle much but this is just one article that we know about since we are the E46 M3 fanatics.... they have probably released a whole bunch more on other brands/models and they must be throwing the kitchen sink at their strategy to maintain profits. That's just how business works - they might be passionate about cars but they are in it to make money. Why would a dude who hates the E46 M3 write an article like this? lol

You really trying to find some sort of conspiracy in Hagerty posting an article about E46M AND justify it on a car forum?

[simon_c]

A little side topic but what are the differences between insuring with Hagerty vs. Grundy? Looks like most here go with Hagerty.

[Gearhead55]

Word for word what I was going to say. He also thinks the F355 sounds like crap

Anyone who thinks the F355 sounds bad should have their opinion on anything else disregarded. The F355 is hands down the best sounding street car ever. 787B is the best sounding race car ever.

I was at a track day at Streets of Willow one day and there was an event going on simultaneously at Big Willow. There was a 355 there, and hearing that thing at WOT hauling down that back straight was glorious. It stopped me in my tracks every time it went by.