At a crossroads, input wanted on what to do with my M3!

[2002TiM3]

Hi all,

I've been on this forum for a few years now and I am an avid reader, but I have never posted before. The e46 m3 has always been my attainable dream car and in late-2020 I purchased my current 2002 titanium silver over black e46 m3, replacing my 1999 cosmos over mulberry e36 m3 I had owned for years. Over the past 5 years I have been tastefully upgrading the car to be the perfect OEM+ driver and I think I've gotten it really close, arguably just missing a purple rack, 4.10 rear diff, and some Recaro pole positions.

Now getting to the crossroad I find myself at. We've recently welcomed our daughter into the world and are moving from Houston to San Francisco later this year, where I likely will no longer have a garage to store the car in. I've thoroughly enjoyed the car and I'm debating whether it is time to let it go, at least for now.

I'm looking for the group's thoughts / feedback on the following:

• Would you sell the car under similar circumstances? If so..
  • What price would you expect for a car with this maintenance and modifications?
  • Which site(s) would you list it on (auction vs. private)?
  • Anything I'm missing from my draft for sale ad?

Draft Sale Ad:

For sale is my 2002 BMW E46 M3 in titanium silver metallic over black leather with 84K miles. It has a clean Texas title, with no accidents on the Carfax history report, and up to date registration through February 2027. This M3 has a factory six speed manual and no sunroof, often called a “slick-top”. The car comes with both keys, original factory manuals, and the factory tool kit. This is my attainable dream car and I planned to keep it forever, however we recently had our first child, and I want something more practical. Thus, I want to find my M3 a good home! This is an amazing machine and has everything done so the new owner can really enjoy it with peace of mind for years to come (but don’t take my word for it, let the paperwork speak for itself).


This is a lifelong Houston car, originally sold at Momentum BMW Houston. I purchased the car with 81K miles in September 2020 from the fourth owner, who had the M3 for almost a decade. During my ownership I’ve invested nearly $70K into this car, $30K of maintenance and $40K of restoration and modifications.


All preventative maintenance has been taken care of under my ownership, and then some. The big three (Vanos, rod bearings, and subframe) were completed in 2021. Given this was a October 2001 build date car, prior to my purchase I also confirmed that the rod bearings recall had been taken care of for the first time by the dealer at ~40K miles. All airbag recalls have been completed as well.


In addition to preventative maintenance, the M3 has a full front clip PPF and I’ve done some OEM+ modifications to improve the driving experience. If you were to try to do this today, it would cost you over $10K more and some of these parts are no longer available from BMW. The CSL flap alone costs $1.5K, the CSL trunk is now $6K, the AP racing big brake kit is $7K, and supersprint exhaust costs $10K, a 70% increase from just a few years ago.


Summary of all maintenance & labor below (major items listed, full detail in images): $28,931.57


September 2020: $4,315.87

• Front crank seal
• Oil pan gasket
• Rear trailing arm bushings
• Thermostat
• Window trim and seals

October 2020: $986.35

• LCI tail light upgrade (all OEM parts)

April 2021: $10,233.80

• Beisan vanos upgrade
• Rod bearing replacement
• Rear subframe reinforcement
• Drive belts
• Supersprint exhaust install
• Bilstein Clubsport Coilovers
• VAC high-flow oil pump
• Rogue engineering CSF radiator and oil cooler upgrade

May 2021: $1,349.82

• AP Racing big brake kit install
• Driver seat belt tensioner
• Glove box housing replacement
• Four wheel alignment
• Corner balance

November 2021: $3,160.17

• Clutch and flywheel
• Rear main seal
• Ignition Coils
• Spark Plugs
• Remove clutch delay valve
• Oil Change (blackstone analysis linked)
• Compression Test (160 psi in all cylinders)

January 2023: $576.67

• Fix broken driver side door lock mechanism
• Oil change (blackstone analysis linked)

May 2023: $3,490.68

• CSL intake install
• Rear differential refresh
• OEM alarm install and programming
• New BMW OEM motorsport steering wheel and air bag

February 2024: $2,892.41

• Full cooling system refresh
• Non-CSL oil dipstick install
• Oil Change

June 2025: $1,574.38

• DSC speed sensor replaced
• Oil Change (blackstone analysis linked)

November 2025: $351.42

• Washer pump
• Wiper blade set

Restoration and Performance Modifications: $40,093.41


Engine

• CSL Intake (Karbonius + OEM parts)
• Kassel CSL tune on a MSS54HP DME
• OEM CSL intake flap (No longer available) and front bumper intake pipe
• Upgraded CSF radiator and oil cooler
• High-flow VAC oil pump

Brakes & Suspension

• Front and rear rogue engineering strut bars
• Bilstein Clubsport Coilovers (no longer available)
• Turner Motorsport sway bars and end links
• Turner Motorsport rear adjustable camber arms
• Turner Motorsport front control arm monoballs
• AP Racing big brake kit
• Front strut tower, rear shock tower, and rear subframe reinforcement
• 10mm front and 15mm rear spacers and wheel stud conversion

Exterior

• OEM ZCP 19’’ Competition Wheels
• OEM CSL trunk (painted titanium silver by Filam Auto Body)
• New OEM fog lights and housing
• New kidney grills and other trim pieces
• Rennsport GT4 front lip

Interior:

• Avin 4 Headunit w/ wireless carplay
• Bavsound speaker upgrade
• MirrorJohn rear view mirror replacement
• Turner Motorsport Pedal Kit
• Rogue engineering clutch pedal stop
• BMW Motorsport alcantara steering wheel (no longer available) with brand new airbag
• Countless interior trim pieces, including european center console

Additional Parts Included in Sale:

• California Car Cover
• Additional set of factory e46 m3 floor mats (no longer available)
• Factory front license plate mounting hardware
• Leather illuminated shift knob
• Original Single Din Headunit
• 4 OEM CSL air filters
• Factory trunk
• Factory multi-function steering wheel and original airbag
• Factory headers with cats
• Factory brake calipers
• All OEM intake hardware including original MSS54 DME

I've also got a comprehensive google drive of all receipts to share with prospective buyers!

[2002TiM3]

Some photos from right when I purchased the car attached.

[2002TiM3]

And mid way through the upgrading journey

[BL92]

Looks amazing man

Maybe try list it on cars and bids, and see what you get for it

[elrichmeister]

I would probably list this on BAT, check for similar builds to get an idea of the price

[bavarian3]

How many mi does the car have now?

Pros
-slicktop
-super clean example
-well maintained

Cons
-Mk20 early model
-Ti silver fetches less $

My take
-You're moving next to some of the best driving roads in the country. At least experience it a bit before selling. Also, the market will be better here for selling.
-If you car about recouping remotely some of this $ I would start parting those modifications off, including the wheels.
-Assuming the miles are somewhere around 100k I would say something like $25-$29k?

[2002TiM3]

Thanks for the input! It currently has 84,400 miles on the clock.

[discoelk]

Nice car. IMO you'd do better selling yourself versus an auction site. If you want to make the most money, put the car closer to stock and sell the mods separately. I think you could get ~$35k selling outright as is but you will need to be patient.

[M3LSB.Gab]

Looking very clean ! If you are 100% about selling, I would put it back to oem and sell the mods/upgrades to minimize your ''lost''. This seems to be a very very clean car ! Exhaust, trunk, BBK, wheels, intake can give you strong money... The buyer will probably do so anyway. Pre-Lci Titanium silver have the lowest value of all unfortunatly. You could probably get more than 10k just to sell mods and for the car, maybe 20k range.

[DJAM3]

I have a similarly modded, '01 TiAg. I put a FS add on FB marketplace in December and got a serious offer over $40k. There are buyers out there for fully modded cars but the pool is limited. I decided to decline because I'm not ready to part with the car and as you mentioned, the costs to try to build another one.

If I were in your shoes, I would at least consider taking it to Laguna Seca before selling it.

[2002TiM3]

Really appreciate the feedback! Definitely went in eyes wide open that mods don't add value to the car, but it is reassuring to hear there are buyers out there for cars like these. DJAM3 just found another post you made, your M3 is super clean! Very much the end state I pictured for mine as well.

[theOracle]

This is very well sorted. The mileage is pretty low. Big 3 done. The market is full of buyers that would see the value in the mods. I watch the auctions nearly everyday and in my opinion this car would fetch upwards of $40k. Slicktops are rare.

[Nate047]

Keep it. You can street park the car or rent a space in a building somewhere.

These are just cars, it doesn’t matter if they get rained on or get dirty.

Don’t let the delusional perfectionist mindset ruin your chance to rip through Sonoma, Mendocino and Humboldt counties on what are literally some of the sickest driving roads in the country.

Also, you’ll need a mental escape sometimes from your new life as a dad. That’s fine and you deserve it.

[Slideways]

If you can find a place to store the car in or just outside of SF at a reasonable cost, I'd 100% keep it. There are some great driving roads in the Bay Area and you can use the car year round.

[E46_AL]

If you can afford to put it into storage, keep it. To own it back & get it the way you want / have it now will cost you another huge amount of money & time.