Reasonable price for this car?

[Bstarr3]

Hello, another "what's this car worth?" question. I'm new to the community and looking to buy my first ZHP. My previous bimmer experience is an E30 318i and an E83 X3. I've wanted an E46 since forever and decided that now is the time. This is going to be a driver - daily 20mi commute (each way) to work, and any other excuses to drive for fun on the weekends. I have experience working on my own cars - did the cooling system refresh on the X3 - and like the approachability of the M54, compared to E90 cars.

So this individual car is an 05 ZHP sedan in silbergrau/grey, 6MT (of course), 134k miles. It's for sale at a local small car dealership, run by BMW and racing enthusiasts. Four previous owners - the last one had the car for 4 years and kept meticulous records, and seems to have done a lot of maintenance - VANOS has been redone with Beisan, cooling system refreshed completely, starter replaced, FCABs replaced, in addition to standard things like replacing all fluids, new brake pads and rotors, fresh tires. No records from owners previous to the last guy. Items I don't have records for are OFHG, shocks/struts, alternator. It's in probably 8/10 condition on the exterior. A few rock chips in the paint, but no rust that I can identify in a thorough walkaround. Interior is very solid. No wear on driver's side bolster. Leather clean and well maintained. Kick panels are in good shape. No headliner sag. A/B pillars are in good shape. HK sound sounds good.

Drove it today and everything felt good. Engine sounds good runs with no noises or rattles. Starts up with no belt squeals. AC blows cold. Handles like a ZHP should. Runs up to the redline smoothly. Shifts smoothly. Pedals feel good.

Now, they have it listed for $13800. Since a full maintenance history, single owner ZHP just sold today on BaT for $13.5k, and models with similar histories to this one have sold for closer to 9k, I have a hard time with their price, but I wonder what is a reasonable number to offer? I know that buying from a dealer is always going to be a different proposition from private party, but do I have room to negotiate this down to a reasonable price? Thanks very much for input.

[cody_94]

The car on BaT was very nice but there were a few maintenance items missing. Radiator, VANOS, and the struts/shocks were original. To me, it seems crazy to pay a premium for a car that will need another grand or so in maintenance. But, that is the nature of BaT.

With that said, it sounds like the one you're looking at is in similar condition but with less miles and more owners. I'd say $10-12k would be much more reasonable. Also keep in mind that if they bought it from an auction, they have a LOT less into it.

[fredo]

+1. It won't hurt to make an offer in the above range. Do you know how long the car has been in the lot ? That could be a factor on their willingness to deal.

[Bstarr3]

Thanks for the replies! I was thinking $10-12k was a more reasonable range. It really does seem to be in good shape, and most of the high mileage repair/maintenance issues have been taken care of, but I can't see paying almost $14k for one of these cars unless it had an immaculate history, or perhaps was a highly desirable color combo.
It's been on their lot for just a couple of days, and I expressed interest in it the second it became available, so I'm not sure how much they'll feel like haggling, but it's worth a try.

Secondary question - in a situation like this, is it better to let the seller know you're a savvy consumer, BMW enthusiast, know about ZHPs, etc, or does that impede your negotiating position?

[Bstarr3]

The car on BaT was very nice but there were a few maintenance items missing. Radiator, VANOS, and the struts/shocks were original. To me, it seems crazy to pay a premium for a car that will need another grand or so in maintenance. But, that is the nature of BaT.

With that said, it sounds like the one you're looking at is in similar condition but with less miles and more owners. I'd say $10-12k would be much more reasonable. Also keep in mind that if they bought it from an auction, they have a LOT less into it.

When I search the VIN for this car, I come up with a previous listing from builtforbackroads.com, where it was listed for $11k with similar mileage on the clock. Probably the dealer picked it up from there. Here's that listing.
https://www.builtforbackroads.com/listing/2005-bme-330i-zhp

[cody_94]

When I search the VIN for this car, I come up with a previous listing from builtforbackroads.com, where it was listed for $11k with similar mileage on the clock. Probably the dealer picked it up from there. Here's that listing.
https://www.builtforbackroads.com/listing/2005-bme-330i-zhp

Man, that is a beautiful car. I see the lower front grille needs to do be repainted and the armrest has some wear. Definitely try to haggle with them. Great looking car, but again, not perfect. I don't think it would hurt for them to know you're knowledgeable on these cars. They'll at least know you're a serious buyer.

[joeybananaz18]

Is it marked “sold”? Guess that means their asking was fair.


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[das boots]

Due to present political and economic situations, all prices have gone up. And I mean ALL by possibly 10% - 15%. This would include used and new cars.

[BH93]

Before covid (summer '19) I sold my 2004 ZHP sedan, silver grey metallic (142k miles) to a friend for $6k. Around that time, my car was fetching around ~$7-8k for reference... used market wasn't as hot as it was now. Also, I did hit my front bumper and hood on a tow hitch, so insurance replaced the hood and bumper and had it painted.

Did the vanos, refreshed the entire suspension, cooling system, M3 front seats, M3 side mirrors, radiator, condenser, brake lines, spark plugs, coils, gaskets (oil filter housing, valve cover), alternator, fuel pump, sending unit, BMW performance SSK, flashed to latest DME to get rid of that weird 3-4k rpm stutter, intake boots, driveshaft guibo, csb, new rotors, brakes, and a bunch more stuff I'm probably forgetting. The only thing left to do on the car was the oil pan gasket + the sagging headliner and the car was "sorted."

EDIT: and can't forget those stupid gnarled exhaust flange bolts... torched/air hammered those out to fix the exhaust leak....

[Bstarr3]

Wow, how times have changed!

[Bstarr3]

I offered $11.5k, citing sales prices of recent cars, and he didn't counter. So, if anyone is interested in this car for probably north of $13k, it's at Atlantic auto exchange in Durham NC.