Interesting Theory on E30 M3s
 

So from what I have discovered, these cars have bottomed out as far as depreciation goes. SO- if I was to find a pristine, well maintained example and pay the correct amount, I should be able to have fun, figure a couple thousand a year in maintenance worst case, and then sell for the same.

I also saw a guy on an E30 forum with an AMAZING sales thread on a 4-door E30 with some pretty sweet work on it. Its already got a deposit on it, but man, if that deal falls apart, it seems like a smokin deal for me.

LINK:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1220750

This looks friggen awesome.

Have you driven one yet? I like the e36 much, much better for DD use.

An E30 M3 will hold its value a lot better than a 325i or 325is. The modded one in that ad is going to have a limited audience when you do sell it as there are many people who just want to look at a "stock" car. The e30s are great cars, I had 2 and would love to pickup another but I only have the patience for one old german car at a time.

One of my automotive goals is to build or buy an E30 M3 with a Euro E36 M3 engine.
The prices of these M3's seem steep to me, but for the same money how much 911 can you get?

somewhere out there is a video of a 2002 gettin' rubber in second AND third gears. total bad ass machine. can't find it now but it looked HOT. some sort of engine swap.

no, wasn't that one. darn it i'll keep looking...

that e30 looks to be worth every penny.

gods chariot. srs bsns. etc.

this one?
 

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX4YBszdk04

$13,500 is a LOT of money for a non-M e30, especially a sedan, even one as nice as this. You will never get your money back. You can buy a nice e36 330i for that money and have a much nicer car.

Yup, I saw a guy in Toronto desperately trying to unload an engine swapped e30 for months. It was a nice car (not as nice as the one above) but the market is just so much smaller when you get in to those types of modifications.

I looked for a while for an E30 M3, but couldn't find what I was looking for: A good quality, decent miles, well cared for, stock one.

A lot of these have been driven into the ground. I think they are durable cars, but years and years of deferred maintenance gets expensive to remedy. A lot of the ones that have not been beaten to death have been modified in ways that I would not want (whenever an ad says at it's beginning that the car is "tastefully" modified, I am fully prepared for the horrifics that inevitably follow as I work through the ad).

These cars are kind of in the "sweet spot" for neediness, in that they aren't new anymore, but not old enough to have to have been fully gone through.

There are three kinds of E30 M3s. Garage queens, track rats and daily drivers. You can find a daily driver easily enough but if you buy one of these, be prepared to spend a serious amount of coin to make it nice. I'm selling one of mine after putting something around $30k into it, not counting the cost of the car.

JR

I am totally jonesing for a nice E30 M3, but spending $30k on one making it nice is not happening.

This one maybe...

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1010776

Fortunately for you, I'm selling this one for $23k. :)

JR