'97 M3 What's it worth?

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sgfan3 - 16 Apr 2004 20:29 GMT

Hi All. I'm looking at a 1997 M3 in VERY nice shape. NO problems at all. 39k
miles. Never seen rain or snow. Says the car had a light hit on the rear
fender. Repairs were about 8 inches round and is invisible. Body looks very
nice. Interior is like new. Has sunroof and the usual goodies offered that
year. Front tires look a little thin to me but the rears are fine. What is a
fair price for this car located in central Massachusetts (USA)? TIA!

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SC - 17 Apr 2004 15:33 GMT

> Hi All. I'm looking at a 1997 M3 in VERY nice shape. NO problems at all. 39k
> miles. Never seen rain or snow. Says the car had a light hit on the rear
> fender. Repairs were about 8 inches round and is invisible. Body looks very
> nice. Interior is like new. Has sunroof and the usual goodies offered that
> year. Front tires look a little thin to me but the rears are fine. What is a
> fair price for this car located in central Massachusetts (USA)? TIA!

Check with Kelly Blue Book http://www.kbb.com/ and NADA
http://www2.nadaguides.com/
I ran your 97 M3 thru both and got values you could expect from a retailer
of $19,050 from KBB, and $21,450 from NADA. Private party sales would be
less and trade in values, below that. Of course these are just guides.
Interestingly enough, KBB value for your 97 M3 is higher in my zipcode
($21,450) than a Boston, MA zipcode ($19,050). M-series BMW's are extremely
rare out here.
SC
00 Z3
97 528i

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Fred W. - 18 Apr 2004 13:06 GMT

> Check with Kelly Blue Book http://www.kbb.com/ and NADA
> http://www2.nadaguides.com/
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> ($21,450) than a Boston, MA zipcode ($19,050). M-series BMW's are extremely
> rare out here.

Actually, if they were rare, I would expect the price to be higher. Supply
and demand, you know...
I'd think it's more like cars depreciate faster in areas that salt the crap
out of the roads in the winter. And Massachusetts is notorious for that.

Also, you need to take those book values with agrain of salt (no pun
intended). A car in extremely good shape is worth more than they say, and
the dealer retail prices tend to be a bit on the high side in general.
Private Party sale price should be close to halfway between Retail and
Wholesale (trade-in). For that car I would guess it would be somewhere in
the low 18's.

-Fred W

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