Atlantisblau e30 318i

[Sammo 2544]

1 hour ago, Mikan said:

M42 time. 

Have spent the past few weeks looking sadly out at my empty berm through a rainy window, waiting for a mate of a mate to swap an m42 in to replace the cooked engine.

Got it back this week and it's better than ever (*ever = in the last 18 months). Just feels lot more driveable and a lot less laboured really - I haven't wound it up yet but I'm looking forward to the opportunity. 

Just need to tidy a couple of things up and it'll be ready to sell 😒. Such is life. 

Do people care about air conditioning do you think? I know I do, but is it worth getting it all hooked up again before selling?

My gut feeling is there is no way I could factor it into the purchase price, and a lot of people might not want it anyway? 

As a future prospective E30 owner, I've kind of resigned myself to the fact that it most likely won't have it.

I imagine it would fall more into "Oh thats a bonus" territory, rather than people willing to pay extra for it - with these less likely to be a daily.

[adro 1083]

As long as it’s possible for it to be hooked up, that would be enough of a box tick for me. I don’t think it would be a deal breaker considering the rest of the work you have done on the car. 

[leichtbau 525]

90% of E30's are running crap A/C anyway, so many will have been regassed (and slowly leaking out) with R134a without replacing the R12 condenser /dryer / valves with the upgraded R134a kit. Any E30 purchased with a/c as an option should factor in a complete rebuild of the system. I'd say leave as much of the system in place as possible and let the next owner (me 🤔 I'll message you) deal with it.

 

Edited June 29, 2021 by leichtbau

[Mikan 173]

Alrighty. 

One of the little niggles with the m42 swap was the coolent temp sensor in the new engine still being m42 issue - not the brown sensor from the e30 that was necessary to move the needle on the temp gauge any higher than 5ml from cold. 

It needed a warrant, so while it was in I asked the garage to swap the sensor over - success!

They also told me the alternator needed new bearings. I was a bit iffy about it at first, but hearing the horrible noise it was making being turned by hand - over the phone - it got sent away for a rebuild. 

Only issue for the warrant was a high stop bulb though, so the whole episode was a pricey success. 

Pretty close to being able to advertise it properly - the relentless rain that has dogged any free time I have had means I haven't been able to take it round to @adro for its photoshoot and then do a proper classified - but it is for sale.

Get in touch if you're interested in more details. I'm thinking 8k, or 7k if for some unfathomable reason you'd rather have bottlecaps. It's not going to be certed for the swap, so it will be as-is/where-is.

Hopefully the price might give room to cert it if required. 

[M3AN 4016]

Very good work.

It will need a cert so why wouldn't you do that before trying to sell? It's unlikely somebody is going to buy something this nice as a track hack so a cert is an almost certainty.

I have the same question for anyone not willing to cert a road car before selling... what do you know that might surprise a potential buyer?

Certs are an expensive PITA these days, it's truly caveat emptor.

[Mikan 173]

11 minutes ago, M3AN said:

Very good work.

It will need a cert so why wouldn't you do that before trying to sell? 

Thanks! And fair point - particularly coupled with how recent the engine swap is.  

The truth is I don't have the time or the money any more. As you say it can be quite involved, and it would likely be a non-recoverable cost for me. 

[M3AN 4016]

15 minutes ago, Mikan said:

Thanks! And fair point - particularly coupled with how recent the engine swap is.  

The truth is I don't have the time or the money any more. As you say it can be quite involved, and it would likely be a non-recoverable cost for me. 

I hope you get a quick sale for asking price.

I think your conundrum is that without at least a LVV inspection the potential buyer also has no idea of time and cost involved, that will make an informed decision impossible. Yes, you might find somebody that's prepared to tear it up and take a risk without a cert but that's going to be a Facebook market that will probably drive you spare with tyre kickers. And will take more of your time than a clean sale.

I wonder if you might be able to find a LVV certifier who would be prepared to do a once-over for reasonable money to identify potential risk areas and approximate costs? $350 (guessing) spend on that might provide the comfort a potential buyer needed. But I'm spit balling there, no idea if that's even practical.

I'm advised that certifiers are now even checking HT bolts, 8.8 vs 10.9 etc... 😲

Edit: I stopped a simple seat replacement project in my M3 (with genuine Recaro seats and mounts) because it was going to be $1.5k cert. 🤨😯

Edited July 27, 2021 by M3AN

[Sammo 2544]

Cert or not, I think for $8K it will be gone very quick - Tidyish, clean interior, M42, manual with some quality parts on it... Looks better than half of the slower 320i's *trying* for $10k+

[Olaf 3317]

On 7/27/2021 at 6:37 PM, Mikan said:

Alrighty. 

One of the little niggles with the m42 swap was the coolent temp sensor in the new engine still being m42 issue - not the brown sensor from the e30 that was necessary to move the needle on the temp gauge any higher than 5ml from cold. 

It needed a warrant, so while it was in I asked the garage to swap the sensor over - success!

They also told me the alternator needed new bearings. I was a bit iffy about it at first, but hearing the horrible noise it was making being turned by hand - over the phone - it got sent away for a rebuild. 

Only issue for the warrant was a high stop bulb though, so the whole episode was a pricey success. 

Pretty close to being able to advertise it properly - the relentless rain that has dogged any free time I have had means I haven't been able to take it round to @adro for its photoshoot and then do a proper classified - but it is for sale.

Get in touch if you're interested in more details. I'm thinking 8k, or 7k if for some unfathomable reason you'd rather have bottlecaps. It's not going to be certed for the swap, so it will be as-is/where-is.

Hopefully the price might give room to cert it if required. 

It certainly will need a cert.  And it should fly through.  And with a cert, you should be netting well above what you're currently thinking.

[E28E30 335]

9 minutes ago, Olaf said:

It certainly will need a cert.  And it should fly through.  And with a cert, you should be netting well above what you're currently thinking.

Agree @Mikan if certed and rust free I would take a look.  And worth more than you are pitching, what is body mileage and engine mileage?

[Mikan 173]

38 minutes ago, Olaf said:

And it should fly through.  

I expect it will need driveshaft hoops (x2), and several hours of labour in addition to the swap. I got my previous e30 certed for manual swap and m20b20>b25 and that was what they asked for. 

28 minutes ago, E28E30 said:

@MikanAnd worth more than you are pitching, what is body mileage and engine mileage?

I think the price is OK, but would feel less OK if I had to raise it to 9.5 or 10k to attempt to recover certification costs, and I don't have the time or the money to do it anyway. 

It's a 318i sedan that I've had some fun with and is (hopefully!) better than when I got it but its not a rare or even particularly desirable e30 unless you have kids and carseats. I don't want to price it out of its market. 

It has 181457 on the clock (still ticking) and absolutely no idea on the engine unfortunately. 

[Olaf 3317]

@Mikan It doesn't have power increase to require hoops; is that down to change in driveshaft (from the auto-to-manual swap)? 

It is a rare e30 - it's tidy and not full of rust, and one assumes it's a tidy well-executed M42 swap.... it's not a half-finished, butchered car with the remains of "let's do some lows".  I think you may be under-estimating how it differentiates from many on the market.  Just look at the tat that Ghostchip has been looking at for more money.  Tidy e30s are quickly becoming the rarity.  

If this gets the right owner now, to continue your mission trajectory and lavish good maintenance that continues to improve it, it'll be worth more than double in ten years IMHO.

EDIT:  or to put it another way, if @adro's is your benchmark, even at 50% (with a cert), you're well above the money you're currently thinking of.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Olaf
benchmark

[Ghost Chip 188]

Maybe an unpopular opinion but I feel like @Mikan realises all this. Seems like he just wants to pass it on now. Will be a bargain for the buyer but as long as both parties are happy with the price, don’t see anything wrong with that.

[Mikan 173]

12 hours ago, Olaf said:

@Mikan It doesn't have power increase to require hoops; is that down to change in driveshaft (from the auto-to-manual swap)? 

I think it might actually just squeak over LVV's 20% power increase threshold? Maths was never my favourite though 🤔

In any event, yes, from my discussion with the certifier last time round a modified driveshaft (which this swap is classed as, despite being a factory driveshaft on e30s) needs hooping. 

1 hour ago, Ghost Chip said:

Maybe an unpopular opinion but I feel like @Mikan realises all this. Seems like he just wants to pass it on now. Will be a bargain for the buyer but as long as both parties are happy with the price, don’t see anything wrong with that.

Thanks @Ghost Chip , you've hit the nail on the head.

[Olaf 3317]

11 hours ago, Ghost Chip said:

Maybe an unpopular opinion but I feel like @Mikan realises all this. Seems like he just wants to pass it on now. Will be a bargain for the buyer but as long as both parties are happy with the price, don’t see anything wrong with that.

Yes of course.  Some may watch on as their friend prepared to toss a few thousand into the harbour because it may make them feel good, and recognise it.  The rare few will encourage a more constructive alternative, such as a donation to Wellington Free Ambulance as an alternative to polluting the harbour.

[Ghost Chip 188]

@Olaf That’s a fair point and I understand what you mean. I’m inclined to do the same but it really just seemed like @Mikan has made up his mind already (correct me if I’m wrong), and in this situation I don’t really see anything wrong with that. Not trying to discount anyone’s comment (they’re very helpful and does look like the better option), was just making an observation is all. Maybe this is just one of those occasions where I should’ve just kept it to myself haha.

There’s another level to that, the even rarer few will jump in the harbour themselves, collect the few thousand thrown and donate it themselves to Wellington Free Ambulance.

[Olaf 3317]

too much meta discussion.  where's your project thread?

 

[Mikan 173]

Sold it. Thanks for the support guys. 

[Olaf 3317]

Congrats CJ! 👏