Need some collector advice

Nicad

Nicad

Well-Known Member
Site Donor
Messages
3,558
Reaction score
565
Location
Toronto
In selling my e46 sport package manual wagon, I have just been informed that there were only 5 sold in North America with my combo of options.
Seems to me this makes it worth more than the measly $6750 cdn I have it listed at and even then I am anticipating local offers 30% less than that. Anyone think the desirability and value of this car is likely to increase substantially or are they just old cars in a nice colour. There is a guy from California who wants to buy it at $4900 usd. Maybe I should just put it in long term storage somewhere???
Advice appreciated. It has mechanical needs and wear and tear from my ownership and living in Canada
IMG_3560.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I am a buy-and-forget person with cars. But all of them are mechanically sound and ready for any trip at any time. Friends of my daughter borrow cars from me when in California. This week I gave a couple the Cabrio and because he is into E28s in NY I gave him the E24 keys as well...
If taxes and storage expenses are not high I would sort it out and keep it.
 
The e46 is sort of icon here for many people
a very well built car that back in its days was so extraordinary and probably the best car in the market

now here people still look for the m3

but all things considered it is an old car with hundreds of thousands built

almost any new car will be more useful, almost any other car would be more attractive

you know desirability changes with scarcity, age, and few other things

maybe its time has not yet come

unsure how much would this be worth
 
Without knowing its mechanical needs, it's hard to give you a precise valuation.

I always say that the amount you get for a car is proportional to the amount of time and effort that you put in to the sale. At one extreme, just accepting that $4,900usd offer would be quick and easy, but would probably be the bottom of the range. At the other end, fixing all or most of the "mechanical needs", taking 200 photos, putting it on BaT, and enduring the endless questions would be the other. With just 5 sold in North America with your combo of options, I'll bet the BaT crowd would bid it to well over $4,900. But sure, you'd have to work for that additional money.
 
On further investigation, out of 738 facelift , manual e46 touring made, mine is "The Only" Mystic Blau, manual , Sport pack car sold in North America with a Slick Top. The other 4 had sunroofs and fake wood trim. (Non sunroof cars are 50 pounds lighter I am told).I have access to very dry storage for it for a reasonable sum and might just put it out of sight for a while. I tried the BAT route with my Miata and it didn’t go well ultimately and was a lot of work. I did sell the car to a guy who had seen it on BAT and shipped it to Washington state.
Maybe a second round on BAT would be worth it. It also has A California compliant emissions sticker.
Does it’s unique build in North America make it go up much in the eyes of the stamp collector type auto collector,?or am confusing that there is are no collectors for some things?
 
Last edited:
I think those are great cars, and a rare and desirable spec can give it more value, but that tends only to be true when the car is in fairly tip-top shape for its age. As a car with mechanical needs (I don’t know what, but I assume maintenance), that’s going to hit its value because even a home mechanic is gowing to be $pending for parts to take care of maintenance. Also, with a life in Ontario, I’d want to know what the corrosion and underbody picture was like.
 
otter74 said:
I think those are great cars, and a rare and desirable spec can give it more value, but that tends only to be true when the car is in fairly tip-top shape for its age. As a car with mechanical needs (I don’t know what, but I assume maintenance), that’s going to hit its value because even a home mechanic is gowing to be $pending for parts to take care of maintenance. Also, with a life in Ontario, I’d want to know what the corrosion and underbody picture was like.
Click to expand...
For a Canadian car it has very minimal corrosion. It was Krowned every year I had it on the road. The mechanical needs are fix the AC, new Rtabs, New Lcabs and probably rear shocks. Tires as well as the ones on it are from 2013. I'd estimate $3000 would fix most things. My long term storage costs are $420 per year in a great spot.
 
Is it going to be due for a cooling system service any time soon? I’m tempted to ask more, but I’m not in the market for anything, as I’m committed to my TDI Sportwagen for a regular car.
 
Great car, and seems like small money if it would be without issues.
Buying second hand is always a guess; and with that the percieved sincerity of the seller makes a huge difference to me (or the percieved sincerity divided by my skill to pick it up correctly) .

Not deminishing the value of the car at hand, I find it a funny aspect of the US car culture; that the value increases by rarity is a known principal to me, but combining as many option untill one could say "unicorn" was totally unknown to me up to a few years ago.

Here in the Netherlands people just look at the total build numbers. Perhaps split by manual or auto, but that's about it.
How about other countries?

My car IS a true unicorn however: no one has my rust pattern...
 
otter74 said:
Is it going to be due for a cooling system service any time soon? I’m tempted to ask more, but I’m not in the market for anything, as I’m committed to my TDI Sportwagen for a regular car.
Click to expand...
I replaced the cooling system about 25,000 miles ago with BMW water pump, hoses, thermostat, expansion tank. Time wise was that was probably 9 years ago. Hasn't been through too many heat cycles.
 
Good plan, though fully insured as I read Toronto is the car theft capital of the world...
 
eriknetherlands said:
Great car, and seems like small money if it would be without issues.
Buying second hand is always a guess; and with that the percieved sincerity of the seller makes a huge difference to me (or the percieved sincerity divided by my skill to pick it up correctly) .

Not deminishing the value of the car at hand, I find it a funny aspect of the US car culture; that the value increases by rarity is a known principal to me, but combining as many option untill one could say "unicorn" was totally unknown to me up to a few years ago.

Here in the Netherlands people just look at the total build numbers. Perhaps split by manual or auto, but that's about it.
How about other countries?

My car IS a true unicorn however: no one has my rust pattern...
Click to expand...
I’d like to make clear that I am not ripping on the OP. That said, this kind of thing can be very common in certain enthusiast subcultures in the US. One sees it most often when talking about American muscle cars, Corvettes, pony cars, etc. Where you’ve got the New Balance and jorts guys (sorry if that’s any of y’all :) ) with their Chevelles who will tell you about how (out of like 100,000 cars built that year) it is one of two with an LS6 and 4-speed and open rear end and power locks but no power windows and air con but manual brakes with a bench seat and green interior and blue exterior.

All that said, in the US, when it comes to E46 wagons, highly-equipped sport package wagons with no sunroof do tend to get the most money when they’re really nice.
 
Arde said:
Good plan, though fully insured as I read Toronto is the car theft capital of the world...
Click to expand...
Yes I believe that is true. A friend got a call from a guy in Saudi Arabia who had found his wallet in the console of the Denali he had just bought. One in ten Lexus RX 350 has been swiped. Two friends are missing 3 F150's between them, another had her new CRV removed. SUVs in Nigerian car lots still have Ontario plates on them. They leave Canada via Montreal and Halifax in containers. How they get away with that is a perfect example of our bureaucratic incompetence.
 
deQuincey said:
The e46 is sort of icon here for many people
a very well built car that back in its days was so extraordinary and probably the best car in the market

now here people still look for the m3

but all things considered it is an old car with hundreds of thousands built

almost any new car will be more useful, almost any other car would be more attractive

you know desirability changes with scarcity, age, and few other things

maybe its time has not yet come

unsure how much would this be worth
Click to expand...
Good points Jesus. I however do not agree that almost any new car would be more attractive. For me they really got the lines right on the touring. I would say it is one of BMW's more attractive designs. I dunno who did this one though?
IMG_3898.jpeg
 
Why not post more specific info of the mechanical needs, some basic pics of the interior and show us any of the imperfections/rust that may exist. I have had 6 bmw wagons and currently drive an e91. This car is interesting for sure.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2546.jpeg
    IMG_2546.jpeg
    529.1 KB · Views: 20
  • IMG_2562.jpeg
    IMG_2562.jpeg
    534.1 KB · Views: 21
Nicad said:
Good points Jesus. I however do not agree that almost any new car would be more attractive. For me they really got the lines right on the touring. I would say it is one of BMW's more attractive designs. I dunno who did this one though? View attachment 186796
Click to expand...
Wow, that picture is so distressing you should have labeled NSFW or some other warning.
 
Nicad said:
Yes I believe that is true. A friend got a call from a guy in Saudi Arabia who had found his wallet in the console of the Denali he had just bought.
Click to expand...
Perfect, insure the car with agreed value of 15k$. Park it outside, open, with the keys inside.
Be kind to the new owner, translate the mechanical needs list to save them time :).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top