I've parted 4 cs coupes. Various years and conditions. I have a question for the group. What do I do with the remaining bits? Is there value in this stuff? I want to get out of the coupe game. (it was a great ride). My car will be the last thing to sell if I decide to do so. I have a bunch of parts, mostly cores and large or heavy pieces. It was very hard to throw anything out. Interior, trunk trims (again mostly cores). Sub frames, trailing arms, carbs, heads, 2 engines, diffs, transmissions ( 1 rebuilt auto, 3, 4speed manuals), driveshafts, doors, glass, a few body panels, clusters, instruments, heater or IHKA boxes, some wiring harnesses, a ton of aluminum body trims (mostly OK nothing great), strut towers, springs, sway bars, steering boxes, steering linkage, tanks, condensers, fans, light housings, exhaust bits. Ive been taking pics and trying to put #'s to the parts. Please do not send request just yet. I will try to list some things soon. I will be asking a very close personal friend and member here on the forum to help me with this. Please be patient with me. Encouragement and input would be much appreciated. Some members know me and have had experience with one of my transactions. I hope they have all been pleased. Thanks for reading.
What to do after parting 4 cars?
- Thread starter whalem6
- Start date
Oh and the wheels OMG the wheels.
jmackro
Well-Known Member
Certainly the parts have value. The question is: how does that value compare with the effort required to realize that value?
Having people come to your house to pick things up is the easiest for you and the cheapest for your buyers, since much of what you have is heavy, bulky and as such, expensive to ship. No matter what you ask, expect people to offer you half.
Listing items on ebay brings a higher price, but it takes a lot of time (taking photos, writing descriptions, managing auctions, finding boxes, dealing with USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc.) and frustration (people backing out of deals, not paying, complaining that the used parts aren't perfect, etc.).
Good luck!
Having people come to your house to pick things up is the easiest for you and the cheapest for your buyers, since much of what you have is heavy, bulky and as such, expensive to ship. No matter what you ask, expect people to offer you half.
Listing items on ebay brings a higher price, but it takes a lot of time (taking photos, writing descriptions, managing auctions, finding boxes, dealing with USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc.) and frustration (people backing out of deals, not paying, complaining that the used parts aren't perfect, etc.).
Good luck!
I second jmacro, how much time are you willing to invest? If you enjoy it and stay open minded with hobbyists for the most part you'll do fine.
I've been getting rid of some leftovers over the past few months and would have never guessed how much time it takes to manage all aspects.
On the other hand if you're not interested in spending time on it, then I suggest offering everything in one go. There are definitely people here that thrive on the excitement of buying large lots at a fair price.
I've been getting rid of some leftovers over the past few months and would have never guessed how much time it takes to manage all aspects.
On the other hand if you're not interested in spending time on it, then I suggest offering everything in one go. There are definitely people here that thrive on the excitement of buying large lots at a fair price.
dbower
Well-Known Member
Load up a truck and take it to The Vintage. Or sell the whole lot to Jeff Chang.
Yes, I so agree with all that has been said. Shipping cost is the biggest PITA!. Then there is managing expectations. I have been fortunate to move many parts around to new homes, and the key things I feel that help are offering super clean items, including honest descriptions, (like close up photos), and great communication. As already stated, all this used stuff has value to someone, it is just a matter of finding the right home. Good luck!
Mike Goble
Well-Known Member
Could you re-assemble the cars and re-coupe your losses?
Have you talked to Al Taylor, who lives an hour from Raleigh near VIR? Is he still in the parts game? He's bavman on here. He has space for these treasures.
Al is in Florida right now junk yard diving.He should be heading North in the next few days as he is also visiting a friend I will send you a Pm with his Email address on it and he is responding to them
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First of all, don't throw anything away. Once you have spent whatever time you are willing to invest, seek out a bulk sale or call Al Taylor (bavman) and give him the leftovers. Not only is Al located near you, he will have a good handle on the value of your parts, and usually has a backlog of stuff he is seeking for others. And he has contacts with folks seeking certain cores (differentials, for example).
Secondly, in general cosmetic parts are more valuable than mechanical parts. We can get mechanical parts off of other BMWs; we cannot get cosmetic parts from other cars.
Third, at a minimum, try to identify the most valuable parts and sell those. If I remember correctly, there remains a good market for limited slip differentials, by way of example. Door card trim is impossible to find, so if you have door cards with the trim on them these probably will go quickly.
Fourth, as noted, you should plan to attend the Vintage as part of your parts sale process. If you plan to do this, you can offer to meet buyers and delivery parts there in addition to following Don's suggestion of hauling a stash of parts to sell there. (Last time I was there, Al Taylor was there selling parts too.) And you can ask your buyers if they know people travelling from New England or VA to the Vintage to help move parts.
Here is what I did to help a buddy of mine sell off a huge stash of parts: https://e9coupe.com/forum/threads/parts-hoard-moving-sale.31112/ This allowed a presentation of the parts that were available, and a mechanism for folks here to express interest. Downside is that you need to have some idea of value in order to make this work; my buddy was a retired BMW mechanic and knew what this stuff was worth. Combining this with the suggestion you contact Al, perhaps Al would help with values in exchange for a promise of the residual parts.
Aluminum body trim is worth keeping. It can be reconditioned by Speedway Metal Polishing and Coating.
BMW sells new but $$$$ and does not fit.
+1 on the remarks above.
BMW sells new but $$$$ and does not fit.
+1 on the remarks above.
rear trailing arms are worth money for the 2800 folks wanting disc brakes. Probably ~$300/pair.
front subframes? Maybe $50. Not really indemand. Rear subframes about the same. Some folks like cores to weld on toe adjusters on.
Blocks? Not worth much. Ditto heads unless they're mid '80s at least.
Body parts are valuable. Just a PITA to ship. Lots of rusty coupes needing front fenders/doors/trunklids.
front subframes? Maybe $50. Not really indemand. Rear subframes about the same. Some folks like cores to weld on toe adjusters on.
Blocks? Not worth much. Ditto heads unless they're mid '80s at least.
Body parts are valuable. Just a PITA to ship. Lots of rusty coupes needing front fenders/doors/trunklids.
Thanks everyone for the encouragement and advice. I know and deal with Al a bunch
Looking at Rob's post, it may be helpful to highlight some things that likely won't sell. Here's a guess, but double check me on this: In addition to the engines, springs, sway bars, steering boxes, steering linkage, condensers, fans, exhaust bits and glass.
I would add the automatic transmission to the list of items like the subframes that likely won't bring enough money to be worth the trouble.
One thing on sheet metal; my buddy Tom sold a bunch of sheet metal to Mario Langston at Vintage Sports and Restoration.
I would add the automatic transmission to the list of items like the subframes that likely won't bring enough money to be worth the trouble.
One thing on sheet metal; my buddy Tom sold a bunch of sheet metal to Mario Langston at Vintage Sports and Restoration.
Oldbmwcoupes
Well-Known Member
I would be interested in a set of 3.0 rear trailing arms. I’ve been on the hunt for a set for Blanca (left one in the pic) let me know if I can help cull your parts herd. I’m happy to take a drive and pic them up and hand you some papers with dead presidents on them. Mark
Do you have any window mechanism pieces?
I'm missing the bracket that bolts to the bottom of the door glass that the regulator arm slides into.
I'm missing the bracket that bolts to the bottom of the door glass that the regulator arm slides into.
I was thinking that and I thank you for the reminder. I can use the 55mm or 60mm.
Keep the speedo parts off the automatic trans. Rare as hen's teeth and in need.