UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

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Pod
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UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by Pod »

Has anybody this side of the Pond been following ebay (and other) advertisements for our cars? It would appear that most auctions are closing at a value of between £5-7K. Many "Buy it Now" listings are in the £10k region.

I'm talking about "Barn Find Cars" which are being described as needing substantial work with respect to welding and quite often are not even running! No doubt the days of the £100-£400 purchase are long gone - but I just cannot believe the prices these cars are apparently fetching! I know I've been predicting the E24s will go the same way as the E9s, but never in my wildest dreams did I think the rise would be so far and so fast!

Sad in a way, as I think these prices will take our cars out of the range many genuine BMW "Home Mechanic" enthusiasts will be prepared to pay.

Just my 2c :wink:
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by brickwhite »

If you already own one it's a good thing. But most of us bought them when they were cheap and that's why we own them.

It was coming. I've seen it snowball with part pricing, new and used. People asking $250 for one door car because you can'f find them in good condition. OE parts going for crazy money, $205 for a Door handle that used to be $80. Not crazy but going up.


Although e24s can be found in the USA cheaper here and there, more hoarders or people afraid that it says BMW on it.
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olympia57
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by olympia57 »

Yep , I've been witnessing this too.
I often pop into the Classic BMW pages of Ebay and only recently seen a few " easy restoration barn finds " ..... :roll: which before you started digging into the history or zooming into the photos caused that little alarm bell in the back of your head to start ringing .
Whilst it's pleasant to see the value of our cars rise that reflects in the spare parts prices for them.
In order to warrant the high pre resto rough condition of these cars a whole load of money and time will have to be spent on them to make the effort worthwhile and it has to be wondered if they will ever be worth it.
If I had been looking for one now I'd have walk passed most of the cars that I see for restoration as the high initial price would tip the balance in the overall finished cost, I'd probably have went to another marque .
What were recently M6 values are now E24 .
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by Pod »

Here's another. A Series 1 car. It doesn't look too bad, but the vendor admits to rust of the shell and that he has never had it running. I guess this auction will end North of £5k :-k

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1981-BMW-635 ... 3240704907
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by plip1953 »

Not exactly on topic, but I'm interested to know if most people looking to buy an E24 are doing so with a view to it more of a project rather than a car to simply drive and enjoy?
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by Pod »

I would imagine the average enthusiast will be unable to afford an up and running E24, when it will most likely be a second car and not a daily driver.

I think that this is good for our hobby, as the necessary skills to keep these cars on the road will hopefully be learnt and improved. When I was much younger it was usual for all my friends and I to work on our cars over the weekend. We picked up knowledge as we went along - and we didn’t have the luxury of the internet in those days. Now, very few of my friends’ sons have the ability (or interest) to do any work on their cars, preferring to use a garage for the most basic of operations...
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by Jlc »

Prices sure are strange. I picked up a rust free 85 with 124K snd 20 years worth of service records recently for less than those restoros prices. I wa slucky to find one on Craigslist with a seller who wanted to sell it quickly. If pri es keep going north aat some point I'll invest in a complete repaint to go from bronzit to some shade of red, or perhaps black. Or maybe deep blue...
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

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Jlc wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 12:52 pm Prices sure are strange. I picked up a rust free 85 with 124K snd 20 years worth of service records recently for less than those restoros prices. I wa slucky to find one on Craigslist with a seller who wanted to sell it quickly. If pri es keep going north aat some point I'll invest in a complete repaint to go from bronzit to some shade of red, or perhaps black. Or maybe deep blue...
I think you are in the USA? Prices are much higher here ☹️
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by clipper47 »

Where I live in northern Ontario I put my sweet running, rust free example in an online ad service for $10000 which is about £5500 and got one offer of $7000. I declined. Maybe it would be worth putting it for sale in the UK but shipping would be add considerable cost although it is being done.
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by Pod »

clipper47 wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 8:03 pm Where I live in northern Ontario I put my sweet running, rust free example in an online ad service for $10000 which is about £5500 and got one offer of $7000. I declined. Maybe it would be worth putting it for sale in the UK but shipping would be add considerable cost although it is being done.
Bear in mind that we are RHD over here which makes UK vehicles (and Oz plus some others) much rarer than LHD examples. Also, as Ron always reminds us, they certainly do rust- which further reduces the number extant!
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by Pod »

BTW, the auction ended at £4,600 (about US$6,300)
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by clipper47 »

Pod wrote: Thu Jan 14, 2021 7:25 pm BTW, the auction ended at £4,600 (about US$6,300)
Thats over $8000 Canadian and $1000 more that the offer I had on my 5 speed, rust free example .
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by Pod »

Crazy eh 🤪
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by Jlc »

Pod wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 4:18 pm
Jlc wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 12:52 pm Prices sure are strange. I picked up a rust free 85 with 124K snd 20 years worth of service records recently for less than those restoros prices. I wa slucky to find one on Craigslist with a seller who wanted to sell it quickly. If pri es keep going north aat some point I'll invest in a complete repaint to go from bronzit to some shade of red, or perhaps black. Or maybe deep blue...
I think you are in the USA? Prices are much higher here ☹️
I ship...
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by Pod »

It has been relisted :-k So far bid up to £2050 after just seven hours. I’ll keep a watch and notify the result!
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by Pod »

The auction was cancelled yesterday (item no longer available), so I guess it sold off eBay? High bid was £5k.
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by Pod »

Here's another one, off the road for 7.5 years, non runner, asking price £4,500 :shock:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bmw-e24-635c ... Sw~gpgHGDz
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by olympia57 »

Pod wrote: Sat Feb 06, 2021 6:00 pm Here's another one, off the road for 7.5 years, non runner, asking price £4,500 :shock:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bmw-e24-635c ... Sw~gpgHGDz
The flakes of rust on the ground on the rear photo would suggest that it would be prudent to check the underside with a large sharp pointy thing :roll:
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by Pod »

[/quote]
The flakes of rust on the ground on the rear photo would suggest that it would be prudent to check the underside with a large sharp pointy thing :roll:
[/quote]

Isn’t that always the way with E24s......... :-"
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Re: UK asking prices for "restoration projects...................."

Post by Pod »

Here's another one, albeit rather different to the "usual" project. Currently bid to £1800 with six bidders, but with more than five days to go, I can see this exceeding £3k!

Certainly it is saveable, but with the comments contained within the MOT history, plus the obvious damage and corrosion in the photos, it will need to fetch more than £10k to make it worthwhile IMO.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-635-CSI- ... 4392868898
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