Well, this was always on the cards....

[wingman]

I had a similar dilemma last year with my E39's autobox failure. Decided to sell it off cheap and not throw any money in its direction, but that was down to me fancying something new, too.

Very old cars the E38, and a very old design indeed - I'd have to really want to keep it to throw similar amounts of money at it, only to bring it up to a value similar to what you've spent in repairs on it.

 

[233]

stick it up for sale and ask for more than you expect (circa £2000-2250 or so )

if you get it be surprised and thank your lucky stars,
if you dont you know what to do

 

[Scania]

stick it up for sale and ask for more than you expect (circa £2000-2250 or so )

if you get it be surprised and thank your lucky stars,
if you dont you know what to do

Just got to decide how to advertise it and word it now, I suppose I can link to the original dealer advert - which hopefully will underline that it’s a far better than average example- but can’t say I’m looking forward to the inevitable “I’ll give you £500 mate” crowd that’ll be bugging me.....

 

[233]

ebay and reserve price it,

 

[Uther]

Get a Jaag, you know it makes sense.

 

[Dyson]

If it’s your dream car, and you can financially afford to fix it, it’s time to stop thinking about what it’s worth and stick to your guns.

If you sell it now, you might not be able to find another in a few years time when you want another to scratch that itch.

 

[Jonny ///M]

Gutted to see this go as I was thinking about it the other day when I was dreaming of an old E38 or E39.

I've went from wanting better parts on the car to just fitting what I can to keep it on the road, yesterday I did disc/pads all round with new sliders and spring clip things on the front calipers. Managed to fix the speed sensor wire for good now too. I still fit the F1AS3 tyres though!

All in £110 but I had been browsing a few nights previously I had EBC disc/pads in a basket at £130 for the fronts alone.

Maybe I'm getting old as I also wouldn't fit the lowering springs if I went back in time

 

[Orionaut]

If you like the car, fix it! If you don't, don't!

No question really.

After all, what kind of car could you buy to replace her for 2.5K?

A car isn't worth what you might sell it for, it is worth what it would cost to replace.

Would you scrap a house because it needed a new kitchen??

 

[Scania]

If you like the car, fix it! If you don't, don't!

No question really.

After all, what kind of car could you buy to replace her for 2.5K?

A car isn't worth what you might sell it for, it is worth what it would cost to replace.

Would you scrap a house because it needed a new kitchen??

Well, I’ve replaced it with a Focus estate Titanium X, one owner from new, full Ford history (from the supplying dealer) 110k on the clock and all belts etc changed on its recent history, thus far, delighted with it, steady 59mpg on the computer, dog guard to keep my two German Shepherds in check and enjoying the phone connectivity, voice control, keyless start etc - technology has come a long way especially given this is a 2011 (61) car - as for the e38, I’ve had a few enquiries, nothing too serious, I may keep it, may not, decided to SORN it and decide at my leisure rather than my usual panic and let it go for buttons - which will most likely be the eventual outcome.

As good as it is I can’t see me getting much for it realistically, ultimately it’s an 18+ year old V8 BMW with soon to be no MOT....

Got a few feelers out, I may be surprised but I’m not overly confident.

Happy for now with the Focus I must say - and much to my surprise - I’ve turned down a fair few low ball offers, I’m just going to sit back and see if someone offers something more like and ponder from there.

I am though decided, I’m not throwing any more at it, I’d love to if I could justify it but in all honesty, whilst I loved running it for the last 20 months and enjoyed having a beautiful e38 again, I can’t justify it any more, scratched that itch, glad I did so, but I’m decided, it’s time for moving on from old BMW’s.

 

[Orionaut]

Well, I’ve replaced it with a Focus estate Titanium X, one owner from new, full Ford history (from the supplying dealer) 110k on the clock and all belts etc changed on its recent history, thus far, delighted with it, steady 59mpg on the computer, dog guard to keep my two German Shepherds in check and enjoying the phone connectivity, voice control, keyless start etc - technology has come a long way especially given this is a 2011 (61) car - as for the e38, I’ve had a few enquiries, nothing too serious, I may keep it, may not, decided to SORN it and decide at my leisure rather than my usual panic and let it go for buttons - which will most likely be the eventual outcome.

As good as it is I can’t see me getting much for it realistically, ultimately it’s an 18+ year old V8 BMW with soon to be no MOT....

Got a few feelers out, I may be surprised but I’m not overly confident.

Happy for now with the Focus I must say - and much to my surprise - I’ve turned down a fair few low ball offers, I’m just going to sit back and see if someone offers something more like and ponder from there.

I am though decided, I’m not throwing any more at it, I’d love to if I could justify it but in all honesty I can’t any more.

Hmmn, Let me think about this..

V8 BMW E38 Vs Ford Focus?

Erm, Well you have to do what you have to do!

Mind, I do accept that my position on these matters is somewhat unusual as a consequence of my own personal circumstances.

But Hey, Ho nevertheless...

 

[Scania]

Hmmn, Let me think about this..

V8 BMW E38 Vs Ford Focus?

Erm, Well you have to do what you have to do!

Mind, I do accept that my position on these matters is somewhat unusual as a consequence of my own personal circumstances.

But Hey, Ho nevertheless...

It’s beyond comparison in many respects, 18 vs 59 mpg, phone Bluetooth vs none, sensible dog carrying capabilities (the e38 was never designed for that granted) much better handling if I’m honest, buttons running costs by comparison, epic Sony sound system vs the dire BMW offering, I bought a new ISOFIX seat for my granddaughter today for it as the BMW isn’t thus equipped which bothered me - heck, the only thing the Focus doesn’t have over the 7 is a heated steering wheel (along with the potential for bankruptcy!) the ride in the Focus is awful by comparison,for sure but that’s honestly my only criticism- it’s just better for me - now - than the e38 ever could be, as I said earlier in the thread, my circumstances and priorities have changed markedly - which is the deciding factor here - and throwing £hundreds(+) at a money pit just isn’t high enough on the list any more.

Regrets none (bar the obvious I shouldn’t have gone there in the first place of course!) I’m glad I did, ran a beautiful example after hankering for one again after my 728i, scratched the itch well & truly but decided to finally do something sensible automotive wise in my life, and I’m happy.

 

[Scrutinize]

Well, I’ve replaced it with a Focus estate Titanium X, one owner from new, full Ford history (from the supplying dealer) ........as for the e38, I’ve had a few enquiries, nothing too serious, I may keep it, may not, decided to SORN it and decide at my leisure rather than my usual panic and let it go for buttons - which will most likely be the eventual outcome.

Honestly, to have owned your dream car and enjoyed it in the way you have for 20 months, even if you loose the whole value of the car writing it off, it's been a very reasonable trade off in depreciation terms.

Reality is, put £1k ish in to get £3-5k back and given what you paid, nothing wrong with that at all.

You bought it to use and enjoy it and you have so win win.

 

[Scania]

Honestly, to have owned your dream car and enjoyed it in the way you have for 20 months, even if you loose the whole value of the car writing it off, it's been a very reasonable trade off in depreciation terms.

Reality is, put £1k ish in to get £3-5k back and given what you paid, nothing wrong with that at all.

You bought it to use and enjoy it and you have so win win.

Cheers, I appreciate your sentiment, yes I'm most likely going to lose ultimately, but in the grand scheme of car ownership, not a huge amount even if I scrap it.
I'm still pondering throwing a £k or so at it to get it through the MOT but am wondering if it's worth it overall, I still follow the e38 market avidly and have watched clean straight examples not selling for months at very low money so I'm left wondering if I can be bothered to take a punt on hopefully getting more for mine by fixing it up - at considerable outlay - to maybe only clear a few hundred more, not to mention I hate selling cars, can't be doing with tyre kickers and Mickey takers which I will be encountering no doubt....

Just biding my time for now, but happy I've made the right albeit difficult decision.

 

[geekman]

Thought of you yesterday: my mechanic posted this up on Facebook as one of his customers is selling it.

Bulletproof 750Li, seller wants £3.5k and I suspect it’s in considerably worse condition than yours. Can’t compare the market here with the market where you are of course, but I was tempted for a moment as my Range Rover just isn’t costing enough to run

 

[Housey]

If it's a passion, important to you and you can afford to, spend the money. We have one go at life so it's important that you find time for passions and things that make you happy even if other people don't share them. Get it fixed, go drive, enjoy.

 

[bloodiedathame]

Any chance of it becoming a valuable classic?

 

[Peerzy]

Don't take this the wrong way but does the fact it cost you £6.5k 20 months ago, now needs lots of work doing and is worth potentially very little mean that the car was massively overvalued / overpriced at the time of purchase?

I understand there probably wasn't anything else similar available at the time but the same can be said for brand new VHS tapes and they would still be worthless if available new.

Was it's value always less but the heart won when you found it?

 

[Scania]

Don't take this the wrong way but does the fact it cost you £6.5k 20 months ago, now needs lots of work doing and is worth potentially very little mean that the car was massively overvalued / overpriced at the time of purchase?

I understand there probably wasn't anything else similar available at the time but the same can be said for brand new VHS tapes and they would still be worthless if available new.

Was it's value always less but the heart won when you found it?

No offence taken it’s a fair point, mechanically it doesn’t need that much, the kicker being the cost of the components needed, add to that 20months of daily use and not being garaged has hastened the rust bubbles forming which isn’t major by any means but will be pricey to put right properly which quickly escalated the costs I’m looking at.

It wasn’t by any means the most expensive one I saw on my search but by far was the best I’d seen and lowest previous owners (one) along with impeccable BMW dealer history so I was happy that I’d found the best for a relatively reasonable amount - I looked at plenty that were a lot more money but with more miles,more owners, less history and combinations of all three so I’m happy that it was the best at the time.

Ultimately it not being garaged and used as a daily was asking for trouble but it was never going to be a garage queen (I don’t have a garage!)

Ultimately I wanted the best e38 I could fine and did at the time, ran it for 20 months and for the first year nothing went wrong at all, MOT requiring a ball joint and nothing else, this year I’ve noticed the rust starting, a spring broke back in November which wasn’t cheap to replace as it is part of the obscure self levelling suspension it’s fitted with (which with hindsight I wish I’d researched further) and a few months later the same spring has snapped again but this time the SLS shock has blown with it, so it’s the knowledge of the cost to put that right along with getting the bodywork back to A1 that’s putting me off, I can afford to do it but ultimately I’m not inclined to do so, running around in a 735i isn’t up there on my priorities any more - especially the cost of doing so - hence me deciding to get the Focus , I want a sensible family oriented transport these days, ISOFIX was an issue as the e38 doesn’t have it since buying it I’ve become a grandfather which wasn’t on the horizon when I bought it.

It’s a case of do I want to throw £££ at it to get it back to MOT standard and then hope I get a reasonable return on it assuming it sells?

My inclination at the moment is no, but that’s why it’s now on SORN and not seriously advertised as I’m still somewhat torn as to what to do with it.....

 

[sigma]

Don't take this the wrong way but does the fact it cost you £6.5k 20 months ago, now needs lots of work doing and is worth potentially very little mean that the car was massively overvalued / overpriced at the time of purchase?

I understand there probably wasn't anything else similar available at the time but the same can be said for brand new VHS tapes and they would still be worthless if available new.

Was it's value always less but the heart won when you found it?

Indeed. How can it go from that much to effectively £0 in such a short period time? Taking out the emotional side of purchase and ownership, that fall doesn't make sense.

If you already have another car, and BMW is a dream car why not keep it and fix it slowly?

This all sounds a bit extreme.

 

[vanpeebles]

I bet acme could fix it up real nice for you!