[dradernh]

Originally Posted by kboi

I was considering enthusiastauto, I called to get there price. 64k is the lowest! As much as I want one I don’t think I’ll sell my track car and my 235 for one ha! Or will I?

I'm not surprised that price is the lowest of the bunch, especially in today's market. There are a ton of potential buyers in the age range and the income and asset brackets who are in positions to buy and maintain one of EA's cars.

I haven't looked into exactly what EA is doing, but their reputation, the descriptions of the cars they have on offer or have sold, and what I've seen going on in the body shop remind me of a Northeast restoration shop I used for other types of work. That shop had customers who brought them cars for restoration to suit.

The shop owner broke down for me how he charged for the work, which was very expensive. Labor is cheaper in Ohio than it is in the Northeast, but the work of restoring a car to like-new is such that it's going to be very expensive anywhere it's performed.

The Northeast shop owner didn't specialize in any particular type of BMW. His customer was more likely to be a little old lady living on Cape Cod who wanted the 2002 she bought new in 1972 to be restored to like-new. Or it could be a 1974 3.0 CS owner or a 1984 M635CSi owner who also wanted a like-new restoration. Commonly, those jobs started with completely dismantling the car.

At that point, a reasonable estimate of the final cost was presented to the owner. Next came fixing everything about the body and frame (preceded by fully stripping and followed by repainting them), and then installing all of the car's other parts that were only period-correct and in as-possible-as-perfect condition. Things like differential rebuilds and reupholstering were farmed-out across the region as necessary. In effect, the cars were treated as works of art.

I think EA is restoring cars in a similar fashion to meet the demands of collectors and others serious about owning a classic/collectible BMW M-car in perfect or near-perfect condition. Then they put them up for sale, and they appear to sell fairly quickly. It seems too that they do a fair amount of business with customers to whom they've already sold one or more cars.

With a capable staff, it's not difficult for knowledgeable shops like these to fix the problems that may exist in a car in a series with known problems; fix any other problems a car may have; clean up the bodywork to not just look like new, but to be like new; replace every bushing, bearing, and suspension component that keeps the car from feeling like new; restore the wheels to like-new condition; put on fresh tires, etc., etc. All this helps to account for the prices of these cars.

I think there are four types of E46 M3s out there today: 1) the tiny number of those like EA is selling; 2) those cars that have always been owned by enthusiasts that are still in unusually good shape for their age and that you might find on sites like that of bmwcca.org; 3) used-up examples with high-mileage and, frequently, significant deferred maintenance (the latter normally being the ultimate show-stopper when looking for any older BMW); and, 4) those that have been turned into track cars. In some parts of the country (the Northeast is the part I'm most familiar with), there are a lot of E46 M3s in that last category. Few of those, if any, will ever be decent street cars again.

My take is that it's late in the day to be looking for a quality E46 M3 unless you've got fairly deep pockets. However, if you find the right car and have the necessary DIY skills, or one of the unicorns that are bound to be out there show up, I think a buyer can still get into one of these cars at a reasonable price.