Quote:
Originally Posted by 2001red330i
I have a 2001 BMW 330i Cherry Red Sports model in very good condition that I am wondering if I should sell or keep?
I own a daily driver Rav4 2018 and a 1994 Silverado that I mainly use.
Pros: Paint is in very good condition with clear coat doing its job. It's kept outside unfortunately, but under a solid car cover. I have waxed and babied the BMW with AutoGeek products carnauba wax & Maguiar products. Only thing loosing its clear coat is the side mirrors. Reupholstered the interior around 2015 and the sun roof doesn't open. Last of the stick shift manuals = super fun.
Cons: 199k miles, starting to feel unreliable. Costs me about $800-1000 annually in repairs + $350 smog (California) and $100 bare minimum insurance Liability only. If I did keep it I would need to fix the electrical system ($1500) so I can get it through smog the right way.
I am wondering what anyone and everyone thinks about the cost and if it's worth it. I can afford it but am not in a classic car guy income situation. I am also concerned about the electrical system and clear coat wearing off and general growing wear and tear on a 24 year old car. But I don't want to sell it and regret it five years from now like I do my original baby in good condition Isuzu Impulse 1998 which my dad sold for $500 years ago.
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Believe in CA before you can sell the car you have to bring it up to emissions compliance.
Another issue is what would you replace the 330i with? To get a good example you would probably have to spend considerably more than what you would spend to replace your 2001 330i with something newer.
If you just want to reduce your car ownership count and bank the money from the sale of the 330i then bring the car to a saleable condition and sell it.
As an aside I have been there done that, so to speak. While I loved my 2002 Porsche Boxster at 16 years old and with 317K miles the secondary air injection system became a problem -- setting a CEL. CA emission test was coming up and I had the car in to 2 different dealers 3 times. The last dealer service manager told me -- after it had had the car for nearly a month and tried several things none of which proved to be the solution -- that I'd have to leave the car with a blank check to cover potentially the need to drop the engine perhaps even split the cases. Given the car's age, miles, although it ran well, used little oil, I decided it was not worth who knows how much to fix this problem. Plus at 317K miles it was clear the clutch needed to be replaced and while the transmission was out the IMS bearing replaced -- Porsche had a replacement IMS bearing -- I was looking at least at $4000 just for the clutch/flywheel and IMS bearing.
I ended up selling the car to the local Porsche dealer as is where is since the car would not pass emissions. The dealer didn't sell the car but rather gave it to an indy shop who after some attempts to resolve the problem failed to do so.
Some several years later I got a letter claiming I owed some several thousands of dollars storage fee for the car. Fortunately I had obtained a release of liability for the Boxster and I sent a copy of this to the storage lot that wanted some money and I never heard anything more.