Considering adding a 1M to the stable (E30 M3 and 600+hp 335) have a couple questions

[Deep_Blue]

Hey guys,

So as the title states I'm considering a 1M. I've driven two, but you cant really get a feel for a car like this on a test drive around town. So i could use some input...

My current daily is an e90 335i, various modifications (FBO, RB turbos, Clutch LSD, dyno tune, etc). Last dyno was 585whp, so 650-680 at the crank if 10-15% drivetrain loss. Its a blast to drive, but has 125k miles on it, and thats up there for the power its moving. I'm sure the time will come at some point where I'll need to retire it from daily duty.

My project is an 89 E30 M3, Zinnoberrot red, black interior, stock. I'm 3 years into the restoration. Right now its a shell on a chassis dolly after a full body correction and respray, slowly adding parts back. It's a crazy build. I just finished re-zinc plating every nut and bolt from the car.

I love the essence of the 1M, know the N54 inside and out, and am keeping my eye out for a good, low mileage example in orange. That said, I'm also on the M2 waiting list. If I go the M2 route, I'll be doing an individual color (San Marino Blue). So those are my two main options at the moment.

I'm not trying to start another 1M v M2 thread, so here are my questions that I'm trying to evaluate. Any insight from current 1M owners would be very helpful

1. What is your 1M? Daily? Occasional? Garage Queen? I like the allure of the 1M and respect its rarity, dont want to ruin it by dragging it through the city all the time, but it would see regular driving (maybe with the e90 being partially retired)
   
2. What is the consensus on where prices are heading? Seems to be $60k for 20k mi ranging down to $40k for 60k mi. Think that's going to rise or fall as more M2s hit the road?
   
3. What is the consenus on M2 price trends? Sure now they're sky high, but I dont know how many BMW is going to make, so in 10 years they could be the equivalent of an 08 M3, or closer to the 1M in price vs original MSRP. I know (most) cars aren't an investment, buy it for the enjoyment and all that, but money and value retention does matter to me with higher dollar cars.
   
4. Anyone own both cars and have perspective to share?
   
5. Any recommendations for buying besides Autotrader and other online options? Seems like Carmax is out of them.

Pics of current BMWs just for fun...

E30 M3 3 years ago....
[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/19...w1901-h1425-no[/IMG]


E30 M3 Now...
[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/aD...w1900-h1425-no[/IMG]

e90...

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/XN...=w1242-h933-no[/IMG]

[champignon]

Originally Posted by Deep_Blue

Hey guys,

So as the title states I'm considering a 1M. I've driven two, but you cant really get a feel for a car like this on a test drive around town. So i could use some input...

My current daily is an e90 335i, various modifications (FBO, RB turbos, Clutch LSD, dyno tune, etc). Last dyno was 585whp, so 650-680 at the crank if 10-15% drivetrain loss. Its a blast to drive, but has 125k miles on it, and thats up there for the power its moving. I'm sure the time will come at some point where I'll need to retire it from daily duty.

My project is an 89 E30 M3, Zinnoberrot red, black interior, stock. I'm 3 years into the restoration. Right now its a shell on a chassis dolly after a full body correction and respray, slowly adding parts back. It's a crazy build. I just finished re-zinc plating every nut and bolt from the car.

I'm envious!

Originally Posted by Deep_Blue

I love the essence of the 1M, know the N54 inside and out, and am keeping my eye out for a good, low mileage example in orange. That said, I'm also on the M2 waiting list. If I go the M2 route, I'll be doing an individual color (San Marino Blue). So those are my two main options at the moment.

I'm not trying to start another 1M v M2 thread, so here are my questions that I'm trying to evaluate. Any insight from current 1M owners would be very helpful

1. What is your 1M? Daily? Occasional? Garage Queen? I like the allure of the 1M and respect its rarity, dont want to ruin it by dragging it through the city all the time, but it would see regular driving (maybe with the e90 being partially retired)
   
2. What is the consensus on where prices are heading? Seems to be $60k for 20k mi ranging down to $40k for 60k mi. Think that's going to rise or fall as more M2s hit the road?
   
3. What is the consenus on M2 price trends? Sure now they're sky high, but I dont know how many BMW is going to make, so in 10 years they could be the equivalent of an 08 M3, or closer to the 1M in price vs original MSRP. I know (most) cars aren't an investment, buy it for the enjoyment and all that, but money and value retention does matter to me with higher dollar cars.
   
4. Anyone own both cars and have perspective to share?
   
5. Any recommendations for buying besides Autotrader and other online options? Seems like Carmax is out of them.

1 -- Garage Queen that I put a couple or 3 thousand miles on a year, only in clement months.

2 -- Prices appear to be going up on the diminishing number of these cars in good condition and with low mileage.

3 -- M2 Retention of value will be a function of how many of those cars are made in the run, unknowable at this point, and how much people (in the future) care about old small cars w/ or w/o manual transmissions.

4 -- There have been some forum members who have sold their 1Ms and gone over to the M2. Artemis has written quite a bit about this, you could search on his username. I believe that there are 1 or 2 forum members who own one of each, plus there is at least one forum member who owns 2 of the 1Ms.

5 -- You will need to look everywhere, since there aren't that many of these cars out there, and only so many for sale at any given time. Autotrader, cargurus, craig's list, ebay, and maybe some BMW dealer's websites for dealers located not that far from you. Can't hurt. You can even check the sales listings on this and other BMW forums, and read posts here since forum members occasionally indicate that they are going to be selling their 1Ms, before they actually list them for sale. I don't know if Carmax will be selling any more of these; there was a time when they had as many as 4 or 5 listed simultaneously, but that was more than a year ago and I haven't seen any listed there in quite a while.

My suggestion is that if you are really going to drive the car and rack up the miles, you would probably be better off buying an M2, since you could drive that until you got to 40 or 50K miles and resell that car while it is still desirable in the used car marketplace. With a 1M, you are going to be starting out with a car having some mileage to begin with, and by the time you put some serious miles on it, the value will be diminishing quite a bit.

Good luck!

[vasmir]

Originally Posted by Deep_Blue

1. What is your 1M? Daily? Occasional? Garage Queen? I like the allure of the 1M and respect its rarity, dont want to ruin it by dragging it through the city all the time, but it would see regular driving (maybe with the e90 being partially retired)

Daily driver. I do worry about fender benders and parking lot door dings (especially in VA), but for now it’s my only car (wife drives an X3). Realize they don’t just have 1M replacement bumpers laying around… Anyway, I drive as cautiously as I can, and always park at the far end of the parking lot.

Originally Posted by Deep_Blue

2. What is the consensus on where prices are heading? Seems to be $60k for 20k mi ranging down to $40k for 60k mi. Think that's going to rise or fall as more M2s hit the road?

I’m a believer prices will remain fairly stable around $50k or so. If anything, more M2s will make the 1M feel even more rare.

Originally Posted by Deep_Blue

5. Any recommendations for buying besides Autotrader and other online options? Seems like Carmax is out of them.

I had great success with autotrader.
http://www.1mcoupebuyersguide.com is also good for tracking prices.
Last plug is for the BMW CCA magazine / classified section, Roundel. I sold my Z4 here and had a good experience. All BMW enthusiasts. Unfortunately, none for sale there right now.

[buddalun]

There is no other BMW like it. Just drive one. It is an anomaly that will always be desirable for its simple approach, oddball nature and enthusiast focus.

If you have the means...

[digwm1]

your e30 is goals bro, what engine are you planning to put in it?

as for a daily 1m:

1. just got mine, been dailying it, and been loving it, that being said a little part of me definitely does die as the miles rack up (theres only 740 of these cars, 740!?, minus the crashed examples), i know for sure in a m2 i wouldn't care nearly as much about how many miles i put on it

2. pricewise garage queens will definitely go up (probably going to be hard to find a buyer at that point), clean low mileage will probably not drop below 45-50, and eventually clean high mileage 100k+ ones will probably go into the 30s (just my guess, also probably wont be very many buyers at this mileage/price either).

3. anyone buying a m2 new above the 50's is probably paying too much, the used examples will probably settling around the same price as the 1m's 35-50s in the next 10 years. honestly its pretty crazy how much people are liking the 1m/m2 style. check out used f80 prices on autotrader, you can find low mileage 2016 examples in the 50's, which is about what used 2016 m2s are selling for, it may be not as analog but i could totally imagine dailying an f80 m3 and having that e30 for weekends.

4. N/a

5. I was browsing mostly on autotrader when a forum member here posted his car for a great price and the transaction was pretty straight forward from there

if at the end of the day you want the 1m/m2 style and aren't infatuated with the 1m, i'd get the m2. for me though, if we're talking strictly value/$, i would definitely not get a m2 if its 60k+; basic economics dictate artificial scarcity of supply + high demand is what the m2 price is being affected by right now, while the 1M is already fixed supply + with low/some demand which is what is keeping 1M's at the prices they are keeping

[superchargedman]

Come pick mine up!