On the look out for an E89 Z4

[Pondrew]

Values of cars are coming down fast.

Most are, some aren't.

A previous steed of mine just sold for £9,000 more than I sold it for in 2022!

But then I do have a habit of buying the very best cars, then selling them extremely cheaply. I am like a reverse car dealer. No wonder I will never be rich.

[Stevo1987]

Exactly - what was that about?

I dunno... I plead the 5th amendment.

You're just bitter cos you can't sort your roof without sticking your hand in your (very deep) pockets.

Look on the bright side.....being off the road for around 3 years it will be worth loads more if you ever get that roof fixed.

Tbh, I just lost interest and don't need the money. It's close to being fixed now (by me) but I'm still lacking motivation to get it over the line. As for very deep pockets I've given shed loads to family and others recently. Bank of dad etc.... Anyway, apologies to OP...

[Zed Baron]

Well speaking from past experience in the car industry the trade often end up having to buy cars way over what the CAP values are. I just gave you the example of when I purchased mine at auction. It’s a different scenario when you need to get rid of car quickly and you are not buying another car of that dealer, you will only ever get rock bottom prices.

When I use to sell cars we only used CAP to educate customers on the value of their part exchange because it was always low... real values were always governed by Glass's guide, that gave a realistic indication of market values. You never saw anyone at the auctions carrying a CAP book.

[Silverstar]

Well speaking from past experience in the car industry the trade often end up having to buy cars way over what the CAP values are. I just gave you the example of when I purchased mine at auction. It’s a different scenario when you need to get rid of car quickly and you are not buying another car of that dealer, you will only ever get rock bottom prices.

When I use to sell cars we only used CAP to educate customers on the value of their part exchange because it was always low... real values were always governed by Glass's guide, that gave a realistic indication of market values. You never saw anyone at the auctions carrying a CAP book.

Correct, Glass’s guide is what I used to use as did 90% of all other traders I knew.

[Pondrew]

Correct, Glass’s guide is what I used to use as did 90% of all other traders I knew.

They seem to use Autotrader software these days!
And BCA data.

[Zed Baron]

They seem to use Autotrader software these days!
And BCA data.

When I sold cars we still had a fax machine!

[Silverstar]

They seem to use Autotrader software these days!
And BCA data.

When I sold cars we still had a fax machine!

[Z450]

Cap prices are purely a guide. As said many of these cars sell beyond the Cap figures and at an auction there would normally be auction fees to pay on top!

[matsmith749]

Yep - auction price / CAP is the absolute bottom value & assumes you accept a boatload of risk.

As said elsewhere, most I know are using autotrader values nowadays.

[Beerman]

Yep - auction price / CAP is the absolute bottom value & assumes you accept a boatload of risk.

As said elsewhere, most I know are using autotrader values nowadays.

CAP is not just auction prices.

HPI/CAP clarify trade in, private sale, and dealer forecourt valuations. They class them by condition as well. Buying from a dealer the car should be free from faults with warranty.

I don't understand why many people are reluctant to use them for valuations when most people in the car trade will not deviate far from their valuations.


Autotrader's valuations are over the place. A rare model can have Autotrader's estimations skewed too easily when a few people advertise at hopeful prices.

Look at the E89 Z4 up for sale. Autotrader's estimations are all over the place. There are basic spec cars that AutoTrader thinks are priced below market value. They are not desirable at all unless I'm missing something?

With the 30i there are a few advertised in the £14-15000 price bracket and AutoTrader thinks they are good or great prices. Some have been on sale for a long time.

This car here has been on sale for a couple of months even though Autotrader thinks it's priced £3111 below their estimated value.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202404259046139


The blue private sale car at £10,950 AutoTrader recommend advertising for £9500.

[CliveN]

Car pricing guides are useful when cars are under eight years old. After that they enter banger territory and prices depend on desireability, rarity, and then specification, history and condition. All e89s are in this no man’s land of no longer new and not yet a classic. Some e89s will be leggy, baggy and generally not very nice nor nicely spec’d. These cars will have to be cheap to sell and they will fall to the lows of the e85 quite soon. Conversely, rarer (3.0i eg), well spec’d, low mileage clearly cherished cars will sell for far more. The same happens with nice E86s - really nice ones go for up to twice the amount of a rusty one (£5k-£10k), sometimes they are advertised for upwards of £16k. Note I said advertised not necessarily sold. I don’t think e89s will become a bona fide BMW classic but nice ones will hold their value over time. The reason for this is because cars will never look like this again and there will be a market for what is probably one of the best looking (real world) convertibles of the 21st century. Assuming of course there isn’t world meltdown of course.

[matsmith749]

Yep - there are a range of buyers not interested in the 'cheapest'.

I paid a lot for mine, but when I bought it I was looking for 'the best I could get' & the money wasn't the main factor.

Low miles, mint condition, highest spec, the colour I wanted, reputable seller - all these meant that the CAP price went straight out of the window.

[CliveN]

I have to agree. I bought recently a Z4MC which was low miles (30k) and nice order. It was probably as much as 75% higher priced than the 100000+ milers but it was worth it in my opinion as I felt that it had a higher chance of retaining its value than lots of others. Btw It was cheaper than those currently on AT. Yes, of course it’s an old car and it might need work - perhaps even more than the high miles cars - but the thing is that with (high/over - take your pick) priced cars like this buyers don’t fret as much about chucking a few thousand into keeping it great as the value is still there. It’s much harder to do this if the car is only considered to be worth a few thousand - after all (m tax aside) all zeds cost the same to maintain…

[Silverstar]

Valuations guides are just that a guide and nothing more. When you are trying to trade your car in or just get rid of it as in a disposal or distressed sale and the trader does not particularly want your car they will give you the lowest value possible but this is the opposite of when they are actively looking for stock when quite often they will end having to pay well over what the guide books tell them.

As for these older cars particularly premium or prestige brands as already stated by CliveN and others those examples that are immaculate low miles full spec will command maybe double the price or more of knackered uncared for low spec higher miles examples. This becomes more prevalent as the cars get older and the choice of good examples diminishes.

As for the OP as I mentioned already don't concentrate too much on the price guides instead look at whats for sale, you will find maybe a couple priced really low, many will be in the middle ground and then you will find some priced at the top end of the market. Those examples which are priced in the middle is probably what the fair value or average value is for that model. To get good example (being low miles high spec immaculate etc) at the low end of the market (price wise) or as you put it priced according to the valuation guides, you will have to be lucky.

One last point I don't know about now but back when I was trading, all of these guide books only valued cars under 10 years old anything older and you were on your own to work out what it could be worth.

[Beerman]

It does appear that there are a number of buyers all looking for a E89 30i. Any car that looks good value gets snapped up instantly.

There are a few nice 23i coming up at reasonable money and some are priced silly, but I do wonder if 200bhp is enough.