I would ask you if you would like the good news or the bad news first on today Good price or no dice Bimmer, but I’ve already let the cat out of the sack upstairs about sin rebuilt title. Let’s see if the rest of the car, and its price, can overcome the black mark.
Chaos reigned last Friday when the seller of our candidate Toyota Tercel SR5 car from 1984 lowered the price of the car in the ad from $ 4,500 to $ 3,750 right in the middle of our competition. Damn, motivated seller! Either way, few of you had it at either the original or newly improved price, with a few of you claiming in the comments that the Toyota was a $ 500 car. at best. That opinion flowed over to the polls, where Tercel toppled in a 73 percent No dice loss.
As harsh and tumultuous as last Friday’s Toyota may have been, it still managed to retain a clean title, apparently without being involved in major accidents, insurance company buybacks, or voodoo hexes. The same cannot be said of today 2004 BMW 330i. Instead, as noted in the ad, this Bimmer has a rebuilt title, albeit one which is apparently not accident-related. It also has 150,000 miles on the clock, which is a distance that can be worn on things like bushings, brake lines and the like.
It’s way too bad as this 330i is really well equipped, with ZHP performance and looks and a six-speed manual transmission. It is also painted in arrest-me-red and carries beautiful 18-inch M Double-Spoke wheels. Inside, the cabin is decorated with leather on the sports seats and the rear bench and it is highlighted by a band of carbon fiber pattern that spans the dashboard and door tops and extends down to the shift surround.
Everything about the car seems to be in quite remarkable condition, although it is possible that it no longer proves that “new car smells” since apparently it requires in full three air freshener trees in the cabin to keep the funk at bay.
According to the ad “the car runs and runs smoothly.” The ad also dampens fears about the car’s cooling system, an annoying reliability issue on the six-cylinder E46 cars. Here, pretty much everything has been replaced, with a new radiator, water pump, and thermostat that keeps the car’s coolness intact.
It’s all good, because these are really cars you just want to get into and drive. The ZHP package permeates the 330i with near-M3 levels of performance via a converted ECU, the available six-speed range-own and a shorter rear-end drive with limited slip. With the ZHP option box marked, the 3-liter M54 straight-six boosts its performance from 227 to 235 horsepower and pushes its redline 300 rpm higher than the standard 330i. It did well for zero to sixty runs in about five and a half seconds and handling that will still impress today.
Aesthetically, the package added a deeper front cover, tilt panel extensions and the extraordinarily beautiful M-wheels. With all that rolled up, the 330i is a car that talks the talk and goes the ride.
But is it too nothing? After all, this car has the rebuilt title. It’s guilty to some unexplained past abuse that apparently was not an accident. Maybe it was a theft recovery? Maybe it was in a flood? Who knows? The thing with it is a rebuilt title can seriously affect one the value of the car. Heck, some insurance companies will not offer comprehensive coverage on a converted title car, which means that should you get into a serious accident, you may be looking for a big financial hit.
Yet it is all a risk that some are willing to takee – as long as this risk is reflected in a reasonably low price for the spotted title car. In the case of this otherwise wildly desirable 330i, the price is $ 8,500. Now, as a reference point, there is one lower mileage and a different color example of the same model on the Bring a Trailer already bidding for more than double the demand of this car. Yes, it’s a bit of an apples and a slightly different type of apples comparison, but you get the point.
Now let’s get to the point of this discussion: is this 330i worth the $ 8,500 you ask for, with its rebuilt title? Or does that price just feel too risky?
You decide!
Seattle, Washington, Craigslistor go here if the ad disappears.
H / T to FauxShizzle for the connection!
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