One of my favorite car blogs and an obvious inspiration for this blog is Just a Car Geek (click here to check it out).
There's sort of a running joke on JaCG about low mileage cars that are otherwise extremely boring. Some of these include an 9Kmi Subaru Loyale, an 8Kmi VW Rabbit, and 1982 Oldsmobile Omega with just 158 miles!
This, however, is both a low mileage car and a very cool car.
It's a 1991 BMW 325iC in beautiful Laguna Green (or, as the seller calls it in original German, lagunengrun) with supposedly only 9,370 original miles on the odometer. That's pretty remarkable.
This will no doubt drive BMW enthusiats crazy.
In fact it should drive just about every car enthusiast crazy.
The 1991 E30 3-Series was and still remains the best 3-Series ever, in my opinion. It was before they designed the cars with the American market in mind (as they did with the bulkier E36), but after they refined it to near-perfection. '89-'90 also debuted new small plastic body colored bumpers for all markets that mercifully replaced the hideous "diving board" U.S.-spec bumpers. The car finally looked the way the designers intended. The E30 were compact sized, subtly styled, comfortable, fuel efficient and sporty all at once.
This is the the top-of-the-line 325iC, which features a 3.2-litre inline 6-cylinder engine and a power-operated convertible top. It also has grey leather interior, a refreshing change from the usual sand color.
Unfortunately it's not a manual gearbox, which prevents everybody from going bananas. With a stately automatic it's more of a relaxing boulevard cruiser that happens to handle extremely well. It's still great. Summer is coming up and this is a great summer car. How I wish I could just spend warm nights cruising around in one of these.
The seller does not provide a reason for the unusually low miles. He does not seem to be the original owner as well. There is also a picture showing some damage around the keyhole, which is odd for such an immaculate car. Fortunately the seller discloses this as likely being the result of an attempted theft. He also attributes the Autocheck showing the vehicle as having a salvage title to that reason as well. This could all be cleared up with a private message or phone discussion with the seller. The damage around the keyhole is unsightly, but I bet a couple hundred dollars and a reputable body shop could make it much better looking without having to repaint the whole door. A little bit of paint-less dent removal with some waxing perhaps?
Despite all that it's still a pristine and desirable car in a desirable color combination. E30 convertibles are easier to find than the sedans and coupes because like most convertibles they are kept well and only driven in good weather. But to find one with mileage this low is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The only lingering questions are value and what to do with it. The seller gives an indication of what he wants with the $18K buy it now. $18K is a lot, but actually pretty reasonable when you think about it. The mileage is an obvious reason, but also because BMW convertibles will always retain a certain value. On the practical side, I can't even name any new convertibles under $20K with 6-cylinder engine that would be this solid, well-built, and attractive. Definitely none German-made. That said, if the seller is open to negotiations the buyer has a lot of arguments on their side (the theft, and the fact that the NADA high retail is only $6,925).
As far as ownership goes? I'd side with keeping it for events and weekend only.
Find it here on ebay with active bidding under the reserve, and an $18,000 buy it now price.
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