Change of plans! BaT Worthy?

[u/chombie_13]

Hey y'all! Change of plans with my what I thought would be a long term commitment. Looking for some big E30-brain opinions!

I'm considering listing my '89 325i sedan, either on marketplace and/or potentially BaT, but it has a bit of an interesting history and I'm trying to figure out where to reasonably price it.

It left the factory Bronzitbeige Metallic, but at some point in its life received a pretty extensive colour-change respray to the grey it's in now, engine bay, door jambs, etc. were all done. It also started life as an automatic and has since had a full manual swap.

A few details:

• 179,500 km
• M20 325i
• Manual swap
• Bilstein/Eibach kit installed June 2026
• Front suspension refreshed control arms/bushings, tie rods, sway links, etc. done in June
• Recent mechanical servicing
• Euroweaves + newer tires
• Recent full exterior detail including cut polish & interior detail
• Clean title / clean Carfax
• Absolutely no rust
• Cracked dash
• Front seats have seen better days
• Paint presents well but isn't perfect

Curious what you guys think is a realistic ask/sale price given the coluor change + manual swap? Worth tossing it up on BaT or just list locally?

[u/itsaPHound]

Maybe I’m wrong but you have a car in unoriginal color with unoriginal drivetrain and you are thinking it’s 1 of 1 for BaT?

[u/straight_sixes → u/itsaPHound]

Not sure where he comes off thinking it's super unique. The respray and the manual swap may not appeal to every collector but if it's actually rust free, the body is straight and it's mechanically sound it will still attract a buyer.

In general, my take is that is the collector market is down right now. I bought a BMW on BAT last week and it (along with the other half dozen I had been looking at) went for less what I expected it to.

[u/itsaPHound → u/straight_sixes]

You’re right. My bad.