E86 - stagnant market phase or normally slow?

M

mattimus

Member
Hi,

I've been looking for / watching E86s now for a good few months but it seems to be the same old dozen or so in my budget hanging around with very few new ones appearing. I'm watching on here, Autotrader, eBay, Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace.

I'm after something with under 100k miles, in tidy nick, ideally FSH, ideally grey, ideally auto, for under £9k. May be being too picky!

Random question - are there different flavours of stereo in the E86? I.e. could it be the 6 or 10 speaker system and is there a way to see from pics?

thanks,
Matt
 
If you can see behind the seat, you can see the subwoofers but you would have to have a good inside picture for that.

Re the market - I am only looking at the E85 so filter out the coupes so cannot comment :lol:
 
There are three flavours of hi-Fi.
Basic hi-Fi with 6 speakers (two tweeters by the wing mirrors, 2 midrange behind the headrests, 2 woofers in the footwells) and no separate amp.
Professional hi-Fi with 10 speakers (as above plus two more mid range in the doors and two subs in the cubbies behind the seats), separate conventional amp in the boot.
Top Hi-Fi (as above with uprated speakers included 30v powered subs), Carver DSP amp in the boot.

In the roadster the uprated amps are in the battery well, but in the coupe I think they are mounted on the rear bulkhead.

The basic hi-Fi is pretty weedy. I have the professional hi-Fi and find it pretty good (I’m not a hi-Fi aficionado). The top hi-fi has its detractors and supporters on here, but one thing everyone agrees on - it’s almost impossible to upgrade.
 
Yep, prices seem to be all over the place, with some Coupes selling quickly and others very slow or not at all. Good luck with your search.
 
Here's a link to a database a forum member compiled:- http://perso.numericable.fr/tonyz4c/index30si.html

Based on that it looks like the UK only got 593 Automatic Coupes, 84 in Silver Grey, 13 in Space Grey and 50 in Stratus. When you start looking for FSH and less than 100K miles if you don't get lucky you may need to be prepared to wait a while!

Good luck anyway. :thumbsup:
 
pvr said:
If you can see behind the seat, you can see the subwoofers but you would have to have a good inside picture for that.

Re the market - I am only looking at the E85 so filter out the coupes so cannot comment :lol:
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you can also tell by the shiny silver tweeter domes behind the grille on the a-pillar triangle. :thumbsup:

s-l640.jpg
 
jamie_z4 said:
pvr said:
Yes, good point. Might be easier from the pics
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i always get a bit of a twitch on when i see those when looking for my next conquest :lol:
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We are still talking about cars, right? 8)
 
Stating the obvious, but as time passes it naturally becomes more difficult to find cars built 15+ years ago with odometer readings below a certain amount.
 
I tend to keep an eye on prices of cars I own. There have been a few coupes recently sell very quickly around the 11-12k mark (manuals). There are the same ones sitting on high premiums for sale by dealers or private sales where they are not bothered if it sits on the forecourt or not.

Under 100k you could argue for a car that will be now around 15 years old means it is definitely in the low miles category so you are paying a premium.

My car has the basic stereo system and its fine for what I wanted, which was a solid car with low miles (70k) manual etc. I also deliberately wanted a car without the dash pop up screen, its very dated and not much use I just attach my iPhone via a bluetooth dongle.
 
Worrying about mileage is silly. Mileage related engine wear hasn't been an issue for nearly 30 years since the introduction of fuel injection and shifting to an oil that isn't syrup when cold has helped in the last 20 (I played with some 10w40 the other day for the first time in years and I don't think I'd use it on my garden gate!)

The trouble with low mileage cars is how they've been used. Once a month for a 100 mile trip away is fine. Minimal engine/suspension wear and no scope for being thumped. Two miles a day to the shops and back and it's the complete opposite. If you can find a single owner of the first variety all good but they're very rare.

Conversely, find a car that's done huge mileages in a short period and they're brilliant. I've had 2 ex-rep cars at 3.5/4 years old and they're pristine. This of course doesn't apply to cars of the age we're talking about.

My marker for buying cars is number of owners. The more people own a car, the more "new car bumps" there are and, crucially, more people buying it as a cheaper proposition who then cheap out on maintenance. The reverse is that people who bought it as an expensive/new car will keep treating it the same way. My mother's Fiesta is 20 this year (and only on 33k) and still sees the main dealer for servicing while being worth buttons technically.

Finally, the more a car is used, the more broken bits get replaced in a timely manner. If some bushes last 80k ish, have the car that had them a couple of years ago, not the one going to be needing them!
 
Very interesting, have there been any cases that we know of where say the N52 engine has simply ‘worn out’ or is it normally as case of just keep replacing the relatively small components that wear out and it’ll keep going?
 
smorris_12 said:
My marker for buying cars is number of owners.
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I'd argue that's no less blunt an instrument to assess a car's condition as mileage is. In other words, number of owners is no more accurate a proxy for condition than is mileage. There are one-owner cars that have been neglected and many-owner cars who have benefitted repeatedly from money spent by owners in the first flush of ownership.

For the uninitiated, mileage and number of owners can be a way to mitigate risk and simplify decision-making. But if you are confident in assessing a car's condition on its individual merits, you need pay no attention to either. And IMO if you're looking to buy a rare car you're just making life hard for yourself if you automatically exclude an example from consideration based on either criterion.

Having said that I do acknowledge that for some, owning a car with low miles and low owners delivers a sense of pleasure and gratification in and of itself. They are for me both numbers with no intrinsic value, but I far from being a collector.
 
mattimus said:
Very interesting, have there been any cases that we know of where say the N52 engine has simply ‘worn out’ or is it normally as case of just keep replacing the relatively small components that wear out and it’ll keep going?
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There are very few cars made since about 1995 whose engines 'wear out' at 100k miles. The only example I can think of is the Mazda RX-8. It is however true that maintenance costs tend to ramp up over time as ancillaries need replacing and rust needs treating.
 
plenty said:
I'd argue that's no less blunt an instrument to assess a car's condition as mileage is........ They are for me both numbers with no intrinsic value, but I far from being a collector.
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I quite agree. My mindset is that I'd rather have high miles and low owners but I meant to add a bit to say, in the end, just buy based on condition and, effectively the only way to get a "perfect" car is to go and buy new (open different kettle of fish with that one!)
 
Some things are not service items though, a 150k seat (generally) may very well look terrible, the same for the steering wheel, gear knob and so on.
 
Steering wheels, gear knobs and (usually) seats can be replaced for not too much money. Anyhow it's about evaluating each car on its own merits if you can, rather than automatically assuming one with high miles or high owners isn't worth considering.

Albeit it's been good for the likes of me who have a habit of acquiring high-miles/high-owners examples in great condition for considerably lower than average prices, including my Z4 :)
 
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