WANTED Solid E86 Manual

Wanted
S

Scot Chegg

Member
 Midlands
Edited to update…

Still lurking and still waiting to sell my car so time to put the feelers out

Looking for a solid E86, Manual ideally in sport spec but anything considered (willing to travel for the right one). Not afraid of something needing a bit of spannering.

Budget of c.£10k with flex room for the right car.

Still love the Coupes but aware of my champagne tastes and panda pop budget won’t get me very far without needing some work… unless someone is giving one away? (Finally decided to go with the dream).

Have seen a couple on Autotrader & Fleabay which are interesting but something feels odd about the ads and I don’t want to pay stealer premiums for a bag of nails.
 
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Good luck with the search Scott

There is no E89 Coupe so i assume you are also open to E86.

Worth posting the ads you have seen on here as there are a lot of knowledgeable people here (i am not one of them) who may be able to give some good advice on them.
 
Yes, sorry I didn’t make it clear. Coupes are E86 right? Would love one but I don’t think I can afford a good one.

This one has been on Autotrader and Fleabay, not sure I love the silver and not taken with the red trim. Looks like it’s been looked after and MOT history is pretty positive. Red flags for me are the “selling for a friend” (yes I saw the thread, probably about the same car), and the hard sell on price (not a bad thing but I’m sure it started around 12k) and the potential 8 hour round trip if it’s a wrong un.
https://ebay.us/m/L7eukI

Next is this one, I’m more positive on the colour combos but red flags are it’s a stealer (and cheap for a stealer), from mot history it looks like it’s had a hard life and not been particularly well looked after.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202505062104620?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios-app

Finally this one, ok with the colour combos (apart from the black wheels but they’re easily fixed), can’t check mot history, slightly higher mileage but not worrying if looked after right, but the photoshop job on the front bumper to remove the plate.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506243827970?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios-app

Welcome any thoughts and guidance
 
i know very little but the one thing i notice about all of them is there is no information regarding the options, for me the spec was very important.
 
So I do know (and I’m sure I will get corrected if wrong)… The highliner edition was the end of run for the 6 cylinders so BMW wanted to use up a load of parts and threw the options book at it for a fixed/discounted price.
 
If I had to choose between the three, I would pick the silver one first, then the red one and last the black one. I wouldn't let the distance put you off the sale, I've always been prepared to travel for the right car. The only thing I don't like about the car is that its on runflats, the positives are it has idrive (£2600 option) and pdc (£600 option) and its an MSport + its low mileage. The price is also negotiable, so if you can get it down a little...
 
FWIW, I think the red one looks the most genuine. Lose the black wheels and the red calipers and you have a cracking looking bit of kit. Matching branded non runflats are an added bonus too. As zedbaron says, i-drive is worth having as it was an expensive option. Oh and yes, maybe a banter down to £8k is a win/win?
 
Two out of the three are way too expensive for a 23i, no matter what the mileage. £8k is maximum for a really good one IMO. Just cos it's been warm and sunny recently, seems people want more for convertibles. It will be rainy and shite again soon, this is the UK.

The Melbourne Red is the best on the face of it, but just check that those wheels haven't been painted to cover welded (or not) cracks. It happens with 326M wheels.
Melbourne Red is a really nice colour aswell (i've had an F31 in the colour).

Personally I think the i-drive is not worth a premium on these 14 plus year old cars. They are so outdated it's comical. If you ain't got it, it can't look ancient.
The satnav is not relevant anymore, as everyone under the age of 50 (apparently) uses their phones for route guidance and the other functions are not exactly overly useful.
 
Thanks for the info everyone.

I tend to agree with Pondrew about the options, pretty much everything will be old, dated and probably need replacing if it hasn’t been already. Will definitely be trawling the threads for recommendations on head unit, suspension (age related replacement probably), brake/caliper and exhaust upgrades to make the most of the engine noise.

Interesting point on the sunshine tax I’d not considered.
 
Scot Chegg said:
I tend to agree with Pondrew about the options, pretty much everything will be old, dated and probably need replacing if it hasn’t been already.
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For not a lot of cash you can fit a MMI box, that will bring the iDrive system up-to-date (CarPlay /Android auto). You should speak to the owner of my old 23i, he's taken the car to new level, done an amazing job.
 
Not sure if it is still true but you used to be able to get the Reg Number for cars on autotrader by using their get an insurance quote facility ( reg only available after a quote has been generated ). That way you can check the cars history ( I.e. the 3rd car where the plate was photoshopped out )

Good luck witht the search, it will be worth the wait for a good car.
 
In the current market £6k or £7k tops for any 23i..

Seen several go now for under £5k

There’s always a 2:1 price spread..fuelled by dreamers on the sale side and newbies on the buy side..
 
Folk still stuck on the chip shortage prices post Covid?

Reckon I could be one of those with the car i’m trying to shift tbh…
 
Scot Chegg said:
Folk still stuck on the chip shortage prices post Covid?

Reckon I could be one of those with the car i’m trying to shift tbh…
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If you actually want to sell a car (any car) in 2025 you need to be realistic, or it will just 'stick'.

It's tough valuing a car, as taking prices of similar from AT, etc, is not always reliable ATM because there are so many deluded (and greedy) people about. I see many cars advertised at extremely optimistic money and they just sit there month after month.

As said, a 23i E89 Z4 is not worth £10k in the current market.

I have rung many people about cars I like the look of but were massively overpriced, offering to buy them if they were realistic about the price. Every single one of them told me to f**k off. Then every single one of them sat for months unsold until they either PXed them or sold to WBAC at considerably less than I was offering. I know because I saw them all back on the market with dealers a short while later. Some people are just plain stupid.
 
Yes… mine started off probably daft high because I compared it to others with similar condition/mods but after 3 weeks on forums, Fleabay and Autotrader with not one message, comment or sniff of interest… Not even the standard “how much is the minimum you would take for it mate”… I’ve had a more sensible look and dropped it by £2k (not in one go) and I still think it’s probably too much :D
 
Sorry to spam…

Thoughts on this? I didn’t think I could find/afford one

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506293981572?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios-app
 
Scot Chegg said:
Sorry to spam…

Thoughts on this? I didn’t think I could find/afford one

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506293981572?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios-app
Click to expand...

Seems a lot for me but a manual 35i is pretty rare as far as i know.
 
The 35i perform so well and are very rare in manual. The N55 is a great engine but can throw up some expensive bills with high pressure fuel pumps and injectors being common fail items and expensive to replace
 
Z450 said:
The 35i perform so well and are very rare in manual. The N55 is a great engine but can throw up some expensive bills with high pressure fuel pumps and injectors being common fail items and expensive to replace
Click to expand...


..N54
 
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