Advise on the future of the LS1 e30... to M or not to M

[Derek 357i]

Well, my wife and I have done everything to the new house that we planned on doing, and some we didn't.[done]

So it is now time to figure out what to do with the LS1 e30 non-M in the garage. As some of you may have seen, I offered up my entire suspension package in the for sale section here. I also have an ad in there looking for an M3 shell/roller.

The long and short of it is I have more $$ tied up in this car than I had originally planned (too many group buys and requirements creep). I want to maximize my return on what I have invested. I know that cars are typically a $$ losing proposition, I just want to do as well as I can on this.

The way I see it I have 3 options.

1. Part everything out that I have now and hope for the best.

2. Finish the non M e30 (84 318i) as planned and try to sell it as a finished car.

3. Buy an M3 chassis/roller swap everything in, then sell it.

On a good clean install any ideas what people might be willing to pay for a completed M. I can assure you, I haven't taken shortcuts on anything.

D

[oscarcab0]

Re: Advise on the future of the LS1 e30... to M or not to M

Originally posted by Derek 357i
Well, my wife and I have done everything to the new house that we planned on doing, and some we didn't.[done]

So it is now time to figure out what to do with the LS1 e30 non-M in the garage. As some of you may have seen, I offered up my entire suspension package in the for sale section here. I also have an ad in there looking for an M3 shell/roller.

The long and short of it is I have more $$ tied up in this car than I had originally planned (too many group buys and requirements creep). I want to maximize my return on what I have invested. I know that cars are typically a $$ losing proposition, I just want to do as well as I can on this.

The way I see it I have 3 options.

1. Part everything out that I have now and hope for the best.

2. Finish the non M e30 (84 318i) as planned and try to sell it as a finished car.

3. Buy an M3 chassis/roller swap everything in, then sell it.

On a good clean install any ideas what people might be willing to pay for a completed M. I can assure you, I haven't taken shortcuts on anything.

D

Option 1 is probably the quickest for $$$ back in.
Option 2 doesn't sound like a starter ......more money, more time, no certainty on amount of return = potentially higher risk of loss.
Option 3 an amplified version of option 2

Option one needs to be better qualified/ assessed. At that point (when you have a realistic expectation of how much $$$ is likely to come back in) you can use that as the benchmark for comparing the other two options. Either way.......it will come down to timing requirements and risk assessment on further outlay. From what you've said, if I'm reading between the lines correctly (expenditure on house, wife, etc.)......I'd vote for option 1.

[Bruce]

Re: Advise on the future of the LS1 e30... to M or not to M

Originally posted by Derek 357i
I want to maximize my return on what I have invested.

If that is your goal the only option is #1. You will probably still lose money but the amount will be less.

Don't do #3.

[GMW-CSL]

Derek, As you know I've been through this mental exercise (actually you and I have) many, many times in my own mind. Whether you LS1 your 318 or an M3 you must do it for your own personal enjoyment and satisfaction and forget about it making economic sense. IMHO either chassis and the LS1/2/6 engine with the T56 6-speed make for an awesome, super fun package. Mine is the most fun and exciting car I've ever owned for a street road rocket and v8m3 Wayne, in the UK, has an amazing track car that he is in the process of up-grading to 500 hp with the addition of new heads and cam to his LS2. Finding an E30 M3 roller would probably be very tough and it would undoubtedly be a car needing alot of expensive cosmetic work when you got it up and running. I tried to sell my unfinished project last summer because I'd lost interest in it. In the fall something resparked my interest and I am now the happiest carnut/gearhead in the world because I am enjoying driving my car everyday to work. Derek, finish that car! You're so close! You've got nothing to lose. You can part it out at any time and you'll have to take whatever you can get just like I may have to do some day. There is no advantage in doing this project on an M3 except that the M3 parts that you don't use, i.e. motor, tranny suspension, etc., can be sold for alot more than the 318 parts. You already have done the difficult part by collecting all of the stuff you need. Finish that car, put a nice body kit on it and you'll have a super track or road car that will keep you grinning for the rest of your life. Call me and I'll give you another pep talk. If you let it go all of your dreams go with it. Turn those dreams into reality and you will never regret it.

[GMW-CSL]

I've reread your three options. You can't make money on this deal. Your heart won't be in the project if you finish it just to sell it. If you do get it running you won't want to sell it anyway. There are crazed carnuts out there like us but finding one to buy our cars isn't easy. The only time you would find one is when you didn't want to sell it.

[oscarcab0]

More importantly.........what does your wife think ? :idea:

[Derek 357i]

I guess I have made this sound like a dire situation when it isn't. When I said that we were done with the house, I was indicating that I now have the time and resources to put toward the car again.

Bob, you are totally right. I have spent way too much time and $$ on this car to let it go piece by piece. And like you said, if I should decide to part it out down the line, which I am sure once finished I wouldn't, I could for about the same $$.

Believe it or not, my wife has been kicking me in the ass for even talking about letting it go. She said not only will I regret it, she said I am too close. She says finish it. BTW, she is totally for option 2 or 3.

[GMW-CSL]

Once you get going on it again you'll get repsyched. I guarantee it. Taking time away form your wife and/or kids and/or your honeydo list to work on your car can present problems and I find that the best way is to get out in my shop an hour or two before the rest of the family is awake. Even an hour, two or three times per week will allow you to make good progress. The thing that got me back into my project was the thought of someone in my home town buying it, finishing it and then me seeing him have the fun of driving it around. You are tooo close to finishing a really cool project to let someone else have all of the fun when you did 99% of the working out of the multitude of details. This combination of a quality German chassis and a lightweight, extremely well engineered, GM engine and tranny make for a dream car,i.e. excellent handeling and balls. I spent some time talking with the guy who put the 470 rwhp Nissan SR20 DET in an '88 BMW and when I asked him why he didn't just stick with a 240sx he said because he wanted to use the stronger german chassis. He was tired of the cheesy Japanese chassis' but he was an expert on the Nissan engine. So, we end up with great German engineering and great GM engineering. Don't rush it. Maybe it will take a year to finish it. My car sat 90% finished for almost 3 years while we moved, we married off two of our four daughters and my dad passed away at age 99. Pick away at the project, continue doing your super quality work and you will have a car that you will be very, very proud of. If you must have an M and a roller comes along (highly unlikely) you can always swap out the parts. Personally, on some ways, I prefer the looks of a nice body kit on a garden variety E30. You can make that car look very cool.

[v8m3]

ls1

hi guys been away for a while god damn it forget the $ there is nothing in the world that will put a grin on your face like a ls1 in a e30 m3, i have now sold mine and miss it every day it ended up with 523hp the wife left and i didnt feel this distraut so not beeing able to find another m3 i have built a lexus is200 with a 500hp motor ls1 of course and bought a e46 m3 which is like watching paint dry so looking for a gtr kit and a ls3 and supercharger for it

forget the wedge live on the edge

wayne

ps hi bob sorry i havnt been in touch

[hardtailer]

hi guys been away for a while god damn it forget the $ there is nothing in the world that will put a grin on your face like a ls1 in a e30 m3, i have now sold mine and miss it every day it ended up with 523hp the wife left and i didnt feel this distraut so not beeing able to find another m3 i have built a lexus is200 with a 500hp motor ls1 of course and bought a e46 m3 which is like watching paint dry so looking for a gtr kit and a ls3 and supercharger for it

...and all of it put in one sentence, wow. The time you save by leaving out the punctuation marks, you take away from each and every one who tries to read and make sense out of it...

I know...we don't have to read it, but you didn't post for it not to be read, did you?

now, back on topic.
Finish the car and drive it. The final value is not decidingly different between option 2 and 3, so stick with 2.

[UweM3]

...and all of it put in one sentence, wow. The time you save by leaving out the punctuation marks, you take away from each and every one who tries to read and make sense out of it...

I know...we don't have to read it, but you didn't post for it not to be read, did you?

LoooL! thought the same. Maybe driving too much in a straight line has an neative effect.