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bmw 3 series prices through the years

8K views 44 replies 30 participants last post by  nadodude 
#1 ·
hi. i was wondering about this information and unfortunately, i have never bought a bnew bmw. i had an e36 and now an e46. i tried searching the forum and google for this information. all i get is used prices. i wanted to know how much the ff car cost per year

2000 323ci in 1999 brand new
2001 325ci in 2000 brand new
2002 325ci in 2001 brand new

so on and so forth

i wanted to see the starting prices they were sold. for example, a 2011 328i coupe starts at 36200 today. how much did your car cost brand new in the past.
 
#6 ·
Edmunds.com True Market Value® for Vehicles in the Past (Historical TMV®)

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Can you tell me how much my vehicle was worth at a specific time in the past?

Answer

You can look up your vehicle's current value using our online Used Vehicle Appraiser. In addition, our staff is happy to email you a customized estimate of its value at a specific time in the past (back to the year 2000), a service we provide free of charge as a courtesy to our visitors.

To request a historical pricing estimate, first collect the following information about the vehicle:

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(We encourage you to use our Used Cars research pages to help identify the vehicle's style, optional equipment and/or color.)

Once you have this information, send your historical pricing request to us via our Contact Us form, and we will return an estimate by email, usually within two business days.

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you were saying?
 
#9 ·
According to the window sticker pulled from my file...

2000 323i
Base $26,990
Steel Blue Metallic $475
Gray Leather $1,450
Auto (slushbox for you 5 speed fanboys ;)) $1,275
Sport/Premium Package $4,300
AM/FM CD $200
Dest Charge $570
Total $35,260

As I recall the 325s were imminent and I bought 9/22/2000 (just turned 10!) so I was given an extremely generous (by BMW dealer standards) 3% discount so I paid $34,202 plus TTL. The cross town dealer was only offering 2% so I had my dealer steal this from their inventory while it was still on the boat from Germany.

When I build a car on the BMWUSA site configured as identically as I can, it comes to $41,250 for a 2011. I believe that represents a 1.6% inflation rate. If you apply the fed's figures for annual inflation rates over the last 10 years the car should cost $44,400, so I guess BMWs have come down in price?

http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/
 
#10 ·
I was sent this by the salesperson I dealt with when I bought my 2004 ZHP.....

0433 330Ci USD 36,800.00
Color 405 Imola Red N/C

Upholstery N6SW Black Leather 1,450.00

Options ZCW Cold Weather Package 750.00
464 Ski bag N/C
494 Heated front seats N/C
502 Retractable headlight washers N/C

ZHP Performance Package 3,900.00
226 Sport suspension N/C
481 Sport seats N/C
710 M steering wheel N/C
716 Aerodynamic package N/C
760 Shadowline exterior trim N/C
767 Performance package N/C
772 black cube trim N/C
775 Anthracite headliner N/C
785 White turn-signal lights N/C
787 18" alloy wheels N/C

403 Moonroof 1,050.00

522 Xenon headlights 800.00
524 Adaptive light control N/C

639 BMW Assist with Bluetooth 750.00

Net Total 45,500.00
Destination Charge 695.00
Total Suggested Price 46,195.00
 
#20 ·
Your 2003 just hit 190K? nice!

What major problems have you had with the car?

my 2000 328ci with just hit 168k, no far replaced air compressor, lost reverse on tranny, those are the 2 major problems. all others are the usual stuff.

back to this thread, :D my sister bought a new 330ci 2002 model. $43,000

black leather, harmon kardon, auto, xenons, etc..
 
#16 ·
mine was just over 41,000 tannin red leather, sport package, premium package, cold weather package sunroof. i think it came with everything but nav. I dont believe the tire pressure monitor was available yet. May be wrong. Anyway someone paid a lot for this car brand new. I have original window sticker
 
#19 ·
My car is a 2003 330i M-Sport and it cost over 50 grand new back in '03, lol.

An M3 cost over 75 grand back in '03.

Dont be scared by those prices, I live in different country with slightly better economy so thats why its like that.

LOL at US car prices, I just checked BMWusa.com and a starting price for 2011 M3 coupe is $58,000 which is lol to me, as just a few hours North you would pay $80,700 for the same car.

Love these threads, and I'm not being sarcastic.
 
#21 ·
I would guess mine was around 34-35 new...

Imola 325i
Xenons
Sports package (seats and 17's)
Sunroof
H/K audio
Heated Seats
Parking sensors


I have yet to see another facelift sedan with parking sensors. I guess the person who had it before me really wanted every option (except nav)
 
#26 ·
so i guess with the huge depreciation its safe to say dont buy bnew? lol

but seriously with the CPO programs available these days, if you wait like 3 years to buy a model you like and get a cpo youll still have 3 years left with upto 100k in warranty.... and the good thing about it is that youll save thousands like im eying an 128i 2008 and they are already in 23-24k cpo with loaded with navi xenon premium powerseats... so im guessing thats already 10k - 12k off msrp bnew...

im loving it...

one more year ill surely dip my hands on a 1 series...
 
#32 ·
I'd say that is accurate. If you can get a CPO with warranty to 100K, and preferred financing rates... Also you figure you are getting a 3 YO car with 20% of the mileage used and 40% of the cost gone...

When I bought mine new I was actually going to get a 328i CPO that was a service loaner and a year old. I opted for new as I preferred the Step over the traditional auto from 1999. I needed it at the time as my wife did not drive a stick so if I wanted the bimmer AND a designated driver, it had to be the step....
 
#27 ·
My first 3er stickered 42k I believe. 2001
My current one stickered 49k 2011
 
#31 ·
2005 330i
~$42k
Imolarot
ZHP Performance Package
ZCW Cold Weather Package
Alcantara interior (not an "option")
Xenon lights
Fold-down rear seats
Harmon Kardon audio
Rain-sensing wipers
Fog lights
6-speed (not an "option")

Too lazy to go down to the car and get the leather folio with the window sticker in it...
 
#41 · (Edited)
A quick check on BMWUSA.com for a model search on CPO 328i shows several 2007s in the 23K to 28K range. I saw a 2007 335i recently for $26K. 2009's are already approching 30 - 32K, so a 2011 maintaining a value of 36K after 5 years seems farcical.

Wonder what they have been smoking over at Yahoo?

If you assume a car is good for 200K and 10 years a good value would be a car that is cheaper than the true depreciation of the actual asset regardless of price.

So If you assume the metric above and then assume the vehicle has a nominal salvage value of say, 2500 and the new cost is 45K then you depreciate the vehicle at 43K/10 or $4300 per year. This does not assuume the fickle consumer's estimation of value but the actual consumption of the car. Therefore a car that is three years old with no more than 60K off the odometer with an original cost of $45K would not be worth more than $32K. So if you can find a 3 year old CPO for less than 32K and fewer than 60K on the odometer is a fair price but not a bargain.

Now members of this forum will immediately see the flaw in this reasoning in that after about 125K miles maintenance goes up! Therefore for the straight consumption method to work, after 3 years you would also like to see a further reduction of 15% of the estimated non-routine maintenance repairs.

If you assume that these cars will experience $9000 (this assumes parts and labor at an indy shop. if you DIY you can spend more but why would you want to?) in non-routine maintenance repairs in it's later years (125K to 200K) then you would like to see a further 1350 off the price of the car. So now you are looking at roughly 30,650 after three years and fewer than 60K.

So the cars I see on the CPO site that are 26 - 29K are a relative bargain.

Of Course the esteemed dmax may have a different calculation as he has extracted over 300K from his '99 but that appears to be the exception so far. 200K seems to be where most of the highest mileage E46s land on this forum and it seems very few are original owners.
 
#35 · (Edited)
I custom ordered my 2001 325ia Orient Blue sedan with the following. This was first year of the standard multifunction steering wheel:
Base $26,990

Orient Blue 475

Sand 'ette included

Automatic Transmission
1275

Power Glass
Moonroof 1050

Fold Down rear seat
w/ski bag 475

Xenon 500

Business CD 200

Destination 645

Total $31,610

These pictures were taken a few months ago. Car now has 70K miles.

 
#37 ·
Try Canada for the extreme opposite, this is right off the invoice:

2001 325i

Base- 37950.00
Titanium Sil - 800.00
DSC II - 960.00
Wood Trim- 585.00
Through loan with skibag- 650.00
Rain Sensor - 135.00
on board computer - 400.00
Prem package - 4450.00
sport package -3450.00
front white marker lights - 184.00

Total - $52004.00
 
#38 ·
Right off of the build sheet (I found a list of option pricing online):

2005 330i sedan: $35,700 (base)
ZHP Performance Package: $3,900
Bi-xenon: $700
TiAg Metallic Paint: $475
Silver cube interior trim: $0/NC
Destination/shipping charge: $695

Note: moonroof, H/K stereo, and power seats were all standard on 2005 330s.

Total MSRP: $41,470

Inflation adjusted MSRP (i.e. if the car were sold new today--it's exactly 6 years old as of this month): $47,926

So, yeah, actually $1500 more than you would pay for a comparably equipped (i.e. M-sport**) 335i sedan today. Whether one was a better deal (for its time) than the other is disputable--no doubt the 335 has a lot more power, more technology, and a few more gadgets/features, but I think the E46 has better build quality and nicer interior materials.

**closest equivalent--M-sport includes wheels, black headliner, shadowline window trim and body work but lacks the suspension tweaks, unique alcantara and minor drivetrain upgrades...that said, M-sport is also 750 inflation-adjusted dollars cheaper. IMO, ZHP was a better deal for its time.
 
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