£11k for an E30 M3?

1989 2.3 cat car, cloth seats, alpina wheels, bit rough round the
edges 200k km, well loved but probably seen better days,
£11k? Am I having a laugh? No, just happened to count up all
the receipts from the last 4 years, for parts and labour, not
insurance, tax etc. I've done about 30k miles in that time, and
spent some money on a few major things, eg:

Milltek exhaust
radiator
starter motor
alternator & battery
2 sets of tyres
Bilstein shocks & springs
head gasket
sump gasket
gearbox seals
etc etc

and labour has averaged £45 an hour or there abouts. Pretty
scary, but then again I think its probably only lost about £2k
value in that time so it might not be that bad (what am I saying?)
Then again, I do still love it and really don't mind, just don't tell
the wife.

Hello

Maybe I'm trying to be too clever.

I've spent £11k on parts and labour over the last 4 years, 30k
miles

I spent £7k on car 4 years ago

Its probably worth £5k now

I don't think I've done the wrong thing, but I have always fixed
what needs fixing, just wondered if this is typical. Your
argument about the new car is OK, but on top of this you have
additional insurance costs etc.

I don't need convincing but this would be worrying reading if I'd
just bought one.........

Do the labour yourself and then you know it's done right

Thats now what i do.

jon90 wrote: I think mine stands me in about £18k over 4 years.That`s including £7k for the car. Most of that money has been spent on mods though ie. 260 bhp 2.5 engine,H&R coil overs etc..etc...etc...etc.. Jon

 

but it does look good!

I'm not even going to go there with the SE...all I know is that I've got ALOT of reciepts with LARGE numbers at the bottom of them, and except for the bodywork, there is not a labour charge in sight, well not since I bought the car.

One thing is for sure, these E30 M3's are certainly rising in value now  It wasn't that long ago you could get a half decent one for under £3K Try finding one (undamaged and half decent) for that money now. Sierra sapphire cossies used to fetch more, but not now.  They would cost you alot more in maintenance. Not brake pads, etc. But headgaskets, turbo's, gearboxes, diffs, etc, etc.