E92 M3 market set to appreciate? Tracking E92 M3 M3 value from 2016-2019 and how it holds its value

[Sticky]

The E9X market is somewhat polarizing. You can pick up an E92 335i today for a pair of used socks and some floppy discs. It has led to a decline in quality in aftermarket parts as well as enthusiasts. There is natural turnover every new 3-Series generation but the E9X M3 value is holding much better than its turbo counterparts.

Why? Let's break down the reasons.

1. V8 M3, 8400 rpm, enough said. It's BMW's GT3 or GT350. You will never have a V8 in an M3 again and V8's are set to disappear from the entire BMW lineup in the next decade.
2. It can lap after lap after lap after lap. Yes, bearings need to be changed but compared to how a 335 throws codes if you sneeze on it, the M3 is a much more reliable track car which is what it was designed to be. This is the last car BMW actually won championships in motorsports with.
3. Last M3 with perfect 50/50 weight balance.
4. That exhaust note.
5. DCT or Manual paired to RWD
6. For some, the last real M3.
7. Speculators who think it will appreciate.

A guy compiled KBB data on his E92 M3 over a three year period. Of course the value dropped over time as he accrued mileage but notice despite miles we seem to be in a bottoming out period:

You will not make tons of money off an M3 investment but what is interesting to note is you will not lose tons of money either. Take good care of it and essentially you will get what you paid for if buying today.

As you can see, my first logged KBB value put my the car between $35K-$38K at 34K miles. So, I started with a $37K-ish worth M3 with 34K miles, and right now after getting the title and paying it off, I have ended up with a $25K-ish worth M3 with 67K miles. Regarding depreciation, you can instantly tell that enjoying my car for 33K miles has cost me $12K in value, but looking at depreciation that way is not that simple.

As seen on the chart above, the value obviously decreases overall. I am not going to claim that a BMW E92 M3 is going to appreciate in value -- or at least not yet. Fingers crossed that my daily driver turns into an enthusiast investment.

One thing you can see, regardless of the mileage (which climbed like a mountain), is that the value from when I first purchased the car it took a slow, flat-hill ride down.

Source

[e90Bimmer335]

I was considering getting one as my next "weekend cruiser" since the 335 is my daily beater and the fox body is a race car that is only good for the spring and summer here

[ND75R]

I was just looking at the used values on these. About 25-30k for one with 100,000-200,000 KMs on them with a stick. Seems that DCTs trade a little lower. Colour also seems to matter, silver / white seem the least desirable based on asking prices.

[Sticky2]

I only have 16k on mine. Gintani put a lot of that on too.

The m3 is honestly an all time great ride. BMW at its best.

[G0TB00ST?]

My cousin and I recently had a conversation about a very similar topic the other day, just more focused on the 335i value side of things. I’d like to share my thoughts on the matter, but for starters let me say I currently daily an e90 335i (my cousin has an e92), and before the 335 I had an E46 M3.

I’m not surprised the e9x m3 has held its value so well, I am a little surprised its done this well... I’d say better than the e46 m3. The e46 (with a few exceptions) started to sink like a rock for a minute, but the e9x never seemed to have that same depreciation hit. Your hard pressed to find a clean e9x m3 with decent miles for under 25k. 25k seems to be the starting price to get in the game where as the e46 had a time when you could get a good example in the high teens (which has obviously changed). I agree the e9x m3 is special, but unpopular opinion I don’t think its that special, its just a v8 m3. I’m not saying that to down play it, (It’s probably going to be my next car) but the s65 is a neutered s85 and thats it. The s85 is special, the s54 is special and I would also say the n54 is special. All of those engines in my opinion were age changers where as the s65 was bmw playing keep up. The s85 was a f1 derived v10, the s54 was the most hardcore NA inline 6 BMW has/ will ever develop and the n54 is the first mass produced turbo 6 bmw has ever made. I personally cant call the s65 special in that regard... the s65 has its own accomplishments sure but as an engine its a s85 lite. Engine aside, the e9x m3 is the best looking of them all and I believe one of the best total packages BMW ever made.

When it comes to the 335i I feel like YouTube has killed the value for these cars. I’m passively looking to sell my car and everyone wants a 5k bmw like some youtuber they saw and make a million horsepower for the price of a happy meal. In my opinion the M cars are true enthusiast cars and the 335i is a tuner car which attracts all kinds of other people. I personally think the 2jz comparisons are silly but I get the reasoning behind it, however I feel like the the 335 has become the new dodge neon. People are buying poor examples slapping some parts on there making glory runs on the dyno and trying to race everything on the street till the motor fails. It really sucks the car has been branded as this budget way to big whp when in reality its still a bmw with bmw costs when something breaks and for those of us who actually take care of our cars we are penalized by this trend. I sold my 88 e30 vert for what people have seriously offered for my 335i and my e90 is a cleaner/ better car in every way as a daily (love my e30 to pieces no disrespect).

Sorry this turned into a slight rant, but its just mind blowing to me the 335i has gone from the m killer to just another 3 series. However when you look at the e46 330 zhp they seem to hold firm around the 10k mark for a good example. And sorry for any typos, I wrote this on my phone on the fly, but it’s something that really relevant to me right now and I had to just get my thoughts out.

[Sticky]

I’m not saying that to down play it, (It’s probably going to be my next car) but the s65 is a neutered s85 and thats it. The s85 is special, the s54 is special and I would also say the n54 is special. All of those engines in my opinion were age changers where as the s65 was bmw playing keep up. The s85 was a f1 derived v10, the s54 was the most hardcore NA inline 6 BMW has/ will ever develop and the n54 is the first mass produced turbo 6 bmw has ever made. I personally cant call the s65 special in that regard... the s65 has its own accomplishments sure but as an engine its a s85 lite. Engine aside, the e9x m3 is the best looking of them all and I believe one of the best total packages BMW ever made.

This is where your analysis goes wrong.

The S85 V10 is not F1 derived. It has nothing in common with a BMW Formula 1 motor other than cylinder count and aspiration. The only thing it shared was the block material. Exceptionally light, but not strong. It makes sense as the idea is to build it for racing where every gram matters.

A V8 M3 existed well before the S85 V10.

I broke this all down in what is IMO my best work, here, S54 vs. S65: https://www.bimmerboost.com/showthre...ower-potential

How was the S65 V8 playing catch up? They built it to race. Race they did. Win they did. To whom did they have to catch up to? BMW was the benchmark at the time.

Furthermore, the N54 is not the first mass produced turbo six-cylinder BMW motor. BMW produced tons of turbo six-cylinder diesels and before then turbocharged six-cylinder motors in the 70's and 80's for Motorsport.

Sure the S65 and S85 share architecture. The same bore x stroke, same block material, same cylinder spacing, same almost everything. One powers a 5-Series and one powers a 3-Series. Was BMW really expected to just skip from 4.0 liters to 5.0 liters when racing Porsche? You already had Porsche kicking and screaming that they were getting their asses kicked with the V8.

I place the S65 V8 fourth all time among M motors behind the S85 and S54: https://www.bimmerboost.com/content....rt-motors-list

It certainly is special and a V8 M3 is special as we'll never see one again.

How many 100+ hp per liter naturally aspirated factory V8's can you name? The Ferrari 355, 360, 430, and 458. The Ford GT350 (which came out a decade later). Audi R8/RS4 4.2 V8 (which also came later). SLS AMG Black Series M159. That's it...

How many of those came in a car with actual rear seats and daily useability? 3

How many of those won ALMS? 1

How many of those had independent throttle bodies? 1

The S65 won the International Engine of the Year award for the 3.0 to 4.0 L category in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

It's special. Really special.

[G0TB00ST?]

This is where your analysis goes wrong.

The S85 V10 is not F1 derived. It has nothing in common with a BMW Formula 1 motor other than cylinder count and aspiration. The only thing it shared was the block material. Exceptionally light, but not strong. It makes sense as the idea is to build it for racing where every gram matters.

A V8 M3 existed well before the S85 V10.

I broke this all down in what is IMO my best work, here, S54 vs. S65: https://www.bimmerboost.com/showthread.php?1165-S54-vs-S65-Overview-history-comparison-and-power-potential

How was the S65 V8 playing catch up? They built it to race. Race they did. Win they did. To whom did they have to catch up to? BMW was the benchmark at the time.

Furthermore, the N54 is not the first mass produced turbo six-cylinder BMW motor. BMW produced tons of turbo six-cylinder diesels and before then turbocharged six-cylinder motors in the 70's and 80's for Motorsport. There may have been a turbo 6 bmw made back in the day but it wasn't as mass produced as the n54.

Sure the S65 and S85 share architecture. The same bore x stroke, same block material, same cylinder spacing, same almost everything. One powers a 5-Series and one powers a 3-Series. Was BMW really expected to just skip from 4.0 liters to 5.0 liters when racing Porsche? You already had Porsche kicking and screaming that they were getting their asses kicked with the V8.

I place the S65 V8 fourth all time among M motors behind the S85 and S54: https://www.bimmerboost.com/content.php?6689-All-time-ranking-of-BMW-M-engines-Best-production-BMW-Motorsport-motors-list

It certainly is special and a V8 M3 is special as we'll never see one again.

How many 100+ hp per liter naturally aspirated factory V8's can you name? The Ferrari 355, 360, 430, and 458. The Ford GT350 (which came out a decade later). Audi R8/RS4 4.2 V8 (which also came later). SLS AMG Black Series M159. That's it...

How many of those came in a car with actual rear seats and daily useability? 3

How many of those won ALMS? 1

How many of those had independent throttle bodies? 1

The S65 won the International Engine of the Year award for the 3.0 to 4.0 L category in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

It's special. Really special.

Ok maybe saying it derived might be a bit strong but you said they have nothing in common then list 3 things they have in common: cylinder count, aspiration and block material... sounds like they have a few things in common block material being a big one.

I never said a v8 m3 didn't exist first I said the s85 came before the s65. Now unless you know something I don't the m3 gtr does not have the s65 in it. Let's keep things in context. Now the s65 probably shares some components with this engine, but its not the same engine. Just like the s85 shares some things from the f1 engines but obviously are not the same.

Playing catch up with Porsche for one. BMW couldn't compete with na 6 cylinders anymore. There was no more room for displacement/ power with the s54 set up (evidence by the m3 gtr) and bmw had to up their engine size if they were going to continue to lead the pack. Maybe saying "playing catch up" was a bit strong but they went v8 because they had too; the s54 just wasn't going to cut it. Like you state in your article https://www.bimmerboost.com/showthre...ower-potential BMW had to go v8.

The n54 to my knowledge was the first GASOLINE commercially available turbo engine bmw produced. The discussion isn't on diesel engines nor is it on race engines... I'm not really sure where you were going with this. We are talking about gasoline street engines and you bring up motorsport engines and diesels?

As I said the s65 is s85 lite... regardless of which was developed first the s85 was released first.

Not sure what point you are trying to make here? This is a list you created on top M motors. So its your preference (correct me if I'm wrong) but thats not fact.

Ok let me clear in saying Im not comparing the s65 to all engines across all makes and models for all of time. I am talking about 3 cars specifically and their relation to each other forgive me if that wasn't made clear from the jump.

For the record I am not a n54 fan boy nor am I a s65 hater they are all great engines and all play second fiddle to the almighty s54. I will be the first to admit I am an unapologetic s54 fan boy. These were just my thoughts...

[Sticky]

Not sure what point you are trying to make here? This is a list you created on top M motors. So its your preference (correct me if I'm wrong) but thats not fact.

I mean, close enough.

[Sticky]

These were just my thoughts...

What's up the rainbow quoting? I'll get to this after some whiskey.

[Foagy]

For the record, the VooDoo GT350 motor also makes 100+ HP per liter.

Having owned a N54 335i, several N55 135is, and an S65 M3, my opinion is that the M3 has been the best of the bunch. Stock for stock the M3 has been more fun to drive than the turbo cars, simply because you wring it out to get speed. I did enjoy the non-M cars too, but they didn't have quite the character the e92 M3 does. They felt like fast cars, but not those that wanted to be thrashed every time they went out. While the turbo motors can make power enough to outrun the S65, they are typically made quite a bit less reliable when doing so, the N55 especially.

Fun fact, the M102 was BMWs first commercially available turbocharged engine, found in the E23 745i.

[Steve B. CBR]

Bmw has been mass producing turbo engines since the late 70's early 80's. Why is this an argument?

[G0TB00ST?]

Bmw has been mass producing turbo engines since the late 70's early 80's. Why is this an argument?

That’s not exactly true nor is that the argument. I asserted the n54 was the first mass produced gasoline turbo car for commercial non Motorsport use. The m102 was mentioned and proved my claim wrong. To your point though you make it sound as if bmw has been using turbo engines in their forever and that’s not even close to true.

[subaru335i]

I could for sure see myself buying an E92 M3 in the future. I love how they look and drive and sound.

And so true on the 335i market. I was driving home in my CTS-V the other day and some kid drove up to me in his newly purchased POS e92 335i and was revving and honking to get me to race lol. He still had his temporary tag on it and couldn't have been more than 16 years old.
I raced him a little bit to like 80 and gapped him and he pulled up next to me at the light all impressed asking what mods I had because he was "stage 3 upgraded turbos and E85" blah blah lol. I just said I had a pulley and tune and he got all sad and drove away. lol

[onurleft]

They tanked but they'll go back up

3 years ago my buddy was offered 47k for a 31k mile ZCP 11.75 sedan, manual, slick top, sport clothe + heated seats

Today with 38k I don't even think he could get 33-35.