Le Mans Blue E90 6MT "Stripper"

All right, I am very apprehensive to post this up. For those that know me, this is a bit of a halo car for me, and it is not an exaggeration to say it took me a decade to locate it. This is my second "stripper" E90 M3 with my first being an extremely similar spec, but in Jet Black. The only reason I even made this thread is that I have been considering going down the rabbit hole of building another E92 car that would be dedicated for track and mountain road use. This E90 is certainly not the car for that (nor has it ever been on a track or similar). If the value for this car doesn't make sense to me, then I'll keep the car and look to build another E92 alongside. The sale of this E90 would really just be to accelerate the process. Disclaimer (and self justification ) out of the way...

2011 BMW M3 E90
6MT
Le Mans Blue Metallic exterior
Speed Cloth interior with Sycamore Anthracite trim
Slick top (no sunroof)
Single hump (no navigation)
Electronic Damper Control (EDC)
Heated seats
Folding rear seat
Rear Park Distance

Never mind spec, only 185 Le Mans Blue E90 M3s made it to the North American market. This one being a "one of one" with its spec. Sitting at ~80k miles. No rust or any concern of the sort with the car spending its life in California, Arizona, and a very brief stent in Florida before I brought it home here in the North Georgia mountains surrounded by some of the best roads to enjoy the car. The car spends its life in an insulated garage tucked away in the corner away from everything except for the once every few weekends I will bring it out for a lap around the mountain.



Under my ownership...
Paint correction and ceramic coating
OEM 219 BBS wheels retained and have added 255/40 & 275/40 Continental Extreme Contact 2 tires
Macht Schnell spacers 12mm front / 10mm rear
Borla Atak exhaust with custom single-wall tips with same placement as OEM (OEM in great shape hanging on my wall in the garage)
New OEM trunk struts
Front/rear windshield weather strippings replaced (OEM)
Deansbimmer undertray to replace the tired OEM felt
Center console phone tray replaced with OEM storage tray
Clutch/brake fluid flushed
Oil change
Cabin filter changed
Air filter changed
Window tint (I believe 35%)

Throttle body actuators have been replaced.
Rod bearings have not to my knowledge, but Blackstone shows happy.
Scuff on underside of front bumper passenger side (that way when I bought it, but I don't notice it unless I'm down on the ground)
I've never seen a check engine light or anything of the sort. Has been absolutely rock solid.

What say the collective brain trust? What's something like this worth?

Cheers!
Tyler

$25k?

Bimmer Barney wrote

$25k?

Lol. Add $10k at least.

Damn OP, that didn't take long. But better to let go now then get attached and struggle later.

Has the search started for an E92?

Bimmer Barney wrote

$25k?

You just want me to keep it!

a5m wrote

Lol. Add $10k at least.

Damn OP, that didn't take long. But better to let go now then get attached and struggle later.

Has the search started for an E92?

I've had it for a year. But I'm not saying that I even want to get rid of it. I love the car. No problem in hanging onto it as it was intended to be - the forever car. This would just be to accelerate the build of something a bit more dedicated. I suppose the right play is...

I figured I’d rip the bandaid off.

I have a stripper spec 2011 e90M slicktop, single hump but with comp. It’s dct, not manual, but similar mileage with all the maintenance things addressed and some tasteful mods + stock parts. Blah blah blah; it’s a rare combo just like this.

In today’s market I think I might get an offer for $30k.

I won’t part with it because it’s not worth enough to make the cash towards a replacement something enticing and the Pcar I’d want to replace it is $150k.

It’s a tough spot if you’re selling but a fine spot if you’re keeping. Tough car to beat.

Bimmer Barney wrote

I figured I’d rip the bandaid off.

I have a stripper spec 2011 e90M slicktop, single hump but with comp. It’s dct, not manual, but similar mileage with all the maintenance things addressed and some tasteful mods + stock parts. Blah blah blah; it’s a rare combo just like this.

In today’s market I think I might get an offer for $30k.

I won’t part with it because it’s not worth enough to make the cash towards a replacement something enticing and the Pcar I’d want to replace it is $150k.

It’s a tough spot if you’re selling but a fine spot if you’re keeping. Tough car to beat.

Great assessment. Under the assumption of a $3x,xxx sale price for mine, it will happily stay in my garage. It's just too much car and too much of an experience to let it go for that.

I had considered foregoing my search for another E90M to pursue a 993 C2S with the price in my head the last time I was shopping for one. Boy was I mistaken to see the price of those cars had easily doubled in a relatively short period. Fine, I'll shift to a 997 GT3 if I'm spending that kind of money. Nope. Those went to the moon, too.

Don’t sell

Hope you get more then 35, if you do gotta be worth more?!
E90 manual is slim pickings on top of Lemans and stripper is much slimmer

I have 1 of 2 spec 2011 comp lemans manual single hump slick top fox red 70120 miles

In southern california, I'd expect to see a car like this listed somewhere around 40k. E90 slicktop, single humps don't show up often

fade2black wrote

In southern california, I'd expect to see a car like this listed somewhere around 40k. E90 slicktop, single humps don't show up often

2nd that assessment...
For example, this summer a surprising, unsolicited offer from a 992 guy of $50K
I consider my whip 'a lifer', but that number almost gave me pause

It may take some time...yet there's a strong market for those 'who know', especially in markets like Cali.

GLWS...although hope you decide to retain her

I had a stripper 2010 E92 with 35k miles, random guy offered 45k I said not selling it, he is like ok 47k cash now done deal, I sold it lol.

If someone offered you 50k take that money and run!

Mmmmm, not so fast; don’t think so…
If you’re into flipping cars for a quick buck, well guess so…then sell baby sell.

However, e9X aren’t purely a ‘commodity car’ rather a current and becomingly increasingly rare classic - - if not abused.

Last summer a 992.2 guy offered on the spot +$50k for my original owner, pristine whip. That offer with zero knowledge of history, mls etc.
Without hesitation declined…guy acknowledged the other than ‘now’ monetary worth for the platform.

It's not exactly the same, but if it helps, I traded in my 2011 E92 M3 Competiton (ZCP) in Lemans Blue 6MT, fully optioned except for cold weather package at 45k miles a couple years back for about $41k.

Also slicktop 6MT over here. Patience is the move. People told me I overpaid when I bought mine and a few years on I've had generous offers that said otherwise. Spec premium is real and the right buyer tends to show up.

On the pricing question: for me, provenance is probably half of the spread. Spec gets you in the range, paperwork decides where you land.

One data point: a buddy bought a 65k mile car with almost zero maintenance docs. Did RB, TA and catch-up maintenance the PO hadn't gotten to. More than made his money back on the next sale because the new buyer had peace of mind on every major thing. n=1 story but it stuck with me. Doing the work is one thing. Being able to prove you did it is the part that seems to move the sale price.

For your car specifically: rare spec + clean ownership is a strong package. If you sell, docs are one of the bigger levers between "$40k maybe" and "$50k yes" for the right buyer. Mileage, condition, and PPI findings factor too, but docs are the piece you can control ahead of time. Whatever service records and photos you have are the easy thing to hand over.

For me personally, the direction the thread has landed (close to $50k or keep) lines up with how I'd think about it. Rare specs and clean ownership rarely come back once they're gone.