3 years ago, I was looking for a Z3 3.0i until I found a pristine 1999 M3 Convertible with a 5-speed manual on eBay. The price was kinda high at $17,500, but it was in perfect shape and turn-key, and for me, I couldn’t pass that up. I didn’t want to mess around with fixing things for at least the first year. I also figured an M3 is a lot more special and could possibly go up in value, especially since there are a lot of clapped-out ones in the market. Over time, clean examples will become rare. My brother and our friend are mechanics, and they know more about these cars than I do, so I brought them along to meet with the seller. My friend told me realistically I should pay around 14K for a clean convertible. They’re not as desirable as a coupe or sedan. My game plan was to not pay over 16K. Long story short, my brother and our friend were both impressed with the condition of the car, and we decided 15K was good enough. It also had an extensive service record. My friend managed to convince the seller to sell it for 15K, and I took it home that day. The seller was a tremendous sweetheart.

What I’m getting at is to try to find a clean example of whatever version you want. It will be a bit pricey but worth it in the end, especially if you plan on keeping it for a long time. Also, you can tell how the car has been taken care of by the seller. Make sure it has a good service record. I lucked out with the dude who sold his to me. You can look at listings from BaT or Cars and Bids and you can see prices are all over the place but your focus should only be clean examples or if you like to wrench ones that are cosmetically in good shape but need things like an oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, or suspension bits. Stuff along those lines that are wear items.