So where are you guys finding cars these days?

[Mike W.]

Especially SF Bay area people, but where are you finding cars these days? For 20+ years Craigslist has been the easy default, but there isn't s*** there these days. Not just E28s, not even E39s, which are still plentiful on the roads. Or are people just not selling interesting cars?

I'll even detail it out, I'm looking for a E39, 530i 5M, and an E24 635csi, prefer manual, but I've got most of the parts to do a conversion. But it doesn't matter, even autos aren't out there. Not even beaters or easy pass cars. I'm really tired of the E36, though there are worse things to be really tired of.

Anyway, where?

[mitch5]

Everything has shifted to fb marketplace. I have sold my last three cars on there and had way less hassle than cl.

Unfortunately the fb marketplace search engine is “smart” aka terrible. Simple searching like by radius of zip or even by most recently posted does not seem to work. It can be hard to even find the same posting twice or to go back and find it.

The upside is that you can get lucky and score deals because someone messed up how their car is listed. Downside is you need a Facebook account

[Mike W.]

Everything has shifted to fb marketplace. I have sold my last three cars on there and had way less hassle than cl.

I was wondering, I have heard people refer to it. Dunno why people would want to use a closed system that only members can access as opposed to CL, but whatever.

Downside is you need a Facebook account

Ug. Between being privacy oriented and having an exceptionally low opinion for the owner/founder I've thus far managed to avoid it. Actually if it wasn't for Zuck I might have relented already.

[Foonfer]

Between being privacy oriented and having an exceptionally low opinion for the owner/founder

I totally get that, it's not a small hurdle. My own anecdote is, I stopped using FB more than a decade ago as "social media", but then again I was able to score a decent G265/6 for the build I had under way, and it happened at the right time and at a convenient location. Lucky? perhaps, but it's the kind of thing that wouldn't have happened without FB and some intense online scouring.

[Panici]

I've seen guys create "fake" (or at very least sparse) facebook profiles solely to interact with local car groups.
Whether that be buy & sell or car shows etc.

You only have to put as much detail on your profile as you're comfortable with.

[BMWCCA2]

I have reluctantly accepted FB, even though I, too, have a problem with the format, their algorithms, and the owner. But many of the groups that represent my various hobbies have moved there either from Yahoo Groups or bulletin board (or whatever you call formats such as this group). You must be careful because as it gains membes, the scammers proliferate as well. I have had good luck with the BMW motorcycle community there in buying used parts. Many even require "proof-of-life" photos with the seller's phone number shown in photos to protect against scams. Self-regulated, but it seems to work.

To answer the OP's question, it's damn hard to find good specialty cars unless you're willing to put up with BaT and pay their prices and fees. It's gotten to be the average-man's Mecum with pricing to go along with it. It seems like a huge bubble just waiting to burst, but then other times it seems to be a snowballing in popularity. The number of re-sells (alumnae) on the site where the first buyer is re-selling after spending thousands to fix what was supposed to be perfect, and the concentration of sellers who have developed their business and reputation on BaT seems just a bit incestuous, to me.

Out of pure self-interest, let me say that I have a near-perfect low-mile 2002 530i 5MT Sport/Premium E39 with DSP, no-Nav, heated seats, mint sport seats, M-steering wheel, etc. Jet Black with perfect black leather interior, S/R, clean CarFax, new DWS tires, ZHP shift-knob, small black trunk lip spoiler adhered, perfect stock sport package composite BBS open-lug wheels. (All the right options but no fold-down-rear seats.) Clutch delay delete, aluminum thermostat housing, I know how long I searched for this car. I may have driven it 10,000-miles in the eight-years I've owned it, and I believe it just turned 80k. It has been stored in my garage under two covers as long as I've owned it. Came originally from Nashville, so not a salt car. Two things on my to-do list before putting it up for sale are seat-back cables, and S/R lift repair. Why sell the car I looked so long and hard for? It just never really did it for me the way my E28s do, or the way my E34 did (I still promise I'll restore that one out of love), so my daily driver now is a 128i M-sport stick which is my favorite and I no longer need my big 4-door. I'm in no hurry to sell, simply because BaT has sucked me in to believing the longer I keep it, the more it goes up in value.

I'm about as far away in the USA from the OP as I can be, but there you go! No pain, no gain. Maybe I'll get around to actually thinking about selling it this spring, after I get something ready for The Vintage!
But by then it might interfere with motorcycle-riding season . . .

[mitch5]

I will say that when selling one big upside to Facebook is you can easily vet out people, either scammers or not serious by glancing at their profile.

I was able to sell my last two vehicles very easily on fb along with tons of other car parts. As someone mentioned the groups can be useful to as you can post your ads directly to the groups.

Ill admit I use my partners Facebook because I don’t have one and hate the idea of making one

[stuartinmn]

It should be noted that even e39s are more than 20 years old, so there are simply fewer of them to be had anymore. You are in California so attrition from rust is not nearly the problem it is for the rest of us, but there's still a lot fewer of them on the road than there was five or ten years ago.

[austin8753]

to echo the other sentiments made in this thread, unfortunately, Facebook Marketplace is where a lot of deals are found today. that being said, holy fuck, the algorithm SUCKS. you see so much of the exact same thing instead of being able to see the most recent postings. cannot understand why it's setup like that. very frustrating.

[Panici]

Just as a data point, I've seen only THREE running/driving E28s posted in my "local" area in the past two years. And two "parts only" cars.


All of these were on facebook, and I bought one of them. I say "local" area because it was still a 2 hour drive in each direction
.
Due to the road salt, you don't see many modern classics around here, and E28s certainly fit that description.

I haven't driven my car since purchase, as I discovered it needs major floor repairs. It's within my skillset, I just have to dedicate the time to the project.


What I'm trying to say is, finding a "good" car that doesn't need a partial restoration will be from the southern USA.
Either you frequent the local BMW groups on social media from those locations, or rely on a big auction site like BAT.

[Theotherotter]

I found my E12 on CL in the Bay Area last year. Sometimes something nice will pop up there.

[GoNoles]

FB marketplace has really taken over I’m afraid
Still good deals to be had on CL. Misrepresentation and title jumping is so prevalent that I run VINs before agreeing to meet…

Check out autotempest.com …. It’s very cool

[kojo96]

Mike, shoot me a PM. A friend has a 1980 e24 for sale, local here in Moraga. I'll put you in touch with him.

[Mike W.]

Out of pure self-interest, let me say that I have a near-perfect low-mile 2002 530i 5MT Sport/Premium E39 with DSP, no-Nav, heated seats, mint sport seats, M-steering wheel, etc.

Responded.

It should be noted that even e39s are more than 20 years old, so there are simply fewer of them to be had anymore. You are in California so attrition from rust is not nearly the problem it is for the rest of us, but there's still a lot fewer of them on the road than there was five or ten years ago.

Quite true. Rust is but a rumor here but smog and clearcoat failure has killed more than a few. Still not nearly as many left as there used to be, but they're not rare either.

What I'm trying to say is, finding a "good" car that doesn't need a partial restoration will be from the southern USA.
Either you frequent the local BMW groups on social media from those locations, or rely on a big auction site like BAT.

Being in California very few cars within a thousand miles have any rust on them. They sold in big numbers here and are two generations newer than E28s also.

Mike, shoot me a PM. A friend has a 1980 e24 for sale, local here in Moraga. I'll put you in touch with him.

PM has been shot.

Thanks for the replies guys and keep 'em coming if there's any other suggestions or input.

[BDKawey]

my favorite thing about how bad facebook marketplace is just the amount of shit that pops up that just isnt what I'm after.

if I search "5x120" you get so many wheels of different patterns, same when searching for tires. unfortunately theres just no where else to reliably buy/sell anymore

[garageboy]

I'm in the same boat.

My E39 is 2001, 5MT, 530i sport, NAV, fold-down seats, original anthracite paint, always garaged, Interior sand beige in good shape except worn driver's seat. I had intended to keep it to 300K. But I discovered rust underneath that caused the rear jacking point to fail. Parts are 6500USD alone (3250/side, both sides are getting rusty). So while the car has a new clutch at 170K, new xenon fixtures at 195K, 4 shocks at 200K... now at 210K and due for 2nd coolant refresh, I'm thinking I might have to move on.

I don't want anything newer. I don't want a 3er. I don't want an automatic, I would never consider E60, and few F10s are manual. I want another E39. With fold-down seats. How will I ever find original paint in 2024? It's going to be sheer luck and timing for me to find another one to replace it at this point, most likely word-of-mouth from another enthusiast. I used to follow cars.com and autotrader.com, better than craigslist, but Facebook has replaced craigslist as the cesspool of the Internet.

I wish there was a better answer... I will be forever mindful of how lucky we are to have enjoyed these cars (E28s... and E39s... and E34s... E30s...) these past 40 years!

[BMWCCA2]

I'm in the same boat.

My E39 is 2001, 5MT, 530i sport, NAV, fold-down seats, original anthracite paint, always garaged, Interior sand beige in good shape except worn driver's seat. I had intended to keep it to 300K. But I discovered rust underneath that caused the rear jacking point to fail. Parts are 6500USD alone (3250/side, both sides are getting rusty). So while the car has a new clutch at 170K, new xenon fixtures at 195K, 4 shocks at 200K... now at 210K and due for 2nd coolant refresh, I'm thinking I might have to move on.

I don't want anything newer. I don't want a 3er. I don't want an automatic, I would never consider E60, and few F10s are manual. I want another E39. With fold-down seats. How will I ever find original paint in 2024? It's going to be sheer luck and timing for me to find another one to replace it at this point, most likely word-of-mouth from another enthusiast. I used to follow cars.com and autotrader.com, better than craigslist, but Facebook has replaced craigslist as the cesspool of the Internet.

I wish there was a better answer... I will be forever mindful of how lucky we are to have enjoyed these cars (E28s... and E39s... and E34s... E30s...) these past 40 years!

I feel your pain. I'm hoping to just die of natural causes before my 128i M-sport stick does!

My wife asked me again today when I was going to sell the E39. I told her in the spring when I can get around to fixing the two minor issues and update the maintenance, that would free up garage space for more vintage projects. I just can't get myself to think of the E39 as "vintage". But then mine has fewer miles than yours by 130k and has never lived in a salt or snow climate. Since I've owned it in VA, it's never seen winter weather and was never a daily driver. It is very disappointing to hear about rust in such a "modern" BMW but I was equally disappointed when my E34 came up with rust issues similar to an E28, where the trunk was full of rust and moisture around the license lights. Does BMW never learn from the past? On the E34, the fuel tank is held on by two metal straps, one of which just rusted away and broke. I have the new strap but just gave up on the car at one point and parked it. I hoped to get to doing a complete mechanical restoration on it and had it's second set of shocks purchased already (Bilstein Sport) to go with the lowered springs and 17-inch wheels. But the rust in the bottoms of the doors was equally depressing. And then the Alpine White clearcoat started to fail, even though it was original paint. I thought I was playing it safe with a white car! That took a lot out of me.

But, now I'm happy with the E82. The E39 won't be perfect for you as it's missing only one option and that's the fold-down rear seat. It has everything else available. Yes, it's all original Jet Black paint, stick, no rust, perfect interior (black leather), sport seats, and a much better steering wheel than the one on your 2001! But I'm retired now and am just looking to pad my self-funded retirement since the car biz is notorious for not providing any, even after almost 50-years in the industry, in the same town. That means I'll need the money!

[gadget73]

I've rolled my refusal of joining FB with a desire to own less stuff. SInce I can't find anything to buy, that means I don't add to what I've already got. Since I can't even view all the wonderful deals I'm missing out on, I don't even have the regret of missed opportunities so it works out fine.

On the other hand it means that I'm probably going to be buried with the stuff I currently own even if I don't want it anymore.