M Coupe Buyers Guide

Saw this on craigslist.
http://tulsa.craigslist.org/cto/2585221940.html

Hi, i follow your page for several years looking for my perfect M coupe (just like you) i live in Mexico and the problem is i only can import a car which Vin Number starts with number (4 or 5) and i my research i only look 2002 cars with this vin number, all other cars starts with W (like then were made in West Germany) do you know something about it??? if not i will consider buy a 2002 (but this car is the most expensive M)….

Regards

I used to park next to an mcoupe 7 years ago and wanted one ever since. Im so glad this site exists since it keeps me in touch.

Will get one eventually….thanks for all the great info

Finally drove my first M coupe a few weeks ago, and now follow this website nearly every morning and night looking for the perfect M coupe. This is is a friggin gold mine, thanks for taking the time to put it together. The only thing that gives me pause is the maintenance. I used to own an 88 535i that spent quite a bit of time in the shop. Will the M coupe have a similar experience?

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/2711738183.html
I received pictures of the subframe of this car and its starting to pull spot welds and has minor cracks. Both drivers and passenger sides have missing pulled welds

My M Coupe is on craigslist this morning.
Family emergency forces sale fast, hence the price. $13999
I had it for sale a few months ago, but pulled it off market
because I love driving it. It’s a nice one!

1999, 97XXX miles, Imola Red, very good to excellent cond.
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/cto/2728995735.html

This is a fantastic resource. You have more info on our car than we do.
We own this one: LC61706 | 2000 | Cosmos Black Metallic | Dark Beige Oregon | S52 | Sunroof.

We purchased in ’03 for $35.5K w/ ~15.5K mi. Now has 44.5K. Guys at M Service in Walnut Creek, CA take care of it for us. Nothing of note wrong with the car (couple of minor door dings, scratches).

Sadly, we really should sell it (daughter in college, she needs a car, it’s sitting and taking up space in the garage, etc.). More than any of that, my wife and I aren’t enthusiasts. It needs a real home. My wife loves the car, but she drives it to tennis on Saturdays. I like it too, but I’m 6’4 and too big to “safely” drive it… it’s like a circus show just getting in and out.. we’ll be sad to see it go

To that end, what do you believe is a good asking price? (don’t have pics yet, but will in a day or so).

Thanks in advance.

My 1999 M coupe has a vibration from front end at 60+ (not always but often). Have straightened front driver side wheel, replaced both inner and outer front tie rods, control arm bushings, rear shocks but car still shakes.

My garage conclluded that front shocks should be replaced but they admit they are not terribly worn. Front DS tire is very slightly off round. Front pass side wheel is dragging due to probable caliper stick.

Any ideas? Thanks, james

— SOLD —, Palo Alto Imola Red 1999 BMW M Coupe – $13,995.00

I bought the San Jose Black 1999 Coupe with the Kinesis wheels. It really was immaculate looking beyond the the very minor splitter/bolster wear you mentioned. I drove it back to Portland, Oregon up 101 on a nice day, what a blast!

Thanks, Jon, for running this site, it was a huge help to me this year looking for a car.

Hi,
I am interested in selling my low mileage silver ’02 M Coupe. How do I go about posting my car to this great site?

Milo

I have started looking at M Coupe’s to purchase and have some interest in the following coupes.

Should I be concerned about the M50 intake conversion.

http://listings.mcoupebuyersguide.com/listing.aspx?ListingID=510

How difficult is it to import a car from Canada back into the US?

http://listings.mcoupebuyersguide.com/listing.aspx?ListingID=495

Hi, I would like to point out the price and mileages on the following page are wrong compare to the original ad.
http://listings.mcoupebuyersguide.com/listing.aspx?ListingID=556

I’ve got a 2002 Coupe with Dinan Stage 4 software, throttle body, and cold air intake, and exhaust. I’ve had problems with the clultch starting to slip, and would like to replace the clutch with something more heavy duty and performance oriented. Who makes a good performance clutch for this purpose?

hey got my m coupe posted on kijiji. if you could help by posting it here that would be great.

Hi! First want to say I LOVE your site! I had a ’99 M-Coupe from 2000 thru 2005 and unfortunately had to part with it…but I hope to be back in one soon (next year hopefully!). I did have a question though, I was trying to use the search feature to look for Coupes for sale in California…but when I put in “CA” on the search page it just returns all the results instead of narrowing it by state. I tried putting in other states as well with no success. Is this something you could fix? Or am I just not doing something correctly?

Thanks and keep up the great work here!

Jon,
Here is another CL ad for an MCoupe for your site.

http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/cto/2839848590.html

Thanks for a great site!

Hello Jon,

Any possibility in the future of posting regular ol’ Z3 Coupe listings along with the M-Coupe?

Even a 2.8l coupe is very desirable, as they are such a rare car, and at the much cheaper cost than MCoupes, its a viable option!

Hi Jon,

Just a quick question. Do you know of a phone number for the Sun Lakes M Coupe? Also, I thought that about three months ago it was sold and someone sent it out for a mechanical inspection prior to purchase…. Do you know anything about this. I am interested and would like to contact the owner in Sun Lakes, AZ

Thanks so much,
Tom

@Jon Martin
Hey Jon,

Looking forward to it… Out of curiosity, what kind of production numbers did Z3 Coupe’s receive? Are they as rare as MCoupes?

I’ve never seen an MCoupe or a Z3 coupe for sale “in the wild”, so to speak, only the M-Coupe’s on your website, which gives the illusion that the Z3 Coupe’s are even rarer, as your site makes it relatively easy to find MCoupe’s.

@:ee Matthew
Let alone the 3.0 that was only 15HP lower than the S52 and rarer.

Great site I owned 2 m-coupe’s The first was a 1999 imola red and the second I bought new from MY BMW in Monterey CA. it was a 2002 m-coupe Laguna Seca blue interior was black with blue highlights and no sunroof i sold it to a private car dealer in 2004 for 27k he flipped it to a buyer in Orange County. The car was perfect I sold it with around 23k miles and was mint other than repainting the rear bumper Looking to buy another 2002 m-coupe. Should have kept the one I had.

Can anyone comment on the quality of cars sold by Enthusiast Auto?
Not the prices, they are all sky high we can agree on that but do I need to worry about
getting a crashed lemon from them?

Thank you for this site.
I have the worlds best husband who gives so much.
Over the years he asks for little but his secret dream is to own an M coupe.
My goal is to give him those keys in the next year.
The info on your site is most helpful to both of us.
Thanks to you Johm and all those who contribute.

about to post my car for sale… sometime this week. I have a 99 z3 m coupe with 95k Stage 2 Supercharged with RMS hardware tuned by Nick G, artic silver, kyalami orange, randy forbes kit, Jeff bryant dash board gauges, custom audio mister x box, roof rack + 1 bike rack with locks, exhaust, shorty headers, custome 18″ work wheels, dual differential, etc….. lots of custom stuff. I was thinking of posting the car for $25k since I easily have spend well over 50k in the car but wanted your opinion…..

Your website site is great and it amazing how many cars are selling.

oh by the way I purchased the 2002 coupe from Oakland Hills for $23,500. Had to drive it 850 miles to get it home and just a dream to drive.

thanks
darren

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=316184887
My car has shown up on this website, so I am informing everyone that the price has been lowered today to $16000. Although it may take some time for the change to show on the autotrader web page.
If you have questions please leave a comment under my car on this site or give me a call, number is listed on autotrader.
Thanks

Thanks Jon. Great web page!

Hi Jon –
I just went to register one of my cars on the NC DMV site, and immediately recognized the name “ES Motorsports” in one of the press releases, dated 2/23/12…. “N.C. DMV Arrests Greensboro Car Dealer for Charging Illegal Fees”.

“NCDMV License and Theft Bureau inspectors on Wednesday, February 22, arrested the owner of ES Motorsports, Inc., Ehsan Shahnawaz, 32, of Crosstimbers Drive in Greenboro. He is charged with illegally billing customers for tax, tag and title fees for 87 vehicle sales.

“Records show Shahnawaz opened the business located in Greensboro at 707 Norwalk St. in 2008, selling mainly used BMWs and high-end sports cars. In addition to sales from the vehicle lot, he also sold vehicles via the Internet.

“The arrest followed a routine dealer audit by DMV inspectors and included an investigation into the dealership’s sales records over an 18-month period. Inspectors charged Shahnawaz with selling vehicles to out-of-state customers, charging them illegally for North Carolina taxes, titles and tags, when the vehicles were not being titled or licensed in the state. The dealer also charged other fees not allowed by North Carolina law.

“In total, Shahnawaz was charged with 87 felony counts of obtaining property by false pretense, 12 counts of common law forgery, and six counts of common law uttering. Misdemeanor counts included two counts of having open titles, 25 counts of charging hidden fees, 4 counts of failure to inspect vehicles prior to sale, and 13 counts of improper issuance of a 30-day marker.

“Following his arrest, Shahnawaz was taken to the Guilford County Detention Center and held on a $95,000 secured bond. License and Theft Bureau inspectors are continuing their investigation into the dealership’s activities.

https://apps.dot.state.nc.us/pio/releases/details.aspx?r=6088

I know you have several M Coupes posted that are offered by ES. If I’m not mistaken, they offered a red Coupe for sale +/- 6 months ago, that you did some due diligence on…. seems it had been previously totaled.

Buyer beware!
Keep up the great site…. I’m still looking for “my coupe”

best,
Dan

i’ve just found your site, thanks!
how do i contact a seller ?
cannot seem to find the way….

Thanks For the info on ES Motorsports, I stopped in there on Wednesday last week on my way to FLA. I wanted to see the yellow M Coupe they have, with the info Jon Martin had sent me I checked it out as best I could. In addition to the over sprayed paint there was a scuff on the hood, a four inch gouge in the rear bumper cover (driver side) just behind the mud flap which was not a match for the other side. The brake pads were about 1/3 morn but the rotors needed turned. The clutch needed to be pressed into the carpet to disengage enough to shift into gear. Driving the car felt like a lot of work as the steering was very stiff and it took alot of focus and effort to change gears smoothly. This was only the second M coupe that I have driven.

Sold my coupe for
$16,750.
Happy Valley, OR 2000 M Coupe with 80K miles. Silver.

Hi Jon,
I appreciate the extensive info on MCoupes you have published on your site. It is fantastic and was extremely useful in my purchase. If you can reply to my email address and I’ll fill you in on the details and you can update your database.
Thanks again,
George

Hello Jon,

Thank you very much for this website. I’m not ready to buy now but this site has already educated me for when the time is right.

Thanks again sir!

We are looking for 2.8 or 3.0 coupes. Could you give us a tip or two as to how you find all of these m coupes so we could use them to find a non-m? Thanks

are you able to help find transmissions, id liek to do an e46 6speed swap.

Hi Jon,

I test drove this one today: http://listings.mcoupebuyersguide.com/listing.aspx?ListingID=565

Definitely in great condition. I did not see any chips and only saw a couple of very small scratches. However, the left F and R wheels are a little chewed up.

I saw that you mentioned that you thought it was overpriced for a 135K mile car. What do you think is a fair price for a dealer sale?

Jon,

Emailed you last night about this listing: http://listings.mcoupebuyersguide.com/listing.aspx?ListingID=943

Called ES Motorsports and they provided the Vin#: 5UMCN93492LK61237

Do you have the CarFax report on this one? I’m across the country in San Francisco, so can’t do in-person inspection. Any recommendations?

maybe there could ba a suggestion box. or questionaire box. or parts forum attached to this website.

Hi, I’m new to this site and think it’s great. I really like this car and hope to buy one someday. I am an avid golfer and would like to know if I can get my golf bag (with driver included) into the trunk (probably in the area between the wheel wells and the back of the trunk). Would you be able to provide have the inside dimensions of the trunk of this car? Please advise. Thanks!

http://listings.mcoupebuyersguide.com/listing.aspx?ListingID=109

Looks like a Canadian car as the speedo is in KPH only

Greetings:
You have my car listed.
http://listings.mcoupebuyersguide.com/listing.aspx?ListingID=520
I understand it’s not perfect and it does have it’s issues. Would you be so kind as to tell me what I can do (aside from replacing the chrome side vents, the new owner can do that if he/she wishes) to help this sale along? I don’t feel I am asking too much for the car, as $24,700 is simply an asking price.

Thanks and regards;
Tony

Awesome site so glad I stumbled on. I am thinking about selling my 2001 imola red coupe 🙁 26k any thoughts on best place to list it? Cheers

Thanks for maintaining a great site and for providing a great service to us who want to be Mcoupe owners soon. I have loved these coupes ever since they came out but it hasn’t been a practical car to own up until now even though I already have 4 BMWs. I am now getting close to the point where I will be in the market for a coupe so I visit this site almost daily.

Hi Jon, On May 29th, I purchased the ’99 Estoril Blue coupe in Greensboro, NC. I’d wanted one of these since I first saw one. Anyway, I wanted to thank you for this fantastic web site. Keep up the good work.

KBB doesn’t seem to discriminate between the s52 and s54 coupe values. That’s why the s52 values seem so high. Good luck finding a buyer for KBB prices on an s52 coupe and no one will part with their s54 coupe at KBB prices!

Thanks for all the good references on buying an M coupe. I had a ’98 Imola Red M Roadster years ago. Recently I followed a guy home who was driving a very, very nice M coupe. I pulled up to his house right behind him and luckily wasn’t shot 🙂 Real nice guy, eager to talk cars with me. He said he is thinking about buying a newer M5 and he would consider selling the coupe. His car is an ’01 Imola Red with 2 tone red/black interior with 47K miles. The car is in just about perfect shape with the exception of the finish on the factory wheels where one of his sons sprayed a solvent on them that stripped them. The car does have a sunroof. It also has Dinan Stage 4 upgrades including software, exhaust, throttle bodies, suspension and a heavy duty clutch with lightened flywheel. He didn’t know how much power the car makes. He threw out $20k for the car if he sold it, I left my number but he hasn’t called. I called the bank and they said they’d loan $16k which worries me about resale down the line. Thoughts?

Just sold my Spider:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27779215@N03/?uploaded=17&magic_cookie=96f08797bea6e5d8ec79c47ca70123f5

So now i’ve started looking to buy a Mcoupe. Trying to learn more about the car and your site is invaluable.

Jon,

Wanted to say thanks for such a great site. Always liked the Mcoupe and knew I would own one someday. Thanks to your site I just purchased the black 1999 that you have listed in KY.

Erroneous Information regarding the Sales Price of 1999 BMW M Coupe vin: WBSCM9330XLC61001
This Car was Sold/Purchased for Significantly more than MCoupeBuyersGuide.com is Reporting.
It seems people are relying on this bad information in making offers.
Please correct to read: Sale Price Private and unknown. Thank you…Current Owner.