BMW 1602 project but how much to offer? *bought*

[rsmithy626]

I'm interested in buying this BMW 1602 that's been sat on a driveway for years, looks pretty rotten but complete. Knocked on the door and the owner said he will sale and gave me his number to call him when I've done some research. Thing is I ain't got a clue what to offer, don't wanna make a silly offer and insult him with it. 

My plan if I were to buy it would be make it solid, running sweet and wheels and lows, leave it ratty.

Any advice is much appreciated. 

[rsmithy626]

[shielsy68]

thems making good money well wortha punt,ask him what he wants and workfrom there

[surprisingskoda]

I bought one, running, in a very similar condition, for either £1300 or £1600 about 18 months ago.
Roughly worth 5-10k depending on how well you restore it. Later ones with the square rear lights are not as desirable as the early ones.

[rblote]

Oct 7, 2018 22:46:33 GMT surprisingskoda said:

I bought one, running, in a very similar condition, for either £1300 or £1600 about 18 months ago.
Roughly worth 5-10k depending on how well you restore it. Later ones with the square rear lights are not as desirable as the early ones.

I think you are right regarding the tail lights. I really don't understand this. To me these rectangular lights look much better than the round ones.
I think this 1602 looks great. Honest patina no bought in a can patina!!

I am normally not a fan of rat rods or leave as found cars but this one would look great to leave as found. Get a MOT on it but leave as is....
However I do like them looking like new too!
My first car was a BMW 1802 with a 320 4cyl motor. I had to sell it before I got my license. 

[Darkspeed]

Start with the practical classic price guide

1602/1502 (sal) 67-77 1573 11.8 30 zzzzz £9000 £6500 £3000 £1250 06/07

[djefk]

I’d offer £850 - 1000, it’s going to be s very long term project. Nice wheels though

[Mercdan68]

I’d bet the owner wants way more than it’s worth
Which means it’ll sit there forever
Seen it so many times before
Good luck with it though,personally I’d see that at £500 no more

[Bolf]

makes me sad this , not worth a great deal in current state as , like others have said your buying a lot of work!

1k tops i think , depends on how much is there for me in terms of parts and salvageable bits

[Darkspeed]

Do let us know what he says I am wondering if it's the £850 basket case value - or the "It's worth at least £2K for parts" attitude.
If he wont give a price just offer £500 and go from there. You can't insult someone if they give you no place to start a negotiation.
The other question is - what's it worth to you - you must have a value same as the seller will - no good even asking unless you also have a price in mind.

[MkX]

(Octane) Classic Car Price Guide 2018-19

BMW 1602 / 1502
Excellent    £10,500.00
Good            £6,500.00
Average       £4,000.00
Project         £2,500.00

Project : Often cars that have been unused for a long period of time generally needing substantial work to get back on the road or through the next MOT.

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Yes there is a chance that you might inadvertently insult the owner and get off to a bad start by going in too low so you want to try to get an idea from him as to what he thinks it's worth. People who hang onto cars for a long time often have an unrealistic idea of value but if it's mainly sentimental value this can work in your favour if he thinks you're going to do what he couldn't and restore the car, (I'd be disinclined to share your actual intent with him).

When cars are taken off the road it can be because of something relatively minor or it can be due to something catastrophically expensive. Ask a lot of questions and see if he will show you paperwork like old MOTs. It could be the engine is fubar or there was significant structural corrosion which will only have increased over time, (try to get your head underneath to see what it looks like). It looks to me as though this example would not be economically restorable, i.e. you'll never get your money back on what you're going to pay out on parts & welding or for what you're going to spend you could go out and buy a half decent one but these forums are full of such money pits whose owners would not do without them.

This is the scrappier end of 'project', assuming no horror stories like blown engine I don't think I'd want to pay more than £1,500.00 for it so would go in waving £1K to start. Hopefully he wants rid and would take less as suggested in earlier posts so sound him out.

[peteh1969]

£2K would be a fair price to offer but expect to spend at least £12K more to get it 100% unless you intend to do the body work (welding/prep) yourself but done right you could have a £20K car at the end as they are going up in value all the time, don't forget with a car like that Standard + Better value at the end regard less of weather you are doing it for profit or to keep.

Three years project time period if your lucky.

[nomad]

Start by asking yourself what's it worth to you?
Then add on the time ( years??) / £££ / hassle to get it roadworthy. Does it have a reg & V5 ?

Is it economical to get it back on the road, or would you be better off buying a "more finished unfinished project"

* Ignore what I do, I enjoy tinkering so buying an uneconmical project sometimes gives me what I want 

[shielsy68]

scrap value £100 real value let the owner tell you what he want s , at the end of the day you can t buy and sell it for him , let him set a price , only thing there getting harder to buy

[nomad]

For info, I went to look at a Mk1 Cortina "project" a few months ago.

Engine & box missing, the shell was so badly rotted the front edge of the bonnet had split open into 3 layers. The car would have snapped if we had tried to tow it out of the field / yard   
Other Mk1's projects on Ebay were a lot more solid ( 1 even included several expensive repair panels) - and were selling for £600 - £1k.

I got offered the rusting heap for £2k as "it's old, it's rare, it's valuable"
   


Nice folk, but their idea of what it's worth was a long way above what better projects were selling for.

[LowStandards]

I wouldn't offer a penny.

Ask him what he wants for it and work from there.

He knows what he wants, he just wants to test if you're a fool.

[westbay]

Offer him £500 and when he says "...I've been offered £1500 ..." shake his hand and say "...let me know if it falls through..." and walk away.

[tdk]

That's going to need a ton of work, sat outside, damp, rotten. What's the interior like?

I'd offer £500, tops. I know they go for lots more but there's so many unknowns (does it even run?) and it's you just know you'll be welding it up until the end of time just to get it safe and usable.

Good luck!

[astranaut]

I'd read that as "I'm going on eBay to see what they're going for before I commit", he'll spot a usable running example and price his along similar lines...

[Deleted]

Best policy here is walk away whilst you still can - you will end up spending far more on attempting to get this one roadworthy and in anything like a decent order than you would purchasing one that is up & together and on the road - if you are serious about owning one of these this is where my starting point would be:

angliacarauctions.co.uk/classic/saturday-3rd-november-2018/1972-bmw-2002/

Ok its the 2002 larger engined car - I don't think that the seats are original but it's a fair price for one these and could be improved -the more you improve it within a sensible budget the more it will gain in value where has for the one that you have made an offer is going to be somewhat of a money pit