Advice/opinions on potential 330ci

[jdog]

This isn't a ZHP, apologies if I overstepped any boundries

2004 330ci
33,000 miles
6MT SMG
Premium
Sports
Cold
Leather

$20,950

Car is in immaculate condition, very clean, new tires.

Offered by a dealer who specializes in high-end european cars, carfax shows 3 owners, maintenance by BMW. He just took it in on a trade up for an X3. Left rear quarter panel was repainted, but not due to an accident.

Sales guy seemed like a straight shooter, may have been the owner. I offered him $17k firm and he said he was pretty sure he could sell it for $18K+ - car is in Northern California

I'd really like to own the car, but $18k sounds too high....$17K even sounds high to me. He said if it goes a couple weeks he'll call me and we'd work a deal.

[Alphatek45]

Price is up there IMO. Especially for a west coast non ZHP. Keep haggling if it's the one you want.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Sounds too high to me because that's what a ZHP, with those miles, would fetch. Based on what I've seen out there, I would say that a ZHP gets a $3K-$4K premium. So, I'd be willing to pay about $17K for a car like that. I think you made a good offer at $17K.

[jdog]

Thanks.

Any opinions on the SMG? It was a blast to drive.

[BlackNTan]

I drove an 03 SMG M3 for 6 months before I sold it due to a long list of problems with that particular car. I really can't comment how an SMG would work in a 330 so take this with a grain of salt. I found the SMG to be fantastic if I were really flinging the car around, fast shifts and racing down country roads. However, for general every driving it was not as much fun. The shifts when you're driving normally are pretty rough and the car jerked with each shift regardless of what setting I used for the SMG. So for slow driving, the SMG took front and center and was a little intrusive. Just my observation. Hope you find the car you want!

[MsRN]

I heard not-so-stellar reviews of the non-M SMG shifting in e46es, but that's secondhand (I think it was part of a recent Roundel article, FWIW). Oops, I see you drove it. If you liked it, then you should probably try on a 6MT for comparisons sake, before you buy it. SMGs are complicated beasties to fix, per my mechanic. As in, dealer shop time, and lots of it...