My cabrio got bumped into while I was stopped at a signal a couple months ago. My insurance company wants to total my car out for $2500 just because it has 197,000 miles on it. Otherwise it is in very nice condition, runs and handles better than when it was new as I have put upgraded shocks and ECU chip.

Any comments on prices of nice undamaged cabrios in your area? I am going to have it fixed as others I have looked at either are too nice to be a daily driver or need some repair.

Bob in Everett

Insurance people don't have a heart!

Dude, what's up with E30's in the NW?!

If it helps any, I have a parts car that's hardly parted out. It's a bronzit '87 325is.
I'm sure there are some cabrio differences, but the taillights are the same I think? I'd let the parts go cheap, and may even be able to deliver if you are still in the Seattle area and not in a hurry
Yes, I'm a nice guy, but my girlfriend is in Seattle so I'm not quite as nice as I appear

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1989 - E30 - M20 - Manual. Approximately 270,000 miles
2000 - E46 - M52TUB28 - Manual. Approximately 110,000 miles

most people in your situation do a bit of investigation of what cabrios in your area are worth or have the car appraised. you can get way more for your car than $2500 if you appeal their offer. i don't know if i've seen your car before (maybe at the picnic?), but if it is nice, it could be worth $3500 or $4k.

after this, the other thing most people do is take the money, then buy back their "totaled" car for like $200 so they can use it for parts on another e30 they find.

The final chapter in the story...after taking the paltry amount of insurance settlement money. I followed the advice above and bought the car back for $400, took it to a good shop with the salvage parts I found to keep the cost down. Still was out about $1800 more out of pocket to get the repair. It looks beautiful now. Cannot even tell where the damage was by looking inside or under. The only bad part is that the title shows to be a salvage. My insurance co. called to follow up on the possibility of any medical issues that might have arisen one Saturday and I gave the lady quite an earful of just how disappointed I was in their handling of the case since the damage was not my fault. She suggested writing the CEO of the company and telling my story. I wrote a two page letter to detail my complaint and a week later a supervisor called to discuss it. I sent some more evidence of what these cars are worth and she had the re-evaluation done with the new info added to my old info and called back a few days later with more money in hand. They gave me a much better settlement and very fair price. I was sure surprised. Thought I was destined to go through the rest of my life with all that angst bottled up.

Meanwhile, the thought of having to go through life without a nice E-30 cabrio was so distressing, that I bought another one the same color. So, now I have two of them. The spouse thinks we do not need two of the same kind of car, but now I cannot decide which one I can part with. Even though they are near identical, there are some differences. Each would require some work to resolve in the long term. The only downside now is that one has to park outside. I keep thinking that these might be an investment in classic cars that one day will pay off like that auction in San Diego featured in Roundel magazine last month with the new old stock BMW Z8s that went for $140,000.

Bob in Everett