1998 318ti Sport for sale (soon) - very low mileage

[seh]

This is my first post on this forum, with a bittersweet purpose. After many wonderful years enjoying my 318ti, I must finally offer her up for sale.

The car in question is a 1998 318ti Sport in Alpine White, with black leather/black cloth interior and manual transmission. At present, the odometer reads about 37,800 miles. That's right, she has yet to hit 38,000, but probably will before being sold. These are "original miles", not the result of an engine swap or odometer tampering.

I am the original owner and have babied this car its entire life. It has been garage-kept for all but two years and has never been through an automatic car wash. (My current exterior detailing routine favors Zaino products.) No person has ever smoked inside, and no fluids ever spilled. Aside from regular maintenance and replacement of defective parts, the car is 100% stock. Though perhaps not much of an asset at this point, even the brakes and tires are original.

The car has been serviced at only two shops: BMW of Bellevue (WA) for warranty work and Wolf's Foreign Car Service (San Diego, CA) for all other work since. I have complete records of all maintenance work done for the life of the car. It runs perfectly and still gets amazing gas mileage (~28 city, ~31 highway). My only reason for selling is lack of space; a new sedan will be arriving as my daily driver.

Depending on the interest level on this forum ahead of time, I will list the car locally with Auto Trader as we get into early December. In the mean time, please feel free to ask questions. I took plenty of exterior photos (some are unfortunately blurry) last weekend that I can post here or send via e-mail to interested parties.

Price is of course a crucial matter. At this point, I am open to offers and suggestions as I attempt to figure out what she's worth. Let me know what other supporting detail would help.

It will be sad to see her go, but I get the impression here that she'll make someone else just as happy as she's made me.

Update: The photos have been moved.

[Mendi3]

Pictures? Price?

[lkwd318ti]

Very interested...price and pics?
please email me at lkwd318ti85@yahoo.com

[L84THSKY]

Where were you last year
Just curious, what month build of 1998?

Originally Posted by seh

This is my first post on this forum, with a bittersweet purpose. After many wonderful years enjoying my 318ti, I must finally offer her up for sale.

Note that the thread title includes the qualifier "soon". I can't let the car go until maybe the second, but preferably third week of December 2005. Browsing this forum has shown that it can take a while for these sales to complete; hence, I'm starting early.

The car in question is a 1998 318ti Sport in Alpine White, with black leather/black cloth interior and manual transmission. At present, the odometer reads about 37,800 miles. That's right, she has yet to hit 38,000, but probably will before being sold. These are "original miles", not the result of an engine swap or odometer tampering.

I am the original owner and have babied this car its entire life. It has been garage-kept for all but two years and has never been through an automatic car wash. (My current exterior detailing routine favors Zaino products.) No person has ever smoked inside, and no fluids ever spilled. Aside from regular maintenance and replacement of defective parts, the car is 100% stock. Though perhaps not much of an asset at this point, even the brakes and tires are original.

The car has been serviced at only two shops: BMW of Bellevue (WA) for warranty work and Wolf's Foreign Car Service (San Diego, CA) for all other work since. I have complete records of all maintenance work done for the life of the car. It runs perfectly and still gets amazing gas mileage (~29 city, ~33 highway). My only reason for selling is lack of space; a new sedan will be arriving as my daily driver.

Depending on the interest level on this forum ahead of time, I will list the car locally with Auto Trader as we get into early December. In the mean time, please feel free to ask questions. I took plenty of exterior photos (some are unfortunately blurry) last weekend that I can post here or send via e-mail to interested parties.

Price is of course a crucial matter. At this point, I am open to offers and suggestions as I attempt to figure out what she's worth. Let me know what other supporting detail would help.

It will be sad to see her go, but I get the impression here that she'll make someone else just as happy as she's made me.

[seh]

Originally Posted by L84THSKY

Where were you last year

Waffling over selling the 318ti for a 2005 330Ci ZHP, which I backed away from. I couldn't justify getting rid of my car for something new.

Originally Posted by L84THSKY

Just curious, what month build of 1998?

Ordered late October 1997, built November 1997, with delivery in Bellevue, WA on December 26, 1997, if I remember correctly.

[seh]

Originally Posted by Mendi3

Pictures?

It will take me a day or two to get them posted. Please be patient.

Originally Posted by Mendi3

Price?

Likely asking somewhere around $11,500, but, as I said, I'm not sure yet what's fair. The ongoing How much did you pay? thread is helpful to narrow the range.

[L84THSKY]

Wouldn't that make it a 1997 model year, not a 1998?

Originally Posted by seh

Waffling over selling the 318ti for a 2005 330Ci ZHP, which I backed away from. I couldn't justify getting rid of my car for something new.Ordered late October 1997, built November 1997, with delivery in Bellevue, WA on December 26, 1997, if I remember correctly.

[seh]

Originally Posted by L84THSKY

Wouldn't that make it a 1997 model year, not a 1998?

No. Any car built between October 1997 and September 1998 is a 1998, give or take a month.

Here's Wikipedia's take.

[L84THSKY]

The reason I asked was to determine if it had the vented front brakes. My car says July 1998 on the door. What does your car say on the door?

Originally Posted by seh

No. Any car built between October 1997 and September 1998 is a 1998, give or take a month.

Here's Wikipedia's take.

[seh]

Originally Posted by L84THSKY

The reason I asked was to determine if it had the vented front brakes.

Oh, I'm not sure if mine has vented brakes. Can one tell by looking from the outside?

Originally Posted by L84THSKY

What does your car say on the door?

11/97

[Phil Marx]

April '98 production and later for the vented front brakes IIRC.

[seh]

Originally Posted by seh

I took plenty of exterior photos (some are unfortunately blurry) last weekend that I can post here.

This first batch are all of the exterior. Many of the photos taken in the parking garage are blurry. The light level was low, and those I took without the flash required the shutter to be open for too long to get a steady shot without a tripod. I'm sharing them anyway because for this purpose more is better.

Most of these photos try to show the car from my favorite angles, those that most distinguish the 318ti and give it an aggressive stance. If there are other angles or details you'd like to see, let me know.

In Parking Garage
Driver side from rear
Driver side door, fender, and hood
Driver side door, fender, and hood (with flash)
Left front fender and wheel
Passenger side door, fender, and hood
Passenger side
Passenger side rear 3/4
Passenger side rear 3/4
Passenger side rear 3/4
Rear bumper and apron
Passenger side rear 3/4
Driver side rear 3/4
Driver side door and fender
Passenger side rear 3/4
Passenger side door
Driver side
Driver side
Driver side rear 3/4
Driver side rear 3/4
Driver side front 3/4
Driver side
Driver side rear 3/4
Driver side quarter panel and door
Driver side door, fender, and wheel detail
Rear bumper and apron
Rear bumper and apron
Driver side rear 3/4
Driver side
Driver side quarter panel and wheel
Driver side fender and hood
Driver side window and mirror

Outside in the Park (uncompensated blue light)
Driver side rear 3/4
Driver side rear 3/4
Driver side front 3/4
Driver side rear quarter panel, bumper, and apron
Driver side rear 3/4
Driver side rear 3/4
Driver side door, fender, and roof
Driver side
Driver side front 3/4
Driver side front 3/4
Hood and grille
Driver side
Driver side
Driver side rear 3/4
Driver side rear 3/4
Rear bumper and apron
Passenger side rear 3/4
Rear badge detail


I will follow up with interior photos when I get the floor mats vacuumed next.
Again, let me know if you have any questions.

[seh]

Some have asked which options were ordered with the car. I may need others to help me answer this question, because at this point I can't remember what came standard and what I had to add to the order.

First I'll list a few features the car does not have:

• Keyless entry
• Cruise control
• Heated seats
• On-board computer
• CD Player

The car has the Sport package, described in detail here. Beyond the union of the "All" and "Sport" features listed there, the only option I can think of is:

• Power sunroof

None of the other options seemed appealing at the time. In hindsight the heated seats could have been nice, but the car has the leather/cloth sport seats (with the crazed wavy pattern, not the small dot pattern); the center sections don't get cold like an all-leather seat does.

[seh]

Originally Posted by seh

I can't let the car go until maybe the second, but preferably third week of December 2005.

Make that Monday, December 12, 2005 as the earliest pick-up day. Sunday the 11th is also possible, but we may need the banks to be open depending on the payment arrangements.

[Phil Marx]

So, do we have any offers yet or are you ready for me to low-ball you and factor in air transportation from Virginia to California, plus $250 in gas to drive it home?

-Phil