General Forum : Insurance valuation of my 81 323i?

michael escher

Posted Thursday, Feb 1st 9:38pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Junior Member
Post nr. 1

Los Angeles, CA
323i

Hello friends,

About two weeks ago some bozo without insurance plowed into the rear of my 81 323i while I was stopped in traffic on the freeway. After waiting over two weeks, my uninsured motorist policy has decided to pay for my car, but is only offering $2000, and due to that is calling the car totaled.

I need proof that my car was worth more than Blue Book minimum. If anyone has record of what similar cars have sold for, I would deeply appreciate any help you could provide.

Details on the car:
The car was purchased for $3500 about three years ago and I had a 2000 dollar paint job done shortly after I bought it. The previous owner had it smogged for California and put a 2.5 liter block on the original 323i top end. The engine uses no oil and is as tight as a drum. It has working air conditioning, a five speed transmission, original BBS basket rims, a $700 stereo system, new upolstery, a Nardi wood steering wheel (which shattered in my hands on impact) and Hella European headlights and bulbs.

Can anyone out there substatiate that these wonderful cars are worth more than what these jerks are offering me?

BruceH

Posted Thursday, Feb 1st 10:09pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 1094

Atlanta, GA USA
81 323 Baur, 85 745

A pile of receipts, the NADA Collectable Car Guide and the determination of a Pit Bull is what it takes to win the insurance fight.

You will also need comparable sales data which is tough.

I think the NADA lists a 320 as $4000 in value. They are low balling you.

MayanArch

Posted Thursday, Feb 1st 11:15pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 1229

Florida, USA
Baur E21 2.7 1982, Baur E30 318i 1985, 323i 1978

I have seen that eBay is becoming a widely accepted form of valuation amongst legal circles.

I would suggest that you do a "completed" auction search for your car. You can only do this if you are an eBay member. It is an option in the lower left hand side with the rest of the advanced search filters.

michael escher

Posted Friday, Feb 2nd 12:15am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Junior Member
Post nr. 2

Los Angeles, CA
323i

Thanks for the info. I've already done the eBay thing. As a matter of fact, I'd been checking on the eBay prices for a while, but sadly nothing has come up for quite some time, thus my querie here about pricing.

And thanks for the NADA guide info. I looked it up and a 320i in comparable shape is $4700. A 323i with a new $2000 paint job and the goodies that I added has to be worth at least that.

Is it just me, or is insurance just a scam? You are required to have it, and then when you need it they put you through all kinds of trouble just to get coverage. Then to top it all off, they can increase your rate when the accident isn't your fault. A pox on them!

realcrouton

Posted Friday, Feb 2nd 12:47am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 102

Washington, USA
1977 320i, 1981 323i, 1991 325ic, 2000 328i

Michael, you are absolutely right. I really hope you get the right value. Is the car totally un-fixable?

-Dave

Boost_me

Posted Friday, Feb 2nd 4:06am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 95

Victoria, Australia
1981 BMW 323i

Classic Car Report from nadaguides.com

1981 BMW 320i 2 Door Sedan
Note: (*) EUROPEAN MODEL

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Original MSRP: $12,895
Low Retail $2,500
Average Retail $3,575
High Retail $4,700

(*) Average retail price represents a clean vehicle in good condition with a Clean Title History

MayanArch

Posted Friday, Feb 2nd 4:51pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 1231

Florida, USA
Baur E21 2.7 1982, Baur E30 318i 1985, 323i 1978

michael escher wrote:

I am here in Miami, Florida and I have simply given up on insurance. I know it is better to own a house......but with what they want for Windstorm Insurance, Flood Insurance, and normal Insurance........I cant see how it is financially better. People in Florida pay more in insurance than people in other states pay in rent or mortgage payments.

I have since moved into a new apartment that has the bullet proof windows and no roof to blow away. I am recommended to pay windstorm and flood, but figure I can replace all of my belongings with the amount they want per year. I wont be paying for normal insurance either under the premise that if someone stole my shit....I could still replace it fairly easily.

It seems like an apartment with a really mean Doberman is the way to go.

My BIG regret is that there is no garage to work on cars in. Cant do it out in the parking lot. Thank God for relatives.

However, it has already put a dent in my project as I am having to outsource some stuff I could have done myself.

As far as cars go...........I will get the collectible insurance for my Baur once done......but wont be paying much more than that.

jdench

Posted Friday, Feb 2nd 8:19pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 156

Sussex, UK
1979 E21 323i, 1998 E36 323i touring

there was a 323 that went on ebay over here for £3451.00 which is $6,800. That was pretty mint condtion though, if it helps (which it may not) there was a thread started by Sunbeam*** in the general forum called Place your Bets! which has the ebay.co.uk link on it.

P.S. All insurance companies are bastards!

sunbeam***

Posted Friday, Feb 2nd 9:23pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 246

wirral UK
1982 323i

I don't know if e21's would count as a classic car in the states, but i have my 323 insured under a classic policy,fully comprehensive cover including breakdown recovery and at an AGREED value of £2600. And it only costs me £117 a year!

michael escher

Posted Saturday, Feb 3rd 8:03pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Junior Member
Post nr. 3

Los Angeles, CA
323i

It's been about 19 days since the accident. The person who hit me was driving a car that he had bought 20 days previously and didn't register it or notify his insurance of the purchase, but here in the US you are automatically covered for up to a month from the purchase date. My coverage was minimal, for uninsured motorist. His insurance is still trying to figure out if they are going to cover it or not, while mine, making me wait for over two weeks, has just now said that they will cover me and then if the insurance of the other driver kicks in, will recover their expenses through them.

My coverage is up to $3500 maximum. The car was estimated at $4000 damage from my paint and autobody shop. That means that this will cost me around $500 out of pocket to repair, not including my Nardi wood steering wheel that shattered in my hand upon impact. If I can get the car in the same shape it was in before the accident it's worth it to me, but I wish I didn't have to spend the extra money and be left without a car for as long as I will before it is repaired (probably about 2 months).

I'm still hoping that the other insurer will cover my car and will have a higher maximum coverage, then at least then I can get a rental car in the meantime.

melloh

Posted Saturday, Feb 3rd 11:03pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 466

California, USA (San Jose)
1980 320is, 1991 318is

Good luck with it, and keep up the fight. I made the mistake of being "nice" when I got run off the road in LA... and ended up with 0, zip, nadda. Something I DON'T miss about being in LA - where they still manage to have traffic @ 2am Saturday morning!

aussie323i

Posted Sunday, Feb 4th 8:03am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 556

australia
1979 323i

good luck with it! It's always tough with old cars... when I had my accident in 2005, (I was totally in the right and the other insurance happily paid) BUT I only got $1600AUD (around $1300US) and the car was written off! I could not get any more outta them without taking them to court so I gave up even though my insurance said the book price for my car was $4000, but they wouldn't get involved because my level of cover only covered the other guy.

Fortunately, when I picked up the wreck, the panel beater told me he'd made 100% sure that the paperwork for the writeoff was filled out incorrectly, so I just repaired the car and still drive it today

Unfortunately it still is not in the same condition it was before the accident... ah well- just don't give up on yours unless you have to!

wharthog

Posted Monday, Feb 5th 11:26pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 117

SF Bay,California, USA
1982 323i, , R1150RT

an '81 323i just sold on e-bay out of Arizona for $6900 The auction was a month or two old but I just logged on and deleted the otem number before coming here.

AlaskaBimmer

Posted Monday, Feb 26th 11:02am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 19

Anchorage, Alaska
1981 323 Baur, 1978 320i, 1979 320i,

A tip top 323i in the states will almost always be worth more than a tip top 320i

I had my 323i Baur appraised at 8k in Alaska and I carry a stated value policy on it in the summer for 8k just so I don't get screwed if something happens. I would get an agreed value policy but the few places that cover Alaska pretty much only let you drive to a car show and back home again.

you might want to pop over to the e-21 section in bimmerforums as well as people post up 323is for sale there when ever they find them.

BarryA

Posted Tuesday, Feb 27th 11:33pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 183

Sacramento CA
81 320

Have had to deal with this situation a couple of times - couple of suggestions....

Although it's often easier dealing with an opposing insurance company than it is to deal with your own (you probably don't want to completely alienate your own insurer) you should still be able to negotiate a fairly reasonable settlement - the key seems to be having verifiable proof of what's been invested into the vehicle.

I've found that it's helped to make copies of every possible reciept for work, parts, accessories and service that have gone into the car, along with all the valuation documentation that can be found, put everything in page protectors, and organize everything in a binder so it's easy to reveiw. Including pre-crash photos of the car, and maybe even written statements from people who knew the car's pre-crash condition, can help to establish value, especially if you have a shop that will put it on letterhead.

Make two copies of the binder - one for you, one for the insurance company, and DON'T give the insurance company your original reciepts.

For the future (with this car, or another "collectable") it's a very good idea to have the car appraised every couple of years, take photos annually (and be sure to keep the negatives), save judging sheets if you ever show it, and, if you're not driving the car regularly and can qualify it for stated-value collector car insurance, insure it that way.