Where can I find a BMW M3 Sedan for sale?

Question

I've been a BMW guy for a long time, had an E46 back in the day and then moved to an X5M for the family, but I'm finally ready to get back into a dedicated sedan. I thought finding a clean F80 or even a slightly used G80 wouldn't be this hard but man the market is just a total mess right now. Every time I find something decent on the usual sites like Autotrader or Cars.com it's either already pending or the dealer has some insane $10k markup they didnt mention in the ad.

I'm specifically looking for an M3 sedan with the manual transmission—not really interested in the competition xDrive stuff because I want that raw feel, even if it's slower on paper. I know the S55 has the crank hub issues but I'm okay dealing with that if the price is right. I've been doing my own wrenches for years so I'm not scared of a little maintenance, but I just can't actually find the cars to look at.

I'm based in the Seattle area but honestly I'm willing to fly anywhere on the West Coast or even ship from the Midwest if the car is right. My budget is sitting around $70k which I thought was healthy for a low mileage F80 CS or maybe a base G80 but everything I see lately is either high mileage or has a salvage title hidden in the description. I've never seen the private market this dry. Enthusiast Auto Group is way out of my price range with their collector stuff and Bring a Trailer is just a bidding war nightmare lately where everything goes for 20% over MSRP for no reason.

Where are you guys actually finding these cars these days? Is there a specific discord or a regional FB group that isn't just spam and scammers? I'm trying to get this sorted before the weather turns good so I can actually enjoy it this summer. Any secret forums or enthusiast registries I should be checking instead of the big name sites?...

Hollow Coda · Accepted Answer

To add to the point above: I actually had a pretty good time hunting for my current F80, even tho it took forever to find a manual that wasnt beat to hell. Had a moment to think about this more and honestly, you gotta stop looking at the big aggregators because dealers just play games there. If you want that raw feel without the markup nonsense, you gotta go where the actual owners hang out. I found my last two cars through registries rather than listings. A few things that worked well for me:

M3List is basically the gold standard right now. They vet a lot of stuff and the guys running it actually care about the community.

Check out the regional BMW M Flight groups. Theyre way more strictly moderated than those generic spammy FB groups.

Since you're wrenching yourself, look for cars that need the 60k mile service. Most people panic at that bill, but you can do it in a weekend. Since you're worried about the crank hub, I'm super happy with the VRSF S55 Crank Hub Capture Kit I installed. It's a cheap insurance policy and works well for peace of mind. Also, definitely pick up an OBDLink CX Bluetooth OBD2 Adapter so you can run BimmerLink on your phone during a test drive. It shows shadow codes that a generic scanner misses. If you can find a solid F80 with around 40k miles for $55-60k, you'll have plenty of cash left in that $70k budget for a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S 275/35ZR19 tires and some suspension tweaks. Good luck man, the manual hunt is worth it.

dmelxjozgx · Answer

The market is just frustrating right now and unfortunately, the previous advice about Bimmerpost is getting harder to follow because of all the flippers. Basically, if it's a manual F80 and its under $70k, it usually has some hidden drama or a dealer markup. Since you're wrenching yourself, stop looking for mint collector cars. You should look for listings with higher mileage that need standard maintenance items like the valve cover or cooling components. You'll save a massive chunk of your budget that way. Grab BimmerGeeks ProTool Diagnostic Software so you can actually see what the modules are saying during your PPI instead of guessing. Id suggest checking Cars and Bids over BaT since the driver-grade cars there dont see the same crazy bidding wars. If the charge pipes havent been done, just buy Mishimoto S55 Aluminum Charge Pipes and swap them in your driveway. The stock plastic ones are a joke and will fail eventually anyway... it sucks but thats where we are at.

qhlhogtqoh · Answer

Finding my current setup was a total nightmare. I almost got burned by a dealer who hid frame damage on what looked like a mint F80. I would suggest:

Checking the Bimmerpost classifieds daily.

Joining your local BMW CCA chapter. Be careful with those random Facebook listings tho... Ive seen way too many scams lately. Make sure to get a PPI because I only found mine after stalking private forum threads.