At $13,991, Will This 2004 BMW 325xiT Make For A Quick Estate Sale?

According to the seller's research, today's Nice Price or No Dice 325xiT is one of only 10 equally equipped estates BMW brought over in 2004, painted in "Japan Red." That, along with the car's kit and presentation, should pique our interest. We'll have to see if the price tag earns our attention.

While his TV show character drove Saabs, in real life, Jerry Seinfeld has a penchant for Porsches. A total count of cars isn't readily available, but the general consensus is that the stand-up comedian's collection includes "a lot" of cars. One has to wonder how people like Seinfeld or our buddy, Jay Leno, manage basic maintenance on their collection. It's obvious you can't drive all of them all the time, and things like tires age out and need replacing for safety's sake, even if they still have plenty of tread.

That was the conundrum we faced last Friday, when the seller of the 1990 Porsche 944 S2 Cabriolet informed prospective buyers in the ad that the car's tires have date stamps that are a decade old. Naturally, that meant new tires were on the to-do list, an added expense on top of the car's $17,500 asking price. That aspect, along with a dashboard cracked from age and the sun, turned enough of you off that, while not egregiously priced, the Porsche fell in a narrow 53% 'No Dice' loss.

For a long time, Porsche and BMW didn't directly compete. Then came the age of crossovers, a market in which both companies went head-to-head. That's the case today as X3s and X5s compete for buyers against Macans and Cayennes. One sandbox where Porsche doesn't play is in the compact estate category. In that case, BMW went up against Porsche's cousin, Audi, although here in the U.S., at least, both companies have given up on the category.

This 2004 BMW 325xiT is a fine example of when BMW cared about carry-alls. Built on the E46 architecture, this is a very good-looking, well-balanced design. It's also arguably one of the line's best, since it sits in the Goldilocks spot, offering modernity while eschewing over-complication.

According to the seller, this particular one is appreciably rare. They claim the car is relatively unique: one of only ten cars with both the Sport and cold weather packages sold in the U.S. in 2004 that were painted Japan Rot (Japan Red). That's oddly specific, but suffice it to say, the color and the specs do work in the car's favor.

It's not just the resale-red color that makes this Touring stand out. Based on the pictures and the seller's description, this E46 has been mollycoddled for almost its entire life. It has only 79,000 miles on the clock, but it's already been resprayed in its factory hue, had all its rubber seals—door frames, windows, and even the door handles—replaced, and received a new headliner.

It looks to be in excellent condition, though the seller warns of small imperfections that require a critical eye to spot. In the car's favor, however, are clear, unclouded headlamp covers, unmarred factory alloys (no word on the age of this car's tires, though), and a set of roof rack cross bars that come with the car, for added utility.

Craigslist

The cabin has held up very well and features leather upholstery on its sport bucket seats and rear bench. There's also some nice wood trim that warms up the otherwise Black Hole of Calcutta aesthetic. Another nice touch is the red-and-black sisal mats. Who doesn't love those? According to the seller, every pixel in the dashboard and center stack is still present and accounted for, a notable achievement in any two-decade-old Bimmer.

The refinement and refurbishment hasn't been confined to the car's looks, either. Per the seller, the entire front suspension was renewed less than 2,000 miles ago, and they have receipts to prove it was done professionally. Everything else on the car is claimed to work without issue and, overall, to run and work great.

The seller should know a thing or two about how these cars should work, as they claim this to be the third 325xi estate they have owned. They boast that this one is "the quickest, most reliable, and absolutely the best-looking" of the three. I'm not going to say they have an addiction to E46 wagons, but that does seem like more than the average bear would own in a lifetime.

Naturally, the car's got to be good to inspire that much love, right? In the 325's case, it's probably good enough. The engine is the smallest six-cylinder BMW offered in the U.S. in this line: a 2.5-liter M54 that puts out 184 horsepower and 175 pound-feet of torque. Here, that's mated to a five-speed automatic and BMW's extremely capable full-time AWD system for solid slushy-weather driving. As one might expect of a car of this caliber, the title is clean, and while the Euro plate is a nice touch, it stays with the seller.

We always want to know why someone is selling a car. Does it have a hidden problem? Is it haunted by an annoyingly flatulent ghost? Or is it just taking up space? In this E46's case, it's the latter. The seller claims to need a "dedicated long-range roadtrip car," and so this older, not-so-dedicated car has to go.

To make the deal on the car, prospective buyers will need to plan on dedicating $13,991 to the effort, as that's the seller's oddly specific asking price.

What's your opinion of this well-loved wagon and that asking price? Does that feel like a deal for a well-equipped, very nicely presented E46 estate? Or, despite the work that's gone into its preservation, is that still too much to take on its stewardship?

You decide!

San Diego, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

Hat tip to Don R. for the hookup!

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