[Fritzer]

I have an excess of free time and figured I'd get into a little bit of parting out and flipping more. I've been purusing classifieds but also copart auctions. There are actually some really promising E90/F30/F10 cars near me that have rare bits like red interior, trim pieces, etc. Some are even just high mileage running cars with pretty easily repairable damage, hail damage and the like. Considering most of these cars are only being bid up to $500-$1500, it seems like a promising venture, especially since I know the values of E90s and E90 parts quite well.

Any of you guys do this?

[Brian86]

Go for it.

So many of these cars end up driven into scrap yards, stripped of the cats then unceremoniously crushed, while they literally have a decade + and hundreds of thousands of miles of life left.

All because the knobs that buy them today can't get a wheel or two straightened out or be bothered to spend $125 on a foxwell scanner then visit the google machine.

Seriously... we're screwed as a society.

Really you'd be doing gods work :P

[sub150]

The sale price on IAA/Copart is not the out the door price. There are fees...fees to register, fees to buy, etc. Not saying you can't make money on it though but add a grand or three to your "sale" price.

[Fritzer]

Originally Posted by sub150

The sale price on IAA/Copart is not the out the door price. There are fees...fees to register, fees to buy, etc. Not saying you can't make money on it though but add a grand or three to your "sale" price.

I'm well aware, thank you for the insight.

[whyzee125]

Stay away from copart cars unless you plan to exclusively part out. They sell for way too high of a price to ever be worth fixing, IMO.

Flipping is super satisfying and can pay well if done right.

[Biginboca]

The only drawback to this plan is having the carcasses and parts scattered all over your yard (or needing a commercial property) for extended periods of time. I imagine it could take up to 6 months to fully part out a car if you are working on it in spare time and listing parts on eBay/offer up. I see the same parts listed for sale for months on these sites.

If you have the space (and a patient wife ) then it could be worthwhile

[fazm]

Please send me all your e91 parts thanks.

Also, good luck!

[Fritzer]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

The only drawback to this plan is having the carcasses and parts scattered all over your yard (or needing a commercial property) for extended periods of time. I imagine it could take up to 6 months to fully part out a car if you are working on it in spare time and listing parts on eBay/offer up. I see the same parts listed for sale for months on these sites.

If you have the space (and a patient wife ) then it could be worthwhile

Right, I have 1-2 garage spots available at my place where the cars could sit. Looking at a few F30/F32 cars right now for sale that have M-Sport everything, red interiors etc. Thinking If I get any of those with significant damage on one side, I'd just trailer it home, disassemble and catalogue the valuable parts over a week, store those in the garage, then trailer the shell to scrap.

There are also a few really interesting, low mileage E90s. Some 6-Spd early 335i cars with hail damage - might need to finally put that PDR kit to the test!

[Serf27]

I used to have a dismantler parting them out along with other European cars. So I’ll comment on that.

You could have an entire one disassembled and every sellable part listed on eBay in 2 weeks, if you did it full time, by yourself and know how to work on them.
3 days tops disassembled with 2 people. 5 days disassembled/listed all online with 2 people.

You need a good system though to be efficient and clean. Otherwise it’s going to be a mess when disassembling them and a mess when finding parts to ship.

A 2 car garage would be the minimum to disassemble ONE car. I would not park 2 cars side by side and attempt to take both apart.

If you do this, list locally too.
There are too many of these cars (e90) on eBay and a lot undercut each other when listing. You either list low, hardly make money and be the first to sell that part or have it sit in storage for months or years. If it’s a valuable piece and yours is 1 of 3 or the only one listed, then put a good price and sit on it until someone needs it.

There are parts all over the place, behind the dash, under the carpets, inside wheel wells, above headliners.

The E90 is also available in a lot of pick n pull yards now too. So body panels are a lot cheaper in person compared to a $400 door on eBay.
If you have clean body panels, list them because some people do look for color matched panels. If it has any type of damage, forget about it, sell locally for $50 if you can.

I’d go towards the f series cars for part outs.

You also need to list almost every part. You most likely will not be profitable selling only the seats and rare bits.

Also remember, that $2000 set of seats might not sell right away either.

A big sale day is nice, but the best is when you sell/ship out 10 random things a day, continuously. You can’t pull the seats/a few expensive parts and expect to be profitable. Unless you’re getting these cars for $500 with fees/taxes and delivered to your house.

You’ll need to invest in shipping materials, extended set of tools for some parts, bigger tools such as engine hoist and engine stand, grinders/sawzaws, good impact guns/batteries, (taking things apart by hand takes a lot longer than with an impact gun) make a photo backdrop, preferably a lift, and other things I’m sure I’m forgetting.

Almost everything of 1 car can fit in 3-4 storage totes. Of course not body panels or engine/trans. That’s where you’ll need more space.

All of this is if you plan on doing it almost full time.

Then you need to remember about how much noise you’ll be making in the process.

Buying one car, letting it sit and taking off a small bit for $50 for some random guy who sees your part out listing is not worth it.

I have a few totes of parts from back in the day, might be some valuable stuff in there if you want to purchase them

Can you do it by hand and make money on your free time?
Probably.

Will you regret it if not properly set up?
Probably.

Flipping cars would take up less space and you’ll see your money back faster, but some cars are worth more parted out than flipped.

[fazm]

Also, if you're in Austin I'll drive down for the e91 parts.

[E92_William]

I parted out an e90 that I bought because I just wanted the engine from it. It sucked, the car was taking up space outside and was an eyesore for the people at the HOA that have nothing better to do with their life. It's a bunch of parts and you have to wait till someone needs that specific part. If you don't list every single one on eBay by part number at least you won't sell it, posting on offer up as "e90 parts message me what you need" will not work because people are lazy to message or go over or are not looking for part outs specifically.

I would much prefer to buy and fix the car then sell it, probably more satisfying too, less messy and you get to put another one of these cars back on the road. I have a good amount of dislike for certain companies that part out perfectly running and driving cars just because they have desirable interiors and such... I don't have an issue with it if it's crashed.

[Serf27]

^ it is so easy for people to message you on new selling platforms like offer up and Facebook.
The auto generated messages make it so easy for people who 99% of the time have no actual interest in parts.
2 clicks and your inbox is spammed with
“is this still available?”
It takes you nothing to reply yes, but it does get annoying quickly.

Having a pile of parts is 1 mess. The other messes include random fluid spills.
You can drain coolant, oil and trans oil for a whole day. The second you pull a random hose/line, looks there’s oil on the floor.

Random/broken parts you need to remove to access other parts, that you won’t sell too.

Assembling/building cars is quite satisfying.
The only satisfying part about dismantling is taking damaged engines apart(messy) or taking apart things to see how they work. The rest is boring. Photographing and listing on eBay gets boring really fast too.

Go for it if you want(parting out cars), but it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Shipping out large items is another issue too.

[TyroneShoelaces]

Serf is dead on. I just finished parting my donor sedan for my N54 wagon swap. I got great money for the aluminum trim and some other random bits which I was surprised at, but Adaptive bixenon pre lci headlights I can't give away it seems. In the end mine will work out but I was still a few grand out of pocket into my copart donor car. I won't come out even, but this is a hobby for me for my wagon build, not a business.

LOTS of "is this available" no matter how many times in the ad you say if the ad is up its available blah blah. One dude took the black sport interior, came and paid for it even after some nudging by me to crap or get off the pot, then took a week and a half to come get it out of the car. Interior can be VERY tedious to take apart. My kids GTI snaps apart like a lego. BMW has gained my respect for quality of assembly on the E90.

I think there is a few bucks to be made, but I think you will need to find the niche, as you say. Be VERY selective on what you buy, or find something surprising that brings money. Put together a full "swap kit" kind of thing. Might not be a BMW. If you have a copart or IAAI location within easy driving distance is a must.

I think the best bet is to look for scumbags/poors who got in over their head and have broken cars, engine or wrecked clean title, and are bad at life. Scoop it up super cheap and flip. Avoid Copart and transport fees. You have to be one of the FB dbags who offer a third of the asking price and a shrewd negotiator with "cash" and you might make a couple grand on a car.

[iqraceworks]

I picked up an older non-running Audi Quatro for $500. Replaced a valve, and then sold it for $4,000. Made about $3,600 profit on it........use the profit to get my 07' 335i.

Does that count?

[Serf27]

Originally Posted by TyroneShoelaces

Serf is dead on. you might make a couple grand on a car.

I used to do it for a living

There is money to be made, a lot. You just need to focus on it. It’s not a desirable hobby to take a whole car apart though.

The pre lci xenons used to move quickly before. About a $600 pair a week.

I think once almost every part on an E90 is sold, you will have made about 5k. But that could take a year or more.

I once sold a 330i to someone for like $3500. A year later he crashed it and I bought it back for $300. It’s paid for itself multiple times and I haven’t fully taken it apart. And I probably won’t, just going to pull the cats and scrap what’s left.

I would ask for deposits to be made via Zelle or PayPal when people asked to remove items because they were “coming to buy it”.