Time to say goodbye. How should I send the Z3 off?

[Trale]

After 8 years of super-charged thrills, it's come time to say good-bye to my original dream car. I'll be looking to trade it in for a used 2004-ish 3-series coupe.

At 151k miles, my venerable 1996 Goldeneye-themed roadster is still beautiful with an almost immaculate exterior, but it's developing too many issues to justify continued maintenance. My mechanic has advised me to steer clear of spirited driving from now on, which pretty much kills a big point of my Z.

KBB pegs the resale value of my car to be around $3K (and dealer trade-in = $2k), which a few more mechanics bills will easily add up to that amount. Hell, the next set of tires can cost probably 1/2 my car's value in a year or so. So I've decided it's best to part ways once and for all. I have a fairly long time frame though. The car is still running fine for the foreseeable future if I treat it gently.

Aftermarket parts and mods are one of my considerations in this process. To recap, here's every significant mod I've done to the car:

1) DASC
2) SuperSprint Exhaust
3) Tower strut, and rear strut (Strong Strutt)
4) Whelan shifter
5) Fogged airbox
6) Engine temperature digital display
7) Custom head unit

I am aware that super chargers typically lowers the resale value of my car, but the car value is already super-low at $3K, can it get any worse?

Here are the options I'm looking at:

1) Find my next car at the dealership and trade the Z3 in and accept whatever they'll give me. This is the most hassle-free option.

2) Try to find a knowledgeable buyer and sell him on the value of the aftermarket mods, thus receive a higher sale.

3) Find a normal buyer, and take out as much of the mods as I can, then try to resale the parts separately.

Any suggestions or comments?

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1996 BMW Z3 Secret Agent Edition

Licensed to Thrill

[fredr]

What problems has your tech seen that would cause his recommendations?
Fred
96 1.9 Z3 black/tan/black
97 M3/4 estoril/gray
08 Kubota 3400 HST orange/charcoal
08 GMC Sierra stealth gray/gray

[Trale]

The compression ratio of one of the cylinders is significantly less than the others.

At high RPMs, this causes uneven stress on it and can lead to a blowout if I'm not careful.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1996 BMW Z3 Secret Agent Edition

Licensed to Thrill

[fredr]

Fred
96 1.9 Z3 black/tan/black
97 M3/4 estoril/gray
08 Kubota 3400 HST orange/charcoal
08 GMC Sierra stealth gray/gray

[NC02Z3]

Trade it in so you won't have any problems from the 'new' owner. Selling to a knowledgeable buyer is unlikely because he will see the same flaws as you. Enjoy your new ride when you get it.

[lpcapital]

...and I'm saying it from experience.

I sold my 1.9 modified: similar things as you. DASC, custom made oil cooler several mods here and there... You might recall...

I just wanted to move on with life: that car was taking up too much of my attention and time and I needed to make room for other stuff.

190K miles, still running like a champ...

Well, I was able to sell it to s-retire who I think he's really enjoying it and I know is taking great care of her and values the hard work and dedication I've put into it...

In his case the mods I've made were a plus and he valued them positively...
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2003 Z4 2.5i
2002 Ducati Monster S4

[s-retire]