Honest truth is that the ZHP is actually a more special car than the M3. With the exception of M3s with function sequential gears I don’t really see why any of them are selling over 10 grand. I can’t see that it’s really twice the car you would get out of a well looked after 318-330 car. A well optioned 330 with full excel sheets of service and repairs, receipts and records might be truly worth 7-8. That is night and I am considering if you would find a truly flawless one or two owner example that has had all the 100k/20yr items replaces as well. I would suggest not paying more than 3000 for a car that isn’t well documented.

 

It's objectively more rare, but whether it's more special and thus worth the premium folks ask for them is highly subjective and has been a point of debate around here for donkey's years. Personally, I don't drink the ZHP kool-aid and would much rather have an M3.

As for why E46 M3s are selling for over 10K, well, have you seen the latest M3?

BTW M3s with SMG (functional or not) typically go for less than 3-pedal manual cars.

 

Thats what I thought, I was willing to pay 8-9k max for a zhp (thats pretty much flawless) and yet i can only find ones priced 15k and above. I was able to test drive a 325 and then a 330 zhp and even though the 330 felt a bit better, it cost three times the price of a good condition 325 at that point i dont think its worth it. Thanks for the advice!

 

The issue is just that unless every single bushing, ball joint, bearing, sensor, solenoid, seal, mechanical parts in general have been documented I would go for it. They were asking 2500 for the car that I ended up with and I wiggled it less than I should have. 2000 323i is a budget breach of the original 5k total. That is about half of the 100k things that need replacing for multipurpose cars. So expect that you can definitely put a car back together for 10k no matter the purchase price so long as you start with a good driver. Don’t let somebody try to charge you for the labor costs that they have had to deal with over the years. You can do almost every bit of work on a BMW with basic tools. I still have not written all of my endeavors in a thread. Maybe I’ll do that between deliveries!

 

Location matters a lot here. If your in the PNW you might be able to pry my ZHP from me.
Having owned a '03 330i Sport pack and a '05 ZHP. The ZHP has the 'cool' factor due to the alcantara interior and other bits, but I wouldn't pay a significant premium. I sold the '03 sport with plans to go into a 135i but that fell through and the ZHP fell into my lap.

If you buy a 'plain' 330i and plan to do all the ZHP add on's then it might be worth a $$$ to save money in the long run.

 

So is there a ZHP for grabs on the e46 fanatics forum. Is this a 3 series moment?

 

Im in the market for a Manual e46 330i, I do want a zhp but Ive seen only a few zhp's and they were priced at 15k and a couple at 20k. is that a reasonable price?

no that’s not a reasonable price at all. it’s a nice option package but it’s a 330i. if you’re a collector and wanted an Imola Red on a sedan with Alcantara/cloth interior then it should command a higher price. otherwise people with the ZHP option often over pay. but if people are willing to pay that much then good for the sellers. nobody is making them overpay but themselves.
a clean 330 ZSP has always been my recommendation for value.

 

My thought on the matter is that most people will not know that they have a ZHP, or a ZSP for that matter.

You need to harvest the VIN numbers of cars that appear to have ZHP styling -- lights, tire packages, aero stuff, those kinds of things -- and plug the VIN into a decoder to see what the original option packages were applied by the factory. Someone can easily (20 years later) be selling a ZHP and not know it. Clearly there will be enthusiasts who know all about the ZHP/ZSP, and they will try to up charge for the options, but unless the car is a pristine specimen, I don't think that the option package that it was originally equipped with is worth very much today. Maybe you are finding cars that are priced high because the miles are very low, and this gives value to a greater degree than the options package it might carry.

I would suggest you use sites such as cars.com or autotrader.com and search for the years when the ZHP was offered, and see if there are people selling them and not knowing. You should be able to identify a ZHP/ZSP by the picture, then confirm by the VIN. The ZHP and ZSP (the ZSP is similar, but without the factory engine tune) that should have unique options that can't be easily swapped into the car. For example, anybody can find a set of 18-inch wheels and put them on a car, but installing the Alcantra interior is not really a thing that most people will do. If you see a car with factory 18s and Alcantra, the odds favor it also being a ZHP, but the VIN decoder will nail it. The ZHP and ZSP all exist among the sedan, coupe, and convertible, and I'm not certain but I think the M54 engine (325/330 -- and maybe only the 330) is required. Since you are looking for the 330, you might not even be interested in the 328 ZHP, if there is such a thing. My point being that you might have a ZHP across town that somebody is selling, but they don't know what they have so they list it as an '05 330 with 18s and a 6-spd transmission, and you run the VIN through the decoder (mdecoder.com is a good one) and find that it's your dream car.

 

The ZHP and ZSP all exist among the sedan, coupe, and convertible, and I'm not certain but I think the M54 engine (325/330 -- and maybe only the 330) is required. Since you are looking for the 330, you might not even be interested in the 328 ZHP, if there is such a thing. My point being that you might have a ZHP across town that somebody is selling, but they don't know what they have so they list it as an '05 330 with 18s and a 6-spd transmission

just to verify your suspicion, correct the “Performance Package”(zhp) option was only available on 330s. so no 323/325/328 “zhp” optioned cars. also after 2003 all 330s got 6-speed and no longer 5 for the manuals.

 

Interesting that you seem to have what the OP is looking for.

 

Not for nothing, but I will be listing my '05 ZHP 6-speed convertible w/110k or so in coming days. I have six M54 BMW's and need to sell a few as I am losing storage. I'd like to get my fleet closer to three cars.