First, my condolences to you.

Prices of 840Cis on Autotrader vary from £9,000 to £14,000 for cars with over 100,000 miles, up to £18,000 for cars which claim to have under 50,000 miles.

I would say that if your car has a comprehensive service history (with receipts and documents to prove it) and has not has many owners (some of the cars on AutoTrader have had 4 or more owners), then that's more attractive to purchasers than perfect paint.

An alternative to a respray is to give the car a full valet, detail and polish, which would cost about £200 - £300 and get it looking more presentable.

Tricky to give a valuation on something like that.

But asking prices on Autotrader range from £8995 for a 1994 car with 150k miles, to £17995 for another 1994 car but with 78k miles.

On Ebay they go from £9995 for a 1997 car with 172k miles to £39995 for a 1995 car with 59k miles.

Using those prices as a guide, I think I'd be wanting to find out how much it is worth as it is before shelling out £2k on it, may not be worth doing.

I am sorry for your loss.

One my favourite car Youtuber is M539 Restoriation based in Germany. He hunts for old BMWs, restores them, makes videos of this project and then either keeps them or sell them on to waiting buyers. It may be a good legacy.

www.youtube.com/c/M539Restorations

You coudl reach out to him. May be he may be interested in buying and featuring it on his YouTube channel....

One thing, I have learned from watching his M539 YouTube videos, is not to start the car up, if it has been disused for a long time (i,e more then a year). As it causes damage. The buyer should buy the car on a tow truck. It can a problem, if a buyer waants to test drive.

If it does start up and drives fine (or even with issues). I suggest you make a video on your phone, of the outside, inside, engine bay and then take it for a spin. It helps if you have someone holding the camera on a selfies stick.

Listing on autotrader, you can upload a video. Facebook is another option.

Beware, there will be people who respond to your advert and they will pay below what its worth. A collector will pay you the right price....however, they may take time to find you.....

I'm sorry for your loss.

These cars very much have a following and values to my mind are high compared with many acknowledged 'classics' if asking prices are anything to go by. Don't give it away.

www.carandclassic.com/classic_cars.php?keyword=840...h

'Restoration' is something to be wary of as a way of adding value. It's usually cheaper for a buyer to find a fully restored one than to buy the unrestored car and do it themselves. The shoe is on the other foot if you are the seller.

Of course if you want to do it for yourself, it's different matter.

My husband has just sadly died and left me a BMW 840 CI Auto 1996. It really needs a bit of a respray and tidy up and I been quoted around £2K to get it up to excellent condition. Just needed advice about whether it is worth spending that and an idea of how much it would be worth. Mileage is around 165,000 miles. Thanks for any help.

So sorry to hear your news.

As others have suggested, it might be best to put it in a classic car auction. Or try one of the online car buyers like Cazoo?