I'm not a Z4 owner but was attracted to this forum byt the problems you've had with Stratstones.
I've been looking for a used BMW 320d SE touring with the 177bhp engine for some time and saw one advertised at Stratstones Harrogate, a 320d SE Silver 2007 (57) with 25000 miles on the clock.
The 177 engine is 10% more powerful but also 10% more economical than its predecessor. I emailed to make sure it was the 177bhp, this was confirmed by an email from Adam Tomlinson the used car manager.
Before making the 240 mile round trip to Harrogate, I rang them to confirm and was told by Nick Hughes the salesman - "yes it is the 177bhp". Over the phone they reduced the price by £500 and I checked that the BMW offer to increase the warranty from 1 year to 2 year that weekend applied. It looked like a brilliant deal.
I droveto Harrogate, drove the car, liked it, was reassured again "yes it was the 177", they even went to some lengths to try to explain an apparent disparity between mpgs and CO2 output between adverts in the the BMW & Stratstones website.
Convinced that as BMW dealers they should know what they were talking about I left £500 deposit, signed a contract and signed over my personal reg retention certificate to the car.
On returning home with a copy of the reg. document I discovered that the car actually had a CO2 output greater than it should. After some research I realised either the document were wrong or Stratstone were wrong.
I emailed them:
Dear Adam
Further to my earlier email, it does look as though something is amiss.
From my research the BMW 320d SE touring produced from 3 Sep 2007 -31 Aug 2008 had a power output of 177 bhp, combined fuel consumption of 57mpg and CO2 Emissions of 131 g/km.
The earlier BMW 320d SE touring produced produced from 17 Sep 2005 -3 Sep 2007 has a power output of 160 bhp, combined fuel consumption of 47mpg and CO2 Emissions of 158 g/km.
The registration document for ********** says that it has CO2 Emissions of 158 g/km. Either this registration document is wrong or the car is not a 177 but in fact a 160 model!
Certainly although it was a good drive, the car didn't have quite the urgency of a 2009 320d SE touring that we drove a couple of weeks ago. I would be grateful if you could look into this matter and contact me as soon as possible
They replied by email "We can assure you this is a 177 engine"
I spoke to a friend who works for another BMW dealer who advised that I discover when the car was built. If before Sept 2007 it was not the 117.
I rang Stratstones again and only after some major pressure did they check the BMW data base.
After some initial reassuring words the phone went rather quiet and I was told that the car was made in May 2007 - and was not the car they had contracted to sell me! They would get back to me.
After 2 further phone calls and an email from me, they offered me a £500 discount - the car would cost more than this extra to run with additional road tax & fuel costs in the first 18 months.
The only alternative was a refund. As I pointed out under the Sale of Goods Act they also need to meet my reasonable costs - they offered me £25 of petrol - but I would have to come to Harrogate to pick it up!
My advice: If you want to buy a BMW from these chaps - do your homework first or better still find a BMW dealer that knows what they are doing.
PS Although they reduced the asking price they were still advertising the car as a 177bhp on Autotrader!!!
PPS Have decided to buy a new Golf 1.6 tdi Match instead - bye bye BMW
I've been looking for a used BMW 320d SE touring with the 177bhp engine for some time and saw one advertised at Stratstones Harrogate, a 320d SE Silver 2007 (57) with 25000 miles on the clock.
The 177 engine is 10% more powerful but also 10% more economical than its predecessor. I emailed to make sure it was the 177bhp, this was confirmed by an email from Adam Tomlinson the used car manager.
Before making the 240 mile round trip to Harrogate, I rang them to confirm and was told by Nick Hughes the salesman - "yes it is the 177bhp". Over the phone they reduced the price by £500 and I checked that the BMW offer to increase the warranty from 1 year to 2 year that weekend applied. It looked like a brilliant deal.
I droveto Harrogate, drove the car, liked it, was reassured again "yes it was the 177", they even went to some lengths to try to explain an apparent disparity between mpgs and CO2 output between adverts in the the BMW & Stratstones website.
Convinced that as BMW dealers they should know what they were talking about I left £500 deposit, signed a contract and signed over my personal reg retention certificate to the car.
On returning home with a copy of the reg. document I discovered that the car actually had a CO2 output greater than it should. After some research I realised either the document were wrong or Stratstone were wrong.
I emailed them:
Dear Adam
Further to my earlier email, it does look as though something is amiss.
From my research the BMW 320d SE touring produced from 3 Sep 2007 -31 Aug 2008 had a power output of 177 bhp, combined fuel consumption of 57mpg and CO2 Emissions of 131 g/km.
The earlier BMW 320d SE touring produced produced from 17 Sep 2005 -3 Sep 2007 has a power output of 160 bhp, combined fuel consumption of 47mpg and CO2 Emissions of 158 g/km.
The registration document for ********** says that it has CO2 Emissions of 158 g/km. Either this registration document is wrong or the car is not a 177 but in fact a 160 model!
Certainly although it was a good drive, the car didn't have quite the urgency of a 2009 320d SE touring that we drove a couple of weeks ago. I would be grateful if you could look into this matter and contact me as soon as possible
They replied by email "We can assure you this is a 177 engine"
I spoke to a friend who works for another BMW dealer who advised that I discover when the car was built. If before Sept 2007 it was not the 117.
I rang Stratstones again and only after some major pressure did they check the BMW data base.
After some initial reassuring words the phone went rather quiet and I was told that the car was made in May 2007 - and was not the car they had contracted to sell me! They would get back to me.
After 2 further phone calls and an email from me, they offered me a £500 discount - the car would cost more than this extra to run with additional road tax & fuel costs in the first 18 months.
The only alternative was a refund. As I pointed out under the Sale of Goods Act they also need to meet my reasonable costs - they offered me £25 of petrol - but I would have to come to Harrogate to pick it up!
My advice: If you want to buy a BMW from these chaps - do your homework first or better still find a BMW dealer that knows what they are doing.
PS Although they reduced the asking price they were still advertising the car as a 177bhp on Autotrader!!!
PPS Have decided to buy a new Golf 1.6 tdi Match instead - bye bye BMW
