Buying advice

Bahamablue

Bahamablue

Member
 South Coast
So after 10 years of inferior cars I’m back in the market for an E86 coupe. Found the absolute perfect car in every respect, then called the dealer and discover the service history is non existent. Lost service book, a print out from BMW showing three dates the car was seen, but no details on what was carried out, then a service invoice from last year. The MOT check looks impeccable and proves the 37k mileage, but has the same oil sat in there for 10 years as it’s barely done any miles from year to year.

Spider senses say walk away, but it looks mint (from photos) and I’m wondering if I can get someone / BMW to do a thorough mechanical inspection to assess the engine and gearbox.

Also when the time comes to sell it will it give me problems?

Would be really grateful for any advice on this, as heart is ruling head at the moment!
 
By this time recent history feels more important than full history; if it’s in good condition, you can verify the mileage and it’s technically decent then offer them a low number keeping a margin to do a full round of preventive maintenance. Come sell time, that work should ease any concerns a prospective buyer may have.

Then again, if your gut tells you to walk away- do it. Your perfect car will come up and it will make the joy of ownership properly enjoyable

My two penneth :thumbsup:
 
I'm sure the garage has already done their homework, but you can ring BMW and they will tell you exactly when are where the car has been seen at an approved garage. Sounds like maybe they already did that and I'm guessing the 3 visits were warranty period services?

Modern synthetic engine oil would last at least 2 years before degrading, right? So add at least that amount of time since the last BMW print out. Gearbox oil is 'lifetime' so no worries there.

Have you checked the MOT history to verify the mileage? I'm sure you know that you can do that online. With any luck the big miles were driven in the first 3/5 years. :D

I drove a coupe with a missing history recently, but with bigger mileage, and it was solid as a rock. Just don't overpay.
 
Thanks for the advice. The MOT history is clean as a whistle - all passes - and just a faulty number plate lamp and perished tyres as the only advisories in 16 years. And as you say Steve - majority of miles in first 3 years and then a few hundred miles each year thereafter.

It’s up for £16.5 which seems steep.
 
Bahamablue said:
Thanks for the advice. The MOT history is clean as a whistle - all passes - and just a faulty number plate lamp and perished tyres as the only advisories in 16 years. And as you say Steve - majority of miles in first 3 years and then a few hundred miles each year thereafter.

It’s up for £16.5 which seems steep.
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That does seem expensive!!
 
Bahamablue said:
Thanks for the advice. The MOT history is clean as a whistle - all passes - and just a faulty number plate lamp and perished tyres as the only advisories in 16 years. And as you say Steve - majority of miles in first 3 years and then a few hundred miles each year thereafter.

It’s up for £16.5 which seems steep.
Click to expand...

For that price, it really would need a comprehensive service history. And solid gold wheels.
 
£16.5k is purely down to mileage. For the last two years dealers (and everyone TBH) have priced cars on mileage alone. Very low miles = big money. And people have paid those prices, so the cycle continues.
Low mileage is nothing without provenance. If you had a 25 year old car which had done 30 miles without even the oil being changed, would you pay big money? If you pay the low miles money, you would need to do a BIG service just for peace of mind. That will cost around £1,000 these days. And there is no guarantee there won't be issues because of the lack of servicing.

Unless it is a M coupe, at that mileage with a full documented history, it is too expensive. But it's your money! :thumbsup:
 
Pondrew said:
£16.5k is purely down to mileage. For the last two years dealers (and everyone TBH) have priced cars on mileage alone. Very low miles = big money. And people have paid those prices, so the cycle continues.
Low mileage is nothing without provenance. If you had a 25 year old car which had done 30 miles without even the oil being changed, would you pay big money? If you pay the low miles money, you would need to do a BIG service just for peace of mind. That will cost around £1,000 these days. And there is no guarantee there won't be issues because of the lack of servicing.

Unless it is a M coupe, at that mileage with a full documented history, it is too expensive. But it's your money! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I have just last week bought a low mileage 23 year old car which has been in storage for just 18 months. Autodoc have an order already for £400 of consumables it needs after a few hours of looking at it!
 
It is completely normal (although admittedly not best practise) for a low mileage E86 to have only a bare handful of oil changes / services, if serviced on the indicator which many are. And synthetic oil doesn’t suddenly collapse into a brown sludge after 2 years. Mileage in a hot engine is far more damaging to oil than time. I would not let the scant history put you off too much. It is very unlikely that a 37k E86 in seemingly excellent condition has been thrashed and neglected all its life. However, the price is very high, as others have said, even with FSH; so negotiate accordingly. If you are planning to keep the car for 10 years, this won’t matter so much, but if it’s only a year or two the service history may affect what you can get back.

Obviously, check under the oil cap before you buy (no dipstick). If it’s clean and the traces of oil are golden, that’s a good sign. If there’s black crud or signs of mayo, then walk away.
 
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