Critique my for sale ad? 35is

[Busterboo]

The driver's seat looks a bit knackered (which I doubt it is).

 

[sunnydays]

Just replying to your comment re “staying in the ad about Grills”... what do you do when looking at cars? I flick through the pictures and I’ll read the advert based on liking what I see. If I see black Grills (which a lot of people hate) then they may not even read the advert and make a judgment on the type of owner who likes the black Grills.

As stated, it’s not just the nav, I barely use the Nav, but I use (and enjoy!) the iDrive entertainment on every drive. I would discount any e89 without it.

Yep fair point! I know exactly what you mean about the type of owner who likes black grills lol. And the I drive entertainment is a fair point as well. I just feel kind of stuck as a lot of my previous cars have sold very quickly.

I didn't want to mention the grills specifically as it may offend the owners of "normal" 89s but as its been raised more than once ive tried the black grills in my own car & each time i look at pics when they were fitted think doh ! " ive changed it to look like a 20i 23i 28i.30i " get the silver grills back in , they look so much better than any other combination & just are the ones for a flagship model

Thanks, Will restore these back to the chrome / aluminium ones included with the car!

The car has the warranty that came with it when I purchased it, 3/4 services are BMW, one is an Indy.

No mention of warranty in your AT ad, how long left, is it with BMW?

It is non BMW and not transferable thus not mentioned in the Ad

I would get rid of the 0-60 , power and tax bands as they are all covered by the piston heads performance data. Then I would reword the add to show what optionional equipment and things you have added after your the base spec. Inc service history , tyre types and how tread depth, possibly change some of the pictures to show miles till next sevice and current mileage, plus drivers seat base and side bolster as that always shows the or set wear and any warranty

Having said this the car looks very good indeed and if am sure there will be other people who just don't want the sat nav, but you need to allow for that in the price

GLWTHS

Thanks, made some further adjustments, I have listed all optional extras but it does not seem to format correctly on desktop where it does on mobile. There is a limit of 20 photos so I would have to remove existing photos to add new ones if that makes sense

I'd suggest taking some photos at a different location + of the onboard computer menus i.e. oil, service, brakes etc showing they are not due until X miles. GLWS

Thanks,
I will take a look at which photos I could possibly remove to add some new ones.

 

[Mavster]

I am looking for a 35is, as others have mentioned the lack of media pack is the issue which will be a pain when I come to sell. Also wbac only values it at £12k. I'd be considering offers around £15k for it. Guessing that you must have got it cheap also for the same reason.

 

[sunnydays]

I am looking for a 35is, as others have mentioned the lack of media pack is the issue which will be a pain when I come to sell. Also wbac only values it at £12k. I'd be considering offers around £15k for it. Guessing that you must have got it cheap also for the same reason.

Pricing at £15k would be to low given that it would heavily overlap with the 35i market at that point. It was cheaper than other cars on the market when I bought it, but not a massive amount.

 

[SteveSmith]

I am looking for a 35is, as others have mentioned the lack of media pack is the issue which will be a pain when I come to sell. Also wbac only values it at £12k. I'd be considering offers around £15k for it. Guessing that you must have got it cheap also for the same reason.

Pricing at £15k would be to low given that it would heavily overlap with the 35i market at that point. It was cheaper than other cars on the market when I bought it, but not a massive amount.

I think the overlap is inevitable. I’d rather a 35i at £16k with Media etc than a 35iS without at £17k. The 35iS would need to be less for it to be attractive in my eyes. There’s a Blue 35i on AT at £16,250, that’s your competition in my eyes and unfortunately, even though it’s not the iS it is more appealing to me.

 

[Z4M-2006]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222745253879


This one is similar to yours, it's been for sale for ages at this dealership, and the owner before who struggled to sell last summer and ended up selling into trade at substantially less than the car is now advertised ..

If you can, why not wait until April/may when people are looking to get into a roadster and you will get closer to asking price ..

It's January, snowing and freezing cold.. not the best time to sell any Z4

 

[Nictrix]

It's January, snowing and freezing cold.. not the best time to sell any Z4

Its February but your point is still valid :lol:

 

[sunnydays]

Yep timing is agreed as well, I have already paid for the ad but will leave it up and just see what happens from here.

Thanks for the input everyone much appreciated!

 

[bob4333]

If you're still looking for views............ I'd say take a look at pro adverts.

Not many start with "Today I am selling my lovely 35is! This is BMW's flagship Z4 featuring the 3.0L N54 Twin Turbo engine paired with the lightning fast 7 Speed DCT box! " etc.

De-personalise it and make it factual. Potential buyers will scan through listings until they find something that hits their mental checklist - this is your chance to stop 'em dead and make this the advert they want to stay with and read more - not have their eyes glaze over and click "next".

The car may have once meant all the world to you (and will probably do so again to it's new owner) but a "For Sale" ad isn't the place to drag it out.

Plenty of pix is OK by me, but I'd concentrate on the essentials first ie side on, front, rear then 3/4's. No need to repeat them all with the roof in up/down mode, just a couple perhaps with the roof up. Good idea to show detail shots - with the passion you obviously have for this car I'm surprised there's no shot of a clean engine bay or boot area. Showing the history file is good, I'd have shown both sets of keys in the same shot.

It's a great looking car in a popular colour and the photo's suggest you've obviously cared for it, but as others have said we're in a bit of a niche market at possibly the wrong time of year. Everything sells when the price or circumstances are right.

I mean all of the above in a positive manner. It's a beautiful car - good luck with the sale.

 

[Z4M-2006]

It's January, snowing and freezing cold.. not the best time to sell any Z4

Its February but your point is still valid :lol:

Hard to know what day it is at my age,never mind month

 

[step_change]

Its too expensive......

Its a uninspiring colour combo and has poor spec.


The flagship model of any range needs to be fully loaded and have no downsides to get top money...

There was a 13 plate facelift 35is that recently sold on here for £18k,that had great colour combo and had great spec..

In comparison,yours needs to be around £15,500 to get serious interest,especially at this time of year.

I was looking for a 35is and I bought that car you mention. Pro Nav was essential in my shopping list of requirements, as was folding mirrors, heated seats - preferably electrically adjustable - and cruise control (all extras). For it to be in immacualte condition and in the right colour combination was taken as read. I was in no rush and bided my time for the right car to come up. I would not have considered a car without Pro Nav at this price point, why would I when so many eventually come onto the market if you are preepared to wait a bit?
Sorry, you did ask.

 

[step_change]

I didn't mention the red 35is as imo it was sold a little too cheap & the other 2 i have linked are much closer to your actual car with regard miles / year / spec .
Without your dissecting minutely your car /pricing its worth considering the overall market that you are in .
Very niche cars , very small marketplace for trading & we know (those who watch the market that is ) that many cars can sit for months on end for seemingly no apparent reason .
Your white / black combo is pretty safe imo , never going to wow like valencia or estoril but imo should give you a wider audience than red / cream :?
I suspect its simply a case of waiting for the right buyer to appreciate what you have ( could take months as it did with Wrs & Samuir's cars) but the price attached must be keen enough to not put potential buyers off .
A final perspective you may not have considered & i am happy to delete if you wish , the 35is is only available with DCT & most like your own have adaptive ride , both factors that pushed me away from purchasing one over a 35i especially when the price difference in the two was considered other potential buyers may think the same ?

I think Keith could have got more for my red 35is that I bought from him in early January. However, he would have had to have waited until April or so and he wanted to get it shifted. I saw it as the bargain it was and bought it, even though is has spent a whole heap of time inside my garage out of the wet and cold. Its time will come.
Yep, the mileage at 54500 was a tad higher than ideally would have liked since it will make a BMW extended wartranty more expensive when it is up for renewal in December after it has tripped over 60000. However, considering the saving in initial outlay, this will more than cover the increased warranty cost.
Incidentally, driving a 35is without warranty is foolhardy IMO, there is a lot to go wrong potentiallly. Mine had a year of BMW warranty on it provided by Keith - worth £460. Another very attractive selling point. I got a good deal and I am very happy with the car, it is utterly fabulous (on the few occassions I have driven it!)

 

[jimmybell]

Time of year has got to be a big factor also.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

High powered convertible in mid winter will certainly slow a sale.

 

[R.E92]

I agree that you would need to remove any non-factual information from the ad. Keep it down to the facts.

Also would agree on the price front vs the 35i. I would rather have a 35i with nav than a 35is without.

 

[Mavster]

Try on auto trader for £16k for a day and see if the response improves from calls. You could always put the price back up on the weekend if the phone starts ringing off the hook.

 

[Ewazix]

Nav is a non-issue for some people ( me), I guess the lack of response is down to the car being a niche within a niche at the wrong time of year, very few people buy an top e89 and fewer still want the iS gearbox. But someone will, and it looks like a nice example. Unless it's a fire sale I would take it off the market for a month, as it is you will talk your own price down to the point that a trader will step in and steal it for a quick spring profit. Patience

 

[sunnydays]

Thanks for the input everyone much appreciated.
I have updated some of the pictures and description and left the ad up since the ad is paid for and I do not think you can "freeze" auto trader ads so to speak. The ad still has over 4 weeks left on it which should see it in to early March if it is still around.

I will keep this thread updated

Edit: Some statistics for those interested
Ad Views in 12 days: 900
Number of calls so far: 1

 

[huytonman]

its not a great time of year to sell and as pointed out the "red one" was a bit of a bargain, it was mine but I wanted to release some cash and priced it accordingly BUT even then I had people offering me 16K (from this forum and as a bench mark "westealanycarfromyou.com" offered me about 14k from memory), no harm in trying but come on guys! Its been said already but the lack of Nav really limits your market, I saw a cracking car last year which ticked every box but as soon as I looked at the dash I saw it had no nav (not mentioned in the ad) and despite keen pricing for me it was a none starter, not only because of resale but because of the convenience factor (yes I know Iphones are years ahead when it comes to nav etc etc but I dont care, I wanted something integrated) and also cruise was important to me. If you cant wait until spring then you have to get the price right, you can fiddle with the words all day long and take better pics but without the critical point being right you wont get far.
Best of luck with the sale.
Keith

 

[philiph]

its not a great time of year to sell and as pointed out the "red one" was a bit of a bargain, it was mine but I wanted to release some cash and priced it accordingly BUT even then I had people offering me 16K (from this forum and as a bench mark "westealanycarfromyou.com" offered me about 14k from memory), no harm in trying but come on guys! Its been said already but the lack of Nav really limits your market, I saw a cracking car last year which ticked every box but as soon as I looked at the dash I saw it had no nav (not mentioned in the ad) and despite keen pricing for me it was a none starter, not only because of resale but because of the convenience factor (yes I know Iphones are years ahead when it comes to nav etc etc but I dont care, I wanted something integrated) and also cruise was important to me. If you cant wait until spring then you have to get the price right, you can fiddle with the words all day long and take better pics but without the critical point being right you wont get far.
Best of luck with the sale.
Keith

I agree.
The purchase is all about design, style, image, pleasure, pride. It is a very discretionary purchase, and therefore the boxes really do need to be ticked.

For me the right colour, sat nav, heated seats, parking sensors were required before I would look any further.
Add in budget, colour, age and mileage and the car has to be right for any purchaser who has done research.

As summer approaches there will be some less will researched and more readily pleased impatient purchasers.

 

[step_change]

its not a great time of year to sell and as pointed out the "red one" was a bit of a bargain, it was mine but I wanted to release some cash and priced it accordingly BUT even then I had people offering me 16K (from this forum and as a bench mark "westealanycarfromyou.com" offered me about 14k from memory), no harm in trying but come on guys! Its been said already but the lack of Nav really limits your market, I saw a cracking car last year which ticked every box but as soon as I looked at the dash I saw it had no nav (not mentioned in the ad) and despite keen pricing for me it was a none starter, not only because of resale but because of the convenience factor (yes I know Iphones are years ahead when it comes to nav etc etc but I dont care, I wanted something integrated) and also cruise was important to me. If you cant wait until spring then you have to get the price right, you can fiddle with the words all day long and take better pics but without the critical point being right you wont get far.
Best of luck with the sale.
Keith

I agree.
The purchase is all about design, style, image, pleasure, pride. It is a very discretionary purchase, and therefore the boxes really do need to be ticked.

For me the right colour, sat nav, heated seats, parking sensors were required before I would look any further.
Add in budget, colour, age and mileage and the car has to be right for any purchaser who has done research.

As summer approaches there will be some less will researched and more readily pleased impatient purchasers.

I could not have put it better myself.