Exactly there have been many threads on self service vs documented history and it hangs in a balance of where the car is in its life.
If its a low milage car thats good money then I would be inclined to say keep the history documented by a specialist. Interim oil changes etc are even better and I think something as simple as changing the oil is fine by a home mechanic.
Sort of the whole point of having a dealer or a specialist because they do these things day in day out and your paying for a professional service that is to spec. Regardless of peoples views and opinions on stealers generally that makes it easy to identify how a car has been looked after over its life using proper tools parts and knowledge etc
Even if self service is documented on a forum trying to establish your level of skill is a different matter to a potential buyer. 90% of people buying these cars wont know what they are doing, me included. How would I know a home mechanic has done everything to spec and has put things back together properly just take their word for it?
I think if its a high milage car, possibly more of a project and something that is a keeper then its a different matter. But when it comes to selling the car you really narrow the amount of potential buyers.
Really the difference between how much a car is worth is its condition, mileage and history. If that history isnt documented by a garage then I wouldn't be inclined to buy it.
If the home mechnic had been a master mechanic or owns a garage its a different matter but how do you prove to a buyer thats your credential.
Many times cars that are for sale have inspection II ticked in the book by some back street garage. What exactly have they done but put a tick in the box? They probably have just done a normal minor service not the specified service by BMW.
Its the gamble you take, in all honesty even if the valve clearances are slightly out of spec the likelyhood of it doing serious damage is minimal and you could get an INS II done at any time to give piece of mind. But essentially the cars history is out of sync and good history is one of three things that makes a good car. Idealy you want all three to line up and unfortunately its getting very difficult to find. The worry is would the next buyer be willing to bat the same eye.
Just bought a 911 and it has 15k worth of history with it every single bill, mot etc and the file is the size of a novel. Thats the sort of documentation I expect on a car of this caliber yet very few Z4Ms have.
The Z4M market is very different to the porsche market. Dogs are priced accordingly and cars with the same milage and year can have wild price differences. There have been some fairly major issues that are well documented and probably means buyers are more clued up. Because boxsters caymans and 911s shared 90% of their parts they needed to be looked after similarly and the arrangement of the car means certain things are quite expensive in comparison to a traditional car. Funnily enough most boxsters and caymans fall into the same trap with poor history and just a quick search will show 5-6k differences between very similar cars on paper.
The S54 on the other hand for the kind of caliber has seen fairly minor issues in comparison and because the Z4M coupe sold in such small numbers you dont really have much choice so almost every car is in a similar price position but the history, condition and milage can vary a huge amount. The nice thing about the Z is that looking after it is relitevely cheap, having the major things done like bearings, mounts vanos wont cost much more than 2k. On a 911 just having the hoses replaced costs £1100 because you have to drop the sub frame. The hoses are like £30 each and I think there is 8 the rest is labour so bills add up quickly.
TBH I gave up looking for another Z4M, couldnt find what I was looking for. I would love another but finding a car that is worth the money, the right colour combo and ticks the boxes is very hard unless you are willing to pay the top end of the market.
With that in mind its a risky time to be buying top end of the market 25-30k, feels like the bottom could drop out with what is going on in the climate right now.
Obviously just my opinion.
If its a low milage car thats good money then I would be inclined to say keep the history documented by a specialist. Interim oil changes etc are even better and I think something as simple as changing the oil is fine by a home mechanic.
Sort of the whole point of having a dealer or a specialist because they do these things day in day out and your paying for a professional service that is to spec. Regardless of peoples views and opinions on stealers generally that makes it easy to identify how a car has been looked after over its life using proper tools parts and knowledge etc
Even if self service is documented on a forum trying to establish your level of skill is a different matter to a potential buyer. 90% of people buying these cars wont know what they are doing, me included. How would I know a home mechanic has done everything to spec and has put things back together properly just take their word for it?
I think if its a high milage car, possibly more of a project and something that is a keeper then its a different matter. But when it comes to selling the car you really narrow the amount of potential buyers.
Really the difference between how much a car is worth is its condition, mileage and history. If that history isnt documented by a garage then I wouldn't be inclined to buy it.
If the home mechnic had been a master mechanic or owns a garage its a different matter but how do you prove to a buyer thats your credential.
Many times cars that are for sale have inspection II ticked in the book by some back street garage. What exactly have they done but put a tick in the box? They probably have just done a normal minor service not the specified service by BMW.
Its the gamble you take, in all honesty even if the valve clearances are slightly out of spec the likelyhood of it doing serious damage is minimal and you could get an INS II done at any time to give piece of mind. But essentially the cars history is out of sync and good history is one of three things that makes a good car. Idealy you want all three to line up and unfortunately its getting very difficult to find. The worry is would the next buyer be willing to bat the same eye.
Just bought a 911 and it has 15k worth of history with it every single bill, mot etc and the file is the size of a novel. Thats the sort of documentation I expect on a car of this caliber yet very few Z4Ms have.
The Z4M market is very different to the porsche market. Dogs are priced accordingly and cars with the same milage and year can have wild price differences. There have been some fairly major issues that are well documented and probably means buyers are more clued up. Because boxsters caymans and 911s shared 90% of their parts they needed to be looked after similarly and the arrangement of the car means certain things are quite expensive in comparison to a traditional car. Funnily enough most boxsters and caymans fall into the same trap with poor history and just a quick search will show 5-6k differences between very similar cars on paper.
The S54 on the other hand for the kind of caliber has seen fairly minor issues in comparison and because the Z4M coupe sold in such small numbers you dont really have much choice so almost every car is in a similar price position but the history, condition and milage can vary a huge amount. The nice thing about the Z is that looking after it is relitevely cheap, having the major things done like bearings, mounts vanos wont cost much more than 2k. On a 911 just having the hoses replaced costs £1100 because you have to drop the sub frame. The hoses are like £30 each and I think there is 8 the rest is labour so bills add up quickly.
TBH I gave up looking for another Z4M, couldnt find what I was looking for. I would love another but finding a car that is worth the money, the right colour combo and ticks the boxes is very hard unless you are willing to pay the top end of the market.
With that in mind its a risky time to be buying top end of the market 25-30k, feels like the bottom could drop out with what is going on in the climate right now.
Obviously just my opinion.
