Seen this on Autotrader, not far away from me. I guess it's best to arrange a viewing. 129000 miles. Any opinions much appreciated.
High Mileage - Opinions Please
- Thread starter Z4 - Kev
- Start date
There has been lots of discussion on the Forum about this topic over the years. Basically folk fall into two camps those who believe that well maintained cars with concrete evidence of a proper service schedule are still safe buys. Then those who only ever consider buying low mileage cars. I must admit to belonging to that group myself. Anything mechanical/electrical eventually wears out with use. No matter how well maintained. That’s not to say a low mileage badly looked after car is a good buy either.
There you have the nub of the matter. Each car has to be individually assessed.
The car you are looking at looks like a decent one but if you are interested I would definitely pay for an engineers report before proceeding with any purchase.
I am no expert and I’m sure there will be others along with a lot more knowledge than I have to offer their observations. But to me, high mileage means proceed with caution and have sufficient financial resources to deal with a few bills.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
There you have the nub of the matter. Each car has to be individually assessed.
The car you are looking at looks like a decent one but if you are interested I would definitely pay for an engineers report before proceeding with any purchase.
I am no expert and I’m sure there will be others along with a lot more knowledge than I have to offer their observations. But to me, high mileage means proceed with caution and have sufficient financial resources to deal with a few bills.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
North West Surrey
It's a great colour combination and has a good spec. with the upgraded stereo, heated seats, parking sensors and now outdated Sat Nav and is probably one of the cheaper MCs around.
I've had mine 6 years now and it is still running great on 99K miles, so I wouldn't necessarily be put off by the mileage. There are plenty of E46 M3s still running that have done that sort of mileage too.
But I'd want the registration number to check the MOT history as it can give you a feel for how well it has been treated by previous owners, and full details of the Service History is essential. When was the running in service done, have Inspection 1 and 2 services been done when they should have? Any gaps in the history? With 4 Michelin Pilot Sport tyres that suggests whoever had those fitted was an enthusiast.
At that mileage I would hope the crank rod bearing shells and engine mounts have been replaced, but if they haven't you'd need to budget £1500 or so to get those jobs done by a good BMW Indy.
If it is local and you fancy one there's no harm in having a look at it. If you have a test drive and get to give it some revs once it has warmed up properly be prepared to want one!
I've had mine 6 years now and it is still running great on 99K miles, so I wouldn't necessarily be put off by the mileage. There are plenty of E46 M3s still running that have done that sort of mileage too.
But I'd want the registration number to check the MOT history as it can give you a feel for how well it has been treated by previous owners, and full details of the Service History is essential. When was the running in service done, have Inspection 1 and 2 services been done when they should have? Any gaps in the history? With 4 Michelin Pilot Sport tyres that suggests whoever had those fitted was an enthusiast.
At that mileage I would hope the crank rod bearing shells and engine mounts have been replaced, but if they haven't you'd need to budget £1500 or so to get those jobs done by a good BMW Indy.
If it is local and you fancy one there's no harm in having a look at it. If you have a test drive and get to give it some revs once it has warmed up properly be prepared to want one!
At the summit of the picturesque fens
Firstly I will admit being shite scared of six figure mileage cars, no matter what they are. But that is irrelevant in this instance.
The problem I see is if you buy a 129,000 mile 'M' car for reasonable money (which this is on the face of it); what happens when you get to 150,000 miles after probably spending a good few quid on keeping it going? At 150k miles nearly any car is deemed to be 'done' as far as most people are concerned, so affects the value massively. So it could very well be a false economy.
M cars are not cheap to own, low or high mileage. I would suspect the bills just get bigger as they age. Then, along with the increased bills, the depreciation just compounds until it's worth virtually nothing due to being perceived to be 'worn out'.
So, basically, the car in question is probably a good buy as long as you don't put any more miles on it, which ain't gonna happen.
The same car with half the mileage retails at around £6k more. You could easily lose/ spend that difference and some in a couple of years. It's a NO from me!
The problem I see is if you buy a 129,000 mile 'M' car for reasonable money (which this is on the face of it); what happens when you get to 150,000 miles after probably spending a good few quid on keeping it going? At 150k miles nearly any car is deemed to be 'done' as far as most people are concerned, so affects the value massively. So it could very well be a false economy.
M cars are not cheap to own, low or high mileage. I would suspect the bills just get bigger as they age. Then, along with the increased bills, the depreciation just compounds until it's worth virtually nothing due to being perceived to be 'worn out'.
So, basically, the car in question is probably a good buy as long as you don't put any more miles on it, which ain't gonna happen.
The same car with half the mileage retails at around £6k more. You could easily lose/ spend that difference and some in a couple of years. It's a NO from me!
Nothing wrong with high mileage IMO, I'm in the buy on condition camp personally (depending on usage / future plans) but that aside, a quick look at that ad rings all sorts of alarm bells. Fair to say it's had a hard life to put it mildly.
9k of work should be a good thing...if most of it didn't involve cosmetic work and barely any mechanical work. Sourcing 2nd hand bumpers, wings, crash bar, new lights, lots of body shop work suggests its been in a bump to me. Not necessarily a problem, but I would want some honesty as to why it required all that. Certainly not normal / regular maintenance stuff. Obvious to say but I can't see any reason for a new wing or bumper unless they've been damaged in a accident.
Also repairing / replacing the whole exhaust system and manifold is highly unusual, unless it's been near the sea it's whole life and is a total rust bucket which is a problem in itself, something not right there.
For comparison I'm on 119k and the exhaust and manifold, barring the clamps which rust, are completely fine.
No mention of any of the 'big' ticket mechanical bits being done.
Also some cheap out parts used, never heard of Purflux oil filters (deffo not OEM) and MOOG stuff isn't great either especially when OE / OEM stuff wouldn't have been that much more expensive. Sounds like a dealer just chucked on whatever parts their supplier had in stock.
It's a pass for me though wouldn't hurt to have a look if you're close by and if the story behind all of that work adds up *might / probably not* be worth a haggle.
9k of work should be a good thing...if most of it didn't involve cosmetic work and barely any mechanical work. Sourcing 2nd hand bumpers, wings, crash bar, new lights, lots of body shop work suggests its been in a bump to me. Not necessarily a problem, but I would want some honesty as to why it required all that. Certainly not normal / regular maintenance stuff. Obvious to say but I can't see any reason for a new wing or bumper unless they've been damaged in a accident.
Also repairing / replacing the whole exhaust system and manifold is highly unusual, unless it's been near the sea it's whole life and is a total rust bucket which is a problem in itself, something not right there.
For comparison I'm on 119k and the exhaust and manifold, barring the clamps which rust, are completely fine.
No mention of any of the 'big' ticket mechanical bits being done.
Also some cheap out parts used, never heard of Purflux oil filters (deffo not OEM) and MOOG stuff isn't great either especially when OE / OEM stuff wouldn't have been that much more expensive. Sounds like a dealer just chucked on whatever parts their supplier had in stock.
It's a pass for me though wouldn't hurt to have a look if you're close by and if the story behind all of that work adds up *might / probably not* be worth a haggle.
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When was the last time you tried to 'haggle' with a used car dealer?
I have found in the last 10 years they laugh and tell you to 'go forth and multiply' at anything more than £100. But it could be me not giving off the right 'vibes'.
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Ha, well yes, I don't favour independent dealers let's say, so a long time ago would be the answer.
I don't know much about current values, as I don't much care about them to be honest, but given what you say, I'd probably not even bother going to look then! I would want well over 1k off that asking price personally
(Changed my post to probably not worth a haggle!)
I last bought a car from a trader in 2014 for what seemed a great price. Then he realised the MOT was only valid for 2 days and it failed on the handbrake which apparently cost him loads to fix so he told me he wasn't going to do anything about the non-working rear wiper. But I didn't care at the price.
I think his test centre didn't like him as they gave it 7 advisories and the next year I got a Pass with no advisories!
Since then I have only bought privately which I prefer as you get to appreciate how the seller has treated the car, and there is much more room for a haggle.
I think his test centre didn't like him as they gave it 7 advisories and the next year I got a Pass with no advisories!
Since then I have only bought privately which I prefer as you get to appreciate how the seller has treated the car, and there is much more room for a haggle.
Its 20 years old, its not really high mileage 6.5k a year average.
Go in knowing what the spends are see what it has had done and make an assessment. Check the MOT history. Big things - suspension, bearings, engine and gearbox mounts, engine bolts, these will need doing at the age and milage hopefully already done. Vanos is another but it doesnt seem to be a big failure part on these cars it can be tested to see if its in tolerance. These elements are probably 5-6k at a specialist unless your willing to do some mechanicals yourself.
Other obvious things, paintwork if its rough its a sliding scale of cost. Consumables like tyres, disks/pads and servicing. Dont underestimate as if all 3 need doing your looking at 3-4k depending on what servicing it has or hasnt had. Inspection 1-2s are the big ones every 20k and most are ticked under general oil services but cover a lot more.
9k for that lot is probably about right so wouldnt suprise me if these are the elements.
Essentially if it needs all your looking at a 24+k car so like I say go in knowing all and make an assessment.
If its going to be a driver its pretty good money. If you want it to be a garage queen you will sink more money and better looking at a lower milage example in a better window.
Just a note on the exhaust system, I had mine mostly replaced because people think the exhaust is a weak point on the car so replace with crap parts and end up cutting welding etc mine was a right mess so I replaced everything, manifold forward including all the mounting hardware back to OE.
Go in knowing what the spends are see what it has had done and make an assessment. Check the MOT history. Big things - suspension, bearings, engine and gearbox mounts, engine bolts, these will need doing at the age and milage hopefully already done. Vanos is another but it doesnt seem to be a big failure part on these cars it can be tested to see if its in tolerance. These elements are probably 5-6k at a specialist unless your willing to do some mechanicals yourself.
Other obvious things, paintwork if its rough its a sliding scale of cost. Consumables like tyres, disks/pads and servicing. Dont underestimate as if all 3 need doing your looking at 3-4k depending on what servicing it has or hasnt had. Inspection 1-2s are the big ones every 20k and most are ticked under general oil services but cover a lot more.
9k for that lot is probably about right so wouldnt suprise me if these are the elements.
Essentially if it needs all your looking at a 24+k car so like I say go in knowing all and make an assessment.
If its going to be a driver its pretty good money. If you want it to be a garage queen you will sink more money and better looking at a lower milage example in a better window.
Just a note on the exhaust system, I had mine mostly replaced because people think the exhaust is a weak point on the car so replace with crap parts and end up cutting welding etc mine was a right mess so I replaced everything, manifold forward including all the mounting hardware back to OE.
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Looping in @Joycey as image 51 indicates that the car has been to the Zed Shed for work.
Although image 50 suggests that the car has been in accident…
The front bumper hasn’t been put back on properly either…
Interesting to see how this turns out. If you are not familiar with how one of these drives find the best (prob low mileage) two or three examples for sale that you can and drive them. This will give you an idea how a good one feels, sounds, looks and goes. Record the aound of the engines and record inside noise. Take note of squeaks qand rattles. Then you have something to compare the high mileage car with.
I did that when I bought my z3 back in 98 and my e85 m roadster in 2024. It's amazing how different cars can be. From body flex to engine noise. The whole catastrophe. Good luck
I did that when I bought my z3 back in 98 and my e85 m roadster in 2024. It's amazing how different cars can be. From body flex to engine noise. The whole catastrophe. Good luck
