Is it the re-map?

I think you have the advice all covered.

Get it on auto trader, list as a z4 18i with mid tier options, low miles & partial BMW service history. Reverse the remap (if you can - I think superchips offer this service). Don't mention all the fluff about being the very best available / wrapped in cotton wool / owned by 3 nuns & 1 vicar stuff - buyers will not beleive it & why should they trust you?

To cap it off, all your 'extra details' only relate to the car in the last 2.5 years.... but it is 10 years old. So only slightly relevant in any case.

To the average buyer (your market), the 'best available' would have all the options (no), low milage (yes), great condition (yes), always serviced at BMW (no).

As a stock 2013 car, words as above, I reckon you would get your £12k in a few weeks. The cars with more options (spefically NAV - you might scoff, but I reckon most people look for it) will sell before yours does, unless you are cheaper.

With regard to motorway / WBAC, I would be surprised if you get a reasonable offer at all due to the remap.

I know this will sadden you, but this is truth. The only person who values your car & thinks as highly of it in it's current state is you - or maybe a close friend / family member.

Applied to us all unfortunately - I hate it selling a car I have put a lot of effort into.
 
Sound advice from contributors
I’m aware of a couple of folks who only sold their E89s having removed the re-map
Waste of time trying to sell that car on this forum which is read by potential buyers in very very small amounts
AT is the way to go
Interesting to see how it fairs against a sea of 23i and 20i currently on sale there
 
i'd probably remove the map from the car, and all mention of the remap in the advert, and sell it as a standard car. The remap will put off 90% of the standard buyers, and any enthusiast buyers will already know that they can get a remap if required, they'll be looking for a good solid car in the first place.

Also... patience! its spent the last few days/weeks mostly tipping it down, hardly the time to be considering buying two seater convertibles. depending on how desperate you are to sell, you'll have to price accordingly. but 2 seater convertibles have a limited market when they were new, so they'll still have a limited market now. could easily take 6 weeks or more to sell a convertible at the moment.
 
Pondrew said:
smorris_12 said:
I'd add 28i to the title
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I can't do that as it is not true. I don't want to go down that road and have problems with people thinking I'm a 'typical' car salesman! :)
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Oh no, I don't mean mis-represent it, list it as a 18i but add "28i spec" or "28i equivalent" in brackets in the title so that people's searches bring it up to get a wider potential audience.
 
I have read the ad, and cannot add much over what others said above, I think they have nailed it really:

- Stop talking it up, state facts, not opinion
- Remove the remap, the buyers of these cars are likely to be a mix of those that know and those that dont know much about the 2 litre power plant and will be worried its been stressed/raced/chavved etc
- The car is still at an age that it isn't bought just by enthusiasts, they want something bog standard they can insure with Direct Line
- I would shorten the ad too, talking about silicone coating the seals is only going to have relevance to 1% of potential viewers, for others its just waffle which they will get bored of and click the close window button
- I tend to write ads like CVs, introduce the car as it came out of factory, service history, what receipts for work done, then thats it. And put headings for each section so its easy for a reader to digest, they should be able to read the whole ad in under a minute and know what they are looking at, and if interested they will contact you - thats when you have a chance to talk silicone seals and the like...

Unfortunately the weather has been awful (actually since the day I bought my Z4, last friday in June!) for the last 4 weeks or so and is showing no sign that we are going to have a balmy warm August either.

Stick it on AT, keep the ad punchy, suck up that people will be looking at 20i and 28i. Also I noticed that 23i prices have really dropped, you are potentially up against those also (which on paper perform as well as the 18i).

Hang in there though, when I sold my E86 I barely had a nibble then out of nowhere after 4 weeks a guy popped over and bought it there and then.
 
How about removing any references to the remap in the advert but still leave it on the car, then if you get any interest either tell them then, or when they view/test drive it and give them the option to have the remap removed or not, perhaps once seen/driven they will be hooked on buying it and like the extra power.
It’s also up ti them then whether to declare it or not to their insurer.
You would be able to tell them you’ve had it remapped to make it easier to drive rather than having to rev the arse off it to get it to go, after all you’re hardly a “boy” racer :D
 
I personally would steer away from a car advertised as having a remap.

My zed is a daily driver and is insured for business use, a remap would push the cost up dramatically from around £250/300 to around £1500 using the "specialist" brokers so my employer's car allowance wouldn't get any where near it (it doesn't anyway, but that takes it well off the scale).

Cars advertised as having a remap may have had it carried out by someone who doesn't have the skill of a proper tuner/rolling road tech and could have also included the pops, bangs and flames maps (a local mobile one near me advertised that he'd put a flame map FOC if you pay cash - he's since disappeared, so I'm guessing his work wasn't brilliant).

If you also factor in that some of those individuals are less likely to warm the engine properly and I'd be thinking abused clutch/gearbox into the bargain - sorry but these are my first thoughts from buying outside of an owners'/enthusiasts' group
 
Chippie said:
How about removing any references to the remap in the advert but still leave it on the car, then if you get any interest either tell them then, or when they view/test drive it and give them the option to have the remap removed or not, perhaps once seen/driven they will be hooked on buying it and like the extra power.
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That is a very good idea! :thumbsup:

I think I will leave the ad as it is for another week or so, then if no sniffs, edit the details and drop the price! :(
 
Thanks everyone for your thoughts, I do appreciate it. :thumbsup:

It would be quite sad if I have to make the car 'worse' to sell it. Hey-ho. :roll:
 
Pondrew said:
Thanks everyone for your thoughts, I do appreciate it. :thumbsup:

It would be quite sad if I have to make the car 'worse' to sell it. Hey-ho. :roll:
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Thats the thing, whats worse to you, is better to someone else.

Good luck with it, just need the stars to align and someone local, with low miles as a priority, not bothered about infortainment, to just open AT and thank their lucky stars yours is for sale and ring you up...kinda how it works half the time!
 
when it comes to selling... as close to standard is best. all modifications are personal touches, and pretty much all mods will put as many people off as they will appeal to. the only version of a car that appeals to everyone is a standard, completely unmodified car, so thats how you get the largest possible audience.

theres a guy on a boxster forum i'm on with a lovely, but heavily modified car, who is wondering why it isnt selling - but the smoked lights, aftermarket wheels, bodywork mods etc etc are all putting different people off. i was literally in the market for his car, but i'd have to spend more time and money removing all his mods before i'd be happy driving it.

in my opinion, the detrimental value of mods to the size of your potential audience...
aftermarket wheels -10%
bodywork modifications -20%
aftermarket exhaust -20%
aftermarket suspension -30%
remap -50%
Cat N marker -90%

any mods that you can reverse before a sale i would do - and a remap is easily reversible, so i'd definitely take it off before sale. as has already been said, once you've decided to sell a car, ditch your emotional attachment to it, and do whatever you can to widen its appeal, even if in your opinion, its making the car worse.
 
I've put a poll up in the channel - hopefully the results will be revealing & may help others that are in a similar position.
 
matsmith749 said:
I've put a poll up in the channel - hopefully the results will be revealing & may help others that are in a similar position.
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I'm guessing it will be 95% for standard.
 
brillomaster said:
when it comes to selling... as close to standard is best. all modifications are personal touches, and pretty much all mods will put as many people off as they will appeal to. the only version of a car that appeals to everyone is a standard, completely unmodified car, so thats how you get the largest possible audience.
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Your logic is sound, though I have a small variation. If the mods turn the car into a clownmobile, yes, it will turndown many buyers. If the mods are elegant and improve the car, they will attract buyers. And for the latter, it’s all in the wording.

For example, you can say the speakers have been uprated for great sound quality. The headlamps for clear and farther field of vision. The remapping improves fuel consumption whilst delivering more fun. The aftermarket wheels are lighter and more durable than OEs, also improving riding comfort and fuel consumption.

And then some mods aren’t even worth mentioning. New grilles, interior trim colour, window tinting, aerials, etc, it’s possible the buyer won’t even consciously notice. But they will be there to make the car that more attractive. Let it be.

Obviously, if you’re the disgraceful kind that makes fun of ESL folk, that will turndown heaps of prospective buyers.
 
Pondrew said:
My E89 has not had a sniff since I put it up for sale. It is now on the 'Bay too and there has been very few views in three days. Not even dealers ringing and offering me £5 for it!

I would be interested to know people's views on why, as I have gone to great lengths to explain how good the car is, and it really is a good one.

Is it price?
Is it cos it's an 18i (although in name only)
Is it cos it's been re-mapped?
Is it something else?
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Too much written text in ad : just stick with the facts to filter the serious buyers who will ask what they want to know
Too many pics : 6 - 8 enough : anyone interested will want more but that is easy sorted
Driveway pics : take it somewhere nice " a picture paints a 1000 words " i think the saying goes :oops:
White paint : no longer that popular :cry:
price : at the current £10.900 follow steps 1 2 + 3 i think it would be gone in a matter of days .

jmo & you did ask
 
If you leave the remap on the ad - how much did this affect your insurance, reference it if it low, as most will think its going to triple their costs but it may not in reality and yes I know everyone situation is different but it may make a few people check with their insurance company.

Remove the comment about warming up before revving over 3K RPM, makes it sound like you actually flog the car to death with the remap.

Take out the reference to cracked alloys - some people wont even know about this issue and will think its going to happen to them and cause an issue - if they ask then tell them about it.

I would also remove the comment about microswitches - again if they ask tell them.

Imho, don't highlight issues you have had as people will think what's next.
 
There's always the possibility that not many people want to buy Z4's right now.

Spend is dramatically down in my industry recently (hospitality) and every shop in the UK seems to have a massive sale on all of a sudden.

I suspect 10 year old sports cars don't do well in a cost of living crisis.

Apart from that... autotrader, remove the remap, and reword the ad to appeal to the average idiot rather than the average z4forum idiot :thumbsup:
 
Then make sure the advert says ulez compliant. Helps people rather than searching to see if it is.
 
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