srhutch said:
tomscott said:
It's a difficult one. To a buyer service history is all you can go on the difference between a good and bad car.
You could be good with a spanner, an ex BMW master technician, and engineer or Joe blogs. But a stamp with a reputable establishments name on it means something to 90% of buyers.
I have to be honest I wouldn't buy a car that's been self serviced doesn't matter what it is. Mostly because my mechanical knowledge is lacking and I would trust the garage to do the job and have comeback if it's not.
And tbh the thoughts of others shouldnt put you off your ownership.
Everyone has an opinion and that's the point of the forum I get flamed for my views all the time it doesn't bother me they won't change my mind!
Problem is even having work done at a garage has no guarantee. TomTVR had inspection 1 carried out and 2,500 mile later cam follower failure which landed him for a bill of nearly £3k.
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=86533&hilit=followers
Service history is one thing, but if your really worried about what might happen, you'll need a warranty, which will tie you in for servicing of course.
I think there's a lot of valid points here, everyone want s the best for their cars of that I'm fairly certain, the argument seems to be revolving around what the perceived opinion of a prospective buyer would be. That in itself is fairly tricky as it really depends on what type of punter is looking at these kinds of cars now. My guess is it's not the kind of person who want s a new boxster with full warranty etc, most people are aware that these are getting on for old cars now and living with the caveats that that inherently presents.
I'd agree that most likely the majority (at the moment) will perhaps be somewhat misinformed and look for full BMWSH for instance as a priority when looking for a car. Now it's well known by most people who run BMWs of this age and specialty that a BMW service is not necessarily a good one, and consequently a few years ago what might have seemed to be a 'blot' in the service book by having a specialist do the service rather than BMW, may now in the present be considered to be a bonus, and I believe that attitude will become more prevalent as the age of the cars increase.
My point being that these cars are more than likely over the next few years bought by enthusiasts. As a purchaser in that mindset I would far rather speak to the last owner of the car and hear the good and the bad, get a feel for him, understand how he has treated the car in his ownership, than go to a 2 bit dealer who has shoved on some crappy tyres as in the ad above, and it's a got full (worthless) warranty.
Details about whether a service interval was missed by a year or a couple of thousand miles five or whatever years ago, quite frankly I think at this age it's bordering on irrelevancy.... unless you have some super low mile minter and don't use it, and want to speculate, well then you might take a different opinion. Thing is we're not talking about some rare ferrari or something here, it's a 3 series in a frock, they're never going to make or lose a fortune.
FWIW: Dave and I recently did the shimming on my car, and I'm pretty certain and the shop who did it agree (one of the best specialists in the S54 in the Uk apparently) that they did it incorrectly when rebuilding the engine with my schrick cams. Now, I was a bit pissed off, but no lasting damage, everyone makes mistakes etc. etc. I still take it to them to do the services and get the stamps because I agree that without these you will be limiting your resale market, but I'm taking a leaf out of Beedubs book and doing the valve clearances myself (the only even remotely complicated thing about an inspection service) and getting stamps. Doing it yourself imo is the only way to be really sure it's been done properly. Many thanks to Dave for holding my hand through this, we spent so so long measuring/checking/measuring/checking!! No way would a garage under time constraints do such a thorough job.
On the positive side the car felt 'a lot' faster after the shimming at Daves. So much so, I took it back to my tuner's who did the original map on my car. I made 362 before, it ran 381 yesterday, second highest S54 they've had (must get some headers one day... :roll: ). They also commented how sweet the engine was sounding, none of the S54 'ticking'. I was pretty pleased as it's a pretty accurate figure from a mustang dyno, and about 20hp and 20lbs/ft everywhere over last time. They were doing a Hurricane before that should have made 610 (factory) and pulled 600 on theirs.
At least I'm happy, even if everyone else is grumpy
