///M musings (owners etc)

[stevo///m3]

I just had a bit of good news - as far as I'm concerned anyway.

I said on another thread recently that whatever I don't have in mileage (just through 28k), I make up for in owners. To elaborate a little:

I bought the M as the 7th registered keeper. It's an 07 plate. So 1 per year for 7 years you'd figure. Quite a lot of keepers, you are thinking. Must be honest, me too.

Always was slightly concerned (not hugely, just a niggle) about any impact on resale. Car really is in fab condition - and fear not, I'm not about to sell - and as you can see, has done naff all mileage. I've also read all the bumph (mostly in the selling section) about lots of owners affecting the perceived value - although this issue does appear to split the forum into two clear camps. I'm more on the "it's not going to make a massive difference" side of things as (1) you'd buy on condition if you had a brain so number of owners is one of those "minor" factors to consider along with all of the other factors, some would say more important than that, some would say less and (2) I've never had a car with less than a gazillion owners anyway and I've not had massive problems with that. I can agree that a high number of owners could, in some cases, indicate one or more problems - if the car's constantly going back to the garage, maybe warranty work or whatever, or keeps breaking down, fine; move it on. So for my own peace of mind I decided to look into this and sent off the request to DVLA who gave all registered keeper details by return.

The results show that BMW are registered in position 1. Inclined to discount that one - like lots of other people do. First real owner, based in Brighton or nearby, then transferred it from his company name to his personal name about 8 months into his ownership - you can tell because owner *2" was listed as "XYZ Limited - [firstname][surname]" and owner *3* was the same named chap, same address. He had it 18 months in total and sold it on to a London chappie - owner *4* (really, owner number 2 if you're still with me). He kept it for 18 months, too. Next chap, another southerner, owner *5*, only kept in for 6 months. I did a search and this car was spotted on the Forum during owner *5*'s stewardship back in March 2011. Good spot - owner *5* sold it about 3 weeks after being spotted! Owner *6* (really, owner number 4), again based dar sarf, I am in contact with. Nice chap. Crap at answering any questions I might have for him mind....

Anyway, being true owner number 5 feels better than being owner number 7. And I have close to assembled all of the pieces of the jigsaw that I wanted to. A call to BMW also gives the dates tha the car was serviced and MOT'd. I'm not sure I could have checked all of this out pre-purchase but I'm glad I've done it now (even if it did take 10 months or so).

So, that was it really.

Cheers

Stevo

 

[AndyBeech]

I think in some respects more owners can be better on a car like this (and also to be expected.) When someone buys a car like this it *generally* is quite a big purchase and hence will get cherished as such through that persons ownership, new car pride and all that, certainly the case with me. If the service history reflects that with lots of reciepts, services done on time then I would be quite happy if it had a new owner every 6 months.

But obviously over and above all that, I go on condition and how well the guy selling it seems to know the car/care about it.
For me, the number or owners might get a glance while buying a car like this but it certainly wouldn't sway my decision one way or another.

The arguments for a lower number of owners are of course valid as well, in short, I don't think it matters a jot.

My 2p

 

[srhutch]

These cars tend to have a high turn over of owners. The longer you keep it the better come resale. I'me the 4th on mine but had ti just over three years now, which as a buyer would give me some confidence that it hasn't been problematic.

You have to include BMW though and all those test pilots :evil:

 

[inkey$]

Its certainly a forum splitter. For me, so long as the stamps are in place and its not been abused then it doesnt matter. When I bought my old 335i I was officially the 4th owner of a 6 year old car. I think a lot of people tend to buy the dream, realise they dont do 50mpg then move on.

Conversley, I'm the 6th owner of my breadvan in 16 years (fresh in my mind as im in the process of getting it properly valued) - which if you discount BMW and the press car ownership puts me at number 4

 

[Z4M-2006]

I have owned my M coupe twice...lol...

 

[99ron]

I had a 535d as 5th owner but two of them were BMW finance, who were the owners when I bought it at auction so likely two real previous owners. I kept it for nearly 5 years so wasn't an issue at resale anyway.

 

[mr wilks]

5 or more owners in a cars first 2 years should signal alarm bell's but as the car gets older then of course ideally a buyer would look for low owners but better to buy on condition & history

 

[stevo///m3]

Mr Wilks - 4 owners ONLY in first two years, not 5 - and 2 true owners at that! I guess you're more on the "less owners the better" side of things (and I wouldn't blame you albeit I don't really agree).
Stevo

 

[JonnyB]

I'm the sixth owner of mine. Last 3 owners were on the forum so 2/3rds history on the forum including me. Would much rather buy a car that has been cherished by like minded enthusiasts than buy a car i know nothing about. Number of owners means diddly squat to me.

 

[srhutch]

In a way it's all meaningless. One one could have thrashed it every drive from cold. Where as 6 owners could have cherished it :idunno:

 

[mr wilks]

Mr Wilks - 4 owners ONLY in first two years, not 5 - and 2 true owners at that! I guess you're more on the "less owners the better" side of things (and I wouldn't blame you albeit I don't really agree).
Stevo

not at all mate , i probably worded my 1st response badly , i did once buy a 318i Lux viewed in the dark , only tesdrove up to 30mph & didn't ask previous history ( i was much much younger )
It was virtually unsteerable over 60mph & when the log book landed a few weeks later i was the 11 owner in 6 years
It was a dog , only had it 2 months before owner no12 took it away

 

[Adamski]

Makes no difference to me. If the car is mint, I don't car if it has 10 owners.

Rather have a pristine 6 owner car, than a shagged 1 owner dog....

Condition/history is king. Always.

 

[stevo///m3]

Mr Wilks - 4 owners ONLY in first two years, not 5 - and 2 true owners at that! I guess you're more on the "less owners the better" side of things (and I wouldn't blame you albeit I don't really agree).
Stevo

not at all mate , i probably worded my 1st response badly , i did once buy a 318i Lux viewed in the dark , only tesdrove up to 30mph & didn't ask previous history ( i was much much younger )
It was virtually unsteerable over 60mph & when the log book landed a few weeks later i was the 11 owner in 6 years
It was a dog , only had it 2 months before owner no12 took it away

Right, gotcha this time, Mr Wilks! Yeah, some obvious cases out there which get moved on swiftly. I suppose that apart from the written evidence that has amassed with the car prior to my (/your/anyone's) ownership, you can only look after it well when you have the car and have to trust that others have behaved similarly. Some cars you want to look after more than others - loved my old 106 - a zero effort car... Felt like I had more wekeends back then too... :wink:
Stevo

 

[Bing]

I was the fifth owner of my last Z if I recall correctly, fully stamped book and some service receipts was What came with it. When it sold it had a whole folder of stuff I'd had done, looked better than it did she I got it, and I'd put 40k of it's 96k miles on it... So really I'd owned it for half it's driving 'life' by the time it went, and it was very well known on here.

I'm the second owner of my current car - genuinely, as pvr spec'd and ordered it brand new - loads of receipts, great condition... Helps that I know where he lives and his dog likes me though, gives me some confidence I can find him if it breaks

However, I bought it because it came up, not because I was looking for a low mileage / low owners car. As said, condition and history... And I would only have bought from someone on here I think.

 

[StevenH72]

Mr Wilks - 4 owners ONLY in first two years, not 5 - and 2 true owners at that! I guess you're more on the "less owners the better" side of things (and I wouldn't blame you albeit I don't really agree).
Stevo

not at all mate , i probably worded my 1st response badly , i did once buy a 318i Lux viewed in the dark , only tesdrove up to 30mph & didn't ask previous history ( i was much much younger )
It was virtually unsteerable over 60mph & when the log book landed a few weeks later i was the 11 owner in 6 years
It was a dog , only had it 2 months before owner no12 took it away

I think a lot of owners can be indicative of a car being a dog, but with the rarity of these cars I wouldn't rule one out until I'd seen condition and thoroughly checked history etc. I know he's used as a bad example, but JE's car is a one owner example, and whilst he's sorted now, he only had 1 service in the first 7 years. One owner cars aren't always the holy grail.

 

[Angelus666]

Kind of agree with everything said here, but I feel reality is the more owners does impact the desirability and value of the car. Same car, one owner....probably worth another £1000+ on a private sale.

 

[simonlpearce]

As others have said i can see the pro's and con's of both high and low number of owners, yet it was the last thing i checked pretty much after i had made up my mind.

I was happy to find that i would be owner number 2 8)

 

[Beedub]

tbh, these cars or these type of cars change hands ALOT. its normal.

 

[gannet]

my zed had 5 owners before me in 2.5 years, was fine with it and never had any problems. so I don't see any issue and these types of cars either.

 

[AndyBeech]

Kind of agree with everything said here, but I feel reality is the more owners does impact the desirability and value of the car. Same car, one owner....probably worth another £1000+ on a private sale.

Hmmmm, not sure about that, If I was looking at two identical M's and one cost a grand more than one with 5 owners I know which one I would go for. These car's are starting to come up to 10 years old now, I don't think number of owners matters anymore.

Don't mean to single Simon out above but case in point, his has 2 previous owners and is currently having intermittent 'sluggish' issues. It could have 6 previous owners and have the same problem, or no problem, so it makes no odds for me. It's *how* those owners have treated the car in ownership that's important. Even then you can till run into problems, all a bit of a lottery with these type of car's, just the way they are!