Nebie intro and advice on potential purchase

[Young Pretender]

Hi all,

I'm Mark and I'm currently driving an E90 M3 which I will hopefully have sold as of tomorrow afternoon. Our second child is on the way so I figure this is the opportune moment to buy a two seater roadster

Anyhow, I've had a look at a potential purchase which is an E85 3.0L MY04, 47k miles on the clock, two previous owners, drives very well indeed, in very clean condition inside and out, all wheels recently refurbished and brand new Michelin eagle F1's all round. The chap has had the car 18 months and I can see that the previous owner had it since 2008 so approx. 6 years of ownership. Price is fine.

This is all great however I'm not sure whether or not to be cautious about the service history and would welcome opinions. It's had one service at BMW @ 9867 miles (should this type of car receive an earlier running in service?) and then a little strangely it appears to have been serviced at a British Telecom garage thereafter until the most recent one at a kwickfit - I'm not even sure what a BT garage is and can only presume the owner perhaps worked for BT? Ordinarily I wouldn't entertain a car with this history but I can see by the car, the way it's kept and the way it drives that it is well maintained.

29 11 14 at 39,292 miles Kwik Fit Dartford
11 11 11 at 28,390 miles BT Fleet Service, Catford
24 11 10 at 24,831 miles BT Fleet Service, Catford
19 05 09 at 19,019 miles BT Fleet Service, Catford
29 06 06 at 9,867 miles Sorensons, Kings Lynn

What are peoples thoughts? Slightly worried that the above history, even if fine, might affect resale. I'll probably need to move the car on in about 18 months when multiple littleuns demand something bigger!

Cheers
Mark

 

[paddy wright]

It wouldn't worry me if the car stacks up in the flesh. As the guy servicing it at BT had it for a fair few years. However it will make it a harder resell, so may not be a good buy if you're planning a short ownership.

 

[Smartbear]

Hi, my nephew works at a BT fleet depot & they have the correct diagnostic kit to look after the cars (many managers run bmw company cars)
Your zed is now 13 years old & seems to have been well looked after, I wouldn't worry about that aspect of its history, no running in service on these cars by the way
Rob

 

[Chris_D]

First off, welcome to the forum!
Good to have a good scan around here at the new purchase/looking threads but one thing i advise every new potential owner is to get the obd scanned as a primary/precautionary measure. The ecu can hide a multitude of unseen faults and a decent bmw specific scanner can be had for little money. I use the Carly app and wifi scanner and it can also code various things as well as monitor live parameters.

Mileage is beneficially low but doesnt mean degradation of serviceable parts could still have taken place over the years -

Cam cover gasket. Have a feel around the back of the engine block on the drivers side. If you detect any oil hanging under the lips and ridges the gasket will need replacing. Common issue.

Oil filter housing gasket. If theres any oil visible on the waffle structure on the psgr side of the block the gasket will need replacing.

Look for any more evidence of oil leakage esp on the floor underneath. If you see any perpendicular to the a-pillar it could be the main seal btwn engine and gearbox. Walk away.

Try and jack up each corner and jiggy the wheels. Any play on them, esp fronts and the bushes could be shot.

Gearbox from cold is notchy. is it manual or auto?

On test drive look out for 'sticky' steering. Tricky problem to reaolve but not impossible.
Any raise/fluctuation in temp on accelleration could be evidence of cooling issue/head gasket issue.

Milky mayo type substance on inside of filler cap means theres condensation clogging up the ccv system, as does high oil consumption.

Others will chip in with additional bits n pieces hopefully.

If ur good at searching take a look at my 'betty's first tantrum' thread re my own purchase.
U say price is fine. At that age/mileage i would put it at 5k tops. Poss a bit more if it has toys, upgrades?

Good luck

 

[Young Pretender]

Thanks for the welcome and the thoughts on service history guys, much appreciated. kwick fit aside (I really don't like them) I was a little worried about the BT stuff because I didn't really know what it meant. So that was helpful thanks.

It's a manual car, has electric memory seats, heated seats electrics folding mirrors, wind deflector. Air con works fine. Think stereo was standard not HK. It's up for more but he would take £6k.

The wheels have all been refurbished at a price of £630 at a known, reputable (albeit expensive) place called lepsoms. The tyres are all nearly new.

I guess it's the cost of the wheel refurb plus tyres that had me comfortable at £6k because I would inevitably end up doing this with any purchase if they were less than perfect. Otherwise I'm aware it's over market value.

Thanks for the tips on oil leaks. Think I would need another look to be sure. I had the engine cap off and no mayo. Are the aforementioned gaskets expensive? Presumably the engine/gbox seal is rather pricey given the walk away comment.

Thanks again for the help and welcome

Cheers
Mark

 

[chapeau]

I work for BT and can confirm they are trained mechanics looking after out fleet. Since the main BT group made fleet a wholly owned subsidury they have been able to take on extra work as well as maintaining the bt/openreach fleet. They did offer preferrential rates to employees so the previous owner could have been a bt employee using the fleet garage to service his car at the depot whilst out in his van at work.

 

[Young Pretender]

Thank you, appreciate the clarification on the BT point. If my car is sold tomorrow, I think I'll take another look at the z4 when I'm a little less bleary eyed and after a good look around on here to determine common faults etc..

Cheers
Mark

 

[stevo///m3]

Oh and Lepsons are top-rated wheel refurbishers often talked about - from memory they do the work for Munich Legends I think.
Stevo