Urgent advice please

B

billygilly

Active member
I'm looking at an m3 54 plate

Looks lovely but as always there are some bad points:

He can't find the service history
How easy are these to clock as the mileage is low
And it was registered 29/9/2004 and cat d in October 2004.. Quick work to write off a car eh

Advice please as I'm looking to buy this
 
Think of the potential repair bills, could easily end up costing you a lot more than you're saving. Another vote for walking away.
 
An RAC or AA inspection (or indeed a Stealer) will cost you a lot less than £4.5K. If you like the car enough to pay for an inspection you might have a bargain. A BMW dealer should be able to access the service history if it's been dealer serviced. If it's been clocked, I "think" you get a little dot on the speedo near the odometer to show the ECU and speedo disagree on the mileage. Maybe check on an M3 enthusiast forum to see if there is any knowledge of the car?

As the others said though, there's a load of these on the market, anything iffy, walk away.
 
Why not do a deal with the seller. If he's willing to stand by his car and its history, You'll take it to a BMW dealer and pay for the inspection. If it turns out to be a dog, he pays for the inspection and keeps his car. If you don't ask, you don't get.
 
Then if it looks a good'un, take some of the £4.5K saved, buy a BMW comprehensive warranty (or a warranty direct one) and you're good for a year. Any major issues that arise later fixed under warranty and then you could sell it on with remaining warranty. It all comes down to how much you like this car...
 
billygilly said:
I'm looking at an m3 54 plate

Looks lovely but as always there are some bad points:

He can't find the service history
How easy are these to clock as the mileage is low
And it was registered 29/9/2004 and cat d in October 2004.. Quick work to write off a car eh

Advice please as I'm looking to buy this
Click to expand...

Hiya mate ,

It no issue being a Cat d, your issue is No service history, as it was written off in 04 there is no reason for not having 8 years worth hsitory. Have you done a DVLA mot check this is always a good way to see if the car has spent time off the road other than in 04. If am honest I would be tempted to walk away. If he is happy for Bmw to look over it as Stuart says then it maybe a goer depending on what they say

Best of luck :thumbsup:
 
billygilly said:
I'm looking at an m3 54 plate

Looks lovely but as always there are some bad points:

He can't find the service history
How easy are these to clock as the mileage is low
And it was registered 29/9/2004 and cat d in October 2004.. Quick work to write off a car eh

Advice please as I'm looking to buy this
Click to expand...

hi,

there's a number you can ring to find out the service history and the miles it was carried out, but it is expensive to call. the other issue is they only tell you whether it was ins 1, 2 or oil etc. no other info, i tried calling the dealers who did the servicing when i was buying and some were more helpful than others - stll not great.

how cheap is it? at an 04 plate you should be able to get a good one for £11k, so unless it's £6-7k i'd def walk away.

and if it's an SMG make sure you get proper checks done on the subframe, more and more of these are cropping up and BMW often do a goodwill repair if the car is <10 years old - this one obviously is, but being cat d they might wriggle out. and it's a whopping bill if you suffer it yourself.

I'd walk, as others have said - there's loads for sale, one practically every hour on pistonheads. you'll find it eventually. make sure the number of owners are low and the running in service is done, that way the car's easier to shift if you need to.

good luck...
 
JaEdBa said:
billygilly said:
I'm looking at an m3 54 plate

Looks lovely but as always there are some bad points:

He can't find the service history
How easy are these to clock as the mileage is low
And it was registered 29/9/2004 and cat d in October 2004.. Quick work to write off a car eh

Advice please as I'm looking to buy this
Click to expand...

hi,

there's a number you can ring to find out the service history and the miles it was carried out, but it is expensive to call. the other issue is they only tell you whether it was ins 1, 2 or oil etc. no other info, i tried calling the dealers who did the servicing when i was buying and some were more helpful than others - stll not great.

how cheap is it? at an 04 plate you should be able to get a good one for £11k, so unless it's £6-7k i'd def walk away.

and if it's an SMG make sure you get proper checks done on the subframe, more and more of these are cropping up and BMW often do a goodwill repair if the car is <10 years old - this one obviously is, but being cat d they might wriggle out. and it's a whopping bill if you suffer it yourself.

I'd walk, as others have said - there's loads for sale, one practically every hour on pistonheads. you'll find it eventually. make sure the number of owners are low and the running in service is done, that way the car's easier to shift if you need to.

good luck...
Click to expand...

THey only tell you what dealer and what date, no indication of what the visit was for. This of course assumes this car only ever visited BMW Main Dealers also.
 
if you have these concerns now, so will any prospective buyer when you come to sell it on in the future
 
srhutch said:
THey only tell you what dealer and what date, no indication of what the visit was for. This of course assumes this car only ever visited BMW Main Dealers also.
Click to expand...

yep, then phone the dealers and they tell you what service they did, 8 times out of 10 anyway.

£9,500 is pricey imo for what you've said. is it a coupe? and iirc they are often clocked, so as others have said, harder to shift come sale time.
 
JaEdBa said:
srhutch said:
THey only tell you what dealer and what date, no indication of what the visit was for. This of course assumes this car only ever visited BMW Main Dealers also.
Click to expand...

yep, then phone the dealers and they tell you what service they did, 8 times out of 10 anyway.
Click to expand...

Sorry, that was the bit I was trying to point out, you have to call the dealers for the exact details.

I've used the service before, and whilst not cheap it's very useful.
 
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