Was this a bargain or a potential money pit?

[Commando_Rob]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156908033640

Not sure if you M owners saw or even know this Z4M that was on sale on eBay this week, looked great value, or am I being blinded but the fact it’s an M! I was close to putting a deposit down but decided against it!

Thoughts?

 

[Bmwz4ruby]

I would say a total bargain. Great start point if like me you would want to do all the work yourself.
I would have snapped that up myself.

 

[mr wilks]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156908033640

Not sure if you M owners saw or even know this Z4M that was on sale on eBay this week, looked great value, or am I being blinded but the fact it’s an M! I was close to putting a deposit down but decided against it!

Thoughts?

Thoughts ?

Well you did ask buy 112k Z4M with a decent list of required maintenance for £7500 + the other list that isn't mentioned .
spend £5k ( & that is a ballpark sum ) & you have a nice car worth around £1000 less than its cost you .

Buy these cars now to enjoy now , tax them , insure them & get some pleasure , they aren't going to be a "investment " anytime soon as any potential growth ( which could take 20 yrs to see ) will be swallowed up in yearly running costs .

 

[Mr Tidy]

That has to be the cheapest MR I've seen advertised, so on the face of it looks good value.

But then you start adding the cost of essential jobs like new rod bearing shells and engine mounts, which will be a 5 figure bill even at an Indy like RBM.

Then you get to the ABS unit, suspension bushes, corroded bleed nipples which will almost certainly mean new calipers, diff oil leak, exhaust issues and the A/C which will almost certainly need more than a regas.

That's before you even consider any paint work.

Screams money pit to me, unless you could do the mechanical work yourself and live with the scuffs!

Listing has been ended - I wonder if it sold or he gave up?

 

[bigwinn]

I believe he took a deposit and it sold…

Anyone going to own up?

 

[Simon 3.2M]

Money pit.

 

[Beerman]

I believe he took a deposit and it sold…

Anyone going to own up?

The V5 was issued and road tax ended yesterday so that would suggest it has changed owners.

Looking at the MOT history, the admission of the obvious issues, and the faults found last year, the bill to get that car up to a good standard is going to be large.

The MOT is due in 53 days. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

 

[buzyg]

Money pit. But a very nice one.

 

[BMWZ4MC]

Mine is close to 100k miles, so I’ll be replacing the bearing shells again soon, but in every other way it’s considerably better than this car. For someone paying hourly rates to bring up to standard, this is a money pit, but for the right buyer, it would be a bargain.
A third option would have been to fix only those items required to pass the MoT and then just enjoy it….until something expensive broke or it failed the next MoT.

 

[plenty]

I'd say a bargain at £6k, but given that examples which likely need much less work are available for <£10k, £8k feels ok but not 'bargain'.

It would also bother me personally that the car was left to get into this state without timely remedial work. I do like how honest the advert is though.

 

[Zedebee]

I did consider this too, and decided that on balance it was a money pit.

 

[Pondrew]

It would also bother me personally that the car was left to get into this state without timely remedial work.

The advertiser says he has had it for 9 years and "driven it with mechanical sympathy", yet has allowed it to get into the state it is. None of the issues happened overnight.
The advert sounds honest enough, I would just wonder how honest?

 

[Pondrew]

The MOT is due in 53 days. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

That's not a problem if you know the right MOT tester.

 

[PDJ]

Given the price of the major parts alone it was worth it

Seats £1000
Engine £6000
Diff £1000
Bumpers £800
Bonnet £1000

 

[Pondrew]

Engine £6000

Is a 112,000 mile S54 on the original bearings (and probably shells) that could do with a vanos service worth £6,000? :?

 

[PDJ]

Is a 112,000 mile S54 on the original bearings (and probably shells) that could do with a vanos service worth £6,000?

Try buying one they are hard to get

once out of the car the rod bearings are a few hundred pounds Vanos a bit more but still worth a lot of money

There are no more from BMW and some major parts for the engine are not all available from BMW or too expensive, so it starts to become valuable

 

[bigwinn]

I think maz cool broke an m a while back and although the engine didn’t fly off the shelf it still sold for about 4-5k

That had bearings done and was 110k from memory

 

[Mr Tidy]

Joycey broke a blue MR last year and I'm sure he had sold the 100+K mile engine.

I bought the headlights because I was talking to a 5 Series owner at RBM the previous year who had been quoted over £1,100 for one Xenon for his car. Luckily Ross managed to find a used one for half that!

So I suppose you could add the headlights to PDJs list.