Z4 advice prior to buying my car Saturday

S

sasker

Member
Hi everyone

I am new to this forum and hopefully the soon to be owner of a Z4

I am going to look at a Z4 3.0 on Saturday

It's done around 95k and just been mot'd and 5k to next service

Water pump just been done and had new tyres a few months ago

Got all mot receipts but no service book. Do I need to be concerned about this as the person told me I can contact bmw and give them the vin number and they should be able to provide me with a service history from when it was serviced by them? Can bmw supply this and would it put anyone on here off buying it?

It is perfect colour and looks mint and under £4k.

I'm new to this forum so just wanted to ask other members advice with regard this not having a service history? And also any other things I need to look out for while looking around the vehicle?

Also can anyone recommend a good multi car insurance to use


Thanks

Stu
 
Hmm. . . At under 4K if it's your perfect colour and in good condition then you can take a gamble. Zeds seem to do ok on high mileage if they are regularly serviced as per the routine. Without the service record you are obviously taking a chance - I guess that's reflected in the price. So it's going to be vital you take a good look over the Zed and have a thorough test drive. It's also going to be worth very little (and be more difficult to sell?) in a future sale at such a mileage and without a service record.

Take a read through the posts outlining what to look for (on the main Forum page look for the E85 section you'll find it at the start of that).

:driving: :thumbsup:
 
P.S. I'd offer them a lot less than they are looking for if I was to take this gamble to cover any possible future costs.

Why haven't they contacted BMW for the records - would make the Zed a lot more saleable? :?

Are you the gambling type and can you afford to lose money if it doesn't work out?

Lots of early 3.0i on the market - many with an excellent service record and well maintained by enthusiasts - obviously better to invest in something like that but it will be well over 4K not under. . . .

:driving: :thumbsup:
 
Thanks for the advice and the link to that post. I am really undecided and I would of thought the guy having all the mot's would be ok as it passed through last one recently with no advisors

I would only be having my mechanic to service it as not paying bmw prices and planned to get it serviced as soon as I got it anyway but would bmw give me a new book?

A few people have said that's no mileage at all for that engine and it is a reasonable price but if I got that for £3500 then it's a lot of car for the money. It would be my weekend car only so even in 3 years I'd be lucky to do more than say 20k miles so would it really plummet in price that much due to mileage and no service history prior to me?
 
sasker said:
Thanks for the advice and the link to that post. I am really undecided and I would of thought the guy having all the mot's would be ok as it passed through last one recently with no advisors

I would only be having my mechanic to service it as not paying bmw prices and planned to get it serviced as soon as I got it anyway but would bmw give me a new book?

A few people have said that's no mileage at all for that engine and it is a reasonable price but if I got that for £3500 then it's a lot of car for the money. It would be my weekend car only so even in 3 years I'd be lucky to do more than say 20k miles so would it really plummet in price that much due to mileage and no service history prior to me?
Click to expand...

If the car had a full service history it wouldn't be priced at £3500. You get what you pay for, if you want a perfect car with full service history then add around 1-2k to your budget. There isn't that much room for it to drop by so I guess you should sell it for around 2k in 3 years time.

BMW Specification check team- 0906 209 0001 (£1 per minute)
All you need is the reg number and they will be able to tell you everything about the service history of the vehicle. They will also tell you what dealership carried out the service, exact dates and also mileage. To obtain the stamps in you new duplicate service book all you have to do is ring up the dealership and they are happy to stamp it as long as you post the new service book to their dealership. Good Luck.
 
That's brilliant thanks for that number I'll give them a call when I get in work

The guy has it up for £3800 so if it looks ok and drives ok what do you think would be a good price to pay for a 2003 93K (no service history car)

I was thinking I'd be happy to pay around £3500 maybe
 
HubertK said:
sasker said:
Thanks for the advice and the link to that post. I am really undecided and I would of thought the guy having all the mot's would be ok as it passed through last one recently with no advisors

I would only be having my mechanic to service it as not paying bmw prices and planned to get it serviced as soon as I got it anyway but would bmw give me a new book?

A few people have said that's no mileage at all for that engine and it is a reasonable price but if I got that for £3500 then it's a lot of car for the money. It would be my weekend car only so even in 3 years I'd be lucky to do more than say 20k miles so would it really plummet in price that much due to mileage and no service history prior to me?
Click to expand...

If the car had a full service history it wouldn't be priced at £3500. You get what you pay for, if you want a perfect car with full service history then add around 1-2k to your budget. There isn't that much room for it to drop by so I guess you should sell it for around 2k in 3 years time.

BMW Specification check team- 0906 209 0001 (£1 per minute)
All you need is the reg number and they will be able to tell you everything about the service history of the vehicle. They will also tell you what dealership carried out the service, exact dates and also mileage. To obtain the stamps in you new duplicate service book all you have to do is ring up the dealership and they are happy to stamp it as long as you post the new service book to their dealership. Good Luck.
Click to expand...

The telephone service will only tell you what dealer the car went to and the date. They cannot tell you what work or service was done (unless this has changed recently). You will then have to phone the dealers and ask them what they did.

I would work backwards as its the recent history that's important. The above is only any good though if the work was done by a ?BMW dealer.

TBH I doubt it has though otherwise I'm sure they would have the service book or receipts at least.
 
can you take your mechanic friend to have a look? or see if the seller will take it somewhere to give it one of those multipoint checks. i think the AA does them??? i know they cant really asses the engine other than anything obvious like rattles but they may be able to put your mind at rest for the rest of it. maybe argue a full service into the price. at least plugs/oil/filters and if you can a brake fluid change?

i wouldnt just go off the mot i dont think they are worth the paper they are written on. her indoors' car gets an mot every year and you wouldnt want to put your kids in it. this year they couldnt get it through emissions and it had 1 brake (i s**t you not) but they "fettled " it and it passed :cry:
 
Pull the dipstick and check the oil. If its relatively clean its either had a recent service, or its just running well.

Definitely have it HPI'd though as service books tend to go missing after a CAT repair during change of ownership, so well worth double checking that for peace of mind.

Otherwise if the car runs and drives well, then it seems reasonably priced so you could find a bit of a bargain. Its not like the service history will affect resale too much as the car will be worth peanuts then anyway.
 
The older the car is the less likely it will have FSH. Unless you have deep pockets. Why pay BMW prices for servicing a car worth less than £5k? Doesn't make sense to me. I would do the usual due diligence, check oil/condensation/smoke, check everything works. Go for a drive. At this price point, job done.
 
hey sasker, the only crucial thing to check is that it has cupholders, they're just below the air vents on driver's and t'other side. Once you've established that, it's a binary yes-no decision. There's a global shortage at present as reported a couple of weeks ago so you can sell 'em on for up to a couple of grand each - should cover the price of the car and you might even make a small profit. Don't concern yourself with FSH or MOTs and the like. As Bill Clinton once said: "it's the CUPHOLDERS, stupid". Honestly, he did.
Stevo



*well, it is Friday.....
 
Jimbo has a lower mileage fully loaded example with FSH for sale and not a lot more money...

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=70315
 
Only read the first post but.....

If the cars advertised I think I know which one were talking about.
I'd question why the seller can't be bothered to contact BMW himself for service history. Very strange. Why didn't they get the history when they bought the car?
Never bought a BMW but the my last car was a TT. I emailed Audi and they sent a copy of the service history - as easy as that. Not difficult is it
 
Hi,

I have got the reg and the VIN number so will contact BMW and see what they say. To be honest if the car drives ok and basic checks i will do as per peoples comments in here and if all looks ok it's probably worth offering, £3400 and see how I get on.

Going to do a HPI check, can anyone recommend a decent priced one as they range from £2 to £20??

I'm not sure why the seller hasn't contacted BMW but can only assume he just didn; want to bother. He said price is only cheaper as it has a slight mark on back quarter where someone has scraped it in a car park but i'll make my judgement when I get there but it looks a lovely car for the money.

One thing I meant to ask do all the Z4 range have parking sensors as seena a few that do but can't see the back of this car on the pictures.

The one I am going too look at is

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201409167437731/sort/default/make/bmw/page/1/price-to/4000/postcode/l391pa/usedcars/radius/1500/quicksearch/true/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/model/z4?logcode=p
 
I have just called the BMW service line and they have read back the full bMW servicing history going back to 2003. Up until June 2012 it has been serviced by BMW and he said if i get a new service book it can be stamped if i send it to each of them but I would be happy to provide the number for a buyer to do what I have done.

From June 2012 to now it must have been serviced by someone else but I can contact the delatership who he bought it off as he will have the service info for me, but this was a non BMW dealership.

He has had it for 2 years with very limited mileage and it's had 8 owners in 11 years according to mot's

I feel better now as o can still use this as a bartering tool and if i can get it for around the £3500 i may just have a bargain.
 
sasker said:
I have just called the BMW service line and they have read back the full bMW servicing history going back to 2003. Up until June 2012 it has been serviced by BMW and he said if i get a new service book it can be stamped if i send it to each of them but I would be happy to provide the number for a buyer to do what I have done.

From June 2012 to now it must have been serviced by someone else but I can contact the delatership who he bought it off as he will have the service info for me, but this was a non BMW dealership.

He has had it for 2 years with very limited mileage and it's had 8 owners in 11 years according to mot's

I feel better now as o can still use this as a bartering tool and if i can get it for around the £3500 i may just have a bargain.
Click to expand...

If the car runs well then you would be stupid not to buy it at this price. It pretty much has full service history and you can't blame someone for using non BMW dealership on a 10 year car in the last 2 years. I would never use BMW dealership to carry out a service after my warrenty is gone, I simply can't justify paying their prices when I can get local garage to carry out the same work for fraction of a cost.

Good luck
 
Bought the car at a fair price yesterday and just needs some love and attention as its only covered 6K in 2 years.

Roof needs a good clean and will get alloys reconditioned and rear bumper needs a clip and touching up. Lights also need a good clean on the outside

It pulls smoothly even in 6th at less than 40mph and it sounds amazing especially once hitting 6k revs :D

I'll post some pics but very happy with it :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom