Am I insane (Buying a late model M3)

[monterey]

It doesn't seem that bad of a deal. Check for fluid leaks and if it feels right, just do it. See if you can get a month warranty. Any issues will be found almost immediately.

[ATLIEN]

Great advice guys. The dealer wrote back and said that rod bearings is an $800 to $1000 job. Ha ha!!

[Richbot]

$800 wall job!

[BayE30]

Why are you guys quoting auction prices as if that means anything? no dealer is going to sell for what they paid, thats a ludicrous assumption or position. Yes the miles are high, but doesnt the asking price of $20k from a dealer reflect that mileage? Have i been sleeping and 100k+ mile m3s are selling for $18k all day? i mean i know the e92 doesnt hold its value like the e90, but thats a pretty big difference....

[drrust]

It depends on how the dealership acquired this car. If it was a trade in they could have paid less than auction price. I recently considered trading in my 09 with 137k miles and had a rude awakening.

However, at this time there are several cars below 100k miles that are asking in the low 20s. So you can use that as a negotiation tactic.

[Dr. Dre]

Originally Posted by smyles

I highly doubt a 120+ k.miles M3 needs new rod bearings. Either they are totally fine (minus the usual wear), or would've already gone caput. I understand it's a matter of beliefs at almost religious levels, but please, some common sense?

Also, what kind of post-50k miles service records are expected if the previous owner(s) diy'd it? Even if recepts, etc. were supplied during trade in, no sane dealer would keep them due to privacy concerns.

Why would you take the chance on not changing the bearings. I have a theory that the only reason some cars make it that long is because they are not driven hard. How many people have driven that car while it's on the lot and beat the hell out of it on test drives.

If the wholesale book value on the car is probably $12k-$13K. If his engine blows up and he has to spend $10k-$12k. He going to be buried in the car. He would have to fix it. Is he just going to walk away from the $18k he just spent.

[Transfer]

What are your other three cars and why not sell one to get a better M3?

[PACarGuy]

Originally Posted by SFCM3

Why are you guys quoting auction prices as if that means anything? no dealer is going to sell for what they paid, thats a ludicrous assumption or position. Yes the miles are high, but doesnt the asking price of $20k from a dealer reflect that mileage? Have i been sleeping and 100k+ mile m3s are selling for $18k all day? i mean i know the e92 doesnt hold its value like the e90, but thats a pretty big difference....

Because auction prices tell you what the floor typically is, and you can use that to negotiate. Obviously this matters more when the car has been on the dealer lot for 60-90 days, not when it just gets there, but it helps to know where your bottom is. And, if the dealer has done minimal work to recondition the car for sale (and you can usually tell in terms of detailing, etc. or they'll have a service record of what they've done to bring it up to saleable condition), then you know they don't have much additional cost into the car above the auction price or trade-in price.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by ATLIEN

Great advice guys. The dealer wrote back and said that rod bearings is an $800 to $1000 job. Ha ha!!

it's more than that just in parts

[kyrix1st]

Get those rod bearings done ASAP. Quite scary when you pull them out and take a closer look.

[Bartledoo]

I would not consider buying one of these with no service history. Just had one of these instances yesterday. I was told the previous owner was supposed to give the seller the service history paperwork but never did...I checked the carfax report and it turned out to be an odometer roll back car with over double the stated mileage.

[brettcp]

I was just in a similar situation about 4 months ago.. after my M4 lease was up, I wanted to get back into an E9x M3 (I've had a few over the years).. and I love convertibles.. found a 2012 E93 M3 at a private dealer with 93k miles on the clock, every option on the car. Carfax was clean. Checked it out and it needed a little bit of work (just minor stuff like a few interior trim pieces were scratched/faded/etc).. called the BMW dealer who told me it was serviced by BMW up to 50k miles, but they didn't have any records on it after that, so I had a PPI done and everything checked out. Got it for $21,700. I put about $1500 into it (new battery, backup camera, gloss black kidney grilles/side grilles, new floormats, brought all of its software up to date, etc).. then had the rod bearings done by Malek @ MRF.

LOVING this car so far. My wife has a 2016 435i coupe, and while hers is definitely quick, the M3 is just so much more fun to drive. Nothing like the sound and power band of the V8 in the E9x M3's.