E92 M3 ZCP, Fully loaded (20k mi) - Damage Record

[kcjumbo]

Hi guys,

I wanted to gather your thoughts on a vehicle that I'm looking at.

The vehicle was involved in an accident on the front left-side, which required replacement of bumper, hood and fender. Apparently the repair cost the previous owner $10,000. Because of this damage record, the vehicle is appropriately priced - $35,000 USD

The seller is not local, so PPI will/can only be done before the purchase.

Would you guys be willing to take a chance with such vehicle or just simply walk away??

Thanks guys

[rdoctor]

You didn't mention the year but if it was from the last three years of production it would need to be closer to $30K USD to get my attention. Re-sell for you would suck and if I'm hearing you right you can't even test drive it yourself? I would pass at that price. My .02

[///Mlife]

Pass

[kcjumbo]

Originally Posted by rdoctor

You didn't mention the year but if it was from the last three years of production it would need to be closer to $30K USD to get my attention. Re-sell for you would suck and if I'm hearing you right you can't even test drive it yourself? I would pass at that price. My .02

My thoughts exactly. Just wanted to hear the same from someone else

Thanks!

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by kcjumbo

Hi guys,

I wanted to gather your thoughts on a vehicle that I'm looking at.

The vehicle was involved in an accident on the front left-side, which required replacement of bumper, hood and fender. Apparently the repair cost the previous owner $10,000. Because of this damage record, the vehicle is appropriately priced - $35,000 USD

The seller is not local, so PPI will/can only be done before the purchase.

Would you guys be willing to take a chance with such vehicle or just simply walk away??

Thanks guys

Bumpers, Fenders, and Hoods are commonly replaced parts on every single car, even M3's... Front and rear collisions are the most common type of collisions... The price for the hood, bumper, and fenders alone are probably upwards of $7000 if they used OEM replacement parts, which all BMW dealer body shops use... It is no surprise that they had $10k in the repair... The hood was replaced not because the extent of the damage was so severe bu8t because 99% of all body shops will replace a hood even if the damage to the hood was simply a small amount of damage around the front grills... The design of the M3 hood is very intricate and in most cases bending or hammering out damage to any part of the hood is unacceptable or too costly to repair with traditional straightening and body work; it is just more cost effective to replace it... The hood is extremely expensive!

Having said that, a large percentage of E9x M3's have been in collisions at one point or another- whether minor or major... Many owners, including myself, specifically ask body shops not to report a collision repair or specifically take the car somewhere and pay cash to have the repair performed without getting their insurance company involved...

For example, my stupid ass drove my E46 M3 into the wall at Road Atlanta Raceway many years ago, but I certainly wasn't going to involve my insurance company- so there is no record of the $5k I spent in cash to fix the damage to the right side...

My point is that there are a large amount of M3's on the road that have clean histories, but a large portion of them have had some kind of collision/paint/body work at some point...

So don't pass up a car that has a collision in it's history.. Just have it inspected and then make the decision... It is likely a great car and the fact that it has a collision history, albeit likely minor, it will give you some negotiating power in the price of the car!

[Helmsman]

Tend to agree with Ap3x here. Not that I prefer a car that been involved in an accident but assuming properly repaired and price is right why not. Most cars suffer from one or the other accident during its days but still run strong. Again, as long as its repaired good, should be no worries.