Buying 2009 M3, PPI Results... thoughts?

[jbrichmond]

Hi everyone and thanks for taking the time to help me out. I found a beautiful e92 2009 M3, Alpine white on fox red, 6MT, heavily optioned car that I did some research on and put a deposit down on. I am 2000 miles away from where this car is located, so a PPI was a must, which took place today. I will post pictures of the results and want to hear your alls opinions on them, and whether or not this is common with a 7 year old M w/60,000 miles on it:

Needs new battery (original still in car)
Needs new gasket seals (starting to sweat)
Windshield washer is jammed and not shooting out any fluid
Was in a minor side swipe incident from another driver and had the right fender replaced, airbags did not deploy

Pictures of report below:

[young dude]

Price?

[jbrichmond]

$28,000

[young dude]

Better deals out there since you're obvious searching nationwide. Try cars.com or Autotrader.

[jbrichmond]

I have scoured every possible source imaginable for a car with this spec for remotely close to this price and cannot find anything. Everything is 30-33k, northern car, multiple owners, no manual gearbox, no red interior, etc etc.

Thank you for the quite obvious suggestions, but I was hoping to get advice on the issues with the car and if they're fairly normal, as they seem to be but I wanted to confirm that.

[spiderspider]

*shrugs* price looks good to me

[delirium330]

1 - Battery. Not a big deal, totally normal, DIY replace for $100-$200. Plenty of threads out there you can research.
2 - Valve cover gasket, seems early for this at 60k miles, but not unheard of. Plenty of threads on this too, others can respond with price for a shop to do this or search around for the DIY.
3 - Windshield washer, this is normal on all E90s (M3 and standard 3 series lineup) and you need to replace the pump. It is a pretty easy DIY, the aftermarket VEMO part is like $20. Threads out there to DIY this as well. A shop would probably charge an hour of labor (2 max) to do this.
4 - Fender replacement. This is a tough one and the only warning sign I see on your list. Did the collision or repair show up on carfax report? How long do you plan to keep the car and if it shows on the report or since you know about it how will that impact resale? How obvious is the replacement, i.e., what stood out to the PPI folks and can you live with it? Etc. Etc.

Also looks like they ran the codes and found the fault code for a thermostat replacement that was jammed open. That is normal for a 60k car.

[rdoctor]

Pretty normal for a 2009 IMO. If the accident history (and repair/paint) are OK with you then I'd probably offer a little less and see what they say. $28K really isn't that bad if the car is the color combo you want and has the options you like. I assume you will also get an extended warranty for the car?

[young dude]

https://www.cars.com/for-sale/search...=GN_REFINEMENT


Link from my phone, not sure if works on computer.

[spiderspider]

Originally Posted by young dude

https://www.cars.com/for-sale/search...=GN_REFINEMENT


Link from my phone, not sure if works on computer.

need to filter out the rebuilt title cars

[jbrichmond]

Originally Posted by delirium330

1 - Battery. Not a big deal, totally normal, DIY replace for $100-$200. Plenty of threads out there you can research.
2 - Valve cover gasket, seems early for this at 60k miles, but not unheard of. Plenty of threads on this too, others can respond with price for a shop to do this or search around for the DIY.
3 - Windshield washer, this is normal on all E90s (M3 and standard 3 series lineup) and you need to replace the pump. It is a pretty easy DIY, the aftermarket VEMO part is like $20. Threads out there to DIY this as well. A shop would probably charge an hour of labor (2 max) to do this.
4 - Fender replacement. This is a tough one and the only warning sign I see on your list. Did the collision or repair show up on carfax report? How long do you plan to keep the car and if it shows on the report or since you know about it how will that impact resale? How obvious is the replacement, i.e., what stood out to the PPI folks and can you live with it? Etc. Etc.

Also looks like they ran the codes and found the fault code for a thermostat replacement that was jammed open. That is normal for a 60k car.

Accident was on the carfax. It was a side swipe incident, I called the PPI before hand and gave them the low down, asked them to inspect where the police report showed the accident occurred on the body and check for any faulty work or touch ups. They said all was good and was evident one of the fenders (right) had been replaced. No airbags or any kind of further damage occurred as far as I know.

The only thing I am unclear on, is the battery reprogramming? I've read countless threads and everyone seems to go back and forth on it. Can you or anyone shed some light on this?

[jbrichmond]

Originally Posted by young dude

https://www.cars.com/for-sale/search...=GN_REFINEMENT


Link from my phone, not sure if works on computer.

Those are great and thank you for the help. However, if you further filter them, I.e., manual, red interior, white exterior, no sunroof, cold weather package, navigation, etc etc, I think your results and price points will narrow down some

[young dude]

Originally Posted by jbrichmond

Those are great and thank you for the help. However, if you further filter them, I.e., manual, red interior, white exterior, no sunroof, cold weather package, navigation, etc etc, I think your results and price points will narrow down some

Yea if you're that specific then you gotta pay to play sometimes

[delirium330]

Originally Posted by jbrichmond

Accident was on the carfax. It was a side swipe incident, I called the PPI before hand and gave them the low down, asked them to inspect where the police report showed the accident occurred on the body and check for any faulty work or touch ups. They said all was good and was evident one of the fenders (right) had been replaced. No airbags or any kind of further damage occurred as far as I know.

The only thing I am unclear on, is the battery reprogramming? I've read countless threads and everyone seems to go back and forth on it. Can you or anyone shed some light on this?

Don't let it scare you, you can choose do not do it at all, you can buy a $100 app from Carly and DIY or have a shop do it for $50. Just commit to doing it and spend the money to do so.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1281281

[becausephilchow]

Honestly, none of this is a huge deal breaker to me.

[jbrichmond]

All, I backed out and got my deposit back minus the PPI cost. Had too many lingering doubts. The search goes on!

Thanks again for the help. Really appreciate the honesty.

[redpriest]

Ah, that's a shame, that's a great price.

The accident history isn't something I would be worried too much about especially since you got it inspected and it was no big deal. Sucks if you are the original owner trying to sell the car, but you can use it to negotiate a good discount, and if the car is mechanically sound, why not? My car had an accident in the rear quarter panel that showed up on Carfax and inspection revealed it to be fine. Car is holding up well 110k miles later since I bought it at 153k miles and 44 track days - I'd say I'm doing well.

[jbrichmond]

Wow! That's amazing!

Unfortunately, I found it needed new rear tires, the new seals, new battery, etc etc. I called some local shops and ran all the numbers and for the price with all the repairs on top of it, didn't make sense. Seller wasn't willing to negotiate either, so it wasn't meant to be.

There will be more

[3Pedals_6Speeds]

If it was the rear quarter panel, I'd stay away. If it was the front fender, and they replaced it (bolted on) with a new one, I'd be okay with it. I bought a previously side swiped S2000 (rear quarter panel) and the whole time I've owned it the trunk has leaked. I've basted every seam in sight to dry the trunk out, no avail. Now I'm getting a lot of rust around the areas the work was done (car is 13 years old, lives in the snow belt). So, if it was truly a fender, not as worried. If it was a welded panel, I'd advise you to walk away.

[Seattle M3]

Looks pretty good to me for a 7 year old car....