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      01-25-2013, 08:30 PM   #1
Sid3waze
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Input needed: Would you buy?

Hey Guys, a good friend of mines picked up a flood title e90 m3 a few months ago and he recently purchased a GTR so I am thinking about taking the m3 off his hands. I currently own a 335i fbo and has owned a few e46 m3 in my past.
I know most (if not all) will say to leave it alone but I think this situation is a bit different.

When purchased the only thing the M3 needed was a front driver/pass seat and 4 wheel bearings. Everything else on the it worked fine. I personally daily drove the M3 for a few weeks with no issues. It is a DCT and it shifts fine and drives straight as a arrow. It launches fine, handles tight. It only has about 44k miles and seemed like it was well maintained. He is selling it to me for what he paid for it 25k.

I guess my question is being that I had the opportunity to put the car thru its paces, besides resale value are there any other major issues I might encounter. I throughly inspected the car for rust and corrosion.


Thanks
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      01-25-2013, 09:02 PM   #2
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Being a BMW and most likely a Sandy flood car then no , I would walk away from a salt water flood car
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      01-25-2013, 11:17 PM   #3
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I just picked up a flood M3 myself. Had a slight scare in the beginning that made me question my purchase but all ended well. I say go for it especially since you have had some seat time in it. Most don't get the opportunity. Regardless, I would have a PPI done since they can inspect each module for corrosion. This may also give you an idea if anything gives you trouble down the road. Best of luck.
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      01-25-2013, 11:39 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by germen730 View Post
Hey Guys, a good friend of mines picked up a flood title e90 m3 a few months ago and he recently purchased a GTR so I am thinking about taking the m3 off his hands. I currently own a 335i fbo and has owned a few e46 m3 in my past.
I know most (if not all) will say to leave it alone but I think this situation is a bit different.

When purchased the only thing the M3 needed was a front driver/pass seat and 4 wheel bearings. Everything else on the it worked fine. I personally daily drove the M3 for a few weeks with no issues. It is a DCT and it shifts fine and drives straight as a arrow. It launches fine, handles tight. It only has about 44k miles and seemed like it was well maintained. He is selling it to me for what he paid for it 25k.

I guess my question is being that I had the opportunity to put the car thru its paces, besides resale value are there any other major issues I might encounter. I throughly inspected the car for rust and corrosion.


Thanks
$25K? go for it If you think it drives good and everything
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      01-26-2013, 12:16 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by germen730 View Post
Hey Guys, a good friend of mines picked up a flood title e90 m3 a few months ago and he recently purchased a GTR so I am thinking about taking the m3 off his hands. I currently own a 335i fbo and has owned a few e46 m3 in my past.
I know most (if not all) will say to leave it alone but I think this situation is a bit different.

When purchased the only thing the M3 needed was a front driver/pass seat and 4 wheel bearings. Everything else on the it worked fine. I personally daily drove the M3 for a few weeks with no issues. It is a DCT and it shifts fine and drives straight as a arrow. It launches fine, handles tight. It only has about 44k miles and seemed like it was well maintained. He is selling it to me for what he paid for it 25k.

I guess my question is being that I had the opportunity to put the car thru its paces, besides resale value are there any other major issues I might encounter. I throughly inspected the car for rust and corrosion.


Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by matt1034 View Post
I just picked up a flood M3 myself. Had a slight scare in the beginning that made me question my purchase but all ended well. I say go for it especially since you have had some seat time in it. Most don't get the opportunity. Regardless, I would have a PPI done since they can inspect each module for corrosion. This may also give you an idea if anything gives you trouble down the road. Best of luck.
Thank you for sharing your experience! Yes it drives good. No issues
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      01-26-2013, 02:49 AM   #6
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Great deal. Friends sometimes hook friends up and thats a great deal. Worst comes to worst and you sell it for more than u paid. It's a far better decision if there is some time left on the warranty, but that's a great price as long as it's not salvage and you can resell it someday. Last gen M3's are selling for 25k.
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      01-26-2013, 07:47 AM   #7
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Salvage title cars are not necessarily bad. You just have to be prepared to use some of the savings over a good title car to fix any problems that arise. May be some, may be none. $25k is a good price, so that leaves you money for repairs if necessary. The only problem is that if you dump a bunch in repairs and then want to sell the car, you will be at a greater loss.

While I own an E90M3, I am not sure it is that much better than a 335i with full bolt on mods.
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      01-26-2013, 07:57 AM   #8
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The damage takes some time to surface. Six, nine months from now you may be facing a bigger $$$ problem.

Walk away, life is too short.
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      01-26-2013, 08:12 AM   #9
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Ring a few BMW dealers and ask how much they will give you for it.
Knock a few $s off to cover surprises and thats what I would pay your friend for it...or $25K which ever is the cheaper.
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      01-26-2013, 12:31 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by i001947 View Post
The damage takes some time to surface. Six, nine months from now you may be facing a bigger $$$ problem.

Walk away, life is too short.
I do know that the water level did not pass or touch the dct shifter. The only wires that were exposed to water are the seat wiring. Im not too sure if they're any computers etc leveled with the seat but the water did not get pass/into the dash.

We also sprayed under the car, engine, suspension with a chemical that helps clean off any residue caused by salt. I'm having a hard time what can possibly go wrong to the point that the car isnt drivable?
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      01-26-2013, 01:38 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SenorFunkyPants View Post
Ring a few BMW dealers and ask how much they will give you for it.
Knock a few $s off to cover surprises and thats what I would pay your friend for it...or $25K which ever is the cheaper.
this sounds like great advice...will give you better idea of what you are getting into and how much to get out
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      01-26-2013, 02:48 PM   #12
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I doubt any BMW dealer will have any interest in the car.
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      01-26-2013, 03:13 PM   #13
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I would stay away from Salt water cars. Although not garanteed, problems might surface down the road .... like a year down the road.
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      01-26-2013, 03:35 PM   #14
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+1. An insurance agent once told me, after 'buying' my salt-water flooded car (flooded to the floorboards only), that it may take 2-3 years before that one critical connector decides to succumb to the tiny bit of salt left on one pin and to short out and leave me stranded. And Murphy will guarantee that it will happen at 2AM on a deserted road.

Walk away.
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      01-26-2013, 05:20 PM   #15
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Sounds like a good candidate for a track car to me.
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      01-26-2013, 05:45 PM   #16
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Why go for a flood/salvage vehicle? I say no.
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      01-26-2013, 07:10 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JJunkins View Post
Sounds like a good candidate for a track car to me.
I 2nd that.
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      01-26-2013, 11:09 PM   #18
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I would not .i bought a 99eclipse gst without the seller telling me that it had flood damage. After a month the engine had no power after u got over 4000 rpm

Just my experience you never know what will happen later. Also if ur fiend paid 25k for it depends how long ago how can you expect to get the same amount after a few years.?
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      01-27-2013, 01:46 AM   #19
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I appreciate all the steady responses. I will take this week to spend more time with the M3 before i make up my mind.

The reality is, I can purchase a clean title M3 for 40 or so thousand and still run into issues down the road? I'm sure we all have heard stories about clean title nightmares. I do understand that a flood car MIGHT be more prone to malfunction down the road.

I will try to negotiate a bit more on price. Hey, i'm sure any forum member would write a 20 grand check if she runs right.
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      01-27-2013, 02:18 AM   #20
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Sounds like a good deal! I'd do it if you plan to keep it and enjoy it for a while.
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      01-28-2013, 10:32 AM   #21
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DON'T

By all that is holy and ///M, please do as some previous posters are advising and walk away.

Back in college I had a river flow into my car (bad rains in Kansas), just up over the rocker panels. Soaked the carpets, but the electronics stayed intact, I was hoping... Next morning I pitched the mats and furiously wet-vacced, left the doors open and camped with the car when I could. About a week after, I shampooed everything, even the cloth seats, though they were unaffected. Long story short: seems like every sunny day after that rain, for as long as I owned the car, it smelled like mud with the barest hint of fish. And that was FRESH water.

Salt water does some devious things to cars, to echo what was said above: corrosion, shorting out delicate electronics...and it probably isn't going to show up for 6 months to a year. I know you're trying to help out your friend, but I truly can't see paying even over $10k for a flood-titled M3 (and then just cannibalizing it for parts). There's a good reason the runways at Calverton on LI are still full of Sandy-damaged vehicles, three months on.

Track car? Not a bad idea at all. At least you won't have to walk far when otherwise inexplicable things start happening and then it outright dies.
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      01-28-2013, 10:56 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Via5thAv View Post
By all that is holy and ///M, please do as some previous posters are advising and walk away.

Back in college I had a river flow into my car (bad rains in Kansas), just up over the rocker panels. Soaked the carpets, but the electronics stayed intact, I was hoping... Next morning I pitched the mats and furiously wet-vacced, left the doors open and camped with the car when I could. About a week after, I shampooed everything, even the cloth seats, though they were unaffected. Long story short: seems like every sunny day after that rain, for as long as I owned the car, it smelled like mud with the barest hint of fish. And that was FRESH water.

Salt water does some devious things to cars, to echo what was said above: corrosion, shorting out delicate electronics...and it probably isn't going to show up for 6 months to a year. I know you're trying to help out your friend, but I truly can't see paying even over $10k for a flood-titled M3 (and then just cannibalizing it for parts). There's a good reason the runways at Calverton on LI are still full of Sandy-damaged vehicles, three months on.

Track car? Not a bad idea at all. At least you won't have to walk far when otherwise inexplicable things start happening and then it outright dies.
Thanks for scaring the bejesus outta me lol. Makes matter even worst that was your first post. I guess because i"ve never personally delt with a flood car before I have a hard time understanding certain things. We went thru the fuse box, sprayed what we could etc. The car runs damn good and smells pretty decent.

I know every situation is unique in its own way but this M has been on the road for a good couple of months. It almost sound like most would rather buy a crash salvage than a flood salvage?
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