Does anyone know this car on carsales?

[Shan75]

Hi guys,

First post!

Be gentle.....

Hoping to become a more active participant.....just looking for the right car. As you would all know from your own experiences - that can be a challenge in itself.

Just wanted to know if anyone is familiar with this car?
Is owned by a polite fella call Greg out of Mosman Park in WA.

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/det...gaAnGXEALw_wcB

Got no reason to think it is not a solid car, but seems to have a LOT of aftermarket goodies. Appears to have been well-sorted in that regard.

These M3's are not new, I get that. Many previous owners will have made their individual changes over time. No prob's with added goodies and also no issue with a car seeing a "little" track-time in it's history. That said - just want to make sure it does a car I look at does not have a more "full-time" history or track use-case.

Any comments or advice appreciated!!!

Cheers,
Shan

[Number96]

Hey Shan,

Its hard to tell just by looking at the carsales ad - I would talk to the seller and ask what sort of brakes, brake fluid tyres he has on the car and gauge if it has had a lot of track use. Chances are it has not.

It looks solid to me too although I notice he hasnt mentioned anything about the rod bearings or the valve controller thing. Maybe ask if he has done any preventitive maintainence to the car? Also check where he gets the car serviced and talk to them over the phone...

Best of luck!

[2022500]

I'm not a fan of "Power Pulleys" - you're replacing the harmonic balancer which is a very important part of the engine. https://blog.k1technologies.com/what...ic-balancer-do

eg. https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=566070

Being in Vic you should have a few local vehicles to choose from?

eg. https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1649089

[cplagz]

The car is around the corner from me, can't say I've ever seen it around though. I like how he blurs the plates in pics, but video shows his plates clearly It looks like its 2 streets away from me.

[ACTM333]

Again with the rod bearings...

Mate. It looks solid. If it has a service history. Buy it.. It's priced very well if not a bit cheap.
Definitely ask if it may have had the rod bearings done but in no circumstances should that be a deal breaker.. Trust me. I can confirm many e9x pre lci even supercharged with upwards of 80k whilst supercharged with no rod bearing issues.
Do your due diligence.. If happy.. Buy it.. Life's to short to procrastinate on good buys

[Fezza]

does it have an M button? otherwise no deal but yes check service history then call up the people that did it for further info. If it's been serviced at GMW then it was looked after properly. Also do a check on the VIN to make sure all recalls have been done too.

[Shan75]

Yep - has the M button and edc.
He accepted my offer of $44k.
He has owned the car from new.
Assuming it passes inspection - I’ll be buying it!

[2022500]

That's a decent drop in price. Make sure the place inspecting it is a BMW specialist who knows the common faults.

[Qikish]

Congratulations Shan75, That is a great price and is well spec'd.
Don't know if it is a theme but I got a similar sized discount when I bought my car. I wonder if this is the case with the whole E9X market?

[Fezza]

If you decide to go ahead with it, consider getting it shipped via https://www.mcpheefreight.com.au/car-transport/ rather than road/train transport. Will arrive in a clean condition and cheaper but will take longer, otherwise it'll have a layer of red dust and other road grime if transported by road/train.

I used McPhee (door to door) to transport my M3 from Sydney to Perth and highly recommend their service.

[Shan75]

Thanks heaps for the advice guys.

Will try McPhee as well for the transport.

Yeah - pretty happy. The guy has owned it for 9 years - he bought it new for $159k. So it’s a 1 owner.

I Had the paint thickness checked - zero accidents.
Inspector said it was one of the cleanest he had seen.

So think I found a good one. Mods are well thought out as well.

Can’t wait to get it home.

[Fezza]

Congrats, you'll enjoy it

[2022500]

Originally Posted by Shan75

I Had the paint thickness checked - zero accidents.
Inspector said it was one of the cleanest he had seen.

Congrats.

Who did you get to inspect it? That's one of the things that concerns me with buying interstate.

I've looked at one local vehicle that later had a RedBook inspection on it. I would be really peeved if I'd bought it going off that report. (That was one paid for by the selling dealer, although that shouldn't make any difference.)

When I bought a new Ford 3 years ago the dealer was using Prix Car Transport (IIRC) to freight their new vehicles from interstate.

[Shan75]

I use a mob called “stateroads” inspections.
They have always been thorough - never let me down. Used them for years now. Far better than racv or red book, those inspections mean nothing to me.
Also have full visibility of the service history and the details of the mechanic who has been servicing the car. Being “one owner” makes it easy to validate all that stuff. Car has been well cared for. I am comfortable with how things playing out.

[2022500]

Thanks for the tip. I haven't heard of them before, the company being Australia wide is good.

I've seen an RAA (SA) inspection done on a vehicle I was selling and they're very thorough. That was a few years back and didn't include a paint thickness test. No doubt the cost of tools to do that has dropped significantly since then.

[JJH]

Just adding that I too have used Stateroads before for my previous and current BMWs - I rate them highly and would not hesitate to use them again. I like how you actually get a call from their inspector (always a Euro car specialist) with a verbal report after he has been to see the car in the first instance. That is followed up within several hours by a very detailed photographic and written report on the car.