New member needs more help with first M3 purchase!

[BFLJR]

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Hey everyone,

Looking to buy my first M3 soon. I am hoping to find a nice e90 sedan (2009 to 2011) in silverstone. I have located several possibilities but so far I have not had any luck. I would have bought the first one I test drove but it was a "smoker" car. Found another that only has 10,000 miles but it had far too many mods for my taste ( and it was a 2008 and several board members have pointed out that the I drive was much improved starting in 2009).

Which brings me to my current possibility: a 2011 M3 sedan silverstone on black which is pretty much loaded except for auto trans ( I like manual anyway ). It is a one owner in DC area with 35,000 miles and clean car fax ( though I realize this does not guarantee anything). It is being offered for sale by Capital Auto in McClean, Va. I am in NC and so I can't just bop over to take a look at it. The salesman did say that the rear bumper had pretty significant scratches and has been repainted but he says that you cannot tell at all and that overall the car is pristine inside and out( and it looks to be as far as I can tell from photos) It also still has 14 mos on factory warranty. Priced at approx. $48000.

Overall, it is exactly the car I have been looking for but I have several questions/ concerns.

First of all, the Carfax says it was turned back into the BMW dealership in Sterling but then it was apparently sold wholesale to Captial Auto. I am concerned as to why the BMW dealership would not just sell it themselves? Is this a red flag? Or a common practice?

Secondly, are there car inspectors that I could hire to be my eyes and ears to check it out before I make the 5 hour drive? Any recommendations in the DC area?

Thanks in advance for your help and any advice you could give me.

[Yvette]

as long as it has factory warranty remaining, I wouldn't worry so much.
It gets headache when shopping for a out of warranty M3

[1astigM3]

first off welcome. i'll save you some heat here from other members.. its dct trans not "auto". second, yes you can hire a 3rd party to look at the vehicle over for you. Maybe some dc/va/md folks here can help be your eyes if you can't find any. Either way, good luck with your search.

[tjsabec]

Originally Posted by BFLJR

Hey everyone,

Looking to buy my first M3 soon. I am hoping to find a nice e90 sedan (2009 to 2011) in silverstone. I have located several possibilities but so far I have not had any luck. I would have bought the first one I test drove but it was a "smoker" car. Found another that only has 10,000 miles but it had far too many mods for my taste ( and it was a 2008 and several board members have pointed out that the I drive was much improved starting in 2009).

Which brings me to my current possibility: a 2011 M3 sedan silverstone on black which is pretty much loaded except for auto trans ( I like manual anyway ). It is a one owner in DC area with 35,000 miles and clean car fax ( though I realize this does not guarantee anything). It is being offered for sale by Capital Auto in McClean, Va. I am in NC and so I can't just bop over to take a look at it. The salesman did say that the rear bumper had pretty significant scratches and has been repainted but he says that you cannot tell at all and that overall the car is pristine inside and out( and it looks to be as far as I can tell from photos) It also still has 14 mos on factory warranty. Priced at approx. $48000.

Overall, it is exactly the car I have been looking for but I have several questions/ concerns.

First of all, the Carfax says it was turned back into the BMW dealership in Sterling but then it was apparently sold wholesale to Captial Auto. I am concerned as to why the BMW dealership would not just sell it themselves? Is this a red flag? Or a common practice?

Secondly, are there car inspectors that I could hire to be my eyes and ears to check it out before I make the 5 hour drive? Any recommendations in the DC area?

Thanks in advance for your help and any advice you could give me.

IMO: It is not common practice for a dealer to sell a car that new at auction, but it is not unheard of or anything to worry about. I would guess that the dealer thought they'd have a hard time selling a car with manual transmission in that area, so they unloaded it.

[Lorde]

Just order a new one!

[fuddman]

Originally Posted by BFLJR

First of all, the Carfax says it was turned back into the BMW dealership in Sterling but then it was apparently sold wholesale to Captial Auto. I am concerned as to why the BMW dealership would not just sell it themselves? Is this a red flag? Or a common practice?

It looks like Sterling got this car in the middle of August and tried for a month to sell it. Having failed to do that, I would guess they sold it to Capital.
I've heard of dealers who let cars go to wholesale if they can't sell them in 30 days, so that might be whats happened here.
You might want to get the vin, call Sterling and ask them first, if, when they were selling it, they were selling it as a CPO car. Second, see if you can get the maintenance history on it. Both those could shed some light on the fitness of the car.