Getting a E92 M3 - How to negotiate?

[wingzee]

Just paid down for a AW 2011 E92 DCT with Comp Pack. 2 owners (was sold as CPO to 2nd owner), extremely clean example with only 40+ks on the clock from a BMW dealership. Delivery next week. Extremely stoked!

[thebatman]

yOU PAY THE CAR FOR WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD!
Simple.

[XIX]

Originally Posted by wingzee

Just paid down for a AW 2011 E92 DCT with Comp Pack. 2 owners (was sold as CPO to 2nd owner), extremely clean example with only 40+ks on the clock from a BMW dealership. Delivery next week. Extremely stoked!

Sounds like an excellent choice mate. Congrats 👍

[chris172]

Congrats on the purchase - enjoy the beast!

If the Rod Bearings or Throttle Actuators worry you, there are preventative things you can do to alleviate or at least monitor the cost of these items like the blackstone oil analysis or in the case of the Throttle Actuators, a pre-emptive gear set replacement. PM if you want further details etc

[BMWM3TS]

Originally Posted by wingzee

Just paid down for a AW 2011 E92 DCT with Comp Pack. 2 owners (was sold as CPO to 2nd owner), extremely clean example with only 40+ks on the clock from a BMW dealership. Delivery next week. Extremely stoked!

Congratulations on your purchase. Don't forget to drop some coin on an x pipe and tune and gts dct tune. Worth every penny, especially the 3rd to 2nd downshift over stock. Just out of interest how did you go educating the Bmw dealership on the rod bearings and throttle body issues and how much did they drop of the original advertised price after you had that discussion with them? Are you going to use the dealership to do the rod bearings or have you booked a slot with your Indy to do them in three months time? Which bearings are you running with?

[wingzee]

Originally Posted by chris172

Congrats on the purchase - enjoy the beast!

If the Rod Bearings or Throttle Actuators worry you, there are preventative things you can do to alleviate or at least monitor the cost of these items like the blackstone oil analysis or in the case of the Throttle Actuators, a pre-emptive gear set replacement. PM if you want further details etc

Thanks. I might get them done during the 60k service with the rest of the other consumables. Issue with cars from 2011 onwards is given the revised RB (tin/alumininium and no longer copper/lead), oil analysis is no longer useful to detect metal contents.

[wingzee]

Originally Posted by BMWM3TS

Congratulations on your purchase. Don't forget to drop some coin on an x pipe and tune and gts dct tune. Worth every penny, especially the 3rd to 2nd downshift over stock. Just out of interest how did you go educating the Bmw dealership on the rod bearings and throttle body issues and how much did they drop of the original advertised price after you had that discussion with them? Are you going to use the dealership to do the rod bearings or have you booked a slot with your Indy to do them in three months time? Which bearings are you running with?

In my case, only 2 sellers (out of the 10 or so that I spoke to) that acknowledged the RB issue and is willing to share the costs of replacement - didn’t go with these vehicles as their mileage is on the higher side (110-120k km).

And only 2-3 who got their TAs replaced during their ownership (average mileage about 80-100k km).

The plan is to go with BE coated bearings & ARP bolts when the time comes.

Re the BMW dealership (in Sydney), they obviously are not aware that RB is defective from factory and brushed that off as being an issue by saying they haven’t seen a single case of failure (despite being pointed to forums) but they are kind enough to offer (subject to BMWAU approval) a goodwill warranty repair/replacement if anything goes wrong as the car has been servived at BMW dealerships all its life (QLD and NSW). Obviously when the actual time comes they may deny responsbility and reject but the overall conditon, mileage and pricing of the M3 is too good for me to resist. Worst case I am out of pocket for another $3k for the RB which is not that bad when I consider the price that I paid for the M3 vs the average market asking price for M3s of the same year, condition and miles clocked. Heck this even comes with the Competition Pack (which to be is worth at least $1-2k premium?)

[XIX]

Originally Posted by wingzee

In my case, only 2 sellers (out of the 10 or so that I spoke to) that acknowledged the RB issue and is willing to share the costs of replacement - didn’t go with these vehicles as their mileage is on the higher side (110-120k km).

And only 2-3 who got their TAs replaced during their ownership (average mileage about 80-100k km).

The plan is to go with BE coated bearings & ARP bolts when the time comes.

Re the BMW dealership (in Sydney), they obviously are not aware that RB is defective from factory and brushed that off as being an issue by saying they haven’t seen a single case of failure (despite being pointed to forums) but they are kind enough to offer (subject to BMWAU approval) a goodwill warranty repair/replacement if anything goes wrong as the car has been servived at BMW dealerships all its life (QLD and NSW). Obviously when the actual time comes they may deny responsbility and reject but the overall conditon, mileage and pricing of the M3 is too good for me to resist. Worst case I am out of pocket for another $3k for the RB which is not that bad when I consider the price that I paid for the M3 vs the average market asking price for M3s of the same year, condition and miles clocked. Heck this even comes with the Competition Pack (which to be is worth at least $1-2k premium?)

The dealership is aware, they would never admit it. CS is worth a lot more than $2k, although you paid a bit below market, don't worry about what others are trying to sell for, what they actually sell for is generally considerably less.

There is no point getting your oil checked. Just go an change the RB's, you dont know the history of the car and they could genuinely go at anytime, or last for ever, irrespective of the outcome of oil analysis.

My car had less kms, and similar year when I bought it, and I got it changed within a week. Wouldnt worry about TA's til there is something wrong, then get the ones from the UK that come with lifetime warranty.

Speak to Alpine Alex and get your tune and dct tune done and get rid of your front cats.

Forget about BMW, unless you bought the car from them or are a particularly good customer they are unlikely to do jack, go find a good indy (plenty on here can give you advice) and discuss your car with them.

[groovetek]

With the RB's... If you spend time on these forums, you will probably end up doing them. If you stop reading these forums, you probably won't end up doing them.

There is no argument "against" doing RBs other than the cost and that the main bearings seem to go bad quite often anyway, which given the demographic of BMW and especially M drivers and forum users, the general consensus is that cost is not an issue.

It's like life insurance... The car can probably go for alot longer without RBs changed, but changing them gives you peace of mind.

Me? I'm crossing 100k soon, haven't and don't plan to do the RBs unless I get an inkling that something isn't quite right (IE. Odd sounds or Blackstone numbers).

[groovetek]

With the TA's, funnily enough I had them rebuilt pre-emptively just because I was getting the car serviced anyway. Only cost me an extra couple hours of labour and the $220 or so rebuild kit.

Rebuilding them reduces the play and backlash of the gears which makes life easier on the actuator motors and electronics which should help in extending the life of those.

So yes... I've done something about TAs and nothing about RBs... Just to add to the confusion here. Haha.

[wingzee]

Originally Posted by groovetek

With the RB's... If you spend time on these forums, you will probably end up doing them. If you stop reading these forums, you probably won't end up doing them.

There is no argument "against" doing RBs other than the cost and that the main bearings seem to go bad quite often anyway, which given the demographic of BMW and especially M drivers and forum users, the general consensus is that cost is not an issue.

It's like life insurance... The car can probably go for alot longer without RBs changed, but changing them gives you peace of mind.

Me? I'm crossing 100k soon, haven't and don't plan to do the RBs unless I get an inkling that something isn't quite right (IE. Odd sounds or Blackstone numbers).

That’s likely to be the path I will be taking as well given the mileage of the car (27k miles/44k km) although one may argue that RBs have failed on low mileage M3s as well. I may just monitor for the time being and if I have the spare $ get it done between 60-80k or even up to 100k km which seems to be the average mileage when the RBs get replaced.

On another note, vehicle will be available for collection later today or tomorrow. CEL came on during pre-delivery check according to the SA but with no error codes logged. They have since swapped for a new battery (the original factory battery is 7yrs old anyway) and the CEL is now gone. $1.3k for the battery alone which I am glad I am not paying for! That’s another $300-400 (average AGM 90aH battery prices) in the pocket for me.

[XIX]

Each to their own I guess, I'd rather fix something that is a known issue that has the potential to grenade the engine with little warning, than fix something that has virtually no risk to the engine if there is an issue. Many people have changed gears and still had the issue with the TA's.

[BMWM3TS]

Originally Posted by wingzee

That’s likely to be the path I will be taking as well given the mileage of the car (27k miles/44k km) although one may argue that RBs have failed on low mileage M3s as well. I may just monitor for the time being and if I have the spare $ get it done between 60-80k or even up to 100k km which seems to be the average mileage when the RBs get replaced.

On another note, vehicle will be available for collection later today or tomorrow. CEL came on during pre-delivery check according to the SA but with no error codes logged. They have since swapped for a new battery (the original factory battery is 7yrs old anyway) and the CEL is now gone. $1.3k for the battery alone which I am glad I am not paying for! That’s another $300-400 (average AGM 90aH battery prices) in the pocket for me.

Just a view but geez you have sure changed your tune as an owner within the space of a week. EG rod bearings are a massive issue and I am going to educate owners to beat them down on price. Now you have one with low km's, . Oh no no no, I have a low km example so have another 4 to five years left before I need to do them..So if you sell in a couple of years and list it at a price, when a buyer asks are rods bearings done, is your response, no but how about I drop 3k off the asking price so you can get them done yourself.

Pretty comical.