Advice about purchasing an M5

[wistles]

Morning all,

Long time lurker on these forums. I am currently looking at purchasing an M5 which is advertised on here: -

http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/3575207.htm

I have looked into the service history, which is below: -

24/06/08 - 1,200 - 1200 mile inspection
26/11/08 - xxxxx - Service
25/02/09 - 27,534 - Clutch and Flywheel
02/03/09 - xxxxx - Check of the above
17/09/09 - 34,939 - New Airbag Unit, Seat Cover and Horn
08/12/09 - 36,708 - Final Drive rear axle (what is this?)
19/02/10 - 39,904 - Suspension check, replace head restraint
04/05/10 - 40,652 - Airbag warning light, replace of wiring in drivers seat
08/10/10 - 44,957 - Front Wheel Arch
02/11/10 - 45,173 - New Tyre
10/11/10 - 45,281 - New Tyre
30/03/11 - 48,829 - Idle Actuator (what is this?)
09/05/11 - 51,016 - 4 new wheel and tyres (old ones were non standard)
15/09/11 - 52,518 - MOT and Suspension arm
18/10/11 - 52,837 - Battery for the Key
30/01/12 - xxxxx - Oil Change

How does this look for everyone? The things which concern me are the change of airbag unit (un reported crash?) and the fact that it has had 5 owners but from reqding the excellent buying guide at the top of this forum I am lead to beleive that that is quite common?

It has also had the clutch and flywheel done which is apparently the main thing to watch out for?

Thanks, for taking the time to read this.

[ecain63]

Looks ok to me. I wouldn't worry about the airbag unless you find anything else that suggests a crash. Clutch was done at 27k which means it wad probably a London or city car. Nearly 30k since the clutch was done means you could realistically expect a refurb in 10k to 20k miles time. Otherwise sound. Be sure to look at discs when you view it, any lip means they are worn.

Eddie

[Soovy]

wistles said:

17/09/09 - 34,939 - New Airbag Unit, Seat Cover and Horn

I'd worry about this - new seat cover and airbag? What happened, did someone sht themselves and crash.

[wistles]

Soovy said:

I'd worry about this - new seat cover and airbag? What happened, did someone sht themselves and crash.

That's what I said to my wife!

Any pictures of what a used disc looks like?

[Soovy]

wistles said:

Soovy said:

I'd worry about this - new seat cover and airbag? What happened, did someone sht themselves and crash.

That's what I said to my wife!

Any pictures of what a used disc looks like?

Hang on, it's only had one service??!

WTF!!

[wistles]

No it has full service history, services were also done at the time those other things were done.

[eztiger]

You pasted the service history. Services aren't showing on the service history.

Have you got proof they were done? Or did the seller just assure you that was the case?

Minor nitpick perhaps but you can presume you'll be asked the same questions at resale time..

[Soovy]

Looks to me like 30k miles between oil.

Avoid.

It's not even that cheap.

[wistles]

eztiger said:

You pasted the service history. Services aren't showing on the service history.

Have you got proof they were done? Or did the seller just assure you that was the case?

Minor nitpick perhaps but you can presume you'll be asked the same questions at resale time..

Apparently they are all in the book. I am going to go and view later.

[wistles]

Soovy said:

Looks to me like 30k miles between oil.

Avoid.

It's not even that cheap.

I think there were other things done on each of those dates. Does the warranty require that all oil changes are done at a dealer or can they be done yourself?

[E30M3SE]

I'd be phoning the dealers that stamped the service book to verify what was done.

The car is advertised with a Extended BMW warranty, this will not be worth the paper it is wriiten on if the car has not been serviced for the time/mileage the above suggests.

[E30M3SE]

With BMW extended warranty/AUC warranty/insured warranty all service work must be done at a BMW dealer, it's a insurance policy at the end of the day so Block Exemption rules do not apply.

[Soovy]

wistles said:

Soovy said:

Looks to me like 30k miles between oil.

Avoid.

It's not even that cheap.

I think there were other things done on each of those dates. Does the warranty require that all oil changes are done at a dealer or can they be done yourself?

Must be BMW otherwise warranty is worth jack. First thing that BMW will do if you claim is check their records, and if they didn't do the work right on time then they'll tell you to buy your new engine yourself.

Why not just buy an AUC from BMW for less money!!? That car is £5k over priced.

http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/bmwauc/details/0,,1156_...

Edited by Soovy on Thursday 9th February 11:19

[wistles]

Am I right in thinking that everytime it is serviced it would have had it's oil changed?

Therefore 7 stamps in the book equals a minimum of 7 oil changes?

[wistles]

Will do. However when a car is serviced something such as the oil would "normally" be done?

[ecain63]

The car tells you what and when it needs to go in for a service. Oil isn't always what it wants but 75% of the time it'll be on the menu. Check the service hook and all the info will he there. The dealer will tick boxes relevant to what's been done.

Eddie

[broster]

it be wondering why its had airbags and airbag replaced bits replaced....

[TX1]

Looks like its been sold.

[ecain63]

If the airbag control module had failed, like some do then that could explain the work done on the airbags. As for horns, its common for BMW horns of that era to sound crappy after a couple of years. Mine was done at about 30k miles as the horn sounded ghey as you like for some reason. Control arms or rods are also prone to wear and do need replacing around 30k to 40k miles. Final drive or rear axle work might have been to replace a noisey diff, which M cars do suffer if using standard diff oil. An actual replacment probably would have been due to siezed or broken plates or the grinding noise not going away after refilling with FM booster.

At the end of the day some cars have niggles. Don't write them off because the service and repair history is detailed and extensive. You'd rather that than buy a car with no history and work needing doing.

Eddie

Edited by ecain63 on Thursday 9th February 17:28

[jason s4]

TX1 said:

Looks like its been sold.

To the man who was asking about it.