Is this not cheeeeap?
Is this not cheeeeap?
Author
Discussion

Burba

Original Poster:

1,870 posts

280 months

Friday 9th January 2009
quotequote all
Posted in the classifieds - '02 E46 M3 Conv

Anyone know the particular car or been to see it??

I'd be tempted to return to the fold and have another one at this price!

jonlwright

1,825 posts

262 months

Friday 9th January 2009
quotequote all
Christ - 8 owners!!!

Look over it with a very fine toothcomb and make your own judgement - or get a professional to look at it.

Personally, I would prefer to spend a little more and get something that has been cherished by an owner or 2 for a number of years.

Philrose

481 posts

265 months

Friday 9th January 2009
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Mmm -- 8 owners in 6 years or thereabouts. No body wanted to keep it -- why?
Would need to check it out thoroughly but I would be wary.

andymc

7,565 posts

230 months

Friday 9th January 2009
quotequote all
spotted this myself, wonder what the garage paid for it? if its a keeper and in good nic then the 8 owners shouldnt be too much of a kick in the nuts come reasale, check on ebays completed listings and there are several smg m3 soft tops sold for that price

E30M3SE

8,483 posts

219 months

Friday 9th January 2009
quotequote all
Says nothing about FSH in the advert, yet they listed everything else...............

schneller

26,140 posts

237 months

Friday 9th January 2009
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Has it had its vital running-in inspection?

Huliganov

319 posts

218 months

Friday 9th January 2009
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I had a Golf 1.9 diesel with similar issues. I was the sixth owner of the car. I didn't think much of it really until things started to go wrong....

In the two years I had the car, the following went wrong;

Heater matrix failed; driving up a hill one day, the entire contents of the water system leaked into the passenger footwell.

Engine mounting collapsed; I hit a bump and the car made an enormous droning sound. I thought something had lodged into the braked until I parked up and opened the bonnet. The entire right hand side of the engine was touching the ground almost.

Two months later, went out for a meal with my family and the left front drive shaft failed. Recovery guy said 'yep, your clutch has gone mate, definately'. He then spent the next 30 minutes telling me how and why it had gone wrong even though I knew it was the driveshaft. Whenever I brough it up and tried saying otherwise he looked at me as though I was stupid and didn;t know what I was talking about; despite me having worked in the motortrade for a long time and selling clutches, driveshafts etc everyday and all day. Still....

Gearbox failed. Ironically I was on my way to a garage to have the gearbox checked out. Cost me £500 to get it fixed.

Timing belt became loose. I'd had the timing belt replaced (one of those 'just-in-case' things) 18 months earlier. Turns out the mechanic hadn't fixed the tensioners and pulleys in place properly and gradually they had worked loose.

Then the suspension developed a knocking noise. Turns out the anti-roll bar links were shot, even though I'd them done at an MOT earlier, having supplied the parts myself and known the mechanic personally.

The car was an incredinle liability and a complete money pit. I was actually afraid to drive it on long journeys incase the engine mounting came loose and I wouldn't be able to stop the car and cause an accident. I genuinely feared for my life.

No wonder the car had 5 previous owners before me....truly a ste car.

In the end I sold it to a mechanic who knew of certain issues and wanted to fix it up anyway. Last I heard he sold the car after a month....


If the car has had that many owners there has to be a reason. The car is probably a liability with things going wrong all the time. Steer clear.

Gompo

4,648 posts

281 months

Friday 9th January 2009
quotequote all
E30M3SE said:
Says nothing about FSH in the advert, yet they listed everything else...............
..That is a good call, but looking at their other adverts they rarely seem to mention it?

There's a place near me that often dont have history with their cars, and their reasoning is that a lot of them are repossessions(?) - maybe this is the same? Or could be a load of rubbish and there isnt any proper history..

Edited by Gompo on Friday 9th January 23:33

nottyash

4,671 posts

218 months

Friday 9th January 2009
quotequote all
jonlwright said:
Christ - 8 owners!!!

Look over it with a very fine toothcomb and make your own judgement - or get a professional to look at it.

Personally, I would prefer to spend a little more and get something that has been cherished by an owner or 2 for a number of years.
Most specialist cars tend to have a lot of owners, though you have a good point.

Pork

9,455 posts

257 months

Saturday 10th January 2009
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nottyash said:
Most specialist cars tend to have a lot of owners, though you have a good point.
Yep, agreed. M3's seem to be the kind of car that poeple want to say they've owned. With that in mind, if this car tempts you, look closely at the history and make sure everything has been done!

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

247 months

Saturday 10th January 2009
quotequote all
They reckon that an M3 can easily have two owners in the first year, and then one owner every year from then.

That is now a 7 year old car, which works out right, mileage is bang on too.


I always find the one owner cars tend to have more niggles than anything, worn shocks, trim not mint, squeeks in the cabin etc. etc.
Not because owners loose interest, more because they don't notice them as they happen over time.
As soon as anyone gets a new car they sort all these problems out straight away, I know I do, you want it to be perfect.

Not saying that is the case all the time, but never write a car off because it has had a few owners.

mat205125

17,790 posts

236 months

Saturday 10th January 2009
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Did I miss where it stated the mileage?

GasMonkey

475 posts

244 months

Saturday 10th January 2009
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mat205125 said:
Did I miss where it stated the mileage?
Right at the top of the advert, near the title... 81,000 miles

mat205125

17,790 posts

236 months

Saturday 10th January 2009
quotequote all
GasMonkey said:
mat205125 said:
Did I miss where it stated the mileage?
Right at the top of the advert, near the title... 81,000 miles
Thought it was odd that no one had mentioned it hehe

M3RMS

1,167 posts

236 months

Sunday 11th January 2009
quotequote all
Pork said:
nottyash said:
Most specialist cars tend to have a lot of owners, though you have a good point.
Yep, agreed. M3's seem to be the kind of car that poeple want to say they've owned. With that in mind, if this car tempts you, look closely at the history and make sure everything has been done!
Yeah, I'd agree with that too. I think a lot or 'car fans' like to experience lots of different cars and change them as regularly as is feasible. I owned a Mini Cooper S GP Works for 6 weeks once and only changed it because I really wanted another M3 - and not because anything was wrong with the car (it was mint).

I've had 7 cars in the last 3 years. Erm but that said, I got rid of 2 of them because they kept breaking down....... (I'm talking about you Audi A3 and you Mk3 Golf GTI).

M3RMS

1,167 posts

236 months

Sunday 11th January 2009
quotequote all
Burba said:
Posted in the classifieds - '02 E46 M3 Conv

Anyone know the particular car or been to see it??

I'd be tempted to return to the fold and have another one at this price!
For reference, my boss sold his 'fully loaded' 53 plate, SMG Coupe for a similar price last month. That had about 84k on the clock, FBMWSH, BMW warranty, new tyres, new MOT etc. I personally thought that wasn't enough money given how well he'd looked after it over the 3 years he'd owned it, but it'd been on the market for about 4 months with little serious interest.

Rs Dave

2 posts

221 months

Sunday 18th January 2009
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Hi having a few owners doesnt mean its a bad car these type of cars oftern get brought on finance by people that carnt realy afford them then after 6/12 months they get sick of paying for them all ther money going on them and then its service time and its good buy. another way of looking at it is the oppersit people with to much money buy them and get board one thing is that every owner thats had it has washed and polish it thats one of the first things that a new owner dose and sort out any niggles and what about every time a dealer has had it they would have done a pre-deivery check/inspection/service. Dont get me wrong it will have an affect on resale but it could be better than a one owner car that the owner has let little things go worng and not fixed them and sells the car when the service guys tell him it needs some money spending on it. one thing for sure on any car is check and double check you can get a good bargain like this if you intend to keep it for a few years then the owners will even out but if not then bargain hard

mat205125

17,790 posts

236 months

Sunday 18th January 2009
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schneller said:
Has it had its vital running-in inspection?
Heard this mentioned a lot WRT these cars.

Whilst I like to see a full history, by the time a car has 50k on it, does it really matter what happened 48k miles ago?

Deutscher

1,430 posts

242 months

Sunday 18th January 2009
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in the case of M cars, YES!

mat205125

17,790 posts

236 months

Sunday 18th January 2009
quotequote all
Deutscher said:
in the case of M cars, YES!
Because? .....

Sorry, not disputing the fact, just wondering what is checked/adjusted soon after the car leaves the forecourt that could be an un-picked-up issue 40-50k down the line.