E39 M5 purchase - does incomplete history = too risky?
Discussion
I'm after some advice.... I'm going to look at an M5 tomorrow on a W plate. Has low miles (sub 50k) but a big gap in the service history. I understand (from my previous post) that a dealer can obtain a mileage reading from the key - but this isn't totally reliable and is easily 'clocked'. The guy's had it 3 years and it's been garaged for nearly two of those years (he has a couple of high performance cars). It's black, wood, black leather but no satnav, 5 months MOT.
How would this effect the value (and obviously resale value)? What value would you give it? Worth getting an inspection done at my local Indy e.g buy on condition rather than a book full of stamps?
Any advice gratefully received.
How would this effect the value (and obviously resale value)? What value would you give it? Worth getting an inspection done at my local Indy e.g buy on condition rather than a book full of stamps?
Any advice gratefully received.
A big gap in history would put me off. You will have people saying the same thing when you come to sell it. So if its only done less than 5k a year, where is the service history? Where was it serviced? You can phone BMW and ask them for their record of service, which dealer etc.
These cars need maintaining and without proof of it being done then you may be looking at more bills than the car is worth.
Unless you are paying next to nothing there are too many good ones with full BMWSH for not a lot of money. Low mileage doesnt always mean good condition, and with a gap in the history it means there could be something to hide.
These cars need maintaining and without proof of it being done then you may be looking at more bills than the car is worth.
Unless you are paying next to nothing there are too many good ones with full BMWSH for not a lot of money. Low mileage doesnt always mean good condition, and with a gap in the history it means there could be something to hide.
prices for the E39 m5 are very sensitive to the quality of history the car has. They are complex cars and if you want to avoid big bills make sure the one you buy has a stack of reciepts showing it's been maintained properly. A patchy history on a low mileage car could hide and unrecorded accident or the history could have been lost to cover clocking.
BMW will be able to tell you the dates and mileage at which it was last serviced which should help you work this out
BMW will be able to tell you the dates and mileage at which it was last serviced which should help you work this out
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