Am I becoming too suspicious for my own good?!

[dylan0451]

so, seen another E36 328 that I like the look of

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/classifieds/2057818.h...

it's also for sale here:

http://www.bmwadvertiser.co.uk/forsale/328I%20SPOR...

so why has it been hanging about for 21 days? too strong a price, or the fact it'll be mot'd when sold, so potential issues in that you can't actually test drive it until you've agreed to buy?!

[Craphouserat]

Why do sellers say that? First to see will buy !!!! I detest that and am genuinely put off by it. If first to see will buy surely there must be a whole load of people running after him down the road as he passes - all clobbering each other screaming I seen it first!

It does look good though.

[RobM77]

21 Days is nothing. My 328i had 80k miles on the clock, was in superb condition, had £5500 spent on it restoring it to as new condition (new BMW spec springs, new dampers, new bushes all round, new tyres and other work on degraded components), and it took two months to sell at just a little more than that one's up for. Go for it, but bear in mind it'll need new suspension at that mileage, unless it's been done already.

[Chris71]

Craphouserat said:

Why do sellers say that? First to see will buy !!!! I detest that and am genuinely put off by it.

+1

I hate being 'sold to' whether it's a private sale or a dealership - I'll decide if it's the best one out there, too good to miss etc. thank you very much...

[dylan0451]

Craphouserat said:

Why do sellers say that? First to see will buy !!!! I detest that and am genuinely put off by it. If first to see will buy surely there must be a whole load of people running after him down the road as he passes - all clobbering each other screaming I seen it first!

It does look good though.

hehe, reminds me of statements like, 'not for the faint hearted' 'this is one seriously fast car' etc. etc. no st, that could have a small thing to do do with the reason for buying

RobM77 said:

21 Days is nothing. My 328i had 80k miles on the clock, was in superb condition, had £5500 spent on it restoring it to as new condition (new BMW spec springs, new dampers, new bushes all round, new tyres and other work on degraded components), and it took two months to sell at just a little more than that one's up for. Go for it, but bear in mind it'll need new suspension at that mileage, unless it's been done already.

go on then rob, scare me - how much for a set of OEM sport shocks and springs all round?! would be sticking some winter tyres on it anyway so, not so much an issue.

although contacting the guy seems to be...

[Risotto]

"Contact: vlad sunjerian"

Wouldn't bother me but some people are fussy about such things.

[RobM77]

dylan0451 said:

Craphouserat said:

Why do sellers say that? First to see will buy !!!! I detest that and am genuinely put off by it. If first to see will buy surely there must be a whole load of people running after him down the road as he passes - all clobbering each other screaming I seen it first!

It does look good though.

hehe, reminds me of statements like, 'not for the faint hearted' 'this is one seriously fast car' etc. etc. no st, that could have a small thing to do do with the reason for buying

RobM77 said:

21 Days is nothing. My 328i had 80k miles on the clock, was in superb condition, had £5500 spent on it restoring it to as new condition (new BMW spec springs, new dampers, new bushes all round, new tyres and other work on degraded components), and it took two months to sell at just a little more than that one's up for. Go for it, but bear in mind it'll need new suspension at that mileage, unless it's been done already.

go on then rob, scare me - how much for a set of OEM sport shocks and springs all round?! would be sticking some winter tyres on it anyway so, not so much an issue.

although contacting the guy seems to be...

Around £1600 for the parts for springs and dampers, so around £1800 fitted at a local garage. I think the total for my suspension work was around £2500. Check my profile for more details - I kept a full ownership diary. You can do it a lot cheaper with aftermarket parts, but after all my research into it I decided on BMW parts. My objective was to restore the car to as new condition with no expense spared. In total, the car cost me nearly £10k including purchase price. The PHer who bought it for £3k got an outstandingly good deal, because the market doesn't tend to factor in replacement of components when valuing a car.

[dylan0451]

Risotto said:

"Contact: vlad sunjerian"

Wouldn't bother me but some people are fussy about such things.

BMW is good...

BMW is reliable...

RobM77 said:

Around £1600 for the parts for springs and dampers, so around £1800 fitted at a local garage. I think the total for my suspension work was around £2500. Check my profile for more details - I kept a full ownership diary. You can do it a lot cheaper with aftermarket parts, but after all my research into it I decided on BMW parts. My objective was to restore the car to as new condition with no expense spared. In total, the car cost me nearly £10k including purchase price. The PHer who bought it for £3k got an outstandingly good deal, because the market doesn't tend to factor in replacement of components when valuing a car.

fair enough, that's not an epic expense but reassures me that my wallet probably couldn't suffer M3 running/repair costs! i'd probably be looking to do the same, well, hopefully costing less than your ownership has but i guess it's a bit of a lottery...

Edited by dylan0451 on Friday 1st October 15:06

[RobM77]

dylan0451 said:

RobM77 said:

Around £1600 for the parts for springs and dampers, so around £1800 fitted at a local garage. I think the total for my suspension work was around £2500. Check my profile for more details - I kept a full ownership diary. You can do it a lot cheaper with aftermarket parts, but after all my research into it I decided on BMW parts. My objective was to restore the car to as new condition with no expense spared. In total, the car cost me nearly £10k including purchase price. The PHer who bought it for £3k got an outstandingly good deal, because the market doesn't tend to factor in replacement of components when valuing a car.

fair enough, that's not an epic expense but reassures me that my wallet probably couldn't suffer M3 running/repair costs! i'd probably be looking to do the same, well, hopefully costing less than your ownership has but i guess it's a bit of a lottery...

why did you sell in the end after sticking that much wedge in?

I shouldn't have sold up in hindsight really. I had an urge to try a newer car; it seemed silly to earn a really good salary and drive a 12 year old £3k car. I spent £22,500 on a newer car, was misled by the dealer that it would do what I wanted and am now having to sell at a big loss (another £5500 incidentally!) and am going to buy my Dad's old diesel off him to give my wallet a break!

[Speedracer329]

As said above 21 days is nothing. I have a Jag advertised on here for 14 days now & not even a phone call yet. It is the longest I have ever waited to sell any of my cars, but I am not worried. Although I never put it in an ad the first person who views my car does usually buy it

It might be the weather putting people off, or any number of things, but a good car will sell.

[dylan0451]

RobM77 said:

dylan0451 said:

why did you sell in the end after sticking that much wedge in?

I shouldn't have sold up in hindsight really. I had an urge to try a newer car; it seemed silly to earn a really good salary and drive a 12 year old £3k car. I spent £22,500 on a newer car, was misled by the dealer that it would do what I wanted and am now having to sell at a big loss (another £5500 incidentally!) and am going to buy my Dad's old diesel off him to give my wallet a break!

fair enough, i'd do the same in your position i guess, i've always been under the impression the Z4 was a hugely more capable car than the 3 that it replaced.

ETA: goddamit! finally got through to the guy, (who, incidentally didn't sound like boris at all) he says he's had a change of heart and decided to keep it since it's such a great example! not much help to me, i'm not sure if that was a roundabout way of getting me to offer even more, just wished him luck anyway.

every 328 i look at i either can't get hold of the seller, car is dodgy, been sold... starting to wonder if this is an omen!

Edited by dylan0451 on Friday 1st October 15:28

[RobM77]

dylan0451 said:

RobM77 said:

dylan0451 said:

why did you sell in the end after sticking that much wedge in?

I shouldn't have sold up in hindsight really. I had an urge to try a newer car; it seemed silly to earn a really good salary and drive a 12 year old £3k car. I spent £22,500 on a newer car, was misled by the dealer that it would do what I wanted and am now having to sell at a big loss (another £5500 incidentally!) and am going to buy my Dad's old diesel off him to give my wallet a break!

fair enough, i'd do the same in your position i guess, i've always been under the impression the Z4 was a hugely more capable car than the 3 that it replaced.

ETA: goddamit! finally got through to the guy, (who, incidentally didn't sound like boris at all) he says he's had a change of heart and decided to keep it since it's such a great example! not much help to me, i'm not sure if that was a roundabout way of getting me to offer even more, just wished him luck anyway.

every 328 i look at i either can't get hold of the seller, car is dodgy, been sold... starting to wonder if this is an omen!

Edited by dylan0451 on Friday 1st October 15:28

Yes, the Z4 Coupé is a lot quicker (similar weight but 70bhp more and a low ratio box), more neutral handling, stiffer, lower and much more grippy. However, this is my everyday car and the 328i had a roof rack for my kayak and bike. The BMW salesman told me the Z4C would do that, but once I'd handed the money over the roof rack turned out to be a hoax - no such thing existed, and the salesman got really shirty with me when I said anything about it. So that's why I wished I'd kept the 328. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! I'll know next time; I'l probably buy privately - same comeback but a lot cheaper, and I can buy a warranty seperately if I want.

The 328i is a great car though - one of the best BMWs made in my opinion.