[aretardedorange]

Looking at this car http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-3...item2ea8dc1f6f

After talking with seller he is willing to sell it for $9k. I have a friend whose dad owns a body shop. I am driving an E60 08 528i right now, this will be my daily driver to school/back. Any advice/insight?

[CirrusSR22]

From the pictures, I'd sure buy it for $9,000. I think the issue though is that there has to more damage than you can see. You wouldn't think they'd total (salvage) a car for damage to a front quarter panel and a door ???

If you have a connection though, might as well get it checked out by someone who know's frame damage. You could find a door and quarter panel at a salavge yard for a reasonable amount.

You'd think even a normal tire shop could check the alignment which would tell you a lot about how messed up it is.

[Ron1n]

I'm adverse to any salvage title car...I'd honestly stay away from it. You have a decent ride now...stick with that.

[klipseracer]

Hello, Let me point you in the right direction:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=297907

This thread will hopefully provide you with insight. What I will say in short however, is that I wouldn't touch that car with a 10 ft pole.

Reasons?

Here:

I paid $12,500 for my 335i with 30k miles, clear title, clear carfax/autocheck and still retains factory warranty. As soon as you have a badged title, you lose any factory or extended warranty you may have on the vehicle.

Another reason is because if they are taking the doors off, that isn't a good sign. This is likely closely related to the door jams being out of whack and they probably don't fit perfectly. Which means you'll be in for hackjob with spacers and such to try and make the doors line up, not to mention any kind of wind noises you'll be hearing at high speeds due to the seals not meshing properly and god knows if the car would end up leaking any water. The car needs still a good amount of work done on it, so you might as well try to pick up something for a little more cash. If you go cheap, I promise you'll regret it. You can't make an expensive car cheap... Well. Unless your as lucky as me.

Just remember, no matter how well you fix it, you're likely to have to deal with door hinge problems every time you get in and out, but most importantly, its still got 70k miles on it. You might as well go and spend 25k on a high mileage 335i.

EDIT: If you just want a possible diamond in the rough type car that if it turns out to be a little rough around the edges... Buy it. You never know how nice it might be. However I don't really see how the car is fully loaded with the seller listing options like: ABS, Power windows, POWER LOCKS(really?), CD Player.... I didn't know BMW's listed these things as options I had to pay for. Moreover, there is no navigation that I see either. For such a good deal, you can afford to have a third party come and inspect it. If you can't justify paying for that, then you probably can't justify buying the car.

[gos]

I wouldn't buy it without looking at it. The runner on the left side is missing, which tells me that there is likely severe damage to the underside of the vehicle. Remember the frame is mostly a single structure of bonded aluminum, real PITA to work with.

[gos]

That being said, you could probably come up with $9k worth of parts to sell off the car if you had the patience. Seats / airbags / dash / trim / wheels+tires / good bodywork / electronics and gauges etc.

[JayKay335i]

Could be awesome, could be garbage.

I'd personally stay away from it. Doors off and both side skirts are gone which makes me think that there could be frame damage and/or suspension damage that hes not mentioning. You have to figure that the seller knows what it would cost to restore and doesn't see it as being worthwhile to turn a profit. Maybe the guy just doesn't restore stuff. But I dont see them scraping the car just because of a fender and door.

[KentW]

Look at the lower edge of the passenger door frame. It's bent all to hell.

That's a parts car.

[E90PAT]

i bought my car from these guys.

[Spitfirocks]

Originally Posted by klipseracer

Hello, Let me point you in the right direction:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=297907

This thread will hopefully provide you with insight. What I will say in short however, is that I wouldn't touch that car with a 10 ft pole.

Reasons?

Here:

I paid $12,500 for my 335i with 30k miles, clear title, clear carfax/autocheck and still retains factory warranty. As soon as you have a badged title, you lose any factory or extended warranty you may have on the vehicle.

Another reason is because if they are taking the doors off, that isn't a good sign. This is likely closely related to the door jams being out of whack and they probably don't fit perfectly. Which means you'll be in for hackjob with spacers and such to try and make the doors line up, not to mention any kind of wind noises you'll be hearing at high speeds due to the seals not meshing properly and god knows if the car would end up leaking any water. The car needs still a good amount of work done on it, so you might as well try to pick up something for a little more cash. If you go cheap, I promise you'll regret it. You can't make an expensive car cheap... Well. Unless your as lucky as me.

Just remember, no matter how well you fix it, you're likely to have to deal with door hinge problems every time you get in and out, but most importantly, its still got 70k miles on it. You might as well go and spend 25k on a high mileage 335i.

EDIT: If you just want a possible diamond in the rough type car that if it turns out to be a little rough around the edges... Buy it. You never know how nice it might be. However I don't really see how the car is fully loaded with the seller listing options like: ABS, Power windows, POWER LOCKS(really?), CD Player.... I didn't know BMW's listed these things as options I had to pay for. Moreover, there is no navigation that I see either. For such a good deal, you can afford to have a third party come and inspect it. If you can't justify paying for that, then you probably can't justify buying the car.

How did you buy your car for 12.5k?

[Marlon Bodicker]

Originally Posted by aretardedorange

Looking at this car http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-3...item2ea8dc1f6f

After talking with seller he is willing to sell it for $9k. I have a friend whose dad owns a body shop. I am driving an E60 08 528i right now, this will be my daily driver to school/back. Any advice/insight?

Stick with your E60 - from what I can see on those pictures, I don't trust this deal at all. I've just had a quick look at the second hand prices for this type of car, and a basic 325i from 2006 would sell here in Belgium for about $26k.

Who in their right mind would sell this car for $9k then? Either they were not insured and are really desperate for money, or (more likely) something fishy is going on (otherwise their insurance would easily cover the repairs).

Like KentW already pointed out, this is a parts car - I'd certainly stay away from it.

It's your choice - but remember: if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Choose wisely.

Marlon

[ToadHollow]

I wouldn't even IF you want it as a point A to point B ride ......

Any problem you incur with the car will be out of pocket to fix.

The sustained damage resulting in a salvage title is likely to be more suspension than anything else .......... it will never be the same if that's the case.

Salvage title is ridiculously difficult to sell from the repair shop let alone if you ever want to sell.

Don't do it.

[demosthenes]

There are two good candidates for this car:

1. someone that works at body shop with a frame straightening machine and lots of time
2. wrecking yard

[///AV_330i]

it has soo much milage!!! if you spend 15 grand you can get an 06 325 NOT SALVAGED with LESS milage. whyyy would u spend 9 grand for a salvaged 325?!

[///AV_330i]

LOOK!

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...5&aff=national

[tizzyd]

the seller on the salvage car claims it has leather? sorry. nope. leatherette, no stitching on the doors. that dude is sketchy as hell don't waste your time with that car.

[jaza45]

I would buy it, I've owned 3 bmw with branded titles and never had a problem with them, from the looks of it, it looks like they just stripped it to get the parts to fix another crashed bmw, for $9000 I'll get it, thats my opinion...

[ultimate]

lol despite the exterior. the interior and engine bay are exceptionally clean.

[Craig@SupremePower]

tough call could be a hit or miss...

[Neutrino45]

Get it and let us know how it goes!

Originally Posted by tizzyd

the seller on the salvage car claims it has leather? sorry. nope. leatherette, no stitching on the doors. that dude is sketchy as hell don't waste your time with that car.

Do you have a comparison picture of the stitching?

[NoWr2Go]

Very interesting that the description says "The Beemer runs and drives". Doesn't say anything whether it drives WELL!!!! Stay away from it.

[klipseracer]

Originally Posted by Spitfirocks

How did you buy your car for 12.5k?

You need to read the link I posted above in case you didn't. It explains the car needed repairs done to it.