[raf555]

As some of u may know from the thread i started about buying an E90 330i...
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=372852

but thought i would start a new thread to simply ask what parts i should be particularly looking out for when viewing an E90 330i???

there was one 330i i was going to view but couldnt as the chap went away on holiday but is back now so will be going to view it.

just to remind u its a 55 plate E90 manual 330i SE with just under 75k miles and FSH and comes with extras such as heated sports leathers, folding mirrors and i drive but no xenons.

askin price £10,295 but he will not go under £10k.

its been serviced recently inc new brake pads and new tyres on 17" wheels.

anyone know any good hpi check companies that also offer day insurance for the car u checking?

also he's not too keen on a cash payment as would prefer a bank transfer, anyone bought a private car in this way if so any potential probs or is it quite normal??

thanks

[F31-340i]

Check usual things - signs of accident damage, clocking etc.

If it has idrive, assume has Prov Nav & Bluetooth? On idrive, check when all the service items are due - this is under the "i" menu, info source, service settings (or similar text - its the one with the car on a ramp).

Check values - I'd be aiming to pay as near as possible to the top part ex price - assuming it is in excellent condition. What colour is it?

Bank Tx no problem - I'd pick it up from a bank near him, so you don't need it in advance, and he sees you get it out so can be confident its not fake.

http://www.virtual-showroom.co.uk/sc...|55&mileage=75


BMW 3 Series 330i SE
3.0 Petrol 4-door Saloon
6 Speed Manual Rear Wheel Drive
Year: 2005 55
Mileage: 75,000

Estimated value of your car


Part-exchange Price:
Excellent condition:
£8800
Average condition:
£7930
Below average condition:
£6970

[raf555]

Originally Posted by ///ajd

Check usual things - signs of accident damage, clocking etc.

If it has idrive, assume has Prov Nav & Bluetooth? On idrive, check when all the service items are due - this is under the "i" menu, info source, service settings (or similar text - its the one with the car on a ramp).

Check values - I'd be aiming to pay as near as possible to the top part ex price - assuming it is in excellent condition. What colour is it?

Bank Tx no problem - I'd pick it up from a bank near him, so you don't need it in advance, and he sees you get it out so can be confident its not fake.

http://www.virtual-showroom.co.uk/sc...|55&mileage=75


BMW 3 Series 330i SE
3.0 Petrol 4-door Saloon
6 Speed Manual Rear Wheel Drive
Year: 2005 55
Mileage: 75,000

Estimated value of your car


Part-exchange Price:
Excellent condition:
£8800
Average condition:
£7930
Below average condition:
£6970

to be honest having been on the hunt for a decent 330i for a month or so now there is not a 330i in sight with a price tag of under £9k so how any one can get one at trade value beats me?!

if i could get a half dcent one for around £9k it would not be short of a miracle especially with a spec that includes sports leathers and i drive!!

the 'what car valuations' comes up with these prices and u looking at the wrong side of £10k in reality, just check auto trader as cheapest one is coming at £10.5k but done £85k!!

so if anyone knows the secret to buying a car at a trade price plz tell cos i aint seeing nothin that cheap!!

BMW 3 Series Saloon 330i SE 4dr 2005 (55) 75,000 miles
Dealer £11,515
Private £10,550
Part exchange £9,340
Trade £8,935
Cost new £28,825

PS ajd thanks for the tips much appreciated will bear them in mind.

[Dawsey]

Have you been to any auctions?

[raf555]

Originally Posted by Dawsey

Have you been to any auctions?

not lately but went to one a couple month back whre they had a bmw auctin day at brighouse bca auction and the prices were CRAZY as in expensive!!

[R80TER]

from experience i would check silly things such as:

Window and headlight wash (common for the filter to block and its a pain to fix)
everything electric (all windows, seats, mirrors, central locking)

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by raf555

so if anyone knows the secret to buying a car at a trade price plz tell cos i aint seeing nothin that cheap!!

Trade price is for traders, you aint a trader so so'll pay retail.

No trader is going to sell you a car at the price he paid for it is he? The best you can do is eat into his margin by negotiations.

In private sale its all about how much you want the car and how much the seller wants rid - and if any others are after it - more tricky to judge than a trade sale IMO.

Bank transfers can be risky, if you want an immediate CHAPS style transfer you will have to arrange this and it can be a pain, also the timing can be an issue waiting around for the process to work, and 3.30pm is the close of play for these transfers, any cock ups and you'll be waiting till the next day.

A Bank Cheque is as good as cash and if you take him to your bank he can see it being issued to you along with the ID checks etc the bank will make on you. This way he knows its not fake.

I have glass's guide here and the prices on this thread are BS IMO.

More like 12k retail and 9K trade as yours is over the 48k average mileage. (it would be 14k retail with 48k miles)

What year is your 55? 05 or 06? I need to know that to get the correct price.

[msport]

Them prices are very nice but totally unatainable ! I just paid 12500 for my 330i msport fully loaded and mint with 33k on a december 55 same car/spec on the forecourt your looking at anything from 13 to 17k I was just right place right time . I even went on we buy any car . com for a laugh and they was offering me £12175 and you can imagine what sort of money theses boys would offer lol
good luck in ya search dude.

As for auctions these cars rarely come up and if they do its silly wonga im registered with BCA your always gonna pay top dollar for sort after cars.

My advice is hang in there and get the car you really want or forever be thinking what if. Something WILL turn up just keep ya finger on the pulse.

simon

[doughboy]

Well specced E90 330i's are very sough after, manual especially.

In the middle of the dip in Feb 2009, my E90 330i was worth £9-10K trade in max (3yrs old 50K, loaded), I put it in the trader and sold in within hours for £15K to one of many people whoe were desparate to find a manual 330i E90.

Someone who really wants one will pay over the odds for a good one and actual prices reflect this.

You're not talking about a used diesel motorway muncher, these are proper enthusiasts cars for people who want the practicality and great looks of a saloon, and TBH the E90 330i is a whole load of car for the money.

Future classic BMW I reckon....

[raf555]

Originally Posted by doughboy

Trade price is for traders, you aint a trader so so'll pay retail.

What year is your 55? 05 or 06? I need to know that to get the correct price.

its a 55 plate in black

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by raf555

its a 55 plate in black

Yes, but is it a 2005 55 or a 2006 55 (as 55 spans 2005 and 2006)??

There is quite a jump up, nearly £1000, for a 2006 55 over a 2005 55.

[raf555]

Originally Posted by doughboy

Yes, but is it a 2005 55 or a 2006 55 (as 55 spans 2005 and 2006)??

There is quite a jump up, nearly £1000, for a 2006 55 over a 2005 55.

2005 55

[jinjur]

Take it for a drive and CHECK THE FACKING ECONOMY FFS!


JJ

[msport]

Originally Posted by jinjur

Take it for a drive and CHECK THE FACKING ECONOMY FFS!


JJ

typical derv burner remark last time I checked 34mpg on mainly b roads cruising at 50 at least I wont have sleepless nights over swirl flaps turbos and egrs

[F31-340i]

The prices I listed were powered by Glasses guide, and don't seem that far off given this listed is at a dealer - 55 plate manual loaded 330i 82k for £10.450k....at that price you'd be lucky if he bid £8800 as a trade in price. Lovely spec with Nav and 18" ellipsoids.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...ge/1?logcode=p

I got the impression the OP was buying privately, so assuming this dealer would deal around £10k, then you should be looking at less privately.

Not sure how any 55 plate 330i is going to be worth £17k!

Plus - same dealer, same 55 reg, 330d, miles more miles (113k), no Nav, 17" wheelettes, £10,850!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...48ln?logcode=p

Diesels are worth more - get over it! (but I still love 330i's and of the two above the 330i is the better buy!)

[Kris335d]

Take it from me the auctions at the moment are a waste of time.

I've been in the trade for nearly 10 years and the last year used car prices have gone crazy, the last two BMW's i've bought 630 and 335d coupe i've bought from autotrader.

For some reason (likely something to do with Vat qualifiying cars) people are willing to pay crazy money for cars in the trade. So anything around the trade price i would snap someones hand off.

Ope it helped in some way.

Kris

[Kris335d]

Als if anyone is looking for a car and want to PM me i'd be quite happy to source this.

We run a Prestige Car Sales from a smallholding at our home and hand pick a selection of cars for re-sale.

[msport]

heres a good example of the silly prices 3 months newer than mine with 6k less £7500 more than I paid !!

http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/auc/car_d...VB32090AW50550

[Kris335d]

No problems.

What year is it?

And are you looking for a trade or retail valuation?

At the moment as you might know they use two main sources for valuation, CAP guid and Glass's guide. These are usually £100-£300 apart from each other but at the moment they can be anything up to £3000-£4000 apart on a £15,000 car which as you can see is a massive ammount.

Also are you looking to sell it?

Thanks Kris

[F31-340i]

Originally Posted by Kris335d

No problems.

What year is it?

And are you looking for a trade or retail valuation?

At the moment as you might know they use two main sources for valuation, CAP guid and Glass's guide. These are usually £100-£300 apart from each other but at the moment they can be anything up to £3000-£4000 apart on a £15,000 car which as you can see is a massive ammount.

Also are you looking to sell it?

Thanks Kris

Hi Kris - I moved my post to Classifieds as I didn't want to thread creep - I might sell, but only as I'm moving abroad and I fear there might be a slight risk it'll cost me upto 2k EUR to get the xenons converted to LHD to pass a French MoT.....if its that much I maybe better selling and getting a 5er or something where you can switch them over for free. Mind I've also heard the French MoT is a doddle, so it might not matter - research is on-going.

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by ///ajd

The prices I listed were powered by Glasses guide, and don't seem that far off given this listed is at a dealer - 55 plate manual loaded 330i 82k for £10.450k....at that price you'd be lucky if he bid £8800 as a trade in price. Lovely spec with Nav and 18" ellipsoids.

17K? Blimey did someone say that?

I have the paper March 10 Glass's guide here and it lists the 0555 330i SE saloon with 75K as £12,500 retail £10,500 trade.

Those figures are only -£150 from Feb, so take same or less off for April.

Anyhow, private purchase you'd expect midway between the two IMO, for sure no less then trade FFS.

[F31-340i]

Originally Posted by doughboy

for sure no less then trade FFS.

The one I listed is £10.5k RETAIL, not trade.

You guide prices don't appear to match reality on autotrader.





FFS.