Newbie to boards needs more help in quest for m3

[BFLJR]

Hey guys,

Still on my quest for a low mileage, great condition e90 and I just found what looks like a great possibility. It's a pretty much fully loaded 2011 (still 10 mos of warranty) with DCT and exactly the color I want: silverstone with silver interior. Only 23,600 miles with 2 very small rock chips on the hood but otherwise the owner says its pristine inside and out. Always garaged, never seen snow or track etc. Several questions for you guys:

1. The owner did say that he once ran over a delaminated tire on the highway and this damaged the plastic under tray and wheel well. This was repaired with genuine bmw parts followed by a realignment at a bmw service center. Per the current owner, the repairs were well done and he has had no issues. This seems like a pretty straightforward repair and nothing to worry about. Thoughts?

2. The only mod is a fab speed x pipe and exhaust. I don't know a lot about exhaust systems and am probably more of an "oem" guy so I am a bit worried that this may be too loud for me and especially my wife. However I have been told that this set up is actually quite nice with a good sound that only gets noticeably louder when the car is opened up a good bit. I am hoping that i will actually want to leave it as is but he has the original parts so it can be put back to stock if I choose. Thoughts? Is it easy to go back to the oem parts?

3. I am in NC and the car is in Colorado. The owner says that the local BMW service advisor knows him and the car quite well and will vouch for the accuracy of his description - I am calling him tomorrow. The owner also says he would be happy to take the car in for a PPI at the BMW dealership ( I would pay of course). If all this checks out, is that enough to buy long distance and have it shipped not having seen the car in person? Or should I fly out ( I have enough FF miles so it would mainly be my time ) and see in person and then have it shipped? ( Don't think I want to drive it back - though it could be fun!)

4. Any estimates on cost to ship to NC from Colorado?

5. Any estimates on what it will cost to extend the current warranty?

Thanks ahead of time for your help!

[signes]

Sounds like a good car.

1. Not a big deal at all

2. Sound shouldn't be too loud but very easy to swap back. I would be curious who did the swap.

3. Which dealer (I am in Colo, curious). PPI is a no brainer, but whether you would be willing to close the deal sight unseen is a question only you can answer. I would get the PPI (and service history) and if it checks out, fly out and back in the same day just to make sure. Small cost to make sure. Many people have different impressions of what is good condition even if it all checks out mechanically.

4. Depends on open or closed carrier. Budget ~$1000-1500 but easy to call a few carriers and get estimates.

5. Again depends. Through BMW? 3rd party? For how long/how many miles? A starting point is $3k but that can vary a lot, (mostly up) depending on what you choose. A lot of info on here with a simple search.

Good luck with the purchase.

[BFLJR]

Originally Posted by signes

Sounds like a good car.

1. Not a big deal at all

2. Sound shouldn't be too loud but very easy to swap back. I would be curious who did the swap.

3. Which dealer (I am in Colo, curious). PPI is a no brainer, but whether you would be willing to close the deal sight unseen is a question only you can answer. I would get the PPI (and service history) and if it checks out, fly out and back in the same day just to make sure. Small cost to make sure. Many people have different impressions of what is good condition even if it all checks out mechanically.

4. Depends on open or closed carrier. Budget ~$1000-1500 but easy to call a few carriers and get estimates.

5. Again depends. Through BMW? 3rd party? For how long/how many miles? A starting point is $3k but that can vary a lot, (mostly up) depending on what you choose. A lot of info on here with a simple search.

Good luck with the purchase.

Thanks for the quick reply! It's Murray BMW in Denver.

[signes]

Good service department, just make sure the guy doing the PPI has experience with M cars.

[Edward]

Sounds a lot better than the other one you found that was the 08 with the horrendous mods and wheels.

This one sounds like a great potentially pick up.

I'd probably do a one night trip out there to check it out. Cost you $5 in taxes/fees on an award miles trip and 120-150 for the hotel. Small price to pay to do a 3 mile test drive to know for sure its the right one.

Miles are excellent, year is right, color combo is what you want. I would not worry about that exhaust but I'd definitely swap it out for stock, esp if he has the oem exhaust. That's not an overly desirable exhaust anyway. It's pretty much OEM MPE exhaust or Akrapovic that anyone really care about (no offense).

An extended warranty may cost you around $3k to buy before the car is out of warranty. Not sure if it's worth it. Just check brake life and tire life. Those are the most expensive normal maintenance items. I'm not sure a dealership is really allowed to sell any used car to a customer with brakes or tires in dire need of replacing.

Good luck. I'm expecting you to post up that here's my new car thread!

[BFLJR]

Signes and Edward,

Thanks so much for your help and guidance! From what I can tell by talking to the owner he is a very nice guy, knows his cars (much more than me) and seems to be very meticulous in the care of his cars. I do think he is being very honest and sincere but i also know I need to confirm these things. (I once bought a 1967 Austin Healey 3000 in "really good condition" sight unseen only to have it delivered with a 1963 engine and the breaks and suspension essentially shot! So yes I will be more careful this time!) Thanks again!!

[Edward]

Yea, just listen for squeeks, weird noises, creaks, etc. A car that has ridden on stock suspension for under 30k miles will have little to no weird sounds coming from it. Drive the car in both Auto mode and Paddle shifting it in S1-5. If it has EDC, cycle through those settings, etc. Just check everything out. The exhaust swap is completely reversible. Axle back exhaust systems are a complete bolt on so you should be able to return that to OEM exactly the way the car came without any welding or unnecessary clamping except the original clamp point.

[BFLJR]

Thanks Edward. I will keep you posted!

[bill1718]

fly to see the car drive it buy it then drive it home

[cannga]

Unless it's an absolute steal of a deal, why risk buying from far away?

I am not sure I like the part about the car needing an alignment after that accident. Should be ok, don't think any suspension link was bent or bushing damaged, but... I would prefer that there was no history or would want a test drive before committing. Part of the problem of a long distance purchase.

Have you tried using a Carmax search? Set the search for a low mileage car and year, no limit on distance from where you are, then wait, it will come as there are multiple M3's on carmax when I did my search.

Huge advantage of Carmax: 5 days to return car for refund, car transferred to local Carmax (for a fee that varies but seems to max out around 900 for a cross country transfer) by Carmax so you save yourself a trip and could inspect car personally and have PPI with you around, you assume no risk if damage is caused during transport, extended warranty (which does allow you to fix car at BMW dealer) costs only $2000 to extend another 4 years beyond factory for my 2011 M3 with 6000 miles.

[Edward]

^ The alignment sounds simply like a precaution. Kind of how people should, but a lot don't get an aligment at regular intervals or when changing suspension settings etc.

A retread tire won't cause serious damage to a car. People run over those all day every day across the country. I've had one kicked up onto my bumper at 70 mph once. Not cool, but the car doesn't turn into a salvage title afterwards.

I think this car sounds lightyears better than that last one he was looking at.