Need Some Purchase Advice

[m3f_Les Hankinson]

Hello All,



Newbie here so please excuse dumb questions in advance.



I am thinking about buying a 97 M3 as a grad. present for my 22 year old son. The car is on the Atlanta Classic Cars lot here in Atlanta (a Mercedes dealer). 80K miles on the odometer, black/black 4 door automatic. Aftermarket 18" wheels, lowered, leather interior w/sunroof.



First question, does anyone on this forum know who might have owned this car? It was traded in 2 days ago.



Q2. I see what appears to be a ton of power steering fluid leaking down under the car - I will get this checked out but is this a common problem?



Q3. I would like to have the car checked out, who would you recommend in the Atlanta area?



Q4. Front tires are showing cord on the inside edges, the rest of tire iis n good shape. Any reason to believe a lowered M3 can't be aligned to fix this?



That is it for now. In the interest of full disclosure my last BMW was a 1989 535 5 speed, loved it! My current car is a 2002 Z06, I meet a lot of you guys at Panoz track days at Road Atlanta, always enjoy the company!



Thanks,



Les

[m3f_T2_58b439f67f]

No help on the mx questions...sorry!



I hope you plan on helping him with repairs as it sounds like this car may need some extra$$.



BTW, this is a serious automobile with very high limits...hence he will be going very fast if he screws up and leaves the pavement. Take him to the Road Atlanta BMW drivers school so he does not become a Darwin award winner.





GOOD LUCK:thumbsup:

[m3f_astan100_7ef66fbe89]

Wow, I think that I'd stay away from this thing.



First of all, get rid of the tires, those are just hazards. Lowered cars will cause excessive negative camber and cause wear like you are describing. There is no real way to stop it and once the tires start wearing funny, they will just continue like that so even if it was an alignment problem, you probably couldn't fix it.



The power steering thing is a new problem to me and I've been on the forums for a good while. I have never heard of it.



I don't like buying heavily modified cars when you don't know the history. Based on the fact that the guy didn't care about his tires wearing away to nothing and let the power steering go like that, I would imagine he didn't take very good care of the car.



You still have another 5 months or so before graduation right? Wait it out! Don't buy your son a potential money hole.

[m3f_Les Hankinson]

I took the car to a local BMW shop today, (Bavarian Imports in Atlanta - great guys BTW). It was lowered way too far, stressed the suspension bushings - all need replacing, rack and pinion leaking and a bunch of other little stuff - decided to pass on the car.



If anyone knows where I can get a great price on a 97'ish M3 2Dr with a 5 speed (prefereably black) drop me an email, in the meantime I will watch the forums.



Thanks to all for the advice.



Les







Originally posted by astan100

Wow, I think that I'd stay away from this thing.



First of all, get rid of the tires, those are just hazards. Lowered cars will cause excessive negative camber and cause wear like you are describing. There is no real way to stop it and once the tires start wearing funny, they will just continue like that so even if it was an alignment problem, you probably couldn't fix it.



The power steering thing is a new problem to me and I've been on the forums for a good while. I have never heard of it.



I don't like buying heavily modified cars when you don't know the history. Based on the fact that the guy didn't care about his tires wearing away to nothing and let the power steering go like that, I would imagine he didn't take very good care of the car.



You still have another 5 months or so before graduation right? Wait it out! Don't buy your son a potential money hole.

[m3f_vinipux]

Originally posted by Les Hankinson





If anyone knows where I can get a great price on a 97'ish M3 2Dr with a 5 speed (prefereably black) drop me an email, in the meantime I will watch the forums.



Thanks to all for the advice.



Les





can I be adopted that's exactly what I'm looking for, I just graduated too and I'll be a perfect son, I'll take you drinking :beer: all the time

[m3f_erikM3]

I just PM ed with some stuff Les.

[m3f_Les Hankinson]

Thanks Erick, I appreciate the help and advice!



Les



Originally posted by erikM3

I just PM ed with some stuff Les.