5 Owners?

[m3f_E36driver]

Ok so here is the deal i finally found a white M3 in my area that seems to be in excellent condition. http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=178283023&dealer_id=39490325&car_ye ar=1997&make=BMW&distance=25&lang=en&max_price=&mo del=M3&end_year=1997&min_price=&certified=&address =60532&search_type=both&advanced=&start_year=1997& isp=y&cardist=4 So i go to the dealer to check it out and the car is super clean and all. I looked for some common problems like the ticking sound at start up and the shifter stick when you take it out of 5th gear and it did neither of them. I took it for a ride and it drove very well except for 2nd seemed to almost grind untill the car warmed up, is that normal? Well then after i get all excited that this might be the M3 i have been dreaming about the car fax shows that it has had 5 owners!!?? Is this something i should be worried about? Also the dealer cannot provide service records so that is a draw back but i think i can use that to play with the price maybe. Any imput you M experts would be greatly appreciated. I am selling my Audi to join the ///M3 world :thumbsup: Oh yeah forgot to mention that it is stock except for an intake. Thanks again and sorry for the long post



Steve

[m3f_Sirius_880bd69485]

My carfax showed the same thing. No big deal. I fixed the link in your post btw.

[m3f_99Blk&Tan_6738c76028]

Looks like it's in pretty good shape and fairly low miles for a '97. It also has the lightweight wheels :thumbsup:

[m3f_Sirius_880bd69485]

LTW's rule.

[m3f_E36driver]

Thanks for the info guys this is really tempting me to buy this M3! Anything else i need to look for before i buy it? Also what do you guys think about that interior color? Thanks Sirius for fixing my link! :thumbsup:

[m3f_Sirius_880bd69485]

Thats the modena interior color (looks like the inside of a punpkin). A very intresting color in person, and somewhat rare.

[m3f_M-avant_0baeb1c2f5]

looks pretty clean. if you're a bit worried, maybe a pre-purchase inspection could help you decide. the pictures showed of the car looks good. although it was interesting that the ad states an auto - while the pics show a manual. :thumbsup:

[m3f_nixtfy_c9201d70ed]

Unfortunately, five people before you found out that it went to 60 in 5.5 seconds. I honestly would pass on the car for a higher mileage one or two owner car. Most everyone who buys a m3 drives it hard at the beginning of ownership. Depending on how long you plan on owning it this car will be hard to sell without records, numerous owners, and modena interior people love it or hate it. I personally bought my two m3's because they had the modena interior. Try bimmerforums.com

[m3f_salty_80d4b8491b]

The ad says that the car has an auto gearbox?? If this is the case, I'd avoid it as an auto M3 will be very hard to re-sell for an adequate price. None of us can really tell you much from a low res screen photo. Dealers are masters at detailing old cars. We can't see if all the body panels have their proper serial number, if the whole bacck end is fresh paint, what the shape of the mechanicals are, compression numbers, etc. 5 owners would be a negative for me, and no maintenance records would set off a red flag. Buy the car if it gets the blessing of the best BMW mechanic in the area and it has the color and option list you are after. I love the Forged wheels though, quite like white and the interior is neat.

[m3f_Cyrus_192532641c]

As long as you get it inspected I would not be too concerned about the number of owners.



FYI, I have a 99 Alpine over Modena and it is very rare -- I have yet to see another on the road. Just make sure you can live with the pumpkin.

[m3f_Edgy_592e912c16]

HAVE to have it inspected, always a must but even more so with no service records. At that mileage the car needs an Inspection II, run you $800 at dealership.



Then ask the dealer to repair whatever the inspect finds -- or push price down, since they're not BMW, right?



Just make sure you can live with the pumpkin.



Man Cyrus, that's funny. :rofl2:

[m3f_99Blk&Tan_6738c76028]

Yeah with 5 previous owners an inspection is a very good idea. I noticed you are looking at a car in Naperville. There is a good shop in Carol Stream that can do an inspection for you (much cheaper than a dealer):

EDVA Motorsports

500 E. St. Charles Rd.

Carol Stream, IL 60188

630.933.8333

[email protected]

[m3f_98M3and325_d8d2e42902]

Yeah with 5 previous owners an inspection is a very good idea. I noticed you are looking at a car in Naperville. There is a good shop in Carol Stream that can do an inspection for you (much cheaper than a dealer):

EDVA Motorsports

500 E. St. Charles Rd.

Carol Stream, IL 60188

630.933.8333

[email protected]



BMW dealer in Naperville will charge around $100 for a visual inspection. They did this for my 93 325is six years ago.

[m3f_Eric1855_e8e56eaefb]

5 Owners for a 8 perhaps 9 year old car is not really that bad. Thats one owner every 2 years almost. Thats all the longer I keep a car before getting bored.



I would look into the dates and times of the ownership and transfers of title. I know when I went to sell my WRX that the Carfax was all messed up on it. And it has proven to be inaccurate in the past. On my WRX it showed it as being bought new, twice, once in Louisvlle and once in TN, and sold like 6 times when I was the original owner. It was due to someones typo with the VIN at a dealer in TN to where it matched mine and Carfax didnt discern what it was reporting as impossible.



Also many other things like a transfer of title to another state, or from on lien to a bank to off lien to the owner will also show up as transfers of title and change in ownership when really they are not. Sometimes even if you company sells your car loan to another, say after a bankruptcy or buyout at the corporate level it may show as a change of ownership due to transfer of title lien from one owner to another.



So the cliffs notes is if you are worried about the owners dig a bit deeper and make sure everything checks out and adds up before using that to make your decision.

[m3f_E36driver]

First off thanks for all the great information and opnions you guys have given i am still really torn on this car however i did make a lil progress. I talked to the salesman again and he said that he was working on contacting the last owner of the M3 to find out if inspection II had been performed or not. I am waitng for him to get back to me so we will see. Another thing i noticed while test driving a different M3 was the there is a service indicator that looks like a bar or something that goes from red to green. The 5 owner car is in the green which i assume is where it should be where as the 99 that i know for sure did not have inspection II was in the red zone. So can it be in the green with the given miles (around 64,000) if inspection II was not performed? Thanks again for all your help guys