buying a factory repurchased m3 - WORRIED, please help!!

Never really had much experience here, but basic situation is i was sitting down about to sign for a car when the dealer pulls out a "lemon" statement and goes by the way...

Can someone take a look at the attached and let me know if I should be worried? Also, service record never shows an oil change?? not sure how service records for BMWs are stored and whether routine oil changes are supposed to show up, but my old CLK records showed every single oil change....

I really need your help here, what should I do?

It does show 2 oil changes: at 1360 miles (1200 miles service, which should include oil change) and 11800 or so miles (it says oil change). It also shows full maintenance 24600 or so miles (not sure, but I assume it includes oil change).
Nonetheless, why would you want to buy a lemon??? Is it so much cheaper than non-lemon cars?

I personally wouldn't take the chance. It was bought back for a reason and M cars are not the cheapest to maintain.

Can you give some specifics like what year , how many miles, msrp, options? My initial reaction would be to run the other way don't touch it, your just asking for trouble, no record of oil changes?

Thanks for the replies guys, here's some more detailed info.

2006 - 33.5k miles
White ext. Red int.
Fully loaded (whoever bought it basically went down the options list and checked off every single box), so that would be comp package, premium package, cold weather package, SMG, and nav for starters.
They are asking 35k for it.

Its not so much the price, its decently priced certainly, but not a steal at the ask at least. What I really like is the color scheme. I've never really seen another one on the market in white/red, but its not really worth taking the risk for it.

EDIT:
VERY newbie question - but 3 oil changes in 30k miles? isn't that a little low? with the CLK i was getting my oil changed every 3-4k miles....

A "BuyBack" vehicle is just a *small* step above a Salvage title....I would`nt do it..... SMG trannies have more than their share of problems.

Originally Posted by arismis

Thanks for the replies guys, here's some more detailed info.

2006 - 33.5k miles
White ext. Red int.
Fully loaded (whoever bought it basically went down the options list and checked off every single box), so that would be comp package, premium package, cold weather package, SMG, and nav for starters.
They are asking 35k for it.

Its not so much the price, its decently priced certainly, but not a steal at the ask at least. What I really like is the color scheme. I've never really seen another one on the market in white/red, but its not really worth taking the risk for it.

EDIT:
VERY newbie question - but 3 oil changes in 30k miles? isn't that a little low? with the CLK i was getting my oil changed every 3-4k miles....

Ok....I would run not walk away from this car. Never buy a "buyback" car because it is essentially a lemon. Oil needs to be done every 7500-8000 miles or so IMHO. This price is also high in light of the auction values for this car which are in the mid 20's right now. I would not do it if I were you.

Looking at the second scanned document...why did the dealer/BMWNA buy it back? It does not say why. I would call BMWNA and ask them. They gave you the VIN number. Phone call is free.

What dealer is this also? There have been some issues with some IL dealers. Check the Dealer forum for more info.

M3's at that price are great...but the maintenance is expensive...why start with one that already has documented issues just because the color is unique?

Buyer beware on this one.

Good luck

Thanks for the replies guys, I'm going to walk away from this one.

Find out what it was lemon'd for. In Illinois the lemon law applies when:

- have a nonconformity that both substantially impairs the use , market value or safety of the vehicle and is not repairable by the dealer or manufacturer in at least four attempts for the same repair, or

- be out of service for a total of 30 or more business days.

The car might be perfectly fine after the repair was done, but if it took the dealership too long or too many attempts to figure it out, the owner could take advantage of the law to return it.

Here's the original CA lemon documents. Looks like it says "have to pump breaks to start car". I have no idea what that even means. In addition, there were a couple of pretty concerning service record entries.

Originally Posted by arismis

Thanks for the replies guys, I'm going to walk away from this one.

smart man...better safe then sorry. There are quite a few 06 E46 M3's out there....keep looking. A great car BTW.

Originally Posted by Tangent

Find out what it was lemon'd for. In Illinois the lemon law applies when:

- have a nonconformity that both substantially impairs the use , market value or safety of the vehicle and is not repairable by the dealer or manufacturer in at least four attempts for the same repair, or

- be out of service for a total of 30 or more business days.

The car might be perfectly fine after the repair was done, but if it took the dealership too long or too many attempts to figure it out, the owner could take advantage of the law to return it.

I tend to disagree with you...BMW buybacks are usually done as a way to avoid lemoning the car and they dont exactly make it a habit of doing this. My experience with people who have gone the buyback route is that the car has serious issues that cannot be resolved to satisfaction. It is possible that it was resolved, but more likely that it was not.

Originally Posted by arismis

Here's the original CA lemon documents. Looks like it says "have to pump breaks to start car". I have no idea what that even means. In addition, there were a couple of pretty concerning service record entries.

Yeah I noticed that....did not even bother to speculate on what or why..just gave you my opinion.

I would run away from this dealership..

Waiting until you are ready to sign the papers before disclosing that it was a buyback? "Oh, by the way.. there is this... no big deal.."

Are you kidding me?

Originally Posted by kyfdx

I would run away from this dealership..

Waiting until you are ready to sign the papers before disclosing that it was a buyback? "Oh, by the way.. there is this... no big deal.."

Are you kidding me?

Yeah huge red flag

This is a shady sales man who was trying to prob get a bonus for moving the lemon they can't get rid of. He should have disclosed this before he showed you the car. I would run away from this sales guy and even possibly this dealership.

Another thing to consider, the "lemon" will stay on the title for the life of the car. It's printed on the front of the title. When you go to sell it, it's going to be near impossible to find a buyer. Given the responses on this forum, do you think any of them would buy it?

Wise decision to skip this one.

DJ

Originally Posted by kyfdx

I would run away from this dealership..

Waiting until you are ready to sign the papers before disclosing that it was a buyback? "Oh, by the way.. there is this... no big deal.."

Are you kidding me?

Seriously, that's some shady business.

Side note: Went to a timeshare presentation in Vegas for some free gambling $$$. We weren't going to buy no matter what, but their APR was 18.99%! We are paying 5% on a real home, we were outraged at the behalf of people who don't know better. I amortized it when I got home, on a $40k timeshare, it comes out to like $36k in interest!

Lemon law.....Factory Buy back becuase the car had a problem and the factory recalled the car. They usaully fix the problem and resale the car. If everything was fix then no need to stress. You will get a great deal on a car.

It must of took a lot of problems and phone calls from the 1st buyer to get this taken back. you will soon learn if this was a good idea or not if you buy this auto. Please let us know. However I would not be able to sleep at night. the cost of retail for a car will disapear over time but the beauty will live on.