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Which car would you buy?

  • Car 1

    Votes: 2 22.2%
  • Car 2

    Votes: 7 77.8%

Which would you buy?

785 views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  miloc 
#1 · (Edited)
I've been shopping for an 07 or 08 X3 3.0si for several weeks now and I think I've nailed it down to two vehicles.

Both 3.0si's with about 82k miles on them.

Car 1
2008, 82k miles. Sold by a dealer which acquired it from auction. Clean Carfax, 2 owners. Xenon headlights, heated front and rear seats, auto dim mirror, split spoke rims, power fold mirrors. From what I can tell, it seems to needs some gaskets due to an oil leak. They won't do the gasket so I'll have to worry about it. Other than that it seems to shift and drive fine. Dealer wants $10.5k for it. There isn't much of a history on it other than a Carfax report.

Car 2
2007 83k miles. Sold by a private party. regular headlights, standard rims, heated front and rear seats, Nevada leather. The seller is the 3rd owner and has had it since May. Reason for sale is that he wants a new 2016 Lexus RX350. The car drives fine and he has a mountain of service records for it. Since ownership, he has had the cooling system overhauled (new expansion tank, all new hoses). Oil, Transfer case, and differential fluids were just done about 2 months ago. New Brembo brakes overhauled in all corners. Tranfer Case actuator was replaced at about 74k miles. The gasket for the valve cover as well as the oil filter housing was replaced a few months ago. This seller won't go lower than $12k for it.

The first car has more options and I love the xenon and rims. The second car seems to be ready to drive for a while with no repairs. It seems obvious but, I'm trying to avoid buyers remorse :). Which would you buy? Car 1 or 2?
 
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#4 ·
Neither.

Car #1 went to an auction by a previous dealer that couldn't sell it, it is too old to be a lease turn in (which are BMW's property, not the dealer that takes it back off-lease). I've heard of far too many horror stories of unknown lease vehicles to every buy one, it is certainly feasible that it is a flood-car.

Car #2 has an extensive repair list of common maintenance items (nee failure points) already done, so that is promising. But who did the work? Were BMW parts used? What type of fluid was tossed in the transfer case? Actuator gear failure at 75k miles points to that fluid NEVER having been changed prior to that. However, that owner seems to have buyers remorse after only 7 months... the question is WHY? If they can swing a brand new Lexus now, why not then? Were they quickly turned off by having to catch up on a large list of maintenance items in just a short amount of time?

I'd have both gone over with an independent inspection, but if I had to choose, I'd go with Car #2 because it's history, at least for the last 7 months, is known. Wheels and Xenons can be added, if you really wanted (the dealer quoted me a price for a Xenon conversion when I purchased mine, but I don't remember how much). I miss the Xenons of my E46, but the E83 Halogens aren't bad at all. Auto-dim and power-fold mirrors just add additional future points of failure. Xenon bulbs are very expensive to replace as well.
 
#5 ·
Neither.

Car #1 went to an auction by a previous dealer that couldn't sell it, it is too old to be a lease turn in (which are BMW's property, not the dealer that takes it back off-lease). I've heard of far too many horror stories of unknown lease vehicles to every buy one, it is certainly feasible that it is a flood-car.

Car #2 has an extensive repair list of common maintenance items (nee failure points) already done, so that is promising. But who did the work? Were BMW parts used? What type of fluid was tossed in the transfer case? Actuator gear failure at 75k miles points to that fluid NEVER having been changed prior to that. However, that owner seems to have buyers remorse after only 7 months... the question is WHY? If they can swing a brand new Lexus now, why not then? Were they quickly turned off by having to catch up on a large list of maintenance items in just a short amount of time?

I'd have both gone over with an independent inspection, but if I had to choose, I'd go with Car #2 because it's history, at least for the last 7 months, is known. Wheels and Xenons can be added, if you really wanted (the dealer quoted me a price for a Xenon conversion when I purchased mine, but I don't remember how much). I miss the Xenons of my E46, but the E83 Halogens aren't bad at all. Auto-dim and power-fold mirrors just add additional future points of failure. Xenon bulbs are very expensive to replace as well.
Good points from everyone. Regarding vehicle 2, the receipts show all of the repairs and maintenance being performed by a BMW indy shop or a BMW dealer. I failed to mention, I kind of know the seller from. He has his own business and drives very long distances. All of the work were write offs as a business expense. His way of justifying getting all the work done. Reason he doesn't want the vehicle is he fell in love with this newly redesigned rx350 and thwt he was looking for something more comfy during extended driving. Either way, he is lending me the car to drive over this weekend and I will be bringing it to the shop to have it inspected.
 
#6 ·
I wouldn't touch Car #1 with a 10 foot pole.

If #2, make sure you are comfortable living w/o xenons, and do the usual tests for 6-speed AT idiosyncrasies. The price is OK if he is firm on it because of how much he has invested.

1 or 2K on the price is nothing compared to what you would spend on getting a bad X3 up to snuff. Those complete service records are worth $$$$ especially if they go back as far as original and 2nd. owner.
 
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