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How did you find your M Coupe???

2K views 20 replies 17 participants last post by  dakarm 
#1 ·
I have been reading this forum for a week now, and I've been searching high and low for an M Coupe without much luck on the internet. How did you guys find your cars? I found one car near me, and I'm going to look at it on Monday but it has the two tone interior that I'm not into. Any tips on finding a car? I live in Silicon Valley (Bay Area, California). Any leads would be greatly appreciated. (Help me out, I'm driving the first car I purchased after college ~99 accord!)

Thanks.
Hokoman
:thumbup:
 
#2 ·
hokoman said:
I have been reading this forum for a week now, and I've been searching high and low for an M Coupe without much luck on the internet. How did you guys find your cars? I found one car near me, and I'm going to look at it on Monday but it has the two tone interior that I'm not into. Any tips on finding a car? I live in Silicon Valley (Bay Area, California). Any leads would be greatly appreciated. (Help me out, I'm driving the first car I purchased after college ~99 accord!)

Thanks.
Hokoman
:thumbup:
Well, you've started on a good road already.
I just read all the 3 boards religiously & ask for any tips (like you've done)

However, check out autotrader.com & roadfly.org classifies also.

The great thing about the Coupe community is that we welcome & take care of potential new members. & On many occasion Coupe members will even go do an onsite inspection for you if the car of interest is in another state!

I know of 2 friends locally here in NoVa who have bought coupes @ least 800 miles away based on board recs & inspections!

Good luck. It's a special car w/ special owners!
 
#3 · (Edited)
I obsessively checked Autotrader & Roadfly classifieds, looked at other board classifieds (here, bimmerforums), checked BMWCCA national and local ads, etc.

Saw tempting cars that were out of my area come and go. I didn't "need" the car and couldnt justify the trip to check a car over or commit to a one that was far away and had to be transported (and since I could not get vacation at the time driving it back was out of the question).

It was very frustrating, low mileage S54 M Coupes of any color were few and far between, much less ones that were close-by or the colors I preferred. Everyday I cursed all the old ads that people never took down and feverishly scoured through looking for anything new. Eventually, after a few monthes or so, an ad popped up for an M Coupe 30 minutes away in San Mateo. I jumped on the phone with the dealership and made an appt to see it that day. The car was pristine and I had to make a decision right then and there since I knew someone else would snatch it up if I waited. After much stress and wondering at my own sanity i had to give into the siren call of the shoe car; with the help of a friend, left there with two cars that same night.

And that's how I came to own my brilliant M Coupe :)

PS: Oops! This is not Loki, its eVal using his computer. Doh! :rolleyes:
 
#4 ·
PS: Oops! This is not Loki, its eVal using his computer. Doh! :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

You confused me! I thought I posted in the right section and I see an M3 poster. That's a great story, and I guess I just have to sit tight. eVal, maybe you'll grow tired of your car and drop me a line :p ! I'm just a hop, skip, and a jump away from you. My favorite color is dark grey, and white. I rarely see those. Black seems to be the popular color for sale.

I appreciate everyones feedback.

Hokoman
 
#5 ·
I looked in the classifieds, on ebay, on autotrader.com, etc for one for low milage and below $25k. I found mine in March for $22,500 for 22,000 miles, and it came with a set of SSR competition wheels (which are for sale), a set of tires on those rims, and Dinan software+CAI. I consider it to be one of the best M Coupe deals I've ever heard of.
 
#6 ·
I looked for a few months while I internally debated what color I wanted -- test drove and almost bought an Imola Red coupe, but when I had it inspected and found it had frame damage I backed out of the deal. Re-evaluated my priorities color-wise and decided I wanted Estoril Blue instead.

Finally found an Estoril Blue coupe with the Estoril/Black two-tone interior (another must for me) for sale up in the Bay Area. After a week of emailing back and forth with the owner we agreed on a price, and she took it to have it inspected at a shop of my choice (Rennwerks in Mountain View). After speaking with the manager of Rennwerks, who inspected the car himself, I felt confident it was the car for me...so, that weekend I flew up and drove it home.

The coolest part?

I flew up on a Saturday morning. The Coupe's old owner picked me up at the airport, we went to her bank and signed the paperwork, and I had the car. I drove around the Bay Area a bit, met up with a few local guys (Doug and Mark), and went out to dinner with my uncle, who lives in Mountain View. I stayed with a friend in Fremont that night.

The next morning the Bay Area M Coupe owners put on a little mini gathering for me...I think we had 12-13 Coupes total. It was really cool to see all of them lined up, especially after I had just bought mine (and was all giddy with excitement). I took off from there and drove right down to San Diego, getting home a little after 9PM.

And so it began...
 
#7 ·
I kept an eye on autotrader and such but also checked BMW's pre-owned website. That is where I found mine eventually in February this year. 2002 Estoril/Estoril Blue with 8500 miles for $35,000. The only problem was it was in Minneapolis, Minnesota and I live in North Carolina. I talked with the folks there and got pictures and since it was a CPO car with such low miles I took the chance and flew up there. I talked 'em down to $33,500 (easier at a dealership than with private owners imo) and drove home. I had a great drive across over half the country and the only bad part was watching the odometer hit 10,000 as I got close to home lol. I also have the CPO warranty to help cover me through 2008 or 100,000 miles. That's a lot of coverage. Good luck in your search.
 
#8 ·
Ben Carufel said:
I looked for a few months while I internally debated what color I wanted ...

The coolest part?

...And so it began...
Nice story, sounds like a really good car buying experience.
 
#9 ·
Someone on the Roadfly board said that there was an M Coupe at a dealer somewhat close to me. I wasn't too hot on the color (LSB), but decided to go by and "just take a look." I ended up trading in my E36 M3 for it the next day. LSB really looks nice in person and fits the character of the car well in my opinion.
 
#10 ·
#11 ·
Roadfly & BMSCCA ROUNDEL

I found my 1999 M Coupe in the BMWCCA Roundel, along with my previous BMWs (M6, 635csi, 533i and 323i). I have noticed there are less and less M Coupe's in the Roundel.
To advertise your in the ROUNDEL, you have to submit your ad SIX week ahead of time.
Many times the car is sold by the time the ad appears in the Roundel

I found my current 2001 M Coupe on Roadfly.
I sold my 1999 M Coupe on Roadfly
 
#12 ·
hokoman said:
I have been reading this forum for a week now, and I've been searching high and low for an M Coupe without much luck on the internet. How did you guys find your cars? I found one car near me, and I'm going to look at it on Monday but it has the two tone interior that I'm not into. Any tips on finding a car? I live in Silicon Valley (Bay Area, California). Any leads would be greatly appreciated. (Help me out, I'm driving the first car I purchased after college ~99 accord!)

Thanks.
Hokoman
:thumbup:
I still haven't found the right car and have been looking since March! Although, I had my Lotus in for a belt tension at the local dealer and saw a gorgeous Estoril Blue '02 Roadster and bought that instead. The only time I really wish that it was a Coupe is when I need to put stuff in it or when the weather is really bad. There is something to driving with the top down!

Anyway, I am still looking for a Coupe and as soon as a very low lileage S54 comes up that isn't on the East Coast or from Chicago, I will buy it and move all the mods from the Roadster to the Coupe. Probably have to keep the Roadster too if I can swing it as it is just too much fun!
:freakdanc

Keep looking and you will find one, it just takes time(only thing is that I am not patient)!
 
#13 ·
hokoman said:
I have been reading this forum for a week now, and I've been searching high and low for an M Coupe without much luck on the internet. How did you guys find your cars? I found one car near me, and I'm going to look at it on Monday but it has the two tone interior that I'm not into. Any tips on finding a car? I live in Silicon Valley (Bay Area, California). Any leads would be greatly appreciated. (Help me out, I'm driving the first car I purchased after college ~99 accord!)

Thanks.
Hokoman
:thumbup:
I think an M car HAS to have a two tone interior, it just suits it's personality but that's just my opinion. :)
 
#14 ·
Try BMWUSA.COM...

That's where I found mine. I wanted a CPO car so I just kept doing a search there. After a couple of weeks of checking 2 popped up. I checked them both out and brought one of them home. :)
 
#15 ·
I found mine on swapalease.com, one of the competitors for the company I used to work for (leasetrader.com). $450 a month for a 2001 Estoril M Coupe with $0 down (except for the $750 it cost to get it to me). The previous lessee had put something like $5k down to get those payments. Last I checked, there was still one on Leasetrader for like $650 a month.

Dunno if leasing is your thing, but it's something to consider. In about 14 months, I can buy mine out for $22k, so it's not a bad deal.
 
#16 ·
So this is actually my first post on this forum, I live in San Francisco and bought a Dakar Yellow 2000 M Coupe yesterday (07/06/04) in Santa Rosa. It has 32,000 miles (traded in my 1.8T GTI with 35K mi, so I wanted 35K or less in a new car). I wasnt looking to buy the car as I had a lot invested in the GTI (mods) but doing a random search I found one on craigslist. It was black but had 39K and was a 99 and they wanted $25K FIRM, so I decided to try autotrader for the hell of it, and there it was a 2000, with 32,000K and $24,995. Did some pricing research and KBB and Edmunds and the price was right and were the miles. Came with dinan software and dinan intake to boot. So now Im a very happy camper.

Seems like a lot of people on this thread are from the SF-BayArea, any local M Coupe meets or BMW meets of note? (Sorry for the regional part of this post).

hokoman said:
I have been reading this forum for a week now, and I've been searching high and low for an M Coupe without much luck on the internet. How did you guys find your cars? I found one car near me, and I'm going to look at it on Monday but it has the two tone interior that I'm not into. Any tips on finding a car? I live in Silicon Valley (Bay Area, California). Any leads would be greatly appreciated. (Help me out, I'm driving the first car I purchased after college ~99 accord!)

Thanks.
Hokoman
:thumbup:
 
#17 ·
kem said:
So this is actually my first post on this forum, I live in San Francisco and bought a Dakar Yellow 2000 M Coupe yesterday (07/06/04) in Santa Rosa. It has 32,000 miles (traded in my 1.8T GTI with 35K mi, so I wanted 35K or less in a new car). I wasnt looking to buy the car as I had a lot invested in the GTI (mods) but doing a random search I found one on craigslist. It was black but had 39K and was a 99 and they wanted $25K FIRM, so I decided to try autotrader for the hell of it, and there it was a 2000, with 32,000K and $24,995. Did some pricing research and KBB and Edmunds and the price was right and were the miles. Came with dinan software and dinan intake to boot. So now Im a very happy camper.

Seems like a lot of people on this thread are from the SF-BayArea, any local M Coupe meets or BMW meets of note? (Sorry for the regional part of this post).
That's a sweet color, congrats, was it the one from Good Stuff Auto?
 
#18 ·
Yeah it was the one from Good Stuff Auto. Know anything about them or the car?

I did a quick check in the trunk for subframe damage, didnt see any cracks. But I have yet to get under the car and look around.

It has 32K on the clock, and everything seems very new. Must have been well cared for.

iwannadinanm3 said:
That's a sweet color, congrats, was it the one from Good Stuff Auto?
 
#21 ·
kem said:
So this is actually my first post on this forum, I live in San Francisco and bought a Dakar Yellow 2000 M Coupe yesterday (07/06/04) in Santa Rosa. It has 32,000 miles (traded in my 1.8T GTI with 35K mi, so I wanted 35K or less in a new car). I wasnt looking to buy the car as I had a lot invested in the GTI (mods) but doing a random search I found one on craigslist. It was black but had 39K and was a 99 and they wanted $25K FIRM, so I decided to try autotrader for the hell of it, and there it was a 2000, with 32,000K and $24,995. Did some pricing research and KBB and Edmunds and the price was right and were the miles. Came with dinan software and dinan intake to boot. So now Im a very happy camper.

Seems like a lot of people on this thread are from the SF-BayArea, any local M Coupe meets or BMW meets of note? (Sorry for the regional part of this post).
that's the best color :D

yeah i'm a little biased :)

you missed dorkfest by a few weeks :) 40 or 41 mcoupe/zcoupes :)
 
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