Before buying a salvage... 2007 328i 50k miles

Hello everyone! I recently stumbled upon a good deal on a 2007 BMW 328i with only 50k miles, problem being that the car has a salvage title. According to the seller, only and ONLY the side airbag on the passenger side deployed (not the one on the dashboard). My question is if this were to be the case, and that all other airbags happen to be intact; would a simple airbag light reset work in order to return the vehicle to normal functioning of the rest of the airbags? I obviously wouldn't buy the vehicle if the other bags happen to be compromised. The price is below 11k, and I'm aware that only liability insurance would cover it. I've had experience with only one salvage vehicle that was involved in a fender bender and no airbag deployment.

Originally Posted by jaji90

Hello everyone! I recently stumbled upon a good deal on a 2007 BMW 328i with only 50k miles, problem being that the car has a salvage title. According to the seller, only and ONLY the side airbag on the passenger side deployed (not the one on the dashboard). My question is if this were to be the case, and that all other airbags happen to be intact; would a simple airbag light reset work in order to return the vehicle to normal functioning of the rest of the airbags? I obviously wouldn't buy the vehicle if the other bags happen to be compromised. The price is below 11k, and I'm aware that only liability insurance would cover it. I've had experience with only one salvage vehicle that was involved in a fender bender and no airbag deployment.

Do you know what caused the airbag to deploy? I'm also not clear on whether the deployed airbag has been replaced or if it still needs repaired. If it was who did it? If the warning light is illuminated that's an indication whoever performed the repair was unqualified to do so.

I would also thoroughly investigate any claims made by the seller. In such a situation I would want to have some form of indpendent confirmation of their claims. I highly recommend a PPI from a qualified mechanic who specializes in BMW's. It would probably also be a good idea to have a body shop take a look at it as well.

Originally Posted by jaji90

Hello everyone! I recently stumbled upon a good deal on a 2007 BMW 328i with only 50k miles, problem being that the car has a salvage title. According to the seller, only and ONLY the side airbag on the passenger side deployed (not the one on the dashboard). My question is if this were to be the case, and that all other airbags happen to be intact; would a simple airbag light reset work in order to return the vehicle to normal functioning of the rest of the airbags? I obviously wouldn't buy the vehicle if the other bags happen to be compromised. The price is below 11k, and I'm aware that only liability insurance would cover it. I've had experience with only one salvage vehicle that was involved in a fender bender and no airbag deployment.

Could you provide more information on the car? (I'm only assuming it was involved in an accident causing an airbag deploy).

Assuming it was involved in an accident, as an EMT, I have done trainings on proper extrication of patients involved in car accidents. Part of those trainings touched on the issue of, if one airbag deploys, there is a possibility the others can go off unless fixed/reset correctly. Is the airbag fixed? If not, you shouldn't drive the car as any of the other airbags in the car could go off. Either way, actually, you shouldn't because the light is still on.

As others have said: why did the airbag deploy? If it was a frontal collision, it's possible the driver's airbag didn't deploy because he was belted and the passenger wasn't, or because it was a right-side hit.

In either case, you must be ABSOLUTELY SURE that the frame rail is not compromised (and they just did a cosmetic fix to the fender/bumper/door). Which means that you need to carefully investigate the crash and subsequent body shop repairs.

Originally Posted by jaji90

Hello everyone! I recently stumbled upon a good deal on a 2007 BMW 328i with only 50k miles, problem being that the car has a salvage title. According to the seller, only and ONLY the side airbag on the passenger side deployed (not the one on the dashboard). My question is if this were to be the case, and that all other airbags happen to be intact; would a simple airbag light reset work in order to return the vehicle to normal functioning of the rest of the airbags? I obviously wouldn't buy the vehicle if the other bags happen to be compromised. The price is below 11k, and I'm aware that only liability insurance would cover it. I've had experience with only one salvage vehicle that was involved in a fender bender and no airbag deployment.

the airbag needs to be replaced or else the SRS system will not reset, and rest of airbags may not function. you cannot reset the light without replacing the airbag

Originally Posted by jaji90

Hello everyone! I recently stumbled upon a good deal on a 2007 BMW 328i with only 50k miles, problem being that the car has a salvage title. According to the seller, only and ONLY the side airbag on the passenger side deployed (not the one on the dashboard). My question is if this were to be the case, and that all other airbags happen to be intact; would a simple airbag light reset work in order to return the vehicle to normal functioning of the rest of the airbags? I obviously wouldn't buy the vehicle if the other bags happen to be compromised. The price is below 11k, and I'm aware that only liability insurance would cover it. I've had experience with only one salvage vehicle that was involved in a fender bender and no airbag deployment.

Airbags sometimes deploy for no reason at all. Nobody knows what an airbag's gonna do.

You know what an airbag's gonna do?

And once deployed, the stain of that suspicious event is forever upon that VIN. Foo....foo! A delicious price for damaged goods is applied - you may buy with confidence.

But, to put your mind at ease, >might< be a good idea to look for hidden damage before you part w/cash!

Just a quick update, the car was hit from the right side. The guy selling the car owns a shop and said he can actually have the airbags replaced and the system reset. I believe these repairs *might* be included in the sale price. However, he did comment on checking out the car and then decide upon if I want to buy it or not. I also looked up a reputable BMW indie shop, not too far from where this guy's shop is. So, hopefully everything checks out and there are no other major issues with the vehicle.

I bought one five years ago claimed to be damaged engine under warranty, repaired by BMW and with salvage title

Bought the car, 2 months later all sort of issues.... found out the car was FLOOD damage hence engine ceased

The lesson I leanrt : DIG DEEPER, don't scratch the surface... find out what the insurance company, ask selelr for permission to ring and find out why !!!

Are you that desperate to get into a car with unknown history with an apparent accident to boot at the same time? I don't wanna sound like your financial advisor, but I think you are just antsy to burn 11K in your pocket.
My car has been involved in a front end collision, however the impact vector and the speed I was traveling at didn't trigger the airbags deploy.
Well my car has now the lower subframe replaced, passenger side rail replaced, and driver side rail straightened.
I still don't have my car back so I can't tell you if it's been fixed and as good as new, but unfortunately, I don't think it will be as new once I get it.

Originally Posted by lqaddict

Are you that desperate to get into a car with unknown history with an apparent accident to boot at the same time? I don't wanna sound like your financial advisor, but I think you are just antsy to burn 11K in your pocket.
My car has been involved in a front end collision, however the impact vector and the speed I was traveling at didn't trigger the airbags deploy.
Well my car has now the lower subframe replaced, passenger side rail replaced, and driver side rail straightened.
I still don't have my car back so I can't tell you if it's been fixed and as good as new, but unfortunately, I don't think it will be as new once I get it.

Not quite, that's why I'm looking as much as possible into it. Why pass up a "fair deal"? The BMW shop I'm thinking about taking it for the PPI has an exhaustive listing of what they check, so they'll be able to see if anything is out of order. As well, when I get to see the car I'll take a snapshot of the VIN. Usually, some insurance companies have their previous listings still up online that show the car's primary damage as well as pictures (just in case the seller does not have these).

Originally Posted by lqaddict

I still don't have my car back so I can't tell you if it's been fixed and as good as new, but unfortunately, I don't think it will be as new once I get it.

Hey, you saw mine at the Lime Rock ride. Except for the fact that the paint in the repaired area isn't orange-peeled, you couldn't have said where the repair ended and the original body started.

Still drives just as nice as when it was new, 15k miles after the accident.

Originally Posted by Zooks527

Hey, you saw mine at the Lime Rock ride. Except for the fact that the paint in the repaired area isn't orange-peeled, you couldn't have said where the repair ended and the original body started.

Still drives just as nice as when it was new, 15k miles after the accident.

Zooks, I am not arguing the quality of the repairs, I am pretty sure when I get my car back hopefully tomorrow I will eat my words, we shall see