Is this 3-series salvaged?

A buddy of mine just bought a 2001 330ci from a used car dealership (not a bimmer dealership). It's a gorgeous car in great shape, but he bought it for $24999, which is about 3k under retail. That's one flag.

The next red flag is the fact that the fabric that goes around the rear speakers and back shelf (for lack of a better word) behind the heads of the rear passengers is LIGHT BLUE in color, but the car is black with black interior. It is definitely not the original material, as I went down to a bimmer dealership to inquire.

In any case, he didn't run it via carfax, and I haven't spoken to him about it because I just noticed it the other day, but I figured I'd see what you guys thought the deal was.

hmm...he could have just changed the material if he wanted to make it that color, the price though, i wouldn't really think its a salvage, he could have gotten a good deal becuase i was getting a 2001 330Ci that was salvaged, low mileage, and it was 15k due to the salvage, then we decided to pull out of cuz my dad was nervous about the deal, if u give the VIN to the dealer they should be able to give you some info about it

Originally Posted by LABachlr

A buddy of mine just bought a 2001 330ci from a used car dealership (not a bimmer dealership). It's a gorgeous car in great shape, but he bought it for $24999, which is about 3k under retail. That's one flag.

The next red flag is the fact that the fabric that goes around the rear speakers and back shelf (for lack of a better word) behind the heads of the rear passengers is LIGHT BLUE in color, but the car is black with black interior. It is definitely not the original material, as I went down to a bimmer dealership to inquire.

In any case, he didn't run it via carfax, and I haven't spoken to him about it because I just noticed it the other day, but I figured I'd see what you guys thought the deal was.

That price isn't too bad. It's probably realistic for a car from an independent used car store-- remember that they often buy the "second rate" cars that other dealers pass on, and they buy them for less money. Also, they do minimal reconditioning to their car and can therefore sell them cheaper.

As for the rear shelf, put a "black" interior in the sun for many years, and the rear shelf will start to fade. My car has a black interior, but several years of sunlight has caused the rear shelf to turn a shade of purple. It's normal.

Note that neither of these facts is a reason to make a conclusion that the car is or is not a wreck.

Cool. Thanks. I didn't mean that they were selling it for that price with my buddy knowing that it was salvaged (like you knew). I meant that they might have snuck it passed him since he might not see the title since he was financing the car through them, or that it had been reregistered in CA from a different state to hide the fact that it was salvaged (the salvaged title does not transfer from some states).

Thanks for the tip on giving the VIN to the BMW dealer for more info.

Originally Posted by SARAFIL

That price isn't too bad. It's probably realistic for a car from an independent used car store-- remember that they often buy the "second rate" cars that other dealers pass on, and they buy them for less money. Also, they do minimal reconditioning to their car and can therefore sell them cheaper.

As for the rear shelf, put a "black" interior in the sun for many years, and the rear shelf will start to fade. My car has a black interior, but several years of sunlight has caused the rear shelf to turn a shade of purple. It's normal.

Note that neither of these facts is a reason to make a conclusion that the car is or is not a wreck.

Interesting. Had no idea that gray/black would fade to purple. And being in LA, the sun could definitely do that out here. Thanks.

I have bought my 330ci 2001 5speed 39,000 mile car in november. It cost me 24,625 on eBay. Car came in great shape, a few paint scratches, unoriginal bumpers and hood, though no recks mentioned on carfax, recked minorly, but never reported. The car had a few annoying rattles that I managed to remove through my methods of sound deadning, car came with '01 period cell-phone installation, which had upholstery drill holes, which bothered but didn't bring me to a suicidal state as some would arrive to. So it's not perfect, but it works great in every way and has nearly every option, only exceptions are nav, lumbar adjustment, weather package, CD changer, has everything otherwise. The car may have gone through some stuff,but if works well and not many more flags shoot up, i wouldn't make a fuss.

LABachlr, if you want a CarFax report, a guy on my other BMW board is offering them for free, guess he has the unlimited amount and runs out on 5/5/05, if you want one post over there and im sure he'll give it to you, its on BMWboard.com on this thread:

http://www.bmwboard.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16034

No other flags have shot up yet. It drives great. I was just interested, as the blue material on the back shelf just looked suspect.

Thanks for the carfax thread link! I posted the VIN. We'll see what comes up.

I just got the CarFax from a poster on the other board (thanks, BMWEnthusiast!), and it came back clean. That's not to say that it is 100% right, but it most likely is. It was a lease vehicle, and did not have any accidents recorded. So, I guess Sarafil is right. It's just normal fading. It's just weird that a black material would "fade" to a bluish purple...

question, why would you buy a car for 25K (2001) if it's 3K under retail of a new car? Loan some more money or wait a few more months and get piece of mind.

-ELmO

I bought my 2001 330ci from an independent seller in December of last year and paid $24k. It had all the options, no accidents, garage kept and only 27k miles. If you're buying used, I suggest buying from the original owner. Just my opinion.

who bought you your car? No 330 cost $28k new. He was probably talking about $3k under blue book value.