Purchase a repaired M3?

[Dreamer99]

There's a low mileage M3 for sale that I'm looking at. The price is good and with further review it has been in a front end accident with just under $15000 damage. The repairs were competed and there's no evidence of damage to the naked eye. Would you be concerned?

[BimmerRookie]

No damage to the naked eye, cause of new panels...but what about underneath? Probelsm to come down the road?

approx 15k worth of damage....doesn't that sound an alarm to you? 15K is a lot of money to spend on repairs, it must have been a pretty nasty accident.

If you're going to get a used M3, make sure it's a good one, cause they're expensive to fix out of warranty.

Good Luck

[Craigy]

Would not purchase.

If you do purchase, it had better be at a big discount.

Even if it doesn't bother you, it will bother the guy you try to sell it to, and will be virtually unsellable without setting the price very, very low.

[avantegardestyle]

Buying this all depends on many factors
It can be a disaster if you don't know what you are doing, but if you are smart it can be a huge savings and a way of picking up a really good car at a steal price
does it comes with a salvage title?
does the person selling have pictures of the damage before the repairs were done?
can the person give receipts of what parts were repaired/ replaced and the Labor done to repair the car.?

how much selling for?
are you buying straight up wit cash or are you financing?

My car had been in an accident and i bought it cash for a very good price
the damage to my car was not Major in the sense that that there was no frame, engine or transmission damage. the airbags were deployed though

I bought the car and then had it repaired by people that I knew, under my supervision. i bought a new bumper, new Dashboard, airbags one headlight, radiator support and a few other small things, some new and some use on here which is a good place to pick up genuine parts at good prices on the used market
I was not worried about resale value because i don't plan on selling the car as i own it outright now, whatever loss i might take if i decide to tell would be less than paying a bank interest on a loan if i had to finance.

All in all the car cost me about 6K to repair and it only ended up being that mich because I did not like the original paint Job and ended up redoing it so I pid twice to hav it painted.

[avantegardestyle]

Originally Posted by BimmerRookie

No damage to the naked eye, cause of new panels...but what about underneath? Probelsm to come down the road?

approx 15k worth of damage....doesn't that sound an alarm to you? 15K is a lot of money to spend on repairs, it must have been a pretty nasty accident.

If you're going to get a used M3, make sure it's a good one, cause they're expensive to fix out of warranty.

Good Luck

Not necessarily, it depends on who did the quotation, estimate for the repairs.
I have seen cars with an estimate of 20K worth of damage that took only 4K to repair. if the estimate was done by an insurance company its usually very high........most people whose cars are damaged in an accident when they have full coverage prefer to have the car totaled if the can fudge it and have a new car rather than having their cars repairs even if its fixable

[Craigy]

$15k of damage, not $15k estimate.

And if someone cheaped out on the repair that would be another reason to run away from this car.

[Ecksman]

My car was stolen and recovered, there were a few dings and dents and minor cosmetic damage, the bill after it was repaired was approximately 10k. This isn't a civic, these parts are very expensive especially if they're oem. OP if it concerns you, pull a carfax and take it to your trusted body shop and have them examine it.

[BimmerRookie]

I don't understand why people always try to look for the cheapest M3 possible.

You cannot compromise with these cars when they're out of warranty. 15K of damage is a lot.

[avantegardestyle]

Originally Posted by BimmerRookie

I don't understand why people always try to look for the cheapest M3 possible.

You cannot compromise with these cars when they're out of warranty. 15K of damage is a lot.

We can all agree theses cars are expensive, and no one who buys an M3 should think they can treat it the same way you treat a civic or corolla. This is exactly the reason why I had the paint Job on my car done twice because I wasn't interested in being skimpy on the repair of the car.

For someone like me, if i wanted tomorrow i ould go into a dealership and throw down 20-30K cash on an M3, M5 or any top of the line car and pay the balance through financing. Did i want ot do that? No.
So my friend who is a dealer bought this car for me at wholesale and i supervised the repair. I now own the car outright and banks can go F themselves.
I have a friend who is a BMW mechanic who will work on the car if anything is needed. If something is broke and i am not in a hurry to fix it, I have a Camry and a work van i can drive

Originally Posted by R.Xavier

My car was stolen and recovered, there were a few dings and dents and minor cosmetic damage, the bill after it was repaired was approximately 10k. This isn't a civic, these parts are very expensive especially if they're oem. OP if it concerns you, pull a carfax and take it to your trusted body shop and have them examine it.

Always a good thing to do, but not everything is reported to Carfax. I personally know of cars with Clean titles that have been practically totaled and are better left alone.

my rules for owning cars are simple
1.KNOW PEOPLE WHO KNOW ABOUT CARS
2. KNOW AS MUCH AS YOU CAN YOURSELF.

[BimmerRookie]

What I was trying to get at is that I wouldnt go out and spend 35k plus to buy a car that has a high(er) chance of breaking on me, when I could have waited and spent a little more and gotten a more reliable one.

But that's just me.

[Dreamer99]

The repair estimate was $15k and it was fixed for $14k. Not trying to cheat out, it is a 2011 with less than 10,000 miles for a good discount. I'm going to use the car as a third vehicle with some track time.

[BimmerRookie]

Do you have the itemized list of what exactly was repaired? that could sway the decision, like if the repairs were major components or minor ones. Also, whats the price you're getting for it?

Ultimately, it's your call...but I would steer clear from this one

[Craigy]

OP, really you have to ask yourself if it bothers you.

You will lose money on this car unless you yourself buy it dirt cheap.

Personally I would buy a cheaper car altogether than buy a car with a story.

[Dreamer99]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to hold out for a low mileage non repaired M3.

[Alohaaaaa]

My buddy bought an E92 with 29k worth of damage... Small tree fell and cracked the CF roof.

Anything on the M3 costs a small fortune to fix.