Advice for a used M5 please. - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

noflash · 9th October 2004, 22:06

It is a 2000 M5 with 78,000 miles. I test drove it about a month ago when they were asking $34,000. There were some issues:

1. There were no service records in the booklet in the car. The salesman was able to dig up records for 3 or 4 oil changes from a non-BMW shop. As far as I could tell no major service had been done (inspection 1/2, coolant flush, brake fluid flush).

2. The trip computer said "Check brake linings", so I assume the pads and probably rotors need to be changed.

3. One cupholder wouldn't stay closed -- no biggie.

4. I guess there had been a phone, but there wasn't now and a plastic pop-out thingy kept hitting my elbow.

5. The sub in the back dash was emitting rattles only.

6. There were three different brands of tire on the car!

I passed as it seemed the previous owner had not taken the best of care.

Today they are advertising it for $31,000 and I am remembering the test drive. It performed flawlessly. I loved it.

Should I have it inspected? The local dealer does a less than thorough $65 inspection. I'm not sure I'd be able to find someone in Omaha, Ne with the know-how to inspect this car appropriately.

Sorry, this has been so long, but It's a pretty big decision.

SO, should I pursue this or wait for something less sketchy?

Big thanks in advance.

Trying to join the club, Noflash

Wake Champ · 9th October 2004, 22:38

I would stay away from it. Those things make it sound like it was beat up on. No service records in 70000 miles is shady. Carfax is not reliable, but you could always punch in the vin and see what it comes up with, maybe a damage history. Anyone who drives an M5 with different tires and all those things obviously didnt care about it, so who knows what they did to it or who was driving it. Just my 2 cents.

jordantii · 9th October 2004, 22:44

I would have it looked at. Also have the VIN run at a dealer to see if it is in the dealer network. If it is they will print out the services done on it an black out the last ownerts name with a sharpie. Just hold it up to the light and voila, you now have the last owners info and can contact him.

The inspection you get needs to be very thorough. I would have a full mechanical inspection done and a body inspection done. I do not own an E39 M5 but I have owned an E34 M5 and did just what I listed above. I also have an E30 M3 and will buy an E39 M5 this year. need to get rid of some cash :*) I have owned BMWs all my life and can't count all of them anymore.

Service records are key to buying an M car in my opinion. As the repairs on them are very very pricey. For example, to rebuild a stock s14 M3 motor is 10K. This is a 4 banger. Imagine an 8 lump mill$$$$$ You need to know it was taken care of.

The price is great but you can find a lower mileage car for about 10K more with a perfect service history.

These cars are dropping in value by the minute. Not because they are no good anymore. It's the new M5 driving the price down and the market is being flooded with cars. The problem is the market for the E39 is very small. So good deals are coming as the prices keep falling.

Seems to me you know in your gut that this is not the right car. Go with your gut and find the right one.... I know I will.

Best,

Jordan

Wake Champ · 9th October 2004, 22:44

I forgot to mention, Welcome to the Board! You joined the right board. The amount of knowledge on this board is incredible, you will see.

Pete · 9th October 2004, 22:58

Wait for something with better maintenance history, and some lesser miles on it.

At 31K its not that great a deal, considering you can be looking at a pretty big maintenance bill on its first trip to the dealer. For sure your lookin at about a grand at least for 4 new tires, thats just a start. All the fluid changes adds a few hundred more, yadda yadda yadda.

With winter coming, where you live, you have to remember these cars with summer tires really do suck on snow and ice. If you dont have a winter car, then you probably will need snowtire rims also. Something for a tire not quite so wide as the summer ones.

It just goes on and on.

Wait, your car is out there, and you will find each other. This is no time for haste.

ard · 9th October 2004, 23:21

Ditto.

I'd try to get into a 2001 given some of the 2000-2001 issues (Vanos, etc).

You could buy this car and be faced with big expenses (like over 5k) in short order- then the great deal at purchase isn't great.

Is this dealer a BMW dealer?? The problem you then have is they have a huge conflict of interest on any inspections. and $65 for an inspection buys you 30 minutes of time- not enough to do much.

I passed up an M where the car's inservice date was August and the first title was January... nobody would tell me what it was doing for those 5 months, plus no records of a 1200 mile oil change. But I'm picky.

Still, 70k miles and no service records is asking for trouble.

ard

Ashok Arora · 10th October 2004, 00:02

Welcome to the board!

noflash · 10th October 2004, 04:40

Great board!

Thanks for the replies and welcomes.

It is sketchy, I know. I just can't afford a $40k car right now. I'll take the advice and wait for market value to fall and my pockets to get bigger.

Sigh.
Thanks again.

The waiting is the hardest part. Yeah-ah-yeah-ah-yeah.

doug · 10th October 2004, 05:37

Don't despair.... it's worth the wait. Honest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by noflash

Great board!

Thanks for the replies and welcomes.

It is sketchy, I know. I just can't afford a $40k car right now. I'll take the advice and wait for market value to fall and my pockets to get bigger.

Sigh.
Thanks again.

The waiting is the hardest part. Yeah-ah-yeah-ah-yeah.

Tom Burns · 10th October 2004, 08:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordantii

.

These cars are dropping in value by the minute. Not because they are no good anymore. It's the new M5 driving the price down and the market is being flooded with cars. The problem is the market for the E39 is very small. So good deals are coming as the prices keep falling.

Jordan

That's interesting. Up here in Canada the supply of E39 M5's has been dropping steadily as more information about the E60 became available. I'm only referring to new E39's or CPO cars at the dealers. It seems that many people wanting an M5 decided to get an E39 because: 1) The new V10 will be more expensive to insure, 2) The price, 3) Only available with SMG.

Of course, I have no empirical data on this, but before I finally found a new 03 at a dealer in the color/options I wanted, the number of listings on the BMW Canada vehicle locator was getting smaller and smaller all the time.

I guess that the supply may increase again once current M5 owners who order/get delivery on a new one trade them in or put them up for sale. Personally, I would never buy a used BMW except as a CPO from a dealer.

Sonic M5 · 11th October 2004, 22:26

Noflash,
I agree with everyone who mentioned that the miles were too high. Also, it really seemed that the previous ower(s) did not take care of the car the way it should and so who knows the abuse this car could have gone through.
I agree that you should stay away from this car.