Advice on purchasing 2003 M5? - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

genna · 28th March 2007, 10:42

Hi everyone. I've been lurking here for a while, but this is my first post.

I'm looking for some advice. I'm in the market to buy 03 E39 M5 and I found one interesting vehicle near Indianapolis. Now, a kind of a problem is that I’m intate w:st="on"> Marylandtate>. The car is being sold by what appears to be a used car dealer (not BMW). Carfax came out ok(yeah I know it's not everything).

I've never bought a car from another state, let alone from 500mi away. Truth is, I’ve never actually bought a used car before. So I’m looking for some advice on how to approach this. I haven't contacted anyone yet. And I was thinking of calling local BMW dealer in Indy for some advice, maybe inspection, and potential CPO.

Thanks in advance, any input will be appreciated

p.s. the car is still under original warranty.

DavidS · 28th March 2007, 11:07

Welcome to the board, Genna!

It is good that you are looking at a car still under warranty. You should better think of CPO as useful extended warranty, not as a very good inspection.

If you look at the "Some useful threads" in my signature, there is a link to a thread with advice how to check a used M5 before purchase.

Cheers,

David

SoCalJD · 28th March 2007, 18:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by genna

Hi everyone. I've been lurking here for a while, but this is my first post.

I'm looking for some advice. I'm in the market to buy 03 E39 M5 and I found one interesting vehicle near lace. Now, a kind of a problem is that I’m inIndianapolis Marylandtate>. The car is being sold by what appears to be a used car dealer (not BMW). Carfax came out ok(yeah I know it's not everything).

I've never bought a car from another state, let alone from 500mi away. Truth is, I’ve never actually bought a used car before. So I’m looking for some advice on how to approach this. I haven't contacted anyone yet. And I was thinking of calling local BMW dealer in Indy for some advice, maybe inspection, and potential CPO.

Thanks in advance, any input will be appreciated

p.s. the car is still under original warranty.

>>>

If, God forbid, anything ever happened to my car, I'd immediately begin a search for an 02'/03'. While I *might* find one local, I really wouldn't expect to. There's not *that* many of them...especially in whatever color/condition/etc I'd be looking at. So the 500mi thing isn't a big deal. I'd probably start another post: "Indy Area Owners Help" or something, and see if there's a board member who can at least lay eyes on the car. I'll bet there is. Good luck!

gherardini · 28th March 2007, 18:28

don't fret too much about the distance. i purchased mine from 11,000 miles away over the phone. and didn't get to see it for 3 months when i got home on leave.

find one that looks nice, run a car fax, see what ownership issues there are, see a dealer about what has been done to the vehicle [get the vin]. and don't hesitate to ask lots of questions here.

don't get totally stuck on a 2003. there are lots of 2002s [mine is] that are quite nice and the only advantage is that the '03 has the mk-iv dvd based navigation system over the cd based mk-iii.

good luck!

genna · 28th March 2007, 18:57

Thanks everyone, for advice and for welcomes.

I'm getting the car pre-purchase inspected tomorrow by local dealer(who has dealt with the seller many times and has nothing bad to say). I've talked to the seller few times, asked bunch of questions, they seem very straight forward. So i took a plunge

. If things go well, looks like i'll be joining the club soon.

Here are the car details: 2003 Black(with that bluish tint, forgot the name)/Black M5, 37Kmi, warr. 'till August 30, 2007. Carfax-pefrect, Dealer VIN check, perfect(Inspection 1 done), there are few options on the car: premium stereo, parking sensors, folding rear seats, some other things that i don't really care about. $39,900+fees, tax.

Reason i'm "stuck" on 03 (and more specifically late 03) is to have original warranty on car, even if it is for couple of months. 1. it gives me some room if things are missed in purchase, especially since inspecting it by me is pretty late in the game(not that i can see it all

). and 2. it gives me more flexability to get extended warranty...

And, don't take it as offence, I love M5, but i'm not particularly confident in it's reliability, esp, used. This will be a daily driver.

David, thank you for the links, i actually read those posts before, but it was good to be refreshed.

-genna

DavidS · 28th March 2007, 19:20

Genna,

You are wise to not take reliability for granted, but as the car is under original BMW warranty, the seller has no reason not to have had everything fixed, unless it is a matter of undisclosed collision damage.

I would not trust the seller´s best buddy BMW techs too much either...
There have been some stories posted here about a BMW dealership doing a very biased inspection to help a friend unload a POS car, as a thank you for buying another BMW from them.

You would also be wise to get the longest warranty you can get.

With those low miles the M5 should be absolutely perfect. Anything less than that, something is wrong. (naturally front stone chips must be expected in proportion to local road and traffic conditions)

Best of Luck!

David

genna · 28th March 2007, 19:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidS

Genna,

I would not trust the seller´s best buddy BMW techs too much either...
There have been some stories posted here about a BMW dealership doing a very biased inspection to help a friend unload a POS car, as a thank you for buying another BMW from them.

Yep, this is my biggest concern, but i'm not really sure what i can do about it. I tend not to trust car dealers (BMW or otherwise) --because i've has some pretty bad episodes--until i have dealt with them for a while. It's not that they are necessarily dishonest, they can simply be lazy and miss things they shouldn't. But, I guess I have to trust bmw dealer reputation and Carfax. Again, this is where warranty is really important. The car was not bought in Indy area. The seller (Coast to Coast Imports) deals with "premium", "rare" imports...

Quote:

You would also be wise to get the longest warranty you can get.

David

That is the plan

, speaking of that, i've been trying to get a quote here in MD, but nobody has called me back yet. Does anyone have idea on what Extended Warranty usually runs? I think there are a few posts here about it, so i'll do some searching, but since we were on topic

...

chowdah · 28th March 2007, 19:51

service history is the single most important piece of information, IMO. the only thing that trumps it for me is the independent PPI, but that of course costs money.

gsfent · 28th March 2007, 20:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by genna

Yep, this is my biggest concern, but i'm not really sure what i can do about it. I tend not to trust car dealers (BMW or otherwise) --because i've has some pretty bad episodes--until i have dealt with them for a while. It's not that they are necessarily dishonest, they can simply be lazy and miss things they shouldn't. But, I guess I have to trust bmw dealer reputation and Carfax. Again, this is where warranty is really important. The car was not bought in Indy area. The seller (Coast to Coast Imports) deals with "premium", "rare" imports...

That is the plan

, speaking of that, i've been trying to get a quote here in MD, but nobody has called me back yet. Does anyone have idea on what Extended Warranty usually runs? I think there are a few posts here about it, so i'll do some searching, but since we were on topic

...

Can't the BMW dealer CPO the car? Dealer cost around $1400, retail around $2100, extends to 6 years and 100k miles the warranty. Do a search on CPO.It might involve the selling dealer "selling" the car to the BMW dealer, but if you are retail buyer, they make money on the warranty even if nothing else. A win/win if doable.
Regards,
Jerry

BWDukeM5 · 28th March 2007, 20:37

I bought My 02 near Chicago and I live in Frederick just 40 miles from you. I went and picked mine up and all checked out....pre inspection and all. Well MD inspection is a little tougher then most so be prepared for rotors and pads. Since the rotors are so close to spec new they most likely won't pass. But I can tell you what, that is a little price to pay for such a wonderful piece of equipment. I got out of an M3 and never looked back. If the service history checks out fine....Go for it!!