[rrich49132]

I am interested in a 2000 m5 that is for sale locally. Car has 77K miles but has the airbag light on in error. I have not gone to look at the car but would like to know what you think something like this would sell for?

If anyone has bought a 2000 or 2001 in the last 6 months do you mind telling me what you paid for it and the mileage at time of purchase. I can look over KBB and such but nothing beats real world sale prices.

 

[jfoj]

$13k is worth it probably just for parting out!!

Some airbag light issues are fairly simple fixes, some are more involved.

Suggest you spend $100?? on a PPI at some place that specializes in BMW's, such as Auto Scandia in Herndon or Fairfax Auto Repair (Near BMW of Fairfax).

Just a word to the wise, these are nice cars and with the mileage for the year and the fact it has not been modified, it is probably in good shape, do not plan on this being a "cheap" experience. The car will need work and you will spend money on it. If it is mechanically sound with a good body, it might even be worth spending what you paid for the car in repairs over time?? But be prepared to either love to keep the car and have it is a toy or move on to something else.

Do not get me wrong, I am just worried about this going so cheap and you jumping at the chance and then finding out the hard way. Also depending on your age, insurance may be tough.

I am not far from you and I have a '03 I recently purchased if you have any questions.

I cannot PM yet and more than likely you can't either so we will need to work something out to communicate off line

 

[rrich49132]

sounds good

 

[jfoj]

Sent e-mail.

 

[bhoffma1]

Offer 11k and settle for 12!

 

[c4m5]

50K miles paid 23.5K

 

[JTB]

As with anything it depends greatly on the car and how it was maintained. Drive it, if you like it then have a PPI done. The PPI will guide you as far as pricing.
My 2000 has almost 70k on it. I would not part with it for less than 19K.

Good luck,

 

[technician117]

I paid 13k for my 2000 with 119k mi on it. It also had great maintainence records, was one owner, no accidents etc etc... good luck and listen to the advice you will surely get from these guys.

 

[bhoffma1]

I paid 29705 for my 01 with 16,400 miles. Probably overpaid, but the car is nice

 

[kaiserben]

I paid 16,300 for my '00 with 72k miles and some dinan bits. It had excellent service records, and the only major issue was a window regulator that's intermittent.

 

[Beemer Guy]

I paid 29705 for my 01 with 16,400 miles. Probably overpaid, but the car is nice

Holy crap that's some low miles! Well done! The ultra-low mileage cars are getting fewer and further between, so I wouldn't feel bad about what you paid. Not at all. A car listed on this forum with 50K-ish miles recently sold for more than that.

I'd suggest to the OP that depending on condition that the car is worth in the low to mid teens. That's pretty low mileage for a 2000, and if it's got good service history and is in good condition, be prepared to pay for it (but it would be money well spent).

There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for not getting a PPI. Case in point: I am, at this moment, buying an ultra-low mileage car like bhoffma1 did, but even so, I still spent $200 on the PPI. Any problems found? Of course, but nothing major. Piece of mind? Priceless.

With the SRS light on, that should be a strong negotiating tool. "Oh yes sir, I think $xx is a fair price for the car, but that air bag thing could cost me as much as $2000. So let's compromise; lower the price by $1500 and we got a deal!" Something like that.

Obviously they've already decided that it's too expensive to fix and don't want to put the money into the car, so you've got to wonder what else they have not bothered to fix. Hate to pee on your parade, but that's even more reason for a thorough PPI.

 

[rrich49132]

I have not seen the car in person but will this weekend. It is a middle age guy so not a young guy that has run it into the group. He claims very good shape but will see in person. I found a place 5 miles from him that works on BMW's and will do a PPI for $139 which will take about 2 hours. They said they will get to the cause of this light and give me an estimate obviously as well as a check over everything else.

I have been told these cars can burn oil? I also assume if that is the case a PPI will not be able to figure that out only time can tell? No way I would buy one of these without a PPI by the way as I could easily be buying something needed multiple $1000's worth of work. I don't think the clutch has been replaced as that may be something it needs in the near future and hope the BMW shop could at least give me a rough estimate of the life of this if it has not been done. Not sure if that is possible as it is not like brakes pads that you can look at and say you are at 30% life left?

Any other things to look out for as this will be my first m5?

 

[kaiserben]

They do burn oil, especially the '00 cars. Mine's not too bad, about 1L every 2k miles, but some are much worse. IIRC, BMW spec is less than 1L/1000km. There's no real way to check the life left on the clutch without removing the transmission, and at that point, you might as well replace it. Other things to check would include codes, the OBC pixel issue, rearview mirror (check for bubbles/leaks), and the rear sway bar brackets.

 

[rrich49132]

I figured that about the clutch. My friend had a 2002 M5 with 125K miles on it before it was totaled and it had the original clutch. Very excited about it. Just hope it looks good in person and checks out. For all I know if may not be in great shape. All the cars I buy are in extremely good condition as I pass on cars that don't meet my standards.

I have a 2000 CLK430 convertible with 56K miles that is in showroom condition and is now sitting in the garage with a car cover on it. Have had the car for 5 years now and if this goes through will sell in the spring or keep and let my GF drive it.

 

[Roman "Wicked"]

I paid 29705 for my 01 with 16,400 miles. Probably overpaid, but the car is nice

That is a nice price for car like that, but I thought that in US cars are more cheaper. I bought me 01' with 22600 miles on it for about 21k bucks. But that was one lucky me and, some other guy who needed money very fast :haha: In my philosophy buying cars is, that if you want a good car be prepaired for spending some bucks on it.

 

[Maswell]

Paid just under 19k for a beast with 63k on it, exterior in very good condition, interior in excellent condition.

 

[caseyfoster]

Paid 17k for my 00 with 75k miles. 100% option package and in pristine condition.

 

[thrasher]

I paid $19750 for a one owner MY2000 a few months ago with 67k on the odo. The car had COMPLETE service and maintenance records, all original paperwork including the window sticker and all BMW supplied books, and had been fully reconditioned a year or so ago. In other words, it's in pristine condition, so I didn't mind paying over blue book for it kinggf

 

[rrich49132]

So the price on the one I am looking at is really good at 13K. I pulled the Carfax and the guy is the 4th owner and bought it at a used Toyota lot about 3 years ago. Seems like a really good deal but almost too good. Sometimes when cars are priced much less than others there is a reason especially for these cars as if in really good shape it would be an easy and quick sale for much more money I assume.

Am still very interested but will be very anal looking over the car and talking to the place that is doing the PPI.

 

[jfoj]

A few other things to look out for:

1. Suspension & steering issues.

Big problem area is the thrust arm bushings, a hard jump on the brakes at 40+ MPH will highlight this with a rapid shimmy in the steering wheel. Also a good visual inspection by someone who knows these cars can identify this issue.

Turn steering hard lock either side in parking lot while backing and filling like moving in and out of a parking space, see if you hard a sharp "pop" in the suspension. A common issue with many E39.

Rear sway bar brackets break easily and often, only solution is an aftermarket bracket set like Beast Power brackets.

General ball joint, bushing, spring and strut inspection. Also look at rear trailing arm bushings closely. Look for power steering leaks and you should inspect power steering fluid condition as well.

2. Check for rear differential seal leaks, center drive shaft bearing support and guibo (flexible drive shaft coupler).

3. Air pumps on these cars can get really noisy, you will only be able to tell if this is an issue the first 90 seconds on a cold start first thing in the morning, if it is any louder than a very quick vacuum cleaner, you will need an air pump and possibly a check valve in the future.

If you test drive and want to drive the car hard, you MUST turn of the DSC and you probably will want to turn on the Sport mode.

There are a lot of other issues, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment.

Good luck