[sanchezdds]

This post is to find out what the board members think of this situation.

A few weeks ago another board member sent me a personal message to find out what I had paid for my car. He supposedly was having issues with his new purchase car. Long and behold, I read a post he wrote describing what he was going through with his car. I guess he ended up selling the car back to BMW.

This post stayed in my head for a few weeks, and then this weekend, I did it. I checked the papers that I had signed when buying the car. Yep, there it was. This car had gone through the performance center. I know some people might say, how did you sign a piece of paper without reading it...Well, I read it in passing and the performance center words did not click in my head( I'm new to BMW).

Now the issue that I have is that when I was asking the sales person where the car had come from she replied, "it had come from the BMW corporate office. I brought it up a few times while buying the car, and she even said it was a demo driven by BMW executives. The real issue is that I fee that I was mislead into thinking it was a demo. driven by some sales manager.

What do you guys think? Do these center brutalize these cars. I have never attended a performance center, so I have really no idea what these cars go through. The car is covered by BMW factory warranty until 2012. I paid $67000 for a 2009 M5.

I really appreciate any input you guys might have in this matter.h:

 

[ideliver]

i was encouraged to "drive the car in anger" by the instructors...the cars were pushed to the limits....my car went into limp mode several times due to the oil temperature being high....you should see what the instructors due to them :flag:

 

[Michael_s]

The real issue is that I fee that I was mislead into thinking it was a demo. driven by some sales manager.

What do you guys think? Do these center brutalize these cars. I have never attended a performance center, so I have really no idea what these cars go through. The car is covered by BMW factory warranty until 2012. I paid $67000 for a 2009 M5.

I'm sorry for your troubles. If you feel you were mislead, then you should pursue a resolution. I don't know what the document you signed looks like, but at closing there are a lot of documents and its certainly possible to overlook an important document (while the finance manager says "don't worry about it").

Yes, the PC cars are driven very, very hard. Ask me how I know.... been there 2x. I actually almost ripped the tire off the car (it was corded really bad) and I won the wet course :goldcup:. For the money you spent, I would never buy a PC car. Good luck.

 

[sanchezdds]

Are you guys serious.....I was worried you guys were going to say something along those lines.

 

[Daytona Bones]

Are you guys serious.....I was worried you guys were going to say something along those lines.

Here an example of the daily duty of an M5 performance center car:

DB

 

[Daytona Bones]

Oh, and here is me learning to drift in what could be your car...

DB

 

[sanchezdds]

Thanks for the video. Who would buy a car coming from a performance center? What recourse do I have after having purchased this car?

 

[Michael_s]

Thanks for the video. Who would buy a car coming from a performance center? What recourse do I have after having purchased this car?

As to having recourse, that's a tough question. How long have you had the car? Can you document that the dealer mislead you? Are you willing to hire an attorney?

I would think that someone who wants to buy an M5 at a reduced price would be a potential buyer of a PC car. As you can see, the cars are beat on (I'm sorry to say it but you saw it in the video). The car spent the first 5000 miles at redline and then the cars are sold and new cars come in. There are buyers at any price. However, I suspect that many potential buyers, who are not BMW nuts, don't know exactly what a Performance Center car is and how it was driven previous and thinks its a steal without understanding the histroy.

On the good side, the cars car are cared for and properly serviced.

 

[sanchezdds]

I've had it for 6 weeks. I was sitting on a table with the person selling me the car. She never pronounced the words Performance Center. I could very easily document it, but its hard to prove. I don't think I got the car for a steal. The price was fair at 67500 for a 2009 M5. 2008's are going from the mid 50's to 60K. I definitely can get an attorney. What I need to be convinced personally is, is it worth it to pursue this legally or not.

 

[ALOTAJS]

Don't really see the big deal. The car is warrantied and they maintain the crap out of them at the performance school anyway. The car obviously wasn't "beat" too badly if you saw it, inspected it, drove it and still willingly signed the contract on it. Were you mislead? Possibly. However, you don't really have any grounds considering you signed the waiver they handed you. The only downside is it can't be CPO'd. That was the the difference with Kevin's car. They sold him a CPO'd car and it can't be CPO'd under any circumstance if it was a PS car. My advice to you is to forget about it. These cars are built to withstand an unbelievable amount of punishment. Things will break, thats what the warranty is for. Enjoy your new car!!!!!!

 

[Michael_s]

Don't really see the big deal. The car is warrantied and they maintain the crap out of them at the performance school anyway. The car obviously wasn't "beat" too badly if you saw it, inspected it, drove it and still willingly signed the contract on it. Were you mislead? Possibly. However, you don't really have any grounds considering you signed the waiver they handed you. The only downside is it can't be CPO'd. That was the the difference with Kevin's car. They sold him a CPO'd car and it can't be CPO'd under any circumstance if it was a PS car. My advice to you is to forget about it. These cars are built to withstand an unbelievable amount of punishment. Things will break, thats what the warranty is for. Enjoy your new car!!!!!!

I agree and disagree. I feel badly that the OP paid for a M5 and was not aware of its previous history and he probably felt like he was hit in the stomach when he found out. At least I would. Most of us are car nuts and finding out the your M5 was a PC car AFTER you purchased should not be a part of the experience. I do agree that the car was maintained properly and that they are built to handle extreme driving, but this does not mean that I want to buy it after it was used as a PC car. The real question is if you knew then what you know now, would you buy the car?

 

[ideliver]

and....given BMW's propensity to void warranties for "over-revs"...i would have serious concerns about BMW satisfying the warranty

 

[Dntlvet]

I cant wait for this spring as I participating in the 2 day M school.
I'm not sure I would absolutely avoid a car from the PC as another member stated, the cars are well evaluated, diagnosed and serviced.
If you took your argument to an attorney without evidence, it is likely to cost more than it's worth. On the other hand the CA might just agree that she indeed failed to disclosed the previous history. Does it hurt to ask in a reasonable manner?
If you don't ask you cannot recieve (resolution).
Additionally, they may be able to put your worries to rest by straight up communication.

 

[M6Cabrio]

The car was built to be driven hard....there is nothing wrong with buying a car from the PC. If anything it is probably kept up better than half the people on this board lol. M I think babying the car is worse for it than what they do at the PC with them. Driving the car in D2 and not revving over 5k rpm like some people on here has to be worse than S6 DSC off, using it like it was built to be run.

If I were you I wouldn't worry about a thing. Now on the other hand if you feel you were deceived...which it kind of sounds like, hire an attorney. Or come to a settlement with the dealer like a free 100k warranty or threaten a lawyer.

 

[Daytona Bones]

If you took your argument to an attorney without evidence, it is likely to cost more than it's worth. On the other hand the CA might just agree that she indeed failed to disclosed the previous history. Does it hurt to ask in a reasonable manner?
If you don't ask you cannot recieve (resolution).
Additionally, they may be able to put your worries to rest by straight up communication.

Good advise. :M5thumbs:

DB

 

[Corinthian]

If I remember correctly, in one of the videos with Sabine, she talks about how manufacturers use Ring time to test their cars.
Not sure about the exact numbers that she mentioned, but the factor was quite large,
a few thousand miles going WOT in the Ring translated to wear and tear equal to 100K miles or so of real world driving.

 

[///power]

^ Yeah but that's in the Nürburgring.

I would talk to her and show that I am not satisfied. Other than that I would keep the car and probably track it every now and then!

 

[ACG]

Been through this with another car, it would have turned out to have been my word against their word if it was not for a young sales assistant who mistakenly noted in our meeting that they had not mentioned the car had been a test mules for other drivers....the salesman had told me it was used by them for business purposes. I won and they took the car back.

I think you are going to have a hard time proving that they did not tell you it was a PC as it is noted in the paperwork and you signed.

Feel real bad for you as these cars are driven hard.

 

[bsze]

BMW : M5 - eBay (item 140480201491 end time Nov-28-10 19:02:23 PST)
this looks to be another one of the PC cars. Take note that on the autocheck history, there is no history on the car at all till recently at 4000miles that the title is issued. I would say that is a good indication thats it might be a PC car that was auctioned off or wholesale to these small dealers.

Back on topic, I would be pissed if this happend to me and I try to talk to them to see. Right now there is nothing for u to loose for you by talking to them in a mature manner. I would also not buy one of these PC cars knowing it was driven hard everyday for the few thousand miles they have put on them.

 

[ninjaboym5]

I just attended the M school after my purchase. The instructors said drive them like you stole them, except don't crash them. And we all ask what they do with the cars afterwards, they pretty much would change everything that could wear down from tires to brakes and anything that can change. but, people do drive them hard at the school.
I would talk to a lawyer to see if you can have a case. or may be try to talk to BMW to see if they can buy your car back if you don't want to keep yours anymore. or try BBB to complain about the dealer mislead you and I think someone from BMW will contact you and try to resolve the issue.