Second hand 3 series

Juan Pablo

Have to make a decison on a car today, I reckon I'm getting it for a steal but i'll seek your sage advice. Car is a 316i Coupe, 1997 with 55k, full M-Tech kit, leather interior and full maxwell service history, two owners, the current owner has had it for 4 years and its been well cared for. I can have it for 8200. Anything I have seen on cbg or autotrader seem to have a lot more miles and are going for a lot more cash. Opinons?

J.P.

unkel

Sounds like a good deal, especially if there's a bit of NCT left and they'd throw in a 3 month warranty

Let us know how you're getting on

Juan Pablo

Private sale, 18 months NCT left afaik, had my mechanic check it out there at lunch and he is happy. Drivers door lock needs replacing and that black rear apron grille thingy is missing, can be gotten in GFS for under 100 which is fine so I'll try get it down to 8k. Saw one in a dealers in howth same colour and year with 80k on the clock for 11950 :eek: Do I need to head to the cop shop to get change of ownership forms or does the seller look after this?

Eoin

Juan Pablo wrote:

Do I need to head to the cop shop to get change of ownership forms or does the seller look after this?

The seller fills out the change of ownership section on the vehicle registration certificate with your details and sends it off to the Dept of the Environment (I think). You get sent the new cert a week or two after.

bazz26

A broken driver's door lock could indicate that the car was broken in to or stolen at some stage in it's life.

Juan Pablo

Good point Baz I'll check it with the owner. The last 3 series I had was drilled through the locks by some chav git around 18 months ago so something similar may have been attempted here. Cheers for the replies.

J.P.

unkel

Juan Pablo wrote:

had my mechanic check it out there at lunch and he is happy

Does he have the BMW software and did he hook the ECU up to check it out. I'd advise you to do that. You can look at the full history and verify the mileage as it seems low for an 8 year old bmw. How many green lcds light up on the service indicator? Mind - this can easily be set back so it doesn't mean much

My garage checked my car thorougly including ECU for €50 before I bought it

The only thing wrong was the bearings in one of the wheels, which was not a big deal. When I told the owner, he said he indeed thought he heard it alright and he had told Joe Duffy Motors - they couldn't find anything :rolleyes:

That service Joe Duffy had run the car through the bristle car wash - the owner nearly killed them. The paint was perfect until then :rolleyes:

Juan Pablo

The service lights were full, the car had its last service in Maxwells in Blackrock in February and has been serviced by main BMW dealers throughout its history with the milage recorded which puts my mind at ease (saw some right molested 3's without a shred of history 3 years ago when I bought the 318is). As for the wheels, there is some slight kerbing on them (16 inch M-Tech replicas) but I'm looking at putting 18 inch split rims on it so i'll keep an eye for the bearings. I know that its a second hand car so its not going to be perfect so i've budgeted for around 400 to get any niggly things fixed such as the bumper and lock. It'll be nice if I can bargain that 400 off the price
I'll be paying for it tommorrow or wednesday so I'll update on the price and maybe post a pic or two. Cheers again for the advice.

kdevitt

I have a spare rear apron, if you buy the car PM me and you can have it cheap-ish

unkel

Juan Pablo wrote:

The service lights were full, the car had its last service in Maxwells in Blackrock in February and has been serviced by main BMW dealers throughout its history with the milage recorded which puts my mind at ease

That sure is a good sign. I get the impression you'll buy the car anyway, even if you won't get much off

Good luck with your new motor

Juan Pablo

Got it in the end for 8200, thanks for all your advice lads. On a side note, the tax is out on my other car. To "take it off the road" do I inform the tax office or the boys in blue? It'll be down with my mechanic for a few days fixing a few niggly things so its good to sell, but after that it will genuinely be off the road until sold and i dont really fancy taxing it for another three months

unkel

Juan Pablo wrote:

the tax is out on my other car. To "take it off the road" do I inform the tax office or the boys in blue?

Boys in blue - they'll have the form in your local Garda station. Your other car is uninsured now as well. I was in the same situation this time last year. FT insurance on my old car was €58 a week :eek:

I did not take this great offer up, so I was uninsured on the old car...

Juan Pablo

Cheers, i'll wander down to Pearse street and get it sorted at lunch.

quarryman

Post a pic if you get a chance.

Juan Pablo

Apologies for the quality, camera phone. I'll post another with a proper camera when its washed!

delly

Looks nice and tidy, but i'd try and get rid of that big white mark on the drivers headrest if i was you

528i

Jez I know where there's a minter for only 7k, you woz robbed my son :eek:

just kiddin

quarryman

very nice. good job.