[LordHades]

Good morning,
I'm in the market for a new to me vehicle thats a little fancier than what I drive now. After lurking on forums and watching a lot of youtube I've come to the decision that I'd like to snag a used m550i. This would be my first BMW.

I have found one with all of the options that Id like: driver assist package, ventilated seats, B&W audio, etc.

Its got a few more miles on it than I was hoping for at almost 39,000. Looking at the carfax it shows that oil changes were performed between 6k-8k miles each time.

There is a "minor accident" on the carfax. Should this be a major deterrent for purchasing or should it be a potential for a decent deal? There is currently no visible damage on the vehicle.

Is there anything else concerning about this history that I'm not realizing?

https://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistor...nmJbhtcL3CPhDk

[Tk718]

Worth hiring a pre purchase inspection like lemon squad or similar to be sure.

[ezaircon4jc]

Link to the car?

That accident could be as simple as the bumper getting killed by road debris or an easy fender-bender. I would look it over CLOSELY for overspray from the repair. The airbags not deploying is a good sign, IMHO.

[HerkHealer]

Look at your CarFax. It states "Title Issued or Altered" four times after I was purchased. To me that says multiple owners.

[BlueSander]

I wouldn't worry too much about the title update situation. The first 1-2 updates likely had to do with the dealer managing inventory. The later updates could be due to refinancing the loan with another bank. This is most likely a one-owner vehicle.

As for the minor accident, it happened about a year and a half ago. The owner took the car in for regular service at a BMW dealer a month later and continued maintaining it regularly. There's no indication that it was a serious issue. The car has been driven almost 15,000 miles since, and now it’s up for sale.

I strongly recommend getting a Pre-Purchase Inspection at a local dealer. It should cost around $250-275. They’ll check for stored error codes and any unusual wear and tear while the car is on the lift. Make sure you attend in person, talk to the technician, and ask specifically about signs of coolant leaks, which are a common issue with this model.

[eliphil]

If your interested I have a 22 m550 bernina grey 40k miles blk interior built in radar ceramic coated and garage kept

[ahakanc90]

Originally Posted by eliphil

If your interested I have a 22 m550 bernina grey 40k miles blk interior built in radar ceramic coated and garage kept

Where are you located?

[br2wdc]

I purchased my car from the 2nd owner, and the Carfax showed a moderate accident, which the previous owner explained that someone pulled out in front of him and the right front corner was damaged, include the right side headlight.

He showed me the body shop bill to fix was $15k, of which the front right headlight was $4k alone

My PPI revealed and confirmed the damage was all fixed correctly and everything was in order, plus it gave me additional leverage to bring price down a bit more.

BlueSander is correct, the one major benefit of Carfax is it's detail with the history of ownership with the car, so you have no worries there either.

The main point is the PPI, I had mine done remotely via a BMW Specialty shop that looked at EVERYTHING and provided me a detailed report with pictures. Clearly the best $200 I have ever spent, just a great car and I cannot stop smiling every time I get in it

Good luck

Originally Posted by BlueSander

I wouldn't worry too much about the title update situation. The first 1-2 updates likely had to do with the dealer managing inventory. The later updates could be due to refinancing the loan with another bank. This is most likely a one-owner vehicle.

As for the minor accident, it happened about a year and a half ago. The owner took the car in for regular service at a BMW dealer a month later and continued maintaining it regularly. There's no indication that it was a serious issue. The car has been driven almost 15,000 miles since, and now it’s up for sale.

I strongly recommend getting a Pre-Purchase Inspection at a local dealer. It should cost around $250-275. They’ll check for stored error codes and any unusual wear and tear while the car is on the lift. Make sure you attend in person, talk to the technician, and ask specifically about signs of coolant leaks, which are a common issue with this model.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by br2wdc

I purchased my car from the 2nd owner, and the Carfax showed a moderate accident, which the previous owner explained that someone pulled out in front of him and the right front corner was damaged, include the right side headlight.

BlueSander is correct, the one major benefit of Carfax is it's detail with the history of ownership with the car, so you have no worries there either.

My body shop does not report to Carfax, so when I go to sell my car the buyer will necessarily have to rely upon me providing him or her with the full set of paperwork since new. They will receive that and, if they go through it all page by page, will see that the paint work I've had done isn't in the Carfax report but is on the shop receipt I've provided and that it matches what I've told them about the work I had done.

[NGT2]

I’d pass, even though it could be nothing. Just my personal take on it.

[Joe-BMW33]

I would not worry about a "minor" remark on a carfax. 99% of the time these are bumper scuffs and resprays, something that the dealer does themselves before selling and you never know because they don't report, so what's the difference. Anything above minor is a no-go for me. I should say, a minor that I check out and validate as being almost nothing. Yours is in the front right corner, could be something as simple as scuffing your garage door on the way out. I see no difference between these repairs and having a professional touch up or PDR.

You can definitely use carfax issues to your advantage, but dealers won't budge much on this particular one unless you can prove the fender was replaced.

Miles are certainly not at a walk away level. If the car has been taken care of and presents well. I have seen low mile cars (usually lease returns) beast to shit with service marks missed.

Love to see a link to the car and the asking price. That would make a huge difference in our recommendation.

[LordHades]

https://www.allamericanchryslerodessa.com/used-Odessa-2022-BMW-5+Series-i+xDrive-WBA13BK04NCH74388

There's the link to the vehicle.
Thanks to everyone who has replied. Definitely sounds like a PPI is the way to go

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by LordHades

https://www.allamericanchryslerodessa.com/used-Odessa-2022-BMW-5+Series-i+xDrive-WBA13BK04NCH74388

There's the link to the vehicle.
Thanks to everyone who has replied. Definitely sounds like a PPI is the way to go

There's a slight scuff, mar or paint(?) in front of the driver's seat on the console extending into the carpet; not a big deal. Something in the driver's assistant is malfunctioning (maybe turned off, I don't remember) as evidenced by the red circle:



Otherwise, looks pretty good to me. That color's going to be a bear to keep looking as good as it should!

[BlueSander]

The red circle simply indicates that Active Safety is turned off. If the system is disabled due to a fault, you would see a warning on the center screen along with additional lights on the dashboard.

Mine is black too, and it's such a hassle to keep clean. My last two cars were white, and I thought going back to black would be refreshing. A few weeks in, I’m quickly reminded why I switched to white in the first place lol

[AP]

If you press that button it will be a shortcut to configuring the safety systems
You can then configure as per your own requirements.( I think this will be key/ profile specific)
If they are all on it will change to green

You may like a lot of people prefer items such as lane departure warning turned off for example

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by AP

If you press that button it will be a shortcut to configuring the safety systems
You can then configure as per your own requirements.( I think this will be key/ profile specific)
If they are all on it will change to green

You may like a lot of people prefer items such as lane departure warning turned off for example

I have one item turned off, lane correction IIRC, and the circle is still green. When we bought the car the circle was red. The selling dealer said some of the sensors had to be recalibrated(?). I figured it was because they, unbeknownst to me, resprayed the front bumper and forgot to plug the sensors back in. It was a very quick "repair."

[br2wdc]

Carfax is like any other software or database, it's only as good as the data it receives. As dradernh stated, there are many cases where the body shop doesn't report to Carfax.

One item Carfax is very good at is showing ownership history, because they (appear) to have access to each state on car registration and titling. Also for any accident reported and fixed via insurance will normally be on Carfax (with exceptions of course).

For both my E90 M3 and now my M550i, I was fortunate enough to have the PPI done where the techs could identify that bodywork had been done and it's location. For my E90 M3, the PPI identified some overspray and touch up done on the area around the fuel filler cover that the current owner (at the time) was not aware of

The PPI is the most crucial part of the process for me. I never want to rely on the person or dealer selling the car to me to have to disclose major engine or bodywork issues, because it's never in their best interests to do so. Plus sometimes they themselves might not know what has been done given the example I provided above.

Originally Posted by dradernh

My body shop does not report to Carfax, so when I go to sell my car the buyer will necessarily have to rely upon me providing him or her with the full set of paperwork since new.

[Andiimane]

Originally Posted by LordHades

https://www.allamericanchryslerodessa.com/used-Odessa-2022-BMW-5+Series-i+xDrive-WBA13BK04NCH74388

There's the link to the vehicle.
Thanks to everyone who has replied. Definitely sounds like a PPI is the way to go

I still see it listed, any reason why you didnt purchase it?