Starting to shop around for pre-owned M3/4

[mperfct]

I've been watching for a couple of months now, trying to gauge prices on these cars and educating myself as much as possible as to what I like and what to look out for. There's a lot to take in!

I'm wondering for you guys who've bought one pre-owned where you thought would be a good place to look. I'm sure I'm overlooking some places on the net. I've been to autotrader, cars, cargurus, and the classifieds here. Any other places I should be looking?

I'm thinking my choice in cars should be expanding as the '15s start rolling off of lease. I'm almost bought a '15 M4 earlier this year, it was a terrific deal at a local dealership but couldn't pull the trigger without taking the savings account below my pain threshold.

Ideally I'd get something with a bit of warranty left for peace of mind as well as a little CYA. It's probably going to be a purchase that goes over my very conservative budget, but last thing I need is to walk into some $3k repair 6 months down the road.

Thanks for any advice!

[RickFLM4]

Just go CPO?

[Super Spartan]

Originally Posted by mperfct

I've been watching for a couple of months now, trying to gauge prices on these cars and educating myself as much as possible as to what I like and what to look out for. There's a lot to take in!

I'm wondering for you guys who've bought one pre-owned where you thought would be a good place to look. I'm sure I'm overlooking some places on the net. I've been to autotrader, cars, cargurus, and the classifieds here. Any other places I should be looking?

I'm thinking my choice in cars should be expanding as the '15s start rolling off of lease. I'm almost bought a '15 M4 earlier this year, it was a terrific deal at a local dealership but couldn't pull the trigger without taking the savings account below my pain threshold.

Ideally I'd get something with a bit of warranty left for peace of mind as well as a little CYA. It's probably going to be a purchase that goes over my very conservative budget, but last thing I need is to walk into some $3k repair 6 months down the road.

Thanks for any advice!

go CPO, peace of mind

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Just go CPO?

This.

I bought my cpo 2015 back in December. It was about 2 years old at the point so it had 2 years remaining on the original factory warranty. With the addition of the 2 yr/50k miles CPO warranty I am covered for a total of 4 years.

[Flacht3]

Buy from a reputable dealer. Personally I'm fine not buying CPO...as long as it's from a reputable dealer they'll likely take care of you if anything goes amiss.

[Zayzel]

I'd say CPO, maybe even wait for a good '16 with ZCP since 15's didn't have the comp package.

[mperfct]

Thanks for the feedback so far. What's typically the upcharge on CPO? I always thought of CPO (or any extended warranty for that matter) as a gamble on what could break and how much it'd cost to fix. Seems to me that most people would be better off investing the extra cost and using it if you have to down the road.

That being said, I'm not totally against it, but it does raise the cost of entry into one of these beasts.

In your opinion, does the CPO inspection insure some sort of initial quality?

[skyline408]

The best sellers IMO are from fellow car enthusiasts. Thode are the guys that wont skimp on tired and go above and beyond recommended matainance procedures.

[Zayzel]

Originally Posted by mperfct

Thanks for the feedback so far. What's typically the upcharge on CPO? I always thought of CPO (or any extended warranty for that matter) as a gamble on what could break and how much it'd cost to fix. Seems to me that most people would be better off investing the extra cost and using it if you have to down the road.

That being said, I'm not totally against it, but it does raise the cost of entry into one of these beasts.

In your opinion, does the CPO inspection insure some sort of initial quality?

I think CPO is usually around 2k-2.5k for the dealer. They have an elite CPO to 75k miles and another one that is 100k/6 years. I would try to negotiate 100k/6years into sale price.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by mperfct

Thanks for the feedback so far. What's typically the upcharge on CPO? I always thought of CPO (or any extended warranty for that matter) as a gamble on what could break and how much it'd cost to fix. Seems to me that most people would be better off investing the extra cost and using it if you have to down the road.

That being said, I'm not totally against it, but it does raise the cost of entry into one of these beasts.

In your opinion, does the CPO inspection insure some sort of initial quality?

I wouldn't attribute any value to the inspection. Value is in the warranty. If you are concerned about a major repair then the cost of the CPO warranty mitigates that concern (which you mentioned in your original post). You either pay for the warranty or accept the risk. Either strategy is ok as long as understand costs and risks.

[AG23]

Wait for a 16 with zcp.

[JoeKixxon]

Originally Posted by ItIsChrisM

Buy from a reputable dealer. Personally I'm fine not buying CPO...as long as it's from a reputable dealer they'll likely take care of you if anything goes amiss.

A CPO includes a warranty. The warranty pays for any covered necessary repairs minus a deductible. Without a warranty you pay for repairs out of your own pocket, regardless of how reputable the dealer is.

I agree with many others that CPO = peace of mind, and can save you money if something breaks.

My AC went out in my CPO E90 M3, and I live in Texas so this is not optional. The repair cost me a $50 deductible rather than $4000 or whatever. They had to remove the entire dash to fix it.



Edit: what RickFLM4 said

[damageprone]

Some dealers will not CPO M cars. My dealer here strictly does not do it because "people tend to abuse M cars." I think that's BS, but they're the only game in town.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by damageprone

Some dealers will not CPO M cars. My dealer here strictly does not do it because "people tend to abuse M cars." I think that's BS, but they're the only game in town.

Doesn't BMWNA underwrite the CPO warranty (vs. the dealer)?

[mperfct]

Just drove an AY M4. Had most of the right options (no CF roof, sadly). It was a little rough for what they were asking, but not horrible. Still has factory warranty/maint and they just ran it through the BMW dealer and had some stuff fixed. Still researching but I'm kind of lukewarm, although AY is pretty fantastic!

[Gibson6594]

Originally Posted by mperfct

Just drove an AY M4. Had most of the right options (no CF roof, sadly). It was a little rough for what they were asking, but not horrible. Still has factory warranty/maint and they just ran it through the BMW dealer and had some stuff fixed. Still researching but I'm kind of lukewarm, although AY is pretty fantastic!

Fyi, factory maintenance does not transfer to the next owner.

[E92 M Sport]

Cpo is the way to go. I bought the 335 cpo and was sure glad I did. Hpfp & injectors, several times for each actually, got covered. Not that anyone is really reporting issues with these cars like the n54 but its peace of mind.

[BimmerBahn]

Originally Posted by ajg.esq

Wait for a 16 with zcp.

Or find a good deal on a 17 ZCP and lease it so you have the peace of mind you're looking for.

Cheers,

[mperfct]

This is what I drove today

[Super Spartan]

Originally Posted by mperfct

This is what I drove today

just checked the VIN, it has excellent specs including steering wheel heating and Headup Display. the only thing missing is the surround view and Active Protection/Driving Assistant/Lane Change Warning but that's no big deal:

Standard Equipment
1CB Co2 Content Co2 Umfang
431 Interior Rr Vw Mirror W Aut Anti-d Innenspiegel,automatisch Abblendend
488 Lumbar Support Driver/front Passenger Lordosenstuetze Fahrer/beifahrer
490 Seat Back Width Adjustment Lehnenbreitenverstellung
5DS Luggage-compartment Emerg. Release Kofferraumnotentriegelung
521 Rain Sensor Regensensor
534 Automatic Air Conditioning Klimaautomatik
544 Cruise Control With Braking Function Geschwindigkeitsregel. Mit Bremsf.
563 Lights Package Lichtpaket
645 Radio Control Us Radio-steuerung Us
775 Individual Roof-lining Anthracite Individual Dachhimmel Anthrazit
845 Acoustic Belt Warning Akustische Gurtwarnung
853 Language Version English Sprachversion Englisch
992 Number Plate Attachement Management Steuerung Kennzeichenbefestigung
993 Model Year Code Modelljahrescode
Options
2MK M Dct With Drivelogic M Doppelkuppl. Getr. M. Drivelogic
2VB Tyre Pressure Indicator Reifendruckanzeige
2VZ 19"lt/aly Wheels Do.sp. 437 M/mt Bl 19"m Lm Raed.doppelspei. 437 M/mb S
248 Steering Wheel Heating Lenkradheizung
3AG Backup Camera Rueckfahrkamera
302 Alarm System Alarmanlage
319 Integrated Universal Remote Control Integrierte Universal-fernbedienung
322 Comfort Access System Komfortzugang
4AE Armrest Front Retractable Armauflage Vorne Verschiebbar
4LX High.trim Fin. Blackchrom Akzentleisten Schwarzchrom
4MC Interior Trim Finishers Carbon Fibre Interieurleisten Carbon Fibre
403 Glas Roof, Electric Glasdach, Elektrisch
423 Floor Mats, Velour Fussmatten In Velours
430 Int/ext Rr Vw Mirror W Aut Anti-dazzle Innen-/aussenspiegel Aut.abblendend
459 Seat Adjustm., Electr. W. Memory Sitzverstellung, Elektr.mit Memory
493 Storage Compartment Package Ablagenpaket
494 Seat Heating F Driver/front Passenger Sitzheizung Fuer Fahrer/beifahrer
5AC Autom. High-beam Headlights Control Fernlichtassistent
5AP Decoding For No-dazzle High-beam As Dekodierung Blendfreier Fernlichtas
502 Headlight Washer System Scheinwerfer-waschanlage
508 Park Distance Control (pdc) Park Distance Control (pdc)
552 Adaptive Led Headlight Adaptiver Led-scheinwerfer
575 Additional 12v Power Socket Zusaetzliche 12-v-steckdose
6AC Intelligent Emergency Call Intelligenter Notruf
6AE Teleservices Teleservices
6AK Connecteddrive Services Connecteddrive Services
6AM Real Time Traffic Information Real Time Traffic Information
6AP Remote Services Remote Services
6NS Enhanced Telephony With Extended Sm Komforttelefonie Mit Erw. Smartphon
609 Navigation System Professional Navigationssystem Professional
610 Head Up Display Head-up Display
655 Satellite Radio Satellitentuner
688 Harman/kardon Surround Sound System Harman/kardon Surround Sound System
697 Area-code 1 Area-code 1
760 Individual High-gloss Satin Chrome Individual Hochglanz Shadow Line
8KL Oelserviceint. 15.000km/11months Oelwartungsint. 15.000km/12monate
8S4 Decoding Variable Light Distributio Decodierung Variable Lichtverteilun
8TN Daytime Driving Lights Selectable B Tagfahrlicht Ueber Lichtmenue Einst
9AA External Skin Protection Aussenhautschutz
925 Shipping Protection Package Versandschutzpaket
999 Order Control First Dealer Cars Auftragssteuerung Hea

[ano0oj]

Originally Posted by ajg.esq

Wait for a 16 with zcp.

This. I'm also shopping for a used m3/m4 but decided to stop looking and wait for some 16' with comp package to come to market

[mperfct]

Thanks for the info, Snappy. I think the condition of that car was too rough, even though it scratched a lot of my issues.

Wheels had a fair amount of curb damage, the underside of the chin spoiler was scraped up pretty good, and it seems like it wasn't really loved. There were some correctable scratches and chips, and the interior driver's side leather didn't look that great for only being 2.5 years old. Plus the brake rotors had a decent lip on them, and the tires were 50% at best. If this car was maybe 43-44k I'd go for it, but they weren't offering to come down off of 49.7 very readily.

Lots of fish in the sea, so I'm throwing that one back!