When buying a used bimmer..

[stealthology]

Background: I'm looking to purchase a 2004/2005 545i manual transmission very soon; I'm debating how to go about purchasing it.

Would you rather:



Buy a car from a private party who you knew took very good care of it from a BMW dealership; the car has never had any problems besides regular service; downside is he knows the car is in good condition so he won't give you much of a deal.
Buy from a used car dealer for a lower price.. but you run more of a risk. Possibly higher mileage (that's why the lower cost).

What do you guys think? Either way, it's always good to get the car inspected at a BMW dealership before buying, right?

Aslo, one more question: For a private party selling a car, should I really aim for "private party fair condition" price if the car seems like it's in excellent shape? Surely most of the time people sell for less than KBB value, right? Especially in these economic times..

If there are any threads or anything on these topics I'd really appreciate a link as well. Thanks!

[jprovence]

I just picked up my 04 545i from a used car dealer. The car did have problems picking it up. Needed 2 new front tires and such. But for 19,999 and with only 65k and lots of options, I didn't complain. Plus I traded in a 450whp mustang GT And they gave me a ton of money for that car.

Just make sure you have clean records. My car was a one owner from Cali before it was traded in some where and ended up in the auction circuit. Not alot of dealers want to mess with a car like this. My car was maintained at a BMW dealer and the car fax showed it. Never needed anything major.

Shortly after I bought the car, my airbag light came on and got a passager restaint failuer. My dealer which I established a good relationship with be telling them how much I was displeased with another dealer, fixed it under good will and recal and eventaually ended up reprogramming the entire car and updating everything for me. I did replaced the thermostat on my car, it was an easy job that took about 3 hours. And cost about $100. Now with new tires and Zero problems and fully updated car, The car is flawless. I have spent about $320 so far fixing the little stuff, but its all ironed out. That is including 1 hours of programing for my ipod adapter.

[jprovence]

I just picked up my 04 545i from a used car dealer. The car did have problems picking it up. Needed 2 new front tires and such. But for 19,999 and with only 65k and lots of options, I didn't complain. Plus I traded in a 450whp mustang GT And they gave me a ton of money for that car.

Just make sure you have clean records. My car was a one owner from Cali before it was traded in some where and ended up in the auction circuit. Not alot of dealers want to mess with a car like this. My car was maintained at a BMW dealer and the car fax showed it. Never needed anything major.

Shortly after I bought the car, my airbag light came on and got a passager restaint failuer. My dealer which I established a good relationship with be telling them how much I was displeased with another dealer, fixed it under good will and recal and eventaually ended up reprogramming the entire car and updating everything for me. I did replaced the thermostat on my car, it was an easy job that took about 3 hours. And cost about $100. Now with new tires and Zero problems and fully updated car, The car is flawless. I have spent about $320 so far fixing the little stuff, but its all ironed out. That is including 1 hours of programing for my ipod adapter.

[Mstearnsy]

Don't buy a 545i (or any car of it's caliber) from a place like Bob's Used Cars. Buy it only from a devoted owner or a BMW dealership.

[AngryWhopper]

Don't buy a 545i (or any car of it's caliber) from a place like Bob's Used Cars. Buy it only from a devoted owner or a BMW dealership.

Why not? If you know what to look for and all the records are there, you could get a great deal from a used lot.

[jprovence]

Most of the time those small dealers like where I got mine from don't deal with those cars. So they try to get rid of them as fast as possible. Hence the good deals. If the car was dealer mainted, then you really have nothing to worry about where you buy it from especially if it is out of warrenty anyways. You will still have to fork over to the BMW dealer anyways. All the BMW dealers around here commend quite a premium for their used auto. One dealer has a 99 540i and they are asking almost 15k for the car. WTF?

[Mstearnsy]

Ya of course that helps. But the owner of a 545i does not go to a used car lot and trade it for a used Accord. He trades it for a new BMW or an equivalent Benz, Audi, etc, to their dealerships. A 2005 545i in good condition is certainly something a dealership would be willing to keep on their lot, so if it isn't on their lot, you have to wonder what they know that you don't!
The manual transmission certainly lessens the appeal of a 5 series for a dealership, but a good one would still be kept by the dealer. High mile 2004s won't be kept at this point so for those cars, do your homework.

[stealthology]

Ya of course that helps. But the owner of a 545i does not go to a used car lot and trade it for a used Accord. He trades it for a new BMW or an equivalent Benz, Audi, etc, to their dealerships. A 2005 545i in good condition is certainly something a dealership would be willing to keep on their lot, so if it isn't on their lot, you have to wonder what they know that you don't!
The manual transmission certainly lessens the appeal of a 5 series for a dealership, but a good one would still be kept by the dealer. High mile 2004s won't be kept at this point so for those cars, do your homework.

Interesting insight.. the car I'm looking at from a used car dealer is a manual with over 60k miles.. so I guess it's not something a BMW dealer typically wants to hold on to and that's why a used dealer picked it up from auction..

I need to travel to find my manual 545i.. there simply aren't very many being sold. Is it a must to get BMW to inspect the car before I buy? My main concern is making sure there's no major problems with the car before I buy.. Carfax and Autocheck are clean, but there were two actual owners before me not including the used car dealership which I'm sure lowers the value.

[Chris V]

I picked up my E38 from a wholesaler on Ebay. 143 miles at the time, carfax said 2 owners. Price was right. 2 1/2 years later, it has 170k miles on it, has cost me about $500 a year in repairs, and is a great daily driver.

A BMW inspection is nice, but it's only going to tell you about things that are already wrong, not things that are going to break in, say, 2000 miles. Water pumps, radiators, 02 sensors, etc can be just fine one day, and dead the following week. It's better to learn aboutthe common problem areas of a model you're looking at buying, then checking to see if those areas had been adressed by the PO recently. If known problem areas haven't been dealt with, then assume you WILL need to deal with them, even if they are in perfect shape right now.

[E36BMW3series]

Why not? If you know what to look for and all the records are there, you could get a great deal from a used lot.

IMO dealerships get bad cars on Trade Ins and if they don't think they can sell them or it is a POS they take it to auction. Most of the time these little janky lots will get a really good deal on them and think they can sell them for a ton more than they paid for it and have it still be a good deal.

Problem is: There is a reason the dealership didn't sell it. There are little problems with it that would cause it to be in the shop all the time for major repairs, and for you to be unhappy.


This is my two cents.

[Chris V]

Dealerships will also pawn off a car that is too old for their used car lot (usually 5 years is the cutoff) or has too many miles for the year. They can still be in great condition, but outside of those two guidelines.

[dawgeatdawg]

There are a few used dealers in my city that I would trust. Places that specialize in very good condition cars, cars that you don't see 100 of driving down the road. Then there are places that I would not even walk onto their lot, let alone think about purchasing an expensive auto from. You need to do some homework on the car and the lot, see what kind of reputation they have. Get the car inspected by a good private specialist. They will usually give you a better idea of the car's condition than a dealer (at least that was the experience for me). The reason why you're having a hard time finding the 545i standard is because they built so few. Hope this helps.