2007 E70 diesel up for auction, no reserve, no service history...

**jazigk** · 08-12-2017, 06:36 PM

Hi guys.
Went and checked out a 2007 E70 turbo diesel yesterday and I'm struggling to put a value on it.

177,000km. Female owner presumably; the glove box was full of make up applicators and lip balms but it was a bit jammed so needed help opening. Tidy, straight and everything works. No dents, minor stone chips to the grill.

Average speed was at 53km and fuel consumption at 10.2lt. My 7 sits at average speed of 55km. So similar driving I imagine?

Visually all over it's a good car. Not great, but in good condition.
Interior is black with brown leathers. "Dirty" but less so than my sandbeige E38. Just needs a good leather reconditioning, same as any leather that age.
No evidence of any suspension work been done.
Every nut, bolt and plastic cover is intact underneath and in the engine bay.
Oil is clean but used (all but one diesel ,serviced 15km ago, I've looked at has had black-black oil). No obvious oil leaks, but a dry oil-dirt build up below the filter housing. No oil from previous leaks hidden on anything underneath the car (finger curled everywhere just pulls out regular road dust).

Couple big catches though. No service history, log books or spare keys.
Brand spanking new tyres on 20" (can't check for tyre wear).
Can't test drive but can start and move forwards/backwards a couple meters... throws a particle filter error.

So, why check it out? Or even think about making a offer? Because it's a bulk car auctioneer, they action trade in vehicles that dealers or car yards don't want. They have no reserve, and not uncommon to sell cars for a fraction of their value. I have no idea what they'll start the bidding at, likely at trade cost plus fees, which might be peanuts with a particle filter error and no log books.
We're the only interested registered bidder (auction in 2 days time). No one has viewed the car in person (or asked for keys to the locked car at least). Only 3 people have viewed the listing online.

Typically, these sell for around the $20,000 mark private with most/complete history.

I plan on doing everything myself, so service history is always going to come to a "stop" with me (I fill them out and staple parts receipts in, so not complete stop). Would have to start a new book entirely for this car.

I'm thinking somewhere around the $8,000 as top limit. Mainly because for $10,000 we could just get a facelift E53 with full/very good service history and similar kms (which we have been looking). But not being able to test drive it is concerning and new tyres is suspicious (none of the auction cars have worn tyres, I believe they put new tyres on everything slightly worn)

Does anyone have any input or guidance? Am I being stupid for even thinking about it?

**AlphaBetaX5** · 08-13-2017, 02:12 PM

If you're a diy er, I'd suggest going for it!

Check few important transmission codes... especially those related to servomotor, transfer box (case) and DSC.

Not familiar with diesel engine, but I assume x drive should be of similar function.

$8k seems like a great bargain!

Just be mindful you're going to pour $2-3 k into this car!
Beautiful engineering, but lots if issues at this mileage (should be close to 95k miles I guess?)

I've heard and read that diesel engines are less prone to issues than gas engines. But it all goes back on how the first owner took care of the car.

I think one reason bimmers are suffering from numerous simple issues at 60+K miles , is that bmw takes care of everything by that mileage. Owners get lazy and careless of their cars, assuming dealership techs care for their car(not knowing a bmw tech is an average Joe with a bmw diagnostic software and few hours of training, who can only do so much and read few procedures his computer shows, rather than actually seeing issues arising in near future)

Good luck!
Keep us posted of your bid!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**jazigk** · 08-14-2017, 03:56 AM

Thanks for the reply!

I called the auction place today, to ask some more questions.
Turns out it does have a reserve. It's a private entry into the auction, and the guy wanted them to set the price/reserve at $15,000. Said it's the second time, the first a couple months ago. The auctioneer said he laughed at the guy and told him it won't sell for that and isn't worth it in his experience. They have advertised the car as a no reserve to encourage someone to bid and give the guy a wake up call to it's value with the issues of no history, otherwise no one will bid just like last time. So it's a "silent reserve" at $14,000, the lowest the auctioneer could talk the guy down to. The auctioneer didn't even know about the particulate filter error. He agreed with my value around $8,000, saying $8,000 to $10,000 himself.

I asked if he could pass my info onto the seller once the auction finishes if it doesn't sell, but he said he can't do that. Obviously they don't want to loose out on the fees etc. so I finished up by telling him I won't be bidding at all.

Not to worry, I think I'd rather the E53 for style anyway, but I'd definetly prefer some history and test driving rather than taking a gamble.