Considering a Pre owned bmw M4, what to check ?

[Quick///M]

Sup Guys

Considering trading my m135i for a pre owned BMW M4. I need assistance in what to check on the car before pulling the trigger ?

How does one tell if a car had JB4 Prior ? As this is M car chances are it has JB4 at sometime.... The car is still under motorplan

Also need a full dealership history if someone can assist with that ?

Any assistance is much appreciated!

Thanks

 

[Quentin Legend]

John from Leo Haese Pretoria will be able to assist with the car's service / maintenance history.

Just send him a PM on the forum, he's an awesome guy to deal with!

 

[ChefDJ]

I'm not sure these have been out long enough for anyone to know of common faults making themselves known at whatever mileage ranges etc, so this makes you the guinea pig

Good luck with the deal if you go ahead. At least it should still have motorplan for peace of mind :thumb:

 

[Quick///M]

I'm not sure these have been out long enough for anyone to know of common faults making themselves known at whatever mileage ranges etc, so this makes you the guinea pig

Good luck with the deal if you go ahead. At least it should still have motorplan for peace of mind :thumb:

Thanks

Okay got some info car was most owned by a dealership for its life span... And 5 months of ownership by an individual

 

[325iSmk2]

I'm not sure these have been out long enough for anyone to know of common faults making themselves known at whatever mileage ranges etc, so this makes you the guinea pig

Good luck with the deal if you go ahead. At least it should still have motorplan for peace of mind :thumb:

Thanks

Okay got some info car was most owned by a dealership for its life span... And 5 months of ownership by an individual

There is some info on the US boards (Bimmerpost and Bimmerfest), but there don't seem to be any identified problem areas like on the S54/65/85. I'd also be wary of buying a previously modded car, but I don't think that there are telltale signs of JB4 use.

 

[Tjoppies]

still new so doubt if you have anything to worry about.

 

[tman]

I'm not sure these have been out long enough for anyone to know of common faults making themselves known at whatever mileage ranges etc, so this makes you the guinea pig

Good luck with the deal if you go ahead. At least it should still have motorplan for peace of mind :thumb:

^This

As long as it has motorplan left you should be out of danger.

 

[Quick///M]

I'm not sure these have been out long enough for anyone to know of common faults making themselves known at whatever mileage ranges etc, so this makes you the guinea pig

Good luck with the deal if you go ahead. At least it should still have motorplan for peace of mind :thumb:

^This

As long as it has motorplan left you should be out of danger.

Indeed has motorplan till September 2019, good enough for me

 

[ChefDJ]

Take it :rollsmile:

 

[JG_RSA]

Might be a trivial thing, but check that the mirrors in the sun visors aren't cracked.
It happens when the front seats are too far forward when the backrest is tilted to allow for rear access and the top part of the seat (integrated headrest) hits the sun visor and cracks the vanity mirror. I've actually seen two cars where this has happened.
Also check for damage under the front bumper as they are quite low, but that should be part of any car's inspection along with the rest of the body.

Try to avoid the first model year as they don't have the BMW online services (integrated SIM), if that matters at all to you.

Keep in mind that the M4 / 4 series LCI is imminent, so you might want to wait a while as some people (like me) are likely to trade for the LCI models, so you might have more choices or perhaps get a better deal on a pre LCI model (once the LCI's are on the road) or even negotiate a deal on a dealer stock new pre-LCI, if you can stretch your budget a bit.

Try to find a car with HK Audio (still not great, but better than standard Hi-Fi), HUD, 19" wheels (not a fan of the 18" wheels, but that's personal preference), SA2VF Adaptive M running gear and Full leather (transforms the otherwise plain interior). Carbon Ceramic brakes would be a bonus, but they are noisy and will be $$$ to replace if you plan to keep the car for a long time.

 

[TurboLlew]

If you are not buying from a BMW dealer, make sure it is inspected by BMW and they confirm there will not be issues transferring plan onto your name. There are more than a few cars out there that have been modded, caught and plan suspended/cancelled that wind up at dealers. Some dealers will tell you, some will not. Better safe than sorry. There have been a couple of threads on here about this.

I wouldn't just worry about previously modded cars as there are also cars out there that have had extensive repairs or even rebuilds 'off the grid' which have plan active and no comments/HPI etc... go by your senses and instincts if what you see doesn't tie up with what the systems are saying.

I say wait for the LCI, this is the wrong time to be buying an M4 IMHO. Plenty of deals and private sales coming up I'm sure. From what some owners are saying, BMW is already being stingy on trades...

 

[Quick///M]

Thanks for all the comments guys

 

[Quick///M]

So having my second M4 now and having first experience I can now give my own honest opinion what you should look for in a used M Car.

Here goes

1. Thoroughly inspect the color on the car, the color on the bonnet, fenders and bumper must always match up. Park the car in sun and shade and go over the car.
2. Look for dents on the body panels. Look hard when the car is clean its hard to reveal dents.
3. Inspect the windscreen thoroughly
4. Check the rims for any deep scratches, I have seen many M cars with rims in bad conditions.
5. Again go over the bumpers check they align with other panels correctly
6. Between the adaptive suspension and non adaptive suspension. I guarantee you that the Adaptive suspension is worth every single cent of your money. The Adaptive suspension in comfort mode is the best thing a sports car can have on bumpy roads
7. Inspect the tyres for thread and look for any problems on the sidewalls
8. Check for scratches on the paint.
9. If a car has a nice body kit with blacked out rims, dipped mirrors etc chances are that it was modded by the previous owner, my advice is buy a car that looks standard from factory (so basically untouched on the appearance side)
10. If you feel the car was in an accident BMW approved panel beaters can measure the micron thickness of your paint and tell exactly which panels could of been painted.
11. Inspect the interior especially leather both front and back seats for and tears or scratches
12. Test drive the car and ensure the ride is smooth and alignment is correct. Turn of the radio when you test drive it. Windows down and listen for any issues on the car.
13. On the M4 (Thanks JG_RSA) check the vanity mirrors are not cracked, this was cracked on the first M4 I purcahsed.
14. On the M3/M4 the wipers do not fold up at all and if forced up it will scratch the bonnet edges where it meets the windscreen, please look out for this as I have seen this on a few cars.
15. A lot of M car have their bumpers resprayed by dealerships because they usually get traded in with a lot of stone chips.
16. Ask for full motorplan history on the car, ask about any comments etc (Sometimes this work other times dealerships are good at hiding this)

Hope this helps some one in the future

 

[tman]

So having my second M4 now and having first experience I can now give my own honest opinion what you should look for in a used M Car.

Here goes

1. Thoroughly inspect the color on the car, the color on the bonnet, fenders and bumper must always match up. Park the car in sun and shade and go over the car.
2. Look for dents on the body panels. Look hard when the car is clean its hard to reveal dents.
3. Inspect the windscreen thoroughly
4. Check the rims for any deep scratches, I have seen many M cars with rims in bad conditions.
5. Again go over the bumpers check they align with other panels correctly
6. Between the adaptive suspension and non adaptive suspension. I guarantee you that the Adaptive suspension is worth every single cent of your money. The Adaptive suspension in comfort mode is the best thing a sports car can have on bumpy roads
7. Inspect the tyres for thread and look for any problems on the sidewalls
8. Check for scratches on the paint.
9. If a car has a nice body kit with blacked out rims, dipped mirrors etc chances are that it was modded by the previous owner, my advice is buy a car that looks standard from factory (so basically untouched on the appearance side)
10. If you feel the car was in an accident BMW approved panel beaters can measure the micron thickness of your paint and tell exactly which panels could of been painted.
11. Inspect the interior especially leather both front and back seats for and tears or scratches
12. Test drive the car and ensure the ride is smooth and alignment is correct. Turn of the radio when you test drive it. Windows down and listen for any issues on the car.
13. On the M4 (Thanks JG_RSA) check the vanity mirrors are not cracked, this was cracked on the first M4 I purcahsed.
14. On the M3/M4 the wipers do not fold up at all and if forced up it will scratch the bonnet edges where it meets the windscreen, please look out for this as I have seen this on a few cars.
15. A lot of M car have their bumpers resprayed by dealerships because they usually get traded in with a lot of stone chips.
16. Ask for full motorplan history on the car, ask about any comments etc (Sometimes this work other times dealerships are good at hiding this)

Hope this helps some one in the future

Awesome post! Can be applied with most car purchases too! :clapper:

 

[aksamg]

So having my second M4 now and having first experience I can now give my own honest opinion what you should look for in a used M Car.

Here goes

1. Thoroughly inspect the color on the car, the color on the bonnet, fenders and bumper must always match up. Park the car in sun and shade and go over the car.
2. Look for dents on the body panels. Look hard when the car is clean its hard to reveal dents.
3. Inspect the windscreen thoroughly
4. Check the rims for any deep scratches, I have seen many M cars with rims in bad conditions.
5. Again go over the bumpers check they align with other panels correctly
6. Between the adaptive suspension and non adaptive suspension. I guarantee you that the Adaptive suspension is worth every single cent of your money. The Adaptive suspension in comfort mode is the best thing a sports car can have on bumpy roads
7. Inspect the tyres for thread and look for any problems on the sidewalls
8. Check for scratches on the paint.
9. If a car has a nice body kit with blacked out rims, dipped mirrors etc chances are that it was modded by the previous owner, my advice is buy a car that looks standard from factory (so basically untouched on the appearance side)
10. If you feel the car was in an accident BMW approved panel beaters can measure the micron thickness of your paint and tell exactly which panels could of been painted.
11. Inspect the interior especially leather both front and back seats for and tears or scratches
12. Test drive the car and ensure the ride is smooth and alignment is correct. Turn of the radio when you test drive it. Windows down and listen for any issues on the car.
13. On the M4 (Thanks JG_RSA) check the vanity mirrors are not cracked, this was cracked on the first M4 I purcahsed.
14. On the M3/M4 the wipers do not fold up at all and if forced up it will scratch the bonnet edges where it meets the windscreen, please look out for this as I have seen this on a few cars.
15. A lot of M car have their bumpers resprayed by dealerships because they usually get traded in with a lot of stone chips.
16. Ask for full motorplan history on the car, ask about any comments etc (Sometimes this work other times dealerships are good at hiding this)

Hope this helps some one in the future

Great - sure it will help us all!
Thanks a lot for this!