newMember - Advice/Assisstance E90 320D LCI

[Nashayal]

Hi Guys,

So, I've recently been looking for an E90 320D LCI and I've found one in my area that seems a lil too good.

'09 320D with 158k on the clock selling for 97k

Went to see the car and it looks mint both inside and outside save for one tiny dent on the driver front fender. Interior is in damn near perfect condition too. Drives like a dream, well on power, gearbox is very smooth.

Problem comes in with the milage, I called BMW up with the VIN to get the history on the vehicle. All checks out fine but the thing is the car was doing 98k at the last service and that was way back in 07/2012... and now its at 158k... hard to believe that it did +-33k milage every year for the first 3 years and then suddenly did +-10k a year for the next 6 years.

Car only appears to have had one owner in the lifetime, got some people to look it up on the NATIS system.

so im not sure how to gauge the car now with this info that I have... any and all help/suggestions will be appreciated

PS are there any guys in DBN with diag software that wouldn't mind helping out to give the car a scan and lookover. This is my first BMW, so there are many things that I do not know.

 

[Ddoooooon]

Hi Mate

Welcome , it could very well be the owner had a second car retired or circumstances changed (no longer has to do excessive driving ).

When I owned my Mini for the first 4 years I only put 22000km on the car, I stayed so close to work I walked in & home(live in the city) if I wanted to head out caught a cab, so hardly used the car.

Then our offices moved to Bellville and ended up driving minimum 50km everyday .

Can you chat to the owner , what do they have to say ?

Hopefully the mileage is genuine and you get a awesome BM, good luck:thumbs:

 

[yush1]

Hi. If the car has one owner, have you spoken to him/her?

 

[Nashayal]

Apologies, I should have clarified -- the car had one owner in PTA, it was then traded in, the guy that has the car now bought the car from the dealer. However, he does not have the details of the original owner and the dealer there wont disclose it to him. So the only service history I have is the one from BMW till 98k.

 

[Woodies]

Seems like a fair deal, but no info on servicing etc from 98000 to 158000 seems weird. Did the 2nd owner not keep any receipts for servicing etc he had done?

 

[Nashayal]

Seems like a fair deal, but no info on servicing etc from 98000 to 158000 seems weird. Did the 2nd owner not keep any receipts for servicing etc he had done?

The first owner didn't keep any receipts or didn't hand it in when trading it in. The guy that owns it now just bought it to sell. He buys and sells cars as a sideline business.

 

[SubLoaded]

Welcome to the forum.

I wouldn't be concerned about the mileage just yet. But, no service history since 98k km would concern me.

No history since 98k km and sitting with someone that buys and sells cars would make it two red flags for me... And he's making a profit at selling it at R97k? :fencelook:

 

[tman]

Seems like a fair deal, but no info on servicing etc from 98000 to 158000 seems weird. Did the 2nd owner not keep any receipts for servicing etc he had done?

Seems priced very well.

The mileage per year is no problem, granted if it can be supported with required service info.

I'd rather buy a 200 000km 320d that was serviced every 10 000km as apposed to a model with 100 000km with no service history.

Sent on the move using Tapatalk

 

[SubLoaded]

Nonetheless OP, where is the car sitting? I'm sure I can organise a scan for you.

 

[Nashayal]

Welcome to the forum.

I wouldn't be concerned about the mileage just yet. But, no service history since 98k km would concern me.

No history since 98k km and sitting with someone that buys and sells cars would make it two red flags for me... And he's making a profit at selling it at R97k? :fencelook:

Many many red flags raised for me too which is why I wanted to bring the topic here... But just wanted to follow the rabbit hole in case it led to something good. There are very very rare cases when something that sounds dodgy and doesn't look all that right still ends up being a gem, so, kept pushing.

On that note, I managed to track down the original owner in Pretoria. I have his office number but when I tried to call he had already left and they wouldn't disclose his cell number, naturally. So hoping to catch him tomorrow and get some info. Will keep everyone posted.

---

Nonetheless OP, where is the car sitting? I'm sure I can organise a scan for you.

The car is sitting in Phoenix, Durban. If you could do that I would be eternally grateful. raise:

 

[Nashayal]

So, I just thought I would let everyone know that I managed to get a hold of the original owner and confirm services and account for the mileage.

Once the car went out of plan he bought another car and gave this one to his missus to use. She's a housewife, so school/shopping runs.

Service was carried out privately after that but he didn't keep receipts. I just wanted to find out, if I took the key into a BMW would they be able to tell me what services were carried out on it and at what point?

Would whichever shop serviced it privately have updated the key?

Would a scan give me any more information that I have already?

 

[SubLoaded]

So, I just thought I would let everyone know that I managed to get a hold of the original owner and confirm services and account for the mileage.

Once the car went out of plan he bought another car and gave this one to his missus to use. She's a housewife, so school/shopping runs.

Service was carried out privately after that but he didn't keep receipts. I just wanted to find out, if I took the key into a BMW would they be able to tell me what services were carried out on it and at what point? No, since they do not have history since 98k km

Would whichever shop serviced it privately have updated the key? Highly doubt it

Would a scan give me any more information that I have already?
Scan will give you any underlying issues with the vehicle and not any service history

 

[Nashayal]

So there is no real way to tell then.

I've spent quite a bit of time pondering on this, and after all the info I have (albeit not all that I would like to have), I think I want to take the plunge. I understand all of what everyone has said and I appreciate the contributions and advice, I also do understand the risks and costs involved if things go belly up.

But my gut feeling has never been wrong thus far, and I think I'm willing to take the chance.

Please wish me luck, I am going to try and pull the guy down on price though...