Ape Factory
10-10-2011, 06:05 AM
Found a ZHP locally that appears to have every available option. I'd been searching for a used M3 for my wife for some time. I'm definitely a "car guy" and my wife, not as much. She's currently driving a Miata which is a bit on the small side for myself so I'd like to move her up to something a bit larger and quite a bit nicer. She wants an automatic and I won't touch an SMG gearbox with a 10 ft. pole.
A co-worker has a 2005 ZHP coupe that he bought with 10K miles on the odometer which got me thinking about that model. Came across a convertible ZHP 330ci at the local BMW dealership with 74K miles. It's a convertible and normally, I would not consider a car with 74K miles. But it's within our price range (listing at $18K) and the car is absolutely mint from what I can tell. I'm not exaggerating either. Except for a speck of dirt in some of the natural features of the leather, there's not a scratch anywhere on the interior and no major dents, scratches or blemishes on the exterior either. The steering wheel looks brand new. Any paint chips were fixed with a touch up brush. There aren't many. The car has not been in any accidents or had any bodywork done on it. All the switches show no wear, as does the top. If someone told me the car had 20K on the odometer, I'd believe them.
The owner had a few extras thrown on at the dealership:
-Strut tower bar
-Msport intake
-Msport exhaust
-black kidney grills
It has the cold weather package as well as brand new Pilot Sport 2 tires. The dealer has full service records and the carfax, while not completely accurate, is incident free. I've considered that the dealer replaced the steering wheel (it's the Alcantara version) as it has ZERO wear on it and the alcantara was known to wear prematurely.
They let me have the car for a few hours and I gave it a good test drive. Does not appear to have Vanos issues, tracks true, top goes up and down without drama or issues. I can't find ANYTHING wrong on the car. And again, it's just mint on the inside.
With that said, it still has 74,000 miles and I'm probably looking at doing a bit of preventive maintenance in the not too distant future.
-Vanos seals
-cooling system
-suspension bushings
Now I realize the internet (and car forums) often highlight problems and not necessarily the success stories. As I said before, I'm a car guy. I'm fully mechanically inclined, enough to install engines, troubleshoot, etc...but I'm not sure I want to spend more time under cars at this point. I moved on from high hp sports cars to motorcycles as they're less work! I also don't want to fork over $3K within two years to have the dealer fix known issues. Honestly, the cooling system and vanos (valve cover gasket too) don't seem that bad but suspension bushings are a PITA and time consuming. I read another post where the guy was on his third set!
I'm just wondering if I'm sort of bringing home Pandora's box with this car. I have not taken it anywhere else for a PPI. I have a contact on the inside of the dealership who's checking with the mechanics to get an inside scoop on the car, if there is one.
The car needs nothing as it sits now. I'd maybe consider a coolant snitch as my wife is driving the car. I just want her to have a fun car that she'll enjoy and that she's safe in. She's a recent cancer survivor and quite frankly, after what she's been through, she deserves it. But I don't want to hand over the keys to a headache.
Thoughts greatly appreciated. Anything else I should look for?
Michel
A co-worker has a 2005 ZHP coupe that he bought with 10K miles on the odometer which got me thinking about that model. Came across a convertible ZHP 330ci at the local BMW dealership with 74K miles. It's a convertible and normally, I would not consider a car with 74K miles. But it's within our price range (listing at $18K) and the car is absolutely mint from what I can tell. I'm not exaggerating either. Except for a speck of dirt in some of the natural features of the leather, there's not a scratch anywhere on the interior and no major dents, scratches or blemishes on the exterior either. The steering wheel looks brand new. Any paint chips were fixed with a touch up brush. There aren't many. The car has not been in any accidents or had any bodywork done on it. All the switches show no wear, as does the top. If someone told me the car had 20K on the odometer, I'd believe them.
The owner had a few extras thrown on at the dealership:
-Strut tower bar
-Msport intake
-Msport exhaust
-black kidney grills
It has the cold weather package as well as brand new Pilot Sport 2 tires. The dealer has full service records and the carfax, while not completely accurate, is incident free. I've considered that the dealer replaced the steering wheel (it's the Alcantara version) as it has ZERO wear on it and the alcantara was known to wear prematurely.
They let me have the car for a few hours and I gave it a good test drive. Does not appear to have Vanos issues, tracks true, top goes up and down without drama or issues. I can't find ANYTHING wrong on the car. And again, it's just mint on the inside.
With that said, it still has 74,000 miles and I'm probably looking at doing a bit of preventive maintenance in the not too distant future.
-Vanos seals
-cooling system
-suspension bushings
Now I realize the internet (and car forums) often highlight problems and not necessarily the success stories. As I said before, I'm a car guy. I'm fully mechanically inclined, enough to install engines, troubleshoot, etc...but I'm not sure I want to spend more time under cars at this point. I moved on from high hp sports cars to motorcycles as they're less work! I also don't want to fork over $3K within two years to have the dealer fix known issues. Honestly, the cooling system and vanos (valve cover gasket too) don't seem that bad but suspension bushings are a PITA and time consuming. I read another post where the guy was on his third set!
I'm just wondering if I'm sort of bringing home Pandora's box with this car. I have not taken it anywhere else for a PPI. I have a contact on the inside of the dealership who's checking with the mechanics to get an inside scoop on the car, if there is one.
The car needs nothing as it sits now. I'd maybe consider a coolant snitch as my wife is driving the car. I just want her to have a fun car that she'll enjoy and that she's safe in. She's a recent cancer survivor and quite frankly, after what she's been through, she deserves it. But I don't want to hand over the keys to a headache.
Thoughts greatly appreciated. Anything else I should look for?
Michel