Tested a 95 M3 yesterday...

[Entscheidende]

Sorry for the length but i have to ask a few questions.

When the guy started up the car and was backing out of his driveway i noticed it was making kind of a ticking noise, but it went away after about 3 minutes. What could this mean? Also i was checking the rear suspension and it makes a squeeking noise when i push down on the corners on both sides. I assume this means the rear shock mounts are going, ~ how much do these cost to replace? My friend sat in the back and said "there was mad noise coming from the trunk.. it could be the suspension or something that he has in his trunk that squeaks". I couldnt tell as i couldnt hear anything abnormal from the front seats.

I wasnt too impressed with the interior condition, but it seemed like it was ok and i could fix it up. Engine bay is pretty dirty which kinda concerns me. He has all records except for one or two oil changes. Water pump and radiator have been replaced. The car also has 150k miles on it. I initially offered 14k cash which he accepted, but now i dont think its really worth that much. It IS an M3, but it also has 150k miles on it which scares me. Ive heard a reconditioned engine is ~$3k w/o installation so i need to save some money in case shit happens. Im thinking of offering $11500 for the car, and if he doesnt like it he can keep it. What do you guys think, this sound fair?

Also just like to say i loved the car otherwise. Power in every gear in the whole rpm range. Amazing car. Just wish it were in better condition.
TIA

[Baby M3]

Let me share my takes on this,

$14k? Wooo.. this might be a bit too low for even a 95 M3. If you're in the Bay Area, the avg. price for 95 M3s are at least 17k-up. Granted, this car has more than 150k miles. I would say $15k is a fair price. The fact that the seller has agreed to sell the car for $14k is already a steal for you. But hey, if you can bargain it down to $11.5k, that's to the best of your advantage.

Given proper maintenance, 150k is nothing for BMWs. These cars can easily last you 200k miles.

As for the rear noises, did you test the rear suspension with the ebrake on? Many E36s have the tendency to squeel if the ebrake is not released.

If the rear shock mounts really need to be replaced. They're not expensive. The OEM parts are probably $30-$40 dollars plus a few bucks in labor. I would recommend aftermarket ones such as Turnermotorsport's ones or Ground Control ones. Or I would buy the E46 shock mounts with Z3 reinforcement plates from the dealer.

Good luck,

Jon

Originally posted by Entscheidende
Sorry for the length but i have to ask a few questions.

When the guy started up the car and was backing out of his driveway i noticed it was making kind of a ticking noise, but it went away after about 3 minutes. What could this mean? Also i was checking the rear suspension and it makes a squeeking noise when i push down on the corners on both sides. I assume this means the rear shock mounts are going, ~ how much do these cost to replace? My friend sat in the back and said "there was mad noise coming from the trunk.. it could be the suspension or something that he has in his trunk that squeaks". I couldnt tell as i couldnt hear anything abnormal from the front seats.

I wasnt too impressed with the interior condition, but it seemed like it was ok and i could fix it up. Engine bay is pretty dirty which kinda concerns me. He has all records except for one or two oil changes. Water pump and radiator have been replaced. The car also has 150k miles on it. I initially offered 14k cash which he accepted, but now i dont think its really worth that much. It IS an M3, but it also has 150k miles on it which scares me. Ive heard a reconditioned engine is ~$3k w/o installation so i need to save some money in case shit happens. Im thinking of offering $11500 for the car, and if he doesnt like it he can keep it. What do you guys think, this sound fair?

Also just like to say i loved the car otherwise. Power in every gear in the whole rpm range. Amazing car. Just wish it were in better condition.
TIA

[Iwannadinanm3]

hmm 11.500 is a little too low, ask for 12 or 13k, but then again yes, 150k is a lot of miles, if it's been maintained good, then i would still try and work out the price, cuz the m3 is a performance car, and that would mean the car had to have over 100k miles of abuse, but then again, there are quite a few members here with 95 m3's with over 130k on them, i remembered a thread about this a while ago, and a lot of them said they still run really strong... if you're really concerned, pay like 75 to a mechanic to check all the shit out, u said the rear shock mounts are probably going out so u know that already, but to be on the safe side, a car with that many miles should get checked out though... sorry i couldn't help that much hehe, oh yeah btw, how were u driving the car during the test drive? were u driving aggressively? A lot of people say take the car to redline after the OIL has warmed up (i believe that's around 20 mins after water is warmed up to normal temp) but yeah, they say take it to redline, and see if the engine still makes noises all the way up to 6500 rpm's... oh and that ticking noise, i guess is the lifters, meaning he mighta not changed the oil in time, same shit with my gey legend, but once u change the oil again, i think it should stop but here wut the other experts have to say as i don't know much about these cars as others

[Iwannadinanm3]

hmm the expert beat me to it, well at the auctions lately, i've seen a few 99k to 100k miles m3's sold for anywhere from 11.5 to 13 or 14k, they'd have to make a couple grand profit on those, one guy i know bought a 95 m3 with almost 100k miles for 16k i believe, it had aftermarket exhaust, dinan chip, and one other thing i think... but baby m3 really knows his shit, take his word for it, but i do think 14k is decent, u can get him down maybe 1k or 2k or something... if he realllly needs to sell it

oh yeah, here's a little chart to see how much these 95's sold for at Manheim Auctions throughout the U.S.

05/01/2002 CEN FLA $ 14,500 82,077 WHITE 6G 5 X SE
04/09/2002 FAAO $ 16,600 77,991 BLUE 6G 5 X SE
04/09/2002 FAAO $ 17,100 72,297 BLACK 6G 5 X SE
04/03/2002 MILWAUKE $ 16,900 74,491 COSMOBLK 6G 5 X MW
05/01/2002 ORNG CTY $ 6,500 91,669 BLACK 6G SE
04/23/2002 SKYLINE $ 16,400 74,394 PURPLE 6G 5 X NE
04/18/2002 W PALM $ 15,800 72,441 AVUSBLUE 6G 5 X SE
04/18/2002 W PALM $ 16,400 66,365 YELLOW 6G 5 X SE

[Baby M3]

LOL..

I am just a post whore, that's all.

Yes, $12-14K is certainly a possible price at the auctions. But most of us probably have no access to the auctions anyway.

Given the fact that he's from the Bay Area, it's even harder for him to find an inexpensive M3.

Jon

Originally posted by Iwannadinanm3
hmm the expert beat me to it, well at the auctions lately, i've seen a few 99k to 100k miles m3's sold for anywhere from 11.5 to 13 or 14k, they'd have to make a couple grand profit on those, one guy i know bought a 95 m3 with almost 100k miles for 16k i believe, it had aftermarket exhaust, dinan chip, and one other thing i think... but baby m3 really knows his shit, take his word for it, but i do think 14k is decent, u can get him down maybe 1k or 2k or something... if he realllly needs to sell it

[Entscheidende]

Good info thx guys.
Im planning on taking it to a mechanic when the guy gets back from vacation next week so ill see whats up then.

I was driving fairly aggressively. I wasnt taking any corners or anything, but i mashed it a few times on the highway. Everything seemed fine. I couldnt hear any abnormal noises even with the window open, but i dunno how much of that is due to good cabin insulation and me just not being able to hear stuff.

Again, thx for the feedback guys.

[Iwannadinanm3]

lol, alright, that's cool, but if the car checks out all good, see if u can get it to go a little lower, how bad do u need a car right now? Like asap? or can u wait a bit? Cuz u might be able to just get urself a much lower mileage 95 or so 325 is or a 96 328is for around that price with much less mileage, but i mean, it's an m3 too, so wutever it's up to u, but see if the car checks out well, then get it if u got a good offer on it, btw want me to run a carfax on it?

[///M3pwr1]

Make sure that ticking isn't valves, cause then you're asking for problems.

Ticking may= valves which = not good

Make sure of this. Other than that, 11.5 is asking too low. Even if it has 150K miles on it, I haven't seen anybody sell for lower than 13 or 14G for 95's. Take it to your mech and let them take a look at the motor, test drive it and see what they say. If all is good, buy it and put a little into it and you'll be in good shape.

Good luck man.

[M///_Wraith]

Sometimes, the exhaust system ticks when cold. Once warmed up (and expanded) it goes away. It happens on my car too.

A ticking that increases with REVS is a lifter problem.

[EMC]

I don't like it when someone offers me a $ amount, then I accept...THEN they say...well, how about less $.

That isn't too cool.

Figure out what it is worth to you, then offer it (or a little less). If he accepts, then go with it.

Just my advice.
Eric

[gsr355]

Entscheidende. i see you're in the bay area and looking for a M3, i might have a black 95 m3 for sale. email me at simon355@hotmail.com and i'll tell you the details. Thanks.

[E36 Fanatic]

Sounds to me like it's going to be a hassle. Only these 2 or 3 problems are showing their ugly heads now, but a plethora of stuff might show up when you get it home and start poking around. I'd wait to find a nicer, better maintained, lower milage M3. Save some money and don't be affraid to let this one go.

[runetang]

considering the price of parts and maintenance on these cars, unless you're pretty well off, I wouldn't get a bmw with that many miles. I got mine with 87k miles, many would consider a low number. Its been pretty well maintained, but since im a broke college student, I can barely afford to pay for the maintenance.. and find myself running to mommy to get my car tuned up etc. When shit goes wrong in these cars, it really goes wrong, but it rarely happens. Just my 2 cents..

[Ferrone1]

Sorry, but look at this realistically, you are buying a used performance car with 160,000 miles on it. BMW are a strong built car, but why not look for a 328 with less miles. A 160,000 mile motor that has not been kept clean is probable for problems, a 328 may not keep up performance wise, however, with a few modifications, it will, and it will last longer

[Jeff]

The squeaking noise you hear when pushing on the back corners is the E-brake being budged. Stick ur foot on the door sill and push up and down, u will get the same thing. It's not the rear shock mounts, they could be going bad...But the sound you are hearing isnt it, not to mention...This rear mount going bad thing is taken to be too common a problem on the E36, on the M3...they had different mounts...This is more of a problem on the 325, and maybe one out of every 1000 E36s has this problem...Dont worry about it. Who was the car driven buy? Male/Female/young/old? they all play factors...do they service the car at a BMW dealer? if so go to that dealer and have them pull up a service summary to see if regular work has been performed. Good luck