330 Touring

My brother - who lives at the other end of the country to me in the UK -
is looking at a '00 330 Touring which is for sale privately at well below
the trade price for a one private owner low mileage car. It has a slight
dent in the roof and some damage to the rear bumper - but otherwise seems
fine to look at both inside and out. But no MOT or tax. The owner has
bought a new 3 Series. It has a service history - a mixture of main dealer
and independant.

He was allowed to take it for a test drive - without realising it didn't
have an MOT - and commented that it didn't seem very lively. It's a
manual. His current BMW is an E28 520 - so I'd have thought it would seem
very lively indeed compared to that. Does this sound like a VANOS issue?
He said it was smooth and quiet otherwise.

He's keen on buying it provided the owner gets a new MOT - and the price
allows him some extra for repairs. But it occurs to me the owner would
have traded it in for the new car - or be asking a higher price for
selling it privately - unless he knew it had expensive issues.

His wife has definite views on the colours she wants - under no
circumstances silver - which sort of restricts the choice.

--
*If only you'd use your powers for good instead of evil.

Dave Plowman dave DeleteThis @davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Nov 23, 10:57 am, "Dave Plowman (News)" <d....RemoveThis@davenoise.co.uk>
wrote:
> My brother - who lives at the other end of the country to me in the UK -
> is looking at a '00 330 Touring which is for sale privately at well below
> the trade price for a one private owner low mileage car. It has a slight
> dent in the roof and some damage to the rear bumper - but otherwise seems
> fine to look at both inside and out. But no MOT or tax. The owner has
> bought a new 3 Series. It has a service history - a mixture of main dealer
> and independant.
>
> He was allowed to take it for a test drive - without realising it didn't
> have an MOT - and commented that it didn't seem very lively. It's a
> manual. His current BMW is an E28 520 - so I'd have thought it would seem
> very lively indeed compared to that. Does this sound like a VANOS issue?
> He said it was smooth and quiet otherwise.
>
> He's keen on buying it provided the owner gets a new MOT - and the price
> allows him some extra for repairs. But it occurs to me the owner would
> have traded it in for the new car - or be asking a higher price for
> selling it privately - unless he knew it had expensive issues.
>
> His wife has definite views on the colours she wants - under no
> circumstances silver - which sort of restricts the choice.
>
> --
> *If only you'd use your powers for good instead of evil.
>
> Dave Plowman d....RemoveThis@davenoise.co.uk London SW
> To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Sounds a bit roger dodge for such a new high value car that the owner
can't be bothered to MoT it. I'd have it checked out myself instead
of getting the owner to put an MoT on it as the selling price would be
way lower without one. Also on a high value car any dents and
scatches detract from the value quite a lot, as does non-dealer
service history.

Compared to a 520 it should go like s off a shovel. A friend had
problems with a 330 and they (BMW) allegedly had to put all new valves
in it.

If the price is right then it might be worth the gamble but he has to
factor in the hassle if there are any problems, in addition to the
actaul cost of fixing anything.