Approved used CSL's?

[fivesixseven8]

There are 3 in the BMW AUC network at the moment. All virtually identical with 46k miles and up from £27k-29k.
What are peoples thoughts on these? I'm assuming as AUC's they will come with warranty and be decent examples?

[mercedes tech]

assume the warranty but not all dealers cars are good cars, seen many a dog in the dealers, best to view and make decision this way

[MC99]

would agree with above post; yes warranty will be there, but I wouldn't assume they are "good" examples. If you decide to go and take a look at one then do all the due dilligence you would do if it was from a smaller dealer, ask the questions, look through the history and ask about the car on here and Mtorque etc...should see you get a good car, I think the private sales of CSLs are probably where the best cars are as it's a true enthusiast car and you'll know by talking to the owner if they're a genuine petrol head who's loved and looked after it (and probably driven it "hard but fair").

[Yanto]

MC99 said:

would agree with above post; yes warranty will be there, but I wouldn't assume they are "good" examples. If you decide to go and take a look at one then do all the due dilligence you would do if it was from a smaller dealer, ask the questions, look through the history and ask about the car on here and Mtorque etc...should see you get a good car, I think the private sales of CSLs are probably where the best cars are as it's a true enthusiast car and you'll know by talking to the owner if they're a genuine petrol head who's loved and looked after it (and probably driven it "hard but fair").

Good advice this...I recently bought a car privately with 47K miles, but spoke with previous enthusiast owners who covered the 16K to 47K mileage markers - car still has BMW warranty and will continue to have in my ownership. Try and buy a known forum car if possible - I also tracked back older forum posts from here, Puregt, cslregister and mtorque...you'll get a sense of how the car has been treated from the nature of the posts of the individuals. I guess any car has the potential to go pop at any time, but you can certainly do some homework to try and mitigate the risk - just my 2p

Good luck as when you get one, you will have NO REGRETS !- 1 month in for me and I am still

Edited by Yanto on Sunday 12th July 10:42

[fivesixseven8]

Thanks for the pointers guys.

Are there any areas in particular that attention needs to be given to when buying? Anything that should have been, or could need to be replaced around the 40k-50k miles bracket?

What are the thoughts on 'Nick Johnson Motor Co' cars and the 'BHP' cars? I quite like this (would have to lose the tints & grill) from the former.

[anonymous-user]

How about mine? 04/04 32k miles £27995 - It's on Pistonheads Classifieds!!

[fivesixseven8]

purplepenguin said:

How about mine? 04/04 32k miles £27995 - It's on Pistonheads Classifieds!!

Other end of the country unfortunately.

[anonymous-user]

Close to Nick Johnsons place.........

[fivesixseven8]

purplepenguin said:

Close to Nick Johnsons place.........

You have mail.

[Yanto]

fivesixseven8 said:

Thanks for the pointers guys.

Are there any areas in particular that attention needs to be given to when buying? Anything that should have been, or could need to be replaced around the 40k-50k miles bracket?

What are the thoughts on 'Nick Johnson Motor Co' cars and the 'BHP' cars? I quite like this (would have to lose the tints & grill) from the former.

tints put me off personally. Also, is it my eyes or does the stereo look non-standard ?

[fivesixseven8]

Yanto said:

fivesixseven8 said:

Thanks for the pointers guys.

Are there any areas in particular that attention needs to be given to when buying? Anything that should have been, or could need to be replaced around the 40k-50k miles bracket?

What are the thoughts on 'Nick Johnson Motor Co' cars and the 'BHP' cars? I quite like this (would have to lose the tints & grill) from the former.

tints put me off personally. Also, is it my eyes or does the stereo look non-standard ?

I think you're right. Forget that one then.

My problem at the moment is that I have to finance some of the money. I don't want a personal loan and would rather it tied to the car. HP isn't for me and the cars are just too old to be eligible for any sort of PCP.

[shim]

Yanto said:

fivesixseven8 said:

Thanks for the pointers guys.

Are there any areas in particular that attention needs to be given to when buying? Anything that should have been, or could need to be replaced around the 40k-50k miles bracket?

What are the thoughts on 'Nick Johnson Motor Co' cars and the 'BHP' cars? I quite like this (would have to lose the tints & grill) from the former.

tints put me off personally. Also, is it my eyes or does the stereo look non-standard ?

wots wrong with a non standard radio ffs

many CSls came fited without stereos (as they should)

[Yanto]

shim said:

Yanto said:

fivesixseven8 said:

Thanks for the pointers guys.

Are there any areas in particular that attention needs to be given to when buying? Anything that should have been, or could need to be replaced around the 40k-50k miles bracket?

What are the thoughts on 'Nick Johnson Motor Co' cars and the 'BHP' cars? I quite like this (would have to lose the tints & grill) from the former.

tints put me off personally. Also, is it my eyes or does the stereo look non-standard ?

wots wrong with a non standard radio ffs

many CSls came fited without stereos (as they should)

nothing at all Shim, though ad refers to Business Stereo / CD - thought this was BMW own rather than aftermarket..?

[fivesixseven8]

Been chatting to Kings Lynn BMW about their CSL (53 plate, 46k miles) today and without even asking they dropped the price from the £26.8k to £25.5k. Of course I will push for more but any thoughts on how low I should be able to get them?

[SonnyM]

fivesixseven8 said:

Been chatting to Kings Lynn BMW about their CSL (53 plate, 46k miles) today and without even asking they dropped the price from the £26.8k to £25.5k. Of course I will push for more but any thoughts on how low I should be able to get them?

Have you seen their car?

[fivesixseven8]

SonnyM said:

fivesixseven8 said:

Been chatting to Kings Lynn BMW about their CSL (53 plate, 46k miles) today and without even asking they dropped the price from the £26.8k to £25.5k. Of course I will push for more but any thoughts on how low I should be able to get them?

Have you seen their car?

No, the sheer distance between home and the car mean I've left things for now. I wanted a test drive for the whole day if I am travelling that far and they won't put any tax on it so cannot do so.

Have you seen it? PM if you prefer

[matc]

fivesixseven8 said:

No, the sheer distance between home and the car mean I've left things for now. I wanted a test drive for the whole day if I am travelling that far and they won't put any tax on it so cannot do so.

I don't think any dealer is going to let you test-drive a used car for a whole day, so you are going to be stumped wherever you go. Far better to ask for an extended test-drive i.e. an hour and get an independent inspection done before you buy it.

Actually as it's a long way from you, may be a good idea to get an inspection done before you travel to go and see it.

[fivesixseven8]

matc said:

fivesixseven8 said:

No, the sheer distance between home and the car mean I've left things for now. I wanted a test drive for the whole day if I am travelling that far and they won't put any tax on it so cannot do so.

I don't think any dealer is going to let you test-drive a used car for a whole day, so you are going to be stumped wherever you go. Far better to ask for an extended test-drive i.e. an hour and get an independent inspection done before you buy it.

Actually as it's a long way from you, may be a good idea to get an inspection done before you travel to go and see it.

Ignoring the fact they would have to tax it, why not? To travel almost 300 miles and spend £25k on a car they don't exactly have people falling over themselves to buy, I think it's a fair expectation. Three to four hours is fair at least IMO.

[Slippydiff]

Whilst no one is denying £25K is a large chunk of money, a busy BMW dealer will be shifting stuff of that value (and a lot more) all day every day.

Demo cars (frequently driven by sales people and management as their company cars) are just that, for demonstration purposes. A stock car on the sales pitch won't be taxed just for a demo (in my experience)who's name would you put in the V5 after all ? and if you decided not to buy the car it would add another owner to the cars history . . . . ?

If you ask nicely you may get an enthusiastic salesman to go out with you for an hour or more with trade plates on. Otherwise your expectations are waaaaay too high I'm afraid.

And personally I wouldn't consider buying a CSL without the AUC warranty. I've had mine 10 months and done 18k miles in it.

So far I've had the following parts replaced under the warranty : -

Vanos unit.
Alternator.
Rear springs.
Rear damper top mounts.
Both rear toe arms (and complete geo adjustment)
Window regulator.
Alarm module
Not to mention various other bits and bobs.

HTH

[derin100]

fivesixseven8 said:

matc said:

fivesixseven8 said:

No, the sheer distance between home and the car mean I've left things for now. I wanted a test drive for the whole day if I am travelling that far and they won't put any tax on it so cannot do so.

I don't think any dealer is going to let you test-drive a used car for a whole day, so you are going to be stumped wherever you go. Far better to ask for an extended test-drive i.e. an hour and get an independent inspection done before you buy it.

Actually as it's a long way from you, may be a good idea to get an inspection done before you travel to go and see it.

Ignoring the fact they would have to tax it, why not? To travel almost 300 miles and spend £25k on a car they don't exactly have people falling over themselves to buy, I think it's a fair expectation. Three to four hours is fair at least IMO.

Just out of interest...What will a whole day or even 3-4 hours of driving a car tell you that you wouldn't be able to tell in under 30 mins?