NEED HELP ASAP, M ROADSTER

[26jcd]

I am about to buy an M Roadster and need to know if 6 owners is the usual for a 1998 car with 44,000miles?

Appreciate any help or advice, also is it worth getting a warranty as well?

Thanks

Jamie

[z4monster]

Mmmm Six owners in 44,000 mles and only 7 years seems a little odd. Why did no one keep it very long? Or do much mileage. If used as a main car I would expect at least 10,000 miles per year. Not that it means much except that it's changed hands several times.
I was looking at Porsche wit similar numbers of owners but they were 15 years old not 7.

Check it out carefully and make sure it hasn't been stuffed at some point. Check for service history and previous MOT to make sure mileage is legit. Ask owner why they are selling it and how long they've had it.

[outnumbered]

That's not so unusual for an M3, I guess Z3Ms will be similar.

When I was looking at M3s of the same vintage, 4+ owners seemed typical. My '98 M3 has 5 previous owners (although 2 were the same bloke, as his company and then privately).

I think they're just the type of cars that tend to get bought by people who can afford to change their cars a lot (or alternatively discover how much an Insp 2 costs!)

a '98 M Roadster could suffer the same Vanos problems as an M3 Evo - so a warranty could be a good idea but you need to make sure up front it will cover Vanos - many don't.


>> Edited by outnumbered on Tuesday 25th October 21:55

>> Edited by outnumbered on Tuesday 25th October 21:56

[26jcd]

I managed to hpi the car and its come up clean. 6 owners is just really making me have second thoughts. I've managed to get the dealer down to 12.7K but that means no warranty

[vixpy1]

I would avoid a car thats had that many owners and done that few miles..

If the Vanos has not been done, chances are it will fail if you use the car alot.

[bennno]

26jcd said:

I managed to hpi the car and its come up clean. 6 owners is just really making me have second thoughts. I've managed to get the dealer down to 12.7K but that means no warranty

Fer fecks sake thats a £38k car new, the Hpi is clear. Many M cars or Beemers have 4-5 owners in the first 3 years so this number in 7 isnt unreasonable.

I would take it with a warranty or buy it on the basis of BMW doing an check / inspection first.

Bennno

[26jcd]

would bmw do a warranty on the car if i got them to inspect it?

if this car is a bad idea, does anybody know of an m roadster for sale that would be a good buy?

[Dave Brookes]

There is atleast on M Roadster(ZM3) out there that started life as a LHD and was converted to RHD when it was only 3 months old. (When they were first launched and were only available in LHD a company that I did some work for brought 2 of the first 3 to land in the UK, anyway, as you know the premium that these cars were fetching when first released soon came to an end and with the arrival of the RHD ones the LHD cars were dead in the water. hence the reason for getting it converted to RHD (Seeing as all the RHD parts were now available). This car was a metallic Black one with red/ black (Immola) leather.
Just thought I'd mention this as it could affect it's value.