I am looking at an M3 right now and need some opinions.

It's an '08 E92 manual interlagos blue with 1,600 miles and has:

Cold Weather Pkg
Premium Pkg
Tech Pkg
Moonroof (blah)
Enhanced Premium Sound
18 inch wheels (another blah)


The internet price is around $56,000, but I talked them down to $50,500 out the door. The thing is, it was a demo car for a while. After expressing my concerns about it being a demo, they said that they never let a customer test drive it alone and over rev or do hard downshifts. They assured me it was in amazing condition (naturally).

What do you guys think about this price? Should I just skip it all together because it was a demo for a little while? This would be my first BMW, btw.

 

Every time I've driven a demo they've had no problem with me redlining, rev matches, etc from a cold start. I've seen some of those demo cars driven hard.

 

i wouldnt do it ive only heard horror stories about demo, but if you plan on keeping less than 4 years you have nothing to worry about it since its under warranty

 

You'll be fine. I'm assuming this was a March (or early build) M3? My dealership wouldn't let anyone drive the demo m3s hard around DFW unless they were very serious and were doing paperwork on ordering one.

Even when I went to test drive a M3 the CA told me not to take it about 5500RPMs and got pissed at me even if I got close to going over it.

Buy it, but make them lower the price on it alottt...Enjoy the car! Let me know your decision

 

I had similar experiences to DevJ. Normally BMW lets you test drive and redline the cars. But with the M3's due to the fact it runs a different oil until the first oil change the salesman ALWAYS go on the test drive and DO NOT let you drive past 5500RPM for that reason because it is very bad for the car. We are good friends with a local BMW dealership and when they first got one last spring they let me drive the car and prior to driving they stressed the importance of not passing 5500RPM, so personally the fact that it is a demo would not prevent me from buying this car, because an M3 demo is very different than many other demos because they do not let customers redline them.
Hope that helps

 

Thank you all for the helpful posts. I talked them down A LOT. So, I feel pretty good about it. I am just kinda afraid of the car having any stored Type 2 over-revs that might void the warranty. I asked the dealer to scan for them and let me know the results, but, they said that only BMW corporate could have access to that information. They are supposed to be getting back to me. Anybody have any experience with requesting a dealer for this type of information?

 

One question that I do not think has been addressed is: Has the oil been changed yet? It should and I would imagine it has, but it is worth mentioning. It sounds like you are doing your homework and are knowledgeable about the car, so personally I would not let the fear of the warranty being void stop you, first of all I doubt it has, secondly you will have plenty of documentation showing when you bought the car and that it was a never titled dealer demo and you should never have any issues with warranty. If the $50,500 OTD includes everything: fees, sales tax, etc.; it does sound like a good deal.

 

Thank you all for the help.

They are having a BMW rep come out and hook up his computer to the car to scan for any over-revs. However, the dealer is telling me that the rep is only going to verbally tell them the results and won't put anything into writing. This seems very sketchy. What do you guys think? Am I being paranoid?

 

I drove my e60 M5 pretty hard since the day I bought it. I didn't follow the "break in" procedure but did have the oil changed at 1200 miles. I now have 10K problem free miles (knock on wood) and the car runs great. I can't imagine the car you are looking at was driven harder than my car. In fact my sales guy, who has been selling BMWs for ever, club races and is also BMWCCA instructor told me that all the M motors are "broken in" before the car is shipped and told me to just drive it like I stole it.

 

Thanks for your help. Maybe I am being a tad paranoid. The thing is, this would be the most expensive car that I have ever purcahsed. I don't want to have engine troubles down the road and need warranty work done just to have BMW say, 'Sorry, your warranty has been voided because there are type 2 over-revs stored on your ECU".

The dealer doesn't seem to care about my concerns. He just keeps telling me that he can't give me in writing the results from the test that the BMW rep is going to do on the car. What should I make of this?

Thanks guys, sorry for the chapter-length post.

 

Thats a tough decision on a car that seems like a very good deal.

 

CPO yes, otherwise keep looking.

 

Offer them the same price they would offer you if you had an "'08 E92 manual interlagos blue with 1,600 miles"

Something like below wholesale and work up from there.
Of course they wont deal that way...theirs is always gold and yours is always s**t

 

That price OTD is a pretty good deal in my opinion. I would jump on it. You still have a large amount of warranty time left. Like others have said, there are different views on break in procedures. Let us know what you decide.

 

If you don't get something in writing or in the car's file, you will have almost no way to protect yourself if something goes wrong later. This is of course assuming there even are any overrevs already stored. I personally wouldn't do it without that record.

Greg A