Apparently no paintwork = the whole front painted

[stuka]

I thought I had finally found a nice 2003 M5, Sterling, less than 35K miles, clean carfax and autocheck.

But then, Chris at C2 Design didn't even need to bust out the paint meter during the PPI, the whole front was painted.

It's crazy, I have the money, I am willing to pay premium for nice cars, and I just can't seem to find one.

And seriously, if your entire front is painted, why would you tell me that the car had no paintwork and ask for the no story price of 30.5K?

Hell, I would even pay 45K the asking price of that red M5 with ultra low 4500 miles on the eBay, but with the new information on the fact that the diff oil is 5 years old, and the coolant, tranny, power steering, brake fluids are 7 years old. Seriously, just because you don't drive it doesn't mean you don't have to change the fluids!

Back to square one.

[lip277]

The delivery center could have had to rework damage done during shipping to the US. The dealer or buyer wouldn't even have known.....

Similar thing happened to my Dad's E32 back in 1994.

[stuka]

Paint meter, don't buy big $$$ cars without it.:D

[JST]

The delivery center could have had to rework damage done during shipping to the US. The dealer or buyer wouldn't even have known.....

Similar thing happened to my Dad's E32 back in 1994.

Actually, their procedures changed in the wake of the BMW v. Gore court decision. When I (leased) my used 2002 M3, which had started life as a BMW NA executive car, the dealer had a series of forms showing that there had been paintwork done on the car at the delivery center. Since I was leasing, I though WGAS--I wouldn't have noticed if they hadn't told me.

[AF]

Actually, their procedures changed in the wake of the BMW v. Gore court decision. When I (leased) my used 2002 M3, which had started life as a BMW NA executive car, the dealer had a series of forms showing that there had been paintwork done on the car at the delivery center. Since I was leasing, I though WGAS--I wouldn't have noticed if they hadn't told me.

I bought my brand new ordered from the factory by ME ... 2007 335i which I found out had the front nose redone at the port and that was only because I was tracking the car down to the date it was supposed to arrive at port.

If I didn't question why it took so long to arrive at the dealer I would not have been informed about it.

To top it off I am good at spotting paintwork and I admit I could not see what was repainted at the port.

Anyway the point is who gives a crap ... a repainted bumper is not a big deal as long as you are made aware of it.

[Theo]

Ditto on all counts. I am actually in the process of getting my whole front bumper resprayed and clrear bra'ed.

[stuka]

Whole front in this case = hood + both fenders + bumper.

And he presented the car asd prestine and wanted 30.5K for it.

I am just glad that C2 Design was straight with me on their inspection.

[stuka]

I bought my brand new ordered from the factory by ME ... 2007 335i which I found out had the front nose redone at the port and that was only because I was tracking the car down to the date it was supposed to arrive at port.

If I didn't question why it took so long to arrive at the dealer I would not have been informed about it.

To top it off I am good at spotting paintwork and I admit I could not see what was repainted at the port.

Anyway the point is who gives a crap ... a repainted bumper is not a big deal as long as you are made aware of it.

Repaint or even replaced bumper do not affect resale value.

Sheet metal work does. Especially when you are looking to pay up to high 30's for a good example.

[Theo]

Repaint or even replaced bumper do not affect resale value.

Sheet metal work does. Especially when you are looking to pay up to high 30's for a good example.

So re-sprayed front or rear bumpers don't bother you then?

[stuka]

So re-sprayed front or rear bumpers don't bother you then?

Nope, it's just plastic, it doesn't affect resale, and even factory can't match the color.

If you look closely, the plastic bumpers do not match the rest of the car even from the facotry. Audi is the worse offender, BMW does a good job, Porsche isn't so hot either.

[Theo]

Nope, it's just plastic, it doesn't affect resale, and even factory can't match the color.

If you look closely, the plastic bumpers do not match the rest of the car even from the facotry. Audi is the worse offender, BMW does a good job, Porsche isn't so hot either.

I can see the logic. When I had the entire front end of my E36 redone I was never happy with the hood. The bumper looked great.

While I have about 20 or so rock chips on my hood I would rather touch them up and just redo the bumper and leave the hood alone. Lesson learned.

[John V]

Now you have a bargaining chip to get a lower price on the car. Probably the owner didn't know it was sprayed.

[Theo]

Now you have a bargaining chip to get a lower price on the car. Probably the owner didn't know it was sprayed.
Exactly.

[TD]

Seriously. Who gives a shit if it was painted? As long as your price reflects the condition, you're all set.

I'd view paintwork as an opportunity to get a good deal.

[JST]

Seriously. Who gives a shit if it was painted? As long as your price reflects the condition, you're all set.

I'd view paintwork as an opportunity to get a good deal.

And look at it this way--if you buy a pristine car and it gets hit, all that value goes straight down the toilet. Buying a car that has already been painted immunizes you against that (to a certain extent). That's maybe not a concern for a car that is going to be parked, rubbed with a diaper, and only taken to concours events, but for a daily driver its kind of a big deal.

As long as you can satisfy yourself that the paintwork is not reflective of more serious issues, buying a painted car is really the way to go.

[zcasavant]

And look at it this way--if you buy a pristine car and it gets hit, all that value goes straight down the toilet. Buying a car that has already been painted immunizes you against that (to a certain extent). That's maybe not a concern for a car that is going to be parked, rubbed with a diaper, and only taken to concours events, but for a daily driver its kind of a big deal.

As long as you can satisfy yourself that the paintwork is not reflective of more serious issues, buying a painted car is really the way to go.

Yup, agreed. Speaking of which, I need to get the front of the M3 resprayed at some point.

[stuka]

Well, I am very happy with the way the S4 ownership has turned out. Slightly used with 8K miles, pristine paint with full wrap clearbra.

And really, when we are talking about M5 where a decent one with no story and higher mile is going to cost you 24K anyway, I am happy to slap on another 10K and get one in under 40K miles.

[FC]

My V70R had a new front passenger door installed and painted. I have looked numerous times. You just cannot tell it is not a factory job. My repaired Jeep had the whole rear quarter cut and replaced from a salvage white jeep. The welding is perfect. You just cannot tell it had so much work done. The paint is 95% there. The final 5% may well just be that the rest of the car is dirty and the paint is 120K miles and 8 years older. It would likely fail the stuka visual inspection, but it passes mine and for what it is (the crappy third car that just got me through about 1 foot of water the other day), I am more than happy.

[John V]

I had the front bumper and grille valence repainted on my M3. With better quality paint than the shitty super soft stuff used at the BMW factory, too. :)

[stuka]

I had the front bumper and grille valence repainted on my M3. With better quality paint than the shitty super soft stuff used at the BMW factory, too. :)

Yeah but bumper replacement doesn't do anything to resale.

Sheet metal and paint works do.

And if I am paying a premium, or an owner is asking for a premium, then I expect that car to not have any story or work done.

[stuka]

My V70R had a new frotn passenger door installed and repainted. I have looked numerous times. You just cannot tell it is not a factory job. My repaired Jeep had the whole rear quarter cut and replaced from a salvagae white jeep. The weldign is perfect. You just cannot tell it had so much work done. The paint is 95% there. The final 5% may well just be that the rest of the car is dirty and the paint is 120K miles and 8 years older. It would likely fail the stuka visual inspection, but it passes mine and for what it is (the thrid car that just got me through about 1 foot of water the other day), I am more than happy.

Trust me, it's better to be like you than me.

But that's only because I learned more than I cared to while working for bodyshop clients years ago. Like I can't help but notice how Audi has the most terrible paint job on earth when it comes to matching the plastic bumpers to the rest of the car from the factory.

Or that when driving down the road, I see cars with the gaps on trunk lines shows that it was worked on and jigged, or that the orange peel mismatch that you see on almost ALL of the cars that came out of bodyshop, or the fact that almost no one can properly match color and have to resort to blending adjacent panels, etc, and etc.

But the bottom line is that I am looking for a no story car and am willing to back it up with cash.

This OH one is promising, but I might just walk because the dealer only wants wire transfer and doesn't do his own financing. Sounds kind of fishy to me.

[equ]

Did you see this e34M5 wagon on bmwcca? Federalized but probably the supercharger bit doesn't go sit well with you.

http://www.bmwcca.org/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=6542&cat=16

[stuka]

Did you see this e34M5 wagon on bmwcca? Federalized but probably the supercharger bit doesn't go sit well with you.

http://www.bmwcca.org/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=6542&cat=16

It's the same car that has been talked about.

Supercharging an S38 is a disaster waiting to happen. Rebuilding one is like 5K plus.

Oh, and there's a huge gauge on the hood, and the bumper doesn't even align properly with the fender, and the intercooler is kind of cobbled together.

He would have gotten MORE than the asking if he had simply left the car stock.

[Sharp11]

Stuka,

Perhaps the repaint was to get rid of a lot of stone chips? Not uncommon (my 2000 323i was covered with them). Or perhaps he had a clear bra and had it removed ... who knows, as long as there was no structural repair, I wouldn't let it stop me.

Ed