Back in the saddle again.....

[Sharp11]

Originally Posted by GregE_325

Just thought I'd share the news of my latest acquisition. Yesterday, I bought this little baby to replace my POS Mazda3:

2005 325Ci CPO with Sport Package, Cold Weather Package, Premium Package, Xenons, 5 speed manual trans., Harmon Kardon, and cow-skin seats.

It has 7500 miles on it, and I picked it up for a rather good price of $31k. It's in fantastic condition, and as far as I can tell from the checklist left in the owner's manual holder, it belonged to someone with BMWNA (they were listed as the original purchaser).

I've attached a picture that the dealer took. Haven't had the time to wash it up and take pictures myself. But I'm so happy to be back in the BMW family again. It's a neat car.

-- Greg

As far as I'm concerned, if you can get the car you want, used cpo is the way to go, you can drive this car for the next few years comfortable in the knowledge the first year's massive depreciation was suffered by someone else.

Enjoy, very nice!!

Ed

[lemming]

Originally Posted by Sharp11

As far as I'm concerned, if you can get the car you want, used cpo is the way to go, you can drive this car for the next few years comfortable in the knowledge the first year's massive depreciation was suffered by someone else.

Enjoy, very nice!!

Ed

agreed, in principle!

there are certain instances, though, when i would much prefer to break the car in myself as i've had a nasty run-in with a CPO car in the recent past where all hell started to break loose at about 35,000 miles --things that were beyond wear and tear. there is only so much due diligence one can do.

[GregE_325]

Originally Posted by Sharp11

As far as I'm concerned, if you can get the car you want, used cpo is the way to go, you can drive this car for the next few years comfortable in the knowledge the first year's massive depreciation was suffered by someone else.

Enjoy, very nice!!

Ed

Thanks! I've very pleased with the car so far. I've yet to regret spending the money, so for a tightwad like myself, says a lot. This is my first CPO BMW, my other two were bought new. I've been happy with the experience, and it is nice to let someone else eat a little depreciation. Ha!

-- Greg

[GregE_325]

Originally Posted by lemming

agreed, in principle!

there are certain instances, though, when i would much prefer to break the car in myself as i've had a nasty run-in with a CPO car in the recent past where all hell started to break loose at about 35,000 miles --things that were beyond wear and tear. there is only so much due diligence one can do.

Good point. I was a little concerned until I had my salesman pull the vehicle history from BMW's system. When it showed that the original owner was BMWNA, I felt much better. If it was likely driven by one of the executives, I figure it wasn't abused too badly.

Here are a couple of gratuitous shots that I took yesterday. I got my first compliment on it from a woman this evening at the gas station while I was filling it up.

[rumatt]

Not a bad looking car, at al...

[lemming]

Originally Posted by GregE_325

Good point. I was a little concerned until I had my salesman pull the vehicle history from BMW's system. When it showed that the original owner was BMWNA, I felt much better. If it was likely driven by one of the executives, I figure it wasn't abused too badly.

Here are a couple of gratuitous shots that I took yesterday. I got my first compliment on it from a woman this evening at the gas station while I was filling it up.

there are certain cars which have known underengineered parts that, when buying CPO, would worry me.

the CTS-V is one example.

it has a serious problem with the LSD rear end and the it 'can' eat clutches if driven by a true hoosier. the LSD rear end is a getrag unit that basically was designed more for the 6 cylinder engines but they haven't seen fit to retrofit the C5/c6 robust LSDs, for example. unless i knew the prior owner really well and could get a sense that they never did clutch drops at 6000rpms and went drag racing all of the time, i wouldn't touch a CPO V. for example, if you run into someone who complains about wheel hop a lot, that is a red flag. avoid that car.

hopefully you got a really well treated car and never have to worry about this stuff!

[GregE_325]

Originally Posted by lemming

there are certain cars which have known underengineered parts that, when buying CPO, would worry me.

the CTS-V is one example.

it has a serious problem with the LSD rear end and the it 'can' eat clutches if driven by a true hoosier. the LSD rear end is a getrag unit that basically was designed more for the 6 cylinder engines but they haven't seen fit to retrofit the C5/c6 robust LSDs, for example. unless i knew the prior owner really well and could get a sense that they never did clutch drops at 6000rpms and went drag racing all of the time, i wouldn't touch a CPO V. for example, if you run into someone who complains about wheel hop a lot, that is a red flag. avoid that car.

hopefully you got a really well treated car and never have to worry about this stuff!

You make a good point. I feel sorry for people who unknowingly get into something like that. That's one of the great aspects of boards like this one, for example. People who actually own the cars share their experiences and everyone can learn from them.

[Rob]

Originally Posted by lemming

the LSD rear end is a getrag unit that basically was designed more for the 6 cylinder engines but they haven't seen fit to retrofit the C5/c6 robust LSDs,

for your peace of mind, the rear differential on the V is now replaced with a redesigned part. They didn't recall the cars, but when your diff goes bad (and it will, eventually) they will replace it with a part that apparently doesn't fail.

[JST]

Originally Posted by lemming

there are certain cars which have known underengineered parts that, when buying CPO, would worry me.

the CTS-V is one example.

it has a serious problem with the LSD rear end and the it 'can' eat clutches if driven by a true hoosier. the LSD rear end is a getrag unit that basically was designed more for the 6 cylinder engines but they haven't seen fit to retrofit the C5/c6 robust LSDs, for example. unless i knew the prior owner really well and could get a sense that they never did clutch drops at 6000rpms and went drag racing all of the time, i wouldn't touch a CPO V. for example, if you run into someone who complains about wheel hop a lot, that is a red flag. avoid that car.

hopefully you got a really well treated car and never have to worry about this stuff!

That's annoying, but even out of warranty the cost of replacing a differential isn't that huge, is it?

[Rob]

Originally Posted by JST

That's annoying, but even out of warranty the cost of replacing a differential isn't that huge, is it?

It is if you have to do it every 15k miles or so. Some guys were on their third diff by the time they hit 20k. On the other hand, those are also the guys that modded the car in one way or another and probably were trying to treat it like a drag racer (something it is emphatically not, although they get in the 12s at the drag strip with a super charger).