Purchasing a used modified car

[califlove]

Hey guys,

So I cam across what looks like a great ride for sale. 2013 loaded (minus CCB) white M5.

Looks to have Remus exhaust, aftermarket 21" wheels, aftermarket intake and dinan tune/ecu. Appears to be lowered as well but can't tell.

I am wondering if I should work on getting a deal together for this car. The seller has no original parts and doesn't know the full extent of mods. As such, tracking down problems could be a huge headache in the future right? How do extend warranty companies typically deal with aftermarket parts? Seeing as I'd have no originals seems I'd be hosed on warranty work should I get an ext warranty?

The list price is nearly 56k which is way over what I wanted to spend but I believe the seller is calculating in the value of the mods which appear to be quite extensive. Seeing as its well past warranty miles I think there is some amount of negotiation power I'd have but really wanted to get some opinions on if you guys think its even worth pursing.

Carfax looks good though 2 owners... 2nd owner was obviously an enthusiast per all the mods. Wonder if they beat her up at a track on the regular. Looks like it has been in Cali all its life... ahh decisions decisions - help ? :-)

[MCarsFan]

There is value in those mods, look at them.

[sales@vivid]

From what I can tell, the list of mods that the car has, (other than the tune, and even then, its a tune that BMW will warranty so its a solid one) shoudn't really cause any concern. Wheels, intake, exhaust, and lowering springs, aren't going to cause any harm to the vehicle that I would worry about. I would try to get the price down a little, and if you can, jump on it if you like the car. Dont worry about the aftermarket stuff

[califlove]

Originally Posted by sales@vivid

From what I can tell, the list of mods that the car has, (other than the tune, and even then, its a tune that BMW will warranty so its a solid one) shoudn't really cause any concern. Wheels, intake, exhaust, and lowering springs, aren't going to cause any harm to the vehicle that I would worry about. I would try to get the price down a little, and if you can, jump on it if you like the car. Dont worry about the aftermarket stuff

The other thing I forgot to mention - smogging. As many know, smoging in CA is a bitch. The benefit is so far as I can tell, all the emissions related gear is Dinan which is CARB legal. What if there are parts not easily view-able from the lot that would throw emissions codes down the line? Am I really overthinking this?

[sales@vivid]

Originally Posted by califlove

The other thing I forgot to mention - smogging. As many know, smoging in CA is a bitch. The benefit is so far as I can tell, all the emissions related gear is Dinan which is CARB legal. What if there are parts not easily view-able from the lot that would throw emissions codes down the line? Am I really overthinking this?

The only thing that wouldn't pass would be if you had removed the factory downpipes and messed with the stock catalytic converters. Axle back is not an issue for emissions, but technically its a "modified exhaust" ticket, if a cop really wants to be a dick.

[MCarsFan]

The stock exhaust is not the most exciting. The way I see it if it's well maintained and in good condition - go for it

[califlove]

Originally Posted by MCarsFan

The stock exhaust is not the most exciting. The way I see it if it's well maintained and in good condition - go for it

Agreed. I suppose it ends up boiling down to the fact that the previous owner was an enthusiast and potentially tracked the car heavily which may have beat the engine/transmission to crap. I really have no way of knowing

[SteveC]

Personally I wouldn't touch a modified car with a barge pole. Problems with reliability, support, extended warranty, insurance, emissions test compliance, dealers blaming mods for problems they can't sort, resale etc.

When I buy a used car I like to know its been properly maintained, conservatively driven and not clocked, so I look for regular servicing with recorded mileage and stay away from performance based modifications which indicate dissatisfaction with standard performance, meaning that the car's had a whipping.

This is my personal opinion, based on a couple of modified bikes I bought and later took back for a refund.

[MCarsFan]

Cannot agree. If the car is owned by an enthusiast they will look after it and care for it.

[SteveC]

Big IF there my friend. One thing buying a car from a friend where you know its track record and history. Another buying a tuned modified car with no background. Very risky in my opinion, especially cars with the potential for very large repair bills like the M5.

BMW do thousands of hours of testing in all types of climatic extremes, which is totally negated by substituting software, where the testing is typically done on a few customer cars.

First time you take the car to a dealer with a problem they may want $1000s to return it to standard, so they can update firmware or run standard diagnostics

For me a tuned used car is the ultimate Pig in a Poke in that you really don't know what you're getting, who's tampered with it and how.

[MCarsFan]

Originally Posted by SteveC

Big IF there my friend. One thing buying a car from a friend where you know its track record and history. Another buying a tuned modified car with no background. Very risky in my opinion, especially cars with the potential for very large repair bills like the M5.

BMW do thousands of hours of testing in all types of climatic extremes, which is totally negated by substituting software, where the testing is typically done on a few customer cars.

First time you take the car to a dealer with a problem they may want $1000s to return it to standard, so they can update firmware or run standard diagnostics

For me a tuned used car is the ultimate Pig in a Poke in that you really don't know what you're getting, who's tampered with it and how.

Good points. I respect your opinion and I do agree if you don't know the cars history it's a different story. But if you do, it can be a worthwhile experience for the buyer.

[DRiFT_645]

Originally Posted by MCarsFan

Good points. I respect your opinion and I do agree if you don't know the cars history it's a different story. But if you do, it can be a worthwhile experience for the buyer.

Exactly. Look for things like maintenance history, quality of mods used, paint/body damage, interior condition, quality of installation of mods. Stuff like that can tell you a lot about the car, the owner and the owner's attitude towards the car.

Having said that, I just bought my F10 M5 last week. I considered a Dinan M5 with 700WHP but turned it down because I didn't want a car that had been "pushed" hard.

[RaTeD ///M]

Originally Posted by califlove

Hey guys,

So I cam across what looks like a great ride for sale. 2013 loaded (minus CCB) white M5.

Looks to have Remus exhaust, aftermarket 21" wheels, aftermarket intake and dinan tune/ecu. Appears to be lowered as well but can't tell.

I am wondering if I should work on getting a deal together for this car. The seller has no original parts and doesn't know the full extent of mods. As such, tracking down problems could be a huge headache in the future right? How do extend warranty companies typically deal with aftermarket parts? Seeing as I'd have no originals seems I'd be hosed on warranty work should I get an ext warranty?

The list price is nearly 56k which is way over what I wanted to spend but I believe the seller is calculating in the value of the mods which appear to be quite extensive. Seeing as its well past warranty miles I think there is some amount of negotiation power I'd have but really wanted to get some opinions on if you guys think its even worth pursing.

Carfax looks good though 2 owners... 2nd owner was obviously an enthusiast per all the mods. Wonder if they beat her up at a track on the regular. Looks like it has been in Cali all its life... ahh decisions decisions - help ? :-)

How many miles and does it what em packages does it have?

[califlove]

Originally Posted by RaTeD ///M

How many miles and does it what em packages does it have?

AW but warpped matte, Full Black Leather,B&O, Exec, Driver +, 20" Wheels, though it has aftermarket 21's, 51kish miles...your previous car? :-)

[califlove]

I'm going to take a look at the car today. If it passes my initial drive and what not, I'll take it to a local shop who is also a dinan dealer - for an pre purchase inspection. Maybe they can dig up records in dinan world (if such a thing exist) that can shed light on the vehicle. Since it appears all the mods are dinan minus exhaust, at least I know I can somewhat safely assume the previous owner called about warranty and cohesiveness...

[califlove]

So I spent a couple hours at the lot with the car today.

Drives like a beast but really smooth after I adapted to the throttle response. Has Dinan Stage 2 ECU system. From what I can tell, that + exhaust and intake should get the vehicle up to 690ish. Crazy. Remus exhaust sounds much better than I was anticipating. Not overly loud, not much drone at highway speed...solid.

Car seems solid overall.

Some problems -
Steering shimmies a bit at highway speed. It may be a bent rim. The car has aftermarket 21's that are not forged and one has a good chunk of tire out along sidewall from obvious curb hit...how fast, who knows. Dealer has offered to swap a pair of stock 20's from a M6 they have on the lot which I likely will take them up on.

Slight brake squeal when brakes are applied. This is something I'd get checked out in a pre-purchase inspection - I really don't want to have to drop 2k or whatever on new rotors/pads anytime soon if I move on this thing...

Car is wrapped with matte material. Looks really good with no major tears...EXCEPT - one rear door was recently re-done as the original wrap was tearing. Problem is, it does not match the rest of the car. Looks super tacky. Dealer has offered to either take off the whole wrap OR work with another vendor to try and get the color match better one more time.

If I were to move on the car, I think I am of the mindset to have them remove the wrap entirely. This provides the benefit of knowing the quality of the paint underneath and solves the mis match wrap issue as well.

Anywho, a couple questions I haven't been able to figure out from YouTube and forms. As far as the dinan gear goes, is it as simple as unplugging that gear to return the car ecu to stock or is there more to it than that? Does Dinan warranty transfer with new ownership? Appears from the stickers that the dinan gear was produced mid 2015 so at least it should be warrantied through mid next year right?

Ahh decisions decisions. The price is high ($56k - 51k miles) compared to other cars on market but they are not modded. honestly, mods aren't worth the price premium to me for the most part so I'd factor that into my offer.

Any other thoughts/comments any of you guys can share?

[ur20v]

Dinan tune is a piggy back which means it can be removed quickly with no allerations left.

I don't believe the warranty from Dinan is transferable.

Brake squeal is quite normal and not nessarcerly a measure of brake wear or issue, it could just need a clean, grease, pad champher and some hard use (tend to squeal if driven lightly for a while).

M6 OEM wheels would be a great choice, note the rears are 0.5" wider but I believe fit so you won't need any spacers at the rear plus they are forged. Its very likely the aftermarket wheels and damaged tyre are your shimmy issue.

If price is high why consider this if there are other choices? Does it have the spec and colour you want that would justify the price difference.

The mods should not demand a price hike, if any thing the car should be place neutrually or at the lower end of the market because of these mods- most buyers will be sensitve to mods (this can be a justifable stance but not always reality of the situation/mods)

[fhaze3]

There is a '13 with 61k for 47k near me. I wouldn't pay any extra for mods.

[mstmng]

mods are shit for this price

[califlove]

just connected with Dinan. I did find out warranty xfers with new owner which is nice. Also found out ECU is Stage 1. With all that known, I'm thinking this car shouldn't go for more than $50k...we'll see how it goes.

Also found out the Agency intake is not CARB legal which means Smogging the car in '18 is going to be a bitch since I wouldn't have original - gotta take that into consideration as well...

[sales@vivid]

Originally Posted by califlove

just connected with Dinan. I did find out warranty xfers with new owner which is nice. Also found out ECU is Stage 1. With all that known, I'm thinking this car shouldn't go for more than $50k...we'll see how it goes.

Also found out the Agency intake is not CARB legal which means Smogging the car in '18 is going to be a bitch since I wouldn't have original - gotta take that into consideration as well...

On the plus side, finding a stock intake shouldnt be THAT difficult, and swapping them when getting the smog done is a pretty simple task.

Let me know if i can be of any assistance.

-Ralph

[ur20v]

Be aware the complete OEM intakes are seriously expensive... like $1200 a aside when I last checked and difficult to find second hand or at breakers.