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beatty36

New To The Forum, Help/advice Needed Please

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Hi,

I'm new to the forum, and I intend on buying a 318ci M-Sport in imola red, the problem lies in the fact that i want to get a clean one with low miles, which i have found, but im worried/nervous about the fact that it may have been clocked. So what better place to come than where every one knows all about these cars, what to look out for, what wears first and signs etc....

I have phoned the guy selling the car and he says that it has full service history and things like that, but its still easy to fake as a friend of mine found out when he purchased an x5 from england, lucky enough it was from dealership and he managed to get sorted out,

From the ad you can see that the seat bolster is worn, and the fact that the car has clearly been valeted inside and out, but yet the mud is still on the peddles as if to hide wear and tear? I'm not sure whether or not im looking into it too much?

But id be grateful if any one could help and see what they think, the advertisement link is below here,

Thanks again!!

http://www.autotrade.../1500?logcode=p

Edited by beatty36
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Maybe it was just a really lardy previous owner? My leather seats are pretty worn at 140k but the bolsters aren't that bad. I know seats can be changed, e.g. if it didn't come with leathers, but I doubt that's the case with an everyday sort of owner. I'd say go with your heart on this one, its a lot of money to pay for a car you aren't sure about!

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gutted :/ i think your all right like, i just didn't want to believe it really because i've been looking for a fresh one in that spec for ages :/ it is rally strange, but still rather find out now, than going across to england to be disappointed when i got there and sent the money on flights etc.....good eyes on the passenger seat, i didn't notice that one!

let the search continue lol,

thanks for the help lads

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Am I being retarded by saying the passenger seat is different to the drivers?

Only on the iPhone but it looks to have stitching through the middle where as the drivers doesn't.

I Think it's just a crease in the pad, I have an individual nappa interior and the thigh pad doesn't have the stitching up the middle.

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As above, that definitely looks clocked guessing by the massive amount of wear on that bolster. Also, I think you should avoid the 318 as it has a crappy engine which can be quite unreliable. You are better off buying a 320 diesel or a 6 cylinder petrol.

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Just ring them up and get the last mot certificate number, go to the mot check website, put in the details and it will bring up mileage and mot details for the last 5 or so years, as its a 2006 your have the full life of the car on file so our be able to see if clocked.

Post the results up when checked.

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^what scarab said, if its legit they'll not question giving you the mot number or reg doc number, from either of those you'll be able to see all its history. Could've been clocked prior to 2009 though (that'll be its earliest mot)?

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o really, I thought the badge on the boot was the m sport one? :s yeah would love to go for the 320cd because I do a lot of travelling for work and it obviously leaves me open to re-mapping and stuff, but its not really possible to get one with the spec i'm after for low miles :/ thats good about the seats tho, seems that bit less suspicious.

But i ran a history check on the car there and it shows up everything apart from the vin number and the milage, but does however give an engine number which is good. so the next bet is what scarab said and ill try and get mot number and check it tomorrow then post up the results

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Why on earth would anyone spend £8k on a boggo e46? You could get a fairly tidy m3 for that at auction?! If its for economy, buy a diesel, if its because its got low miles then let me tell you, low miles means jack!

The majority of the time a low mileage car has been driven for very short distances at a time, this means the clutch has had a hard time, the gearbox has had a hard time & the engine has never warmed up properly. Plus, when you add on the fact that other parts of the car will age purely due to time (rubber bits) it'll mean that you may have well bought a cheaper, higher mileage car & saved the extra purchase expense to put towards maintenance that any car needs.

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Cant afford an M3 for insurance, and for fuel....i've done the maths and it just doesn't work unfortunately. This may be true but its just preference, generally a lower millage car wont run into as many problems as a high milage car. Plus i'm thinking of when i'm selling the car on again because once i've added miles onto it it will more than likely depreciate less than say going over the 100,000 mark, but again I guess its just each to their own

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