[M3Pilot09]

Originally Posted by E9xx

Thanks for asking - On Saturday I had locked in a deal to take delivery of the car. Took a trip from NJ to Florence, SC(~11 hour drive) but unfortunately did not buy the car. This practically new, 400 mile example did have a few too many imperfections/red flags(poorly resprayed front bumper, alignment done, new front tires). The bumper alone I could MAYBE look past - but was not worth the future headache, so I passed.

I would like to write up a more detailed sequence of events when I have time, but I do not recommend this car.

- Paxton

Paxton if you want a solid 2021 X3MC, My Pytonic Blue with Black Interior Unicorn NO SUNROOF with 9,200 miles is available at Sherman Oaks BMW. The car was properly maintained, no accidents and flawless. I think they are asking 74K and the sticker was $80,450. Has everything except executive.
Ask for Marcus if you are interested in it. I also spent $600 on ceramic film the car is perfect.

[Jbh165nc]

Originally Posted by E9xx

Thanks for asking - On Saturday I had locked in a deal to take delivery of the car. Took a trip from NJ to Florence, SC(~11 hour drive) but unfortunately did not buy the car. This practically new, 400 mile example did have a few too many imperfections/red flags(poorly resprayed front bumper, alignment done, new front tires). The bumper alone I could MAYBE look past - but was not worth the future headache, so I passed.

I would like to write up a more detailed sequence of events when I have time, but I do not recommend this car.

- Paxton

Thanks for the update. I would have done the same thing. Those are the red flags you can see. Given those flags I would make the assumption this car had a pretty rough life during those 400 miles.

[Mike02z]

Originally Posted by E9xx

Thanks for asking - On Saturday I had locked in a deal to take delivery of the car. Took a trip from NJ to Florence, SC(~11 hour drive) but unfortunately did not buy the car. This practically new, 400 mile example did have a few too many imperfections/red flags(poorly resprayed front bumper, alignment done, new front tires). The bumper alone I could MAYBE look past - but was not worth the future headache, so I passed.

I would like to write up a more detailed sequence of events when I have time, but I do not recommend this car.

- Paxton

I’ve made that drive multiple times to visit family and it sucks but I think you made the right call. I know after an 11 hour drive the last thing you wanted was to leave without the car. I commend you for having the ballz to walk away. You’ll find a better one.

[E9xx]

Originally Posted by spta97

I'm a firm believer that things happen for a reason, but what a colossal waste of your time. That sucks.

Sounds like you did the right thing and the vehicle may have been involved in an accident.

I think so as well. Gave me a good chance to visit family on the way down. I don't think it was a waste of time, it was my first time driving an X3MC down there. Had me grinning ear to ear, can't wait for the right one to come along though

[allinon72]

You dodged a bullet there. Prices are too high to take a chance on a car with an odd history.

[E9xx]

Wanted to do a little write up for those who care. Thanks to everyone here and FB who provided their thoughts and feedback! I do want to preface that I don't feel the need to bash the dealer/salesman but rather like to share my thoughts and experience with this vehicle.

Edit: I don't think people do such a detailed write up for even euro delivery experience but maybe i'll look back at this thread for giggles..

First time inquiring on the car -
I first saw this car for sale on Autotrader a few months ago when it was first posted for ~$82k - A bit more than I wanted to spend, but was neat to see such a low mile 21 competition for sale. Maybe a few weeks/month later, the price dropped to $75,212 making it right in the sweet spot of my price range. I was intrigued by the rareness and "sleeperness" of Sunstone Metallic with the minty 400 mile odometer a huge plus. I put in an inquiry through Autotrader and a salesman soon reached out via phone call. If my memory serves me correct, when I asked for basic history/how it came in/pictures of the car(being a 400 mile car with two previous owners had me raising a brow) to the salesman. He did say it was brought in on consignment from a repeat client. Through some chatting, I got pics of the mint looking car and wanted to work a deal. Being pretty zealous in potentially buying this car, I had called around to the inputs to the Carfax. Perry Morris Motor Co. in Hartsville, SC was one of the last inputs before the second owner took ownership. Google searches came up as a dingy, used american car dealer/repair shop. Gave them a call and they had mentioned this car had came in for service but farmed out to a "frame and collision shop" for alignment. I had called them as well, but they weren't able to give me more info on the service details. "Why would you need an alignment on a 400 mile <1 year old car??", I asked myself. This piece of info may make some sense later in my long winded story ... Ended up not working something out and kept searching for my next car, my dream car!

Second time inquiring, set up a deal to purchase car -
Fast forward to last Saturday, May 14th - my "urge to buy a new car" bug kicked in hard and put in another inquiry through Autotrader for fun and see if we can work something out again with this car. Between the first conversations and this last Saturday's convos, we did have some exchanges but they would not budge on price. But this time around we did - long story short was able to lock in a deal with this car, my trade-in, and logistics stuff. The salesman would come in on the Sunday to transact and take delivery of my new 2021 Sunstone Metallic/Black Merino X3M Competition(or so I thought..). Around this time is when I posted this thread here and something similar in the F97/F98 FB group, hoping someone had any knowledge on the car and being my first time buying a car sight unseen maybe some feedback too.

Getting to the dealer -
Being a 10-11 hour drive from Northern NJ, it was a bit of a trek in one shot so I had coordinated with family residing about midway between NJ and SC to stay the night and begin the last leg Sunday morning with my dad as a co-pilot. Next thing I know, I am spontaneously making the trip down about 2 hours after I had first inquired on this car again That Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early around 6am to begin the ~6 hour drive. Ran into a little rain but cleared up making for a pleasant, sunny drive to the Palmetto State. Got to the dealer around noon, 30 min before we had planned to meet - this stunning car was parked right out front on the lot. Gave me a chance to get a good look at the car by myself... Keeping in the back of my mind that strange reason this practically new car had an alignment done, I made sure to give it a good exterior inspection. Eagerly hopped out the car, grinning ear to ear at the amazing Sunstone metallic paint. Love the subtle, bronze almost colorchanging to Donnington grey in certain light nature of the paint. Not too shouty or aggressive, almost can pull up to work without feeling like a d**k lol. Now to the good part - Coming around to the front, I noticed some scratches and spider webbing consistent with a respray on the front end. My current daily, a 2011 328i had a similar, poor respray after an accident I was in years back so was easy to put one and one together. Upon closer inspection, these scratches/webbing were consistent around pretty much the entire front bumper which was a hugeee bummer. On top of that, the bumper's passenger side gloss black bumper trim was a bit off. The outer vertical side was a matte black rattle can looking cover up, with the inner horizontal side being oem looking gloss black. Then around the side, almost toward the reflector was the black overspray on the sunstone paint... nice. Also, noticed where the middle of the hood meets the front bumper was miss-aligned horizontally. From there, I was a bit thrown off not knowing how to proceed. Drove 700 miles with full intention of driving off in my dream car and all of the sudden back-peddling. Trying to justify and rationalize it, maybe I can look past it.. Next, we then noticed that the front tires were different from the rears. Sport Contact 6(the oem Continental tire) out back with a 2020 manufacturing date stamp and I think a Sport Contact 5p on both fronts. These brand new Sport Contact 5p's had a stamp of late 2021.. Now why would a 2021 400 mile car need FRONT tires before the rears?? It wasn't hard to assume a little, putting the pieces together that there was some type of incident which required the entire front bumper, tires to be replaced, and an alignment.. probably pretty severe. From there, I was like 85% sure I had to pass on the car. :/

The salesman eventually came. Small talk, thanked him for coming in on the Sunday, but relayed over my findings and skepticism. Of course, he knew nothing about it but was cool enough to let me take the car out for as long as I needed with just me and my co-pilot dad. Many thoughts going through my mind, maybe even trying to rationalize the purchase on the test drive. It was my first time behind the wheel of the X3M competition and had an absolutely amazing time. Sporty, roomy, docile, not too stiff for me as many others feel making for the PERFECT daily. Not much torque until ~3k rpms and really need to wind it out to enjoy it. Reminds me a lot of my e92 m3, which I like. Drove around town for a bit, eventually making my way to the I-95 onramp to get an idea of the entire tachometer and maybe speedometer. Downshifting to 1st getting on the highway, ended up going right thru 2nd, 3rd, 4th gear, and midway through 5th before getting on the brake - it was the moment I knew I needed an X3M

Test drove the car for 30 or so minutes before returning back. I had to let the salesman know my concerns and handed him the keys back. The car wasn't for me. For a 400 mile car.. practically being brand new with such flaws(maybe just my OCD or paranoia), I can not justify pulling the trigger on such a huge purchase for me. Travel all that way to not buy my dream car was hard to swallow, but I think I made the right decision. Don't regret it at all. Got to meet up with family, first time in SC, seat time driving the X3M for the first time.. Hopefully the right low-mileage, story-free 21 comp will come along and take ownership of my dream daily driver!

Some pics for those who got through my short memoir..

Early morning gas up in DC


The car on the lot..




On our way back.. X3M'less lol

[E9xx]

Originally Posted by M3Pilot09

Paxton if you want a solid 2021 X3MC, My Pytonic Blue with Black Interior Unicorn NO SUNROOF with 9,200 miles is available at Sherman Oaks BMW. The car was properly maintained, no accidents and flawless. I think they are asking 74K and the sticker was $80,450. Has everything except executive.
Ask for Marcus if you are interested in it. I also spent $600 on ceramic film the car is perfect.

Thanks, car is really clean! A bit farther than I'd like and really would like a car with Executive pack.

[YolkyPalky]

Hearing the car was farmed out to a “frame and collision” shop would’ve been all I needed to hear to pass on it. This car was obviously in an accident, and frankly this dealership or used car lot seems pretty scummy for not being upfront about it, they obviously knew exactly what happened to the car. Dodged a bullet for sure.

[bear1m]

disappointing for sure, but don't worry... the right car will come along. plus you got to test drive and ensure that it is the model you really want. thanks for the detailed write-up!

[E9xx]

Originally Posted by YolkyPalky

Hearing the car was farmed out to a “frame and collision” shop would’ve been all I needed to hear to pass on it. This car was obviously in an accident, and frankly this dealership or used car lot seems pretty scummy for not being upfront about it, they obviously knew exactly what happened to the car. Dodged a bullet for sure.

Yeah, it made me a little uneasy first hearing abt it. but I optimistically convinced myself maybe the wife or something accidentally hopped a small curb or was not steering straight on the highway. Have been looking for a specific spec for some time and got impatient. The cr*ppy respray alone wouldn't have lasted a year, let alone any suspension or front end issues. Hindsight is always 20/20 too ha.

[E9xx]

Originally Posted by bear1m

disappointing for sure, but don't worry... the right car will come along. plus you got to test drive and ensure that it is the model you really want. thanks for the detailed write-up!

yes, exactly! Haha, great to hear.. I know a few of you guys were following this. And if someone was as serious and determined to buy this car as I was, would be a good heads up.

[stoked335d]

So you drove 700 miles for a test drive? Kidding aside you did the right thing. As the saying goes "if it is too good to be true...." . I would have passed on this at $75K because my brand new one came in at $82K to my spec. 2 owners at 400 miles should have been a huge red flag. Sounds like you just wanted some adventure but luckly logical side kicked in at last moment. Just need to be patient.

[E9xx]

Originally Posted by stoked335d

So you drove 700 miles for a test drive? Kidding aside you did the right thing. As the saying goes "if it is too good to be true...." . I would have passed on this at $75K because my brand new one came in at $82K to my spec. 2 owners at 400 miles should have been a huge red flag. Sounds like you just wanted some adventure but luckly logical side kicked in at last moment. Just need to be patient.

Yup, i'd say so. I've been in the market for a low mileage 21 comp for too long to settle for a mediocre car. Not much of a fan of the exterior on the LCI either.

[STi from DSM]

I saw so many odd things on CarFax when looking for my RS5. Alignments done multiple times, wheels tires being replaced when the cars were brand new, 5 owner cars that had 19k miles.... You just gotta be patient and the right car will come along.

When looking for my last RS3, there was one from CarMax that checked all the boxes of what I wanted, a little bit higher mileage at 28k but not terrible. I then mistakenly found a new one that had been on the lot for over a year with 118 miles on it. I actually ended up paying $15 less a month for a brand new one than the used one at CarMax.