Purchase Inspection Advice

[Efthreeoh]

I apologize if this has been asked before. I searched on "inspection", "what", "look for", and didn't come up with anything relevant.

I'm going in today to buy the 2008 Z4 3.0si Coupe that I had CarMax "import" from Ohio; the car has 23,000 miles on it. I probably should have asked you guys a week ago for help, but didn't think of it. Just as background, I've been a BMW owner for 26 years (all new-purchase cars), and I currently have a '06 E90 325i with the N52 and manual trans, with 271K on the clock. I DIY everything, so I'm no slouch when it comes to knowing what I'm looking at, and I'm quite familiar with the N52 and it's minor issues (valve cover leak/broken bolts, etc.).

So really if anyone could advise on what to look for other than engine/drivetrain issues I'd greatly appreciate it. I've read the owners manual available on line. I'm looking more for stuff about the body and interior and how it should drive. And stuff like what should be in the tool kit (i.e. stuff an owner would know).

Thanks in advance.

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I apologize if this has been asked before. I searched on "inspection", "what", "look for", and didn't come up with anything relevant.

I'm going in today to buy the 2008 Z4 3.0si Coupe that I had CarMax "import" from Ohio; the car has 23,000 miles on it. I probably should have asked you guys a week ago for help, but didn't think of it. Just as background, I've been a BMW owner for 26 years (all new-purchase cars), and I currently have a '06 E90 325i with the N52 and manual trans, with 271K on the clock. I DIY everything, so I'm no slouch when it comes to knowing what I'm looking at, and I'm quite familiar with the N52 and it's minor issues (valve cover leak/broken bolts, etc.).

So really if anyone could advise on what to look for other than engine/drivetrain issues I'd greatly appreciate it. I've read the owners manual available on line. I'm looking more for stuff about the body and interior and how it should drive. And stuff like what should be in the tool kit (i.e. stuff an owner would know).

Thanks in advance.

Any N52 related issues would be similar to your E90 BUT the 08's should be far less problematic since it was last year of production. The oil leaks were more of an issue on 06-07's. I'll get a CEL for a solenoid that needs to be cleaned out but the o-ring gasket is the only thing that needs to be replaced and it's a few bucks. But check this thread out, it covers a lot of the motor specific issues:

www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=831184

Aside from that, my car with 70k+ hard driven miles has been trouble free. The interior is pretty simple and no real issue there. I imagine the battery would need to be replaced soon if it already has not although it won't require reprogramming. My tool kit was by the batter compartment and consisted of a tow hook and screw driver.

The leather holds up fairly well but regular conditioning goes a long way. The only trim piece I had to replace was the passenger side mirror which had the "leak" but that's common across all BMW's.

[Karacticus]

Check to make sure it hasn't gone into "transport" mode. AC should turn on (at least light up that it's on) and the same for the rear window defogger.

Otherwise yeah, not much to go wrong on these cars, especially at that kind of mileage.

[Efthreeoh]

Thanks guys. It's sitting in my carport. I've done about 250 miles on it since I took the keys at about 12:15 PM today. Holy crap what a nice car the E86 is! It's raw but sophisticated at the same time. I'm convinced you put the N52 in a dog bowl and it'd be fun to drive. Wow, have I been missing the experience.

The car had 22,900 miles on it. The leather looks new. The body was great, but I found a dent in the passenger fender after purchase. I took it back to CarMax and no questions asked they said sorry, we missed it. We'll take care of it and it should be a paintless dent repair. I'm scheduled for a Jan 6th drop off for the fix. I didn't see the issue until I got home. CarMax was great about it. I need to get the oil out of it since CarMax changes it when they get the car and they didn't know what oil or filter was used (it came from Ohio). I love this car already. A perfect compliment to the stable that includes a '97 Z3, '06 E90, and now the '08 E86.

Again thanks for all the help. I'll post pics over the weekend.

[WAMz4]

And as always.
Make sure you dump the RFT's if it still has them, and take 30 seconds to reset the adaptive throttle - http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=375224

[HEY32G]

Congrats! I'm looking for a 3.0si or an M, and will definitely buy from CarMax.

Just curious, did you get their warranty? That's a big reason I want to buy from them.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by HEY32G

Congrats! I'm looking for a 3.0si or an M, and will definitely buy from CarMax.

Just curious, did you get their warranty? That's a big reason I want to buy from them.

No, I didn't get the warranty; it was over $3K. I'm pretty familair with the drivetrain so I know it's robust, and the things that can go wroung are easy fixes and I've been through most of them with my 271,000-mile E90 anyway. My car is a 11/2007 build date and seems to be before the cost-cutting BMW started after 2008 when the exchange rate went to poop. Plus it is the last build year for the E86, so no reason to re-engineer the cost out of the build.

It's going to be a DD for me and will share DD duty with the E90. The more you drive the better for a car. It's running better already just in the few hundred miles I've driven it so far.

My experience with CarMax has been good sor far. They keep their prices high, but seem to have good customer service. Good luck with finding one.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by WAMz4

And as always.
Make sure you dump the RFT's if it still has them, and take 30 seconds to reset the adaptive throttle - http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=375224

The RFTs on the car are brand new P Zeros, so I'm going to run them through to the end. I've been running non-RFTs on my E90 since 24,000 miles, so I know what you mean about the RFTs.

I think the remapping is probably not an issue because my car has a brand new battery in it. The clock wasn't set - i.e. no time displayed - when I picked the car up yesteday, so I'm assuming the throttle mapping memeory was reset too. But thatnks for the advice; I didn't know there was a procedure to reset it.