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      10-08-2018, 11:49 AM   #1
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Buying an M235i

Found a manual M235i coupe, unfortunately it’s out of my area. Flew out to look at it, and it appears to be modded.

I saw an intake (stock unit is in the trunk) what looks to be an upgraded charge pipe? (Whatever is from the TB down into what looks to be going towards the inter cooler. There is also what appears to be lowering sprigs (red, don’t know the brand) maybe a downpour (hard to tell, but it looks like a smooth ceramic pipe with a flex/cat at the end? And then what I assume to be a partially unhooked JB+/4 system.


There was also a headlight/auto level error in the menu system when I checked.


Never had a turbo car, so I’m not sure how I feel about all of this - give me some advise ASAP!

Last edited by Taskmaster; 12-18-2018 at 09:36 AM..
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      10-08-2018, 11:57 AM   #2
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What year? How many miles? How much?
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      10-08-2018, 12:18 PM   #3
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Nope. Don't waste your time.
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      10-08-2018, 12:19 PM   #4
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What year? How many miles? How much?
2015 - Black, manual and 25k.
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      10-08-2018, 12:20 PM   #5
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Nope. Don't waste your time.
Can you give me some reasons? I have to decide to stay here and buy in thAM when my bank opens or Fly home.
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      10-08-2018, 12:56 PM   #6
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Can you give me some reasons? I have to decide to stay here and buy in thAM when my bank opens or Fly home.
I think you already listed all the reasons yourself...
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      10-08-2018, 01:00 PM   #7
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With the headlight leveling error, the level sensor arm has likely been broken on one or both of the lower control arms (front left, back right, if I remember correctly), indicating whoever did the suspension work was a bit of a butcher. I would also suspect other upgrades done to the car due to the poor quality of the suspension mods install. If the car has any warranty left, it is likely not going to cover powertrain due to the mods. Unless the mods were explicitly stated in the ad for the car, I would say the seller isn’t very honest.

If you don’t run away from buying the car, I would say it is worth less than an unmodified car in the same condition.
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      10-08-2018, 01:07 PM   #8
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I would steer clear of buying a modified car where you can't speak directly to the original owner who did the mods.

There's a difference between buying a modified car, and buying an enthusiast owned modified car.

I have a 2014 M235i, 21k miles, 8sp auto. I absolutely LOVE the car and it's been PERFECT for me. It has tons of mods on it, occassionally it does get driven hard, but usually I'm just cruising in it on the weekends to run errands.

Eventually it will be time for me to sell it. I would much prefer to sell it WITH the mods, as I know it's an incredibly well sorted car. Suspension mods, 19" Wheels/Tires, Audio Upgrades, Engine bolt-ons. There will be no surprises.

It sucks to mod a car sometimes unless you can do everything yourself. Take it to a shop to have lowering springs put on, drive it around a week, find a decent alignment shop, buy wheels/tires and hope the installer doesn't scratch your new wheels all up, etc.
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      10-08-2018, 01:17 PM   #9
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I think you already listed all the reasons yourself...
Mods don’t bother me, what I listed (headlight error) does. The JB and the intake, even the cat less down pipe would probably come off ( charge pipe is a failure point on a stock car, and that would stay)

The wheels, and the springs would stay, that doesn’t bother me either. Just was looking for some issues that could arise from those mods. And that JB voiding the rest of the warranty is an issue for me.
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      10-08-2018, 01:19 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aerobod View Post
With the headlight leveling error, the level sensor arm has likely been broken on one or both of the lower control arms (front left, back right, if I remember correctly), indicating whoever did the suspension work was a bit of a butcher. I would also suspect other upgrades done to the car due to the poor quality of the suspension mods install. If the car has any warranty left, it is likely not going to cover powertrain due to the mods. Unless the mods were explicitly stated in the ad for the car, I would say the seller isn’t very honest.

If you don’t run away from buying the car, I would say it is worth less than an unmodified car in the same condition.
Car was from a dealer - certainly looks enthusiast owned, however I don’t know the mod history and that headlight error makes me nervous. Everything else on the car seems very tasteful, but I do need a car, and I don’t want an Automatic...If I do go with an Auto, I’ll just get something else.
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      10-08-2018, 02:11 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Taskmaster View Post
Can you give me some reasons? I have to decide to stay here and buy in thAM when my bank opens or Fly home.
Were these mods not disclosed before seeing the car?

Red lowering springs means it's likely on Eibachs. Eibachs are generally too low for the adaptive shocks and will likely blow them. The shocks are $300-400/each.

The headlight issue is likely because of the spring install. The headlight leveling arm attached to the suspension assembly is likely broken.

The stock charge pipe likely blew because of the extra boost from the JB4.

Why's the JB4 not fully hooked up? Did he fry the TMAP sensor to the DME (ECU) like so many do?

Warranty is gone with the downpipe.

I like modding my cars, but I'll never buy a modded car, especially a turbo one. There are just too many unknowns. Try and get it on a lift and inspect it from the bottom, looking for oil leaks, especially at the front of the motor and around the oil pan. Drive it for a while, both cruising and getting on it. Pay close attention to the sounds it makes and the driveability.

If you must have the car, I'd take off $2,000 simply because of the suspension and power mods.
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      10-08-2018, 02:21 PM   #12
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This is always an interesting post when looking st modded cars

https://www.2addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1289929
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      10-08-2018, 02:39 PM   #13
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I'd run if it were me. Was the seller up front about the mods or did you have to literally fly out of state just to find that out? If the latter, all the more reason to pass on the car since this would be a clear first sign of a dishonest seller and therefore a likely POS car.
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      10-08-2018, 03:24 PM   #14
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This thread has me concerned about trying to sell my '15 235 in the future. I have a dinan exhaust and dinan cold air intake-thats it- does bolt on stuff like an exhaust/intake scare buyers away?
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      10-08-2018, 03:27 PM   #15
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Quote:
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This thread has me concerned about trying to sell my '15 235 in the future. I have a dinan exhaust and dinan cold air intake-thats it- does bolt on stuff like an exhaust/intake scare buyers away?
I’m not a Dinan cheerleader, have no issue with them either, but their products particularly exhaust and intake don’t in my opinion detract.
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      10-08-2018, 04:18 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by CP911 View Post
I'd run if it were me. Was the seller up front about the mods or did you have to literally fly out of state just to find that out? If the latter, all the more reason to pass on the car since this would be a clear first sign of a dishonest seller and therefore a likely POS car.
It’s a dealer, I don’t think they know. I’m starting to feel a hard pass coming on though.

I don’t know if the JB4 or whatever is unhooked, it had a few wires connected into itself. Car drove and sounded fine (first m235 I’ve driven) and there was no CELs.

It’s supposed to have the factory warranty for another year and 10k miles, but now...

Anyone else?
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      10-08-2018, 04:19 PM   #17
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It’s impossible to find a manual version of this car! I’m about to just buy a Camry and be done with this.

Edit: just checked the car fax

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...9643/overview/
I thought I looked at it before and it was good, but it could have been another one I saw. Dealer is great, but I feel like there are too many flags.

I needed a car (mine is gone) but this may not be it. :-(

Last edited by Taskmaster; 10-08-2018 at 04:31 PM..
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      10-08-2018, 04:54 PM   #18
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nothing wrong with buying a tuned car but that said I dont think I would buy one that was dumped to a used car lot. Preferably, I would recommend buying one where you have good records etc.

This one sounds kinda fishy...
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      10-08-2018, 04:56 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Taskmaster View Post
It’s impossible to find a manual version of this car! I’m about to just buy a Camry and be done with this.

Edit: just checked the car fax

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...9643/overview/
I thought I looked at it before and it was good, but it could have been another one I saw. Dealer is great, but I feel like there are too many flags.

I needed a car (mine is gone) but this may not be it. :-(
Be patient and check the forums. You can find great deals on these that are well taken care.
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      10-08-2018, 04:59 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amw896 View Post
nothing wrong with buying a tuned car but that said I dont think I would buy one that was dumped to a used car lot. Preferably, I would recommend buying one where you have good records etc.

This one sounds kinda fishy...
I’ve bought 2 modded and 2 stock cars before - in both cases, the modded one was a better car.

There are carfax records, and the mods aren’t anything I wouldn’t do myself - though I wanted to keep the exhaust stock, so a reflash instead of a piggyback, and keep the stock intake.

Nothing here says it will blow up in my ownership, but I agree with the concerns about the quality of work, especially with the headlight sensor. I’ll look at it again tomorrow and see what happeno, but I’m kinda bummed. I was going to look at some in my area (Fl) but they are just as bad. One manual for almost 30k, the others higher miles. This is a difficult car to find.

I’ll also give BPC a call in the AM as well.
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      10-08-2018, 05:00 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amw896 View Post
Be patient and check the forums. You can find great deals on these that are well taken care.
I don’t have a car currently, my last one was a complete loss. So this is my car shopping - been looking for 3 weeks now. :-(
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      10-08-2018, 06:07 PM   #22
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Quote:
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It's impossible to find a manual version of this car! I'm about to just buy a Camry and be done with this.
Since you're willing to settle for an automatic Camry, why not buy an automatic 235/240?? It's a fantastic transmission.
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