Need Advice - What do you think about a 4 owner car?
 

Hi all! Here I am looking for more advice. There is a car at a dealer that is about 120 miles from me. 115k... looks good on paper. Ran Car Fax, clean on everything and it reports 4 owners. 6 service records. No problems. Been a California car the entire time. Passed smog. If I liked the car after I drove it, I'd run it through a AAA pre-inspection station prior to purchase. If the shop thought this car was a keeper, I'd still be a little nervous about a 4 owner car. Who knows what [unreported] problems they may have had?

Owners 1 and 2 are lumped together by CF, family maybe?
Original purchase in May, '96.
Owner 2 bought in September, '96. @ 3000 miles.
Owner 3 bought 2000 @ about 64k miles.
Owner 4 bought in 2003 at about 74k miles.
It currently has 115k and has passed smog several times.

Hasn't been driven much by the drivers except Owner 2. But number 2 is the one with the 2 BMW scheduled maintenance reported.

Your thoughts? Advice? I guess I'm just spooked at the thought of being number 5... Thanks in advance ~ jeremy

Check that the windows go up and down without issues. They're very famous, or infamous I should say for breaking.

Is it auto or 5 speed? See if the clutch was changed for the 5 speeds. Check for the airbag light, check engine light, the usual stuff I guess. Look at the body for possible work done that wasn't reported. The thermostat go bad often on the 96-99 M44 motors.

Check for model type, Sport, Active, etc.. They have specific interior colors, seat type, and bumper types that go with them. Check to see that those parts match up to what type this car is.

Ask for the original invoice! That will tell you what type of configuration it was built by the factory. Matter of fact, if you have the VIN number, we got a member here who can tell you exactly what configuration it left with from the factory.

Sport model has certain wheels and shocks, black dashboard and other plastic interior bits, and they have a half leather half cloth seats.

Ji Money - thanks so much for all the info. It has really helped. I have been patient and searching since February. Also I have made great use of the suggestions from members such as yourself in examining candidate vehicles.

I just purchased a 1995 318iS - 119K miles. Automatic. Black and tan. Original paint. Everything stock. The features I was looking for. The owner was a highly successful executive and obviously loved the car as if it were her child. It has all of the maintenance records. All the original owners kit -manuals and etc. It even has the delivery receipt document when the shipper off loaded to the dealer. It has all the tools. The car is immaculate. As near as I can tell, from reading the forums and such, the various items that can surface have all been taken care of.

Truthfully - I can't believe that I actually own a BMW. It is so bitchin. ( Old school SoCal term for 'awesome') I am soooooo glad I started wondering if BMW offered a 4 cylinder car when I was looking at the Hondas and Toyotas which were similarly priced with similar price and mileage. I found that the proven, reliable Asian cars were not anywhere near as well engineered, manufactured or well preserved as the BMW line.

Thanks again!

You're welcome! Patience definitely is a virtue. I rushed into my purchase and I'm still living with the problems. Good to hear you got a well taken care of Bimmer! 95 is a great year too with the M42 motor. If your window ever starts having problems we got the DIY write-up here.

Peace

4 owners for a 15 year old car is no problem. How many people do you know keep a car for more than 3 or 4 years?

I had my first car for 8 years, and the second car for 17. :biggrin:

Still, I agree 4 owners isn't a huge factor, the important thing is that those owners took care of the car. So "quality of owners" is more important than "quantity of owners."