Carmax experience.... Bought 1

travestyevo · 05-20-2015, 10:59 PM

Thought I would share our Carmax experience with the forum. It has both pluses and minuses. These are my personal experiences and opinions so they arent worth much. This was my first Carmax experience.

Wife and I were hunting around and stumbled into a 1M on Carmax website per our normal jalopnik tarvish/doug demuro day dreaming websurfing.

Only experience I had with the 1 series was in 2008 during a back to back test drive between new 135i and a E90 M3. I had a bigger grin on my face after the 135 and the 1M should be even better right? I pretty much dismissed the idea of getting a new 1M based on how hot they were at the time and demand. Didnt want to slug it out with a dealer. Moved on.

Welp, did some quick hunting on the interwebs and found the previous owner here. Talked to him offline and things seemed normal. Some mods, nothing serious. He put back some stock parts (prefer stock parts). Vouched for the condition of the car. Put a deposit down, get it shipped to the north austin store. Apperently when you put a deposit down they take it off the site.

Went down that weekend to look it over. A few minor issues but nothing I couldnt deal with. Some scrapes on front bumper,plate holes on bumper (ughs), lots of tint residue on front windows, and some moisture in the pass headlight. Everything else looked good for a stripper model. No rust, no wheel rash, clean side skirts.

I didnt want them to wash it, or scrape the residue off the windows. I wanted the moisture fixed in the headlight. Welp.... the service manager said they would blow out the head light and re-seal it. I relunctantly agreed as long as they didnt do something silly and drill holes in it to let it dry(Ask a Range rover owners). Service manager said they had "BMW Certified Techs" and would take care of it. Told him I was nervous because I dont really trust any tech, certified or not. He reassured me they would make it right. They "blew" it out. I tried to get them to knock 1k off instead, but Carmax doesnt move. Didnt push them to hard for the reduction.

Took delievery after a short test drive and drove it home. I did have a 5 day money back garantee, however I didnt get a chance to go over it closely until the next weekend. Found they had broke a mounting tab off the headlight assembly (confirmed with previous owner) and high beams (lense) wasnt working. Sigh.

I make a appt to get it fixed. They own up to breaking it and want to make it right. Long story short, Carmax ordered wrong parts. Takes 3 weeks to get the right parts. I finally take it in and you have to pull the bumper off to get the headlight assembly out. Takes 3 hours, and bonus they let me keep the old part. Drive away happy drama is over.

Clean the car and tint residue off (using goo off). Change oil and filter, who knows what oil/filter carmax uses. Find the battery is a bit low on voltage. Try to recondition the battery, no help.

Still need to replace battery (AGM 70Ah) and tell IBS about the new battery.
Want to baseline tranny, diff, brake fluids and get an alignment check. Maybe replace the front bumper to fix the scrapes and plate holes.

So the good part is Carmax is large enough not to sweat the little stuff like fixing their mess up. I dont think a private seller or small used car shop would replace a head light assembly at 1500+ without a huge fight.

Bad part is like any car dealer, they can do questionable work. Hit or miss depending on situtation and/or tech. And with that being said, I kept my 3500 for the extended warranty. Save it for when I need it.

About the car....
It is awesome! Such a great all around ride and those fender flares make it. Has 12k miles and my wife wont stop driving it. I havent had as much seat time with it as I would like but since she washes\details our cars, I am not complaining. Love the exhaust note, and that shifter is perfect. Love the thickness of the steering wheel and pedal placement for heel toe is spot on. Just a great driver's car. Engaging and sexy to look at. It rox!

Couple of minor things I dont care for. Since it is a stipper model, nit-picking, but no keyless start with a button? WTH, it has a FOB but I still have to put it in the slot.... and since this is my first BMW, so a bit nervous about longevity. For example the cost associated with swapping a battery? Yeesh! Yes... I will be coding that on my own. I do all my own wrenching so I am mostly just nervous about "German Engineering" as I am moslty used to Jap Crap. A little concerned about the BMW tax, but since it is mostly a entry car (ack 1 series) hopefully it wont be as bad. And this forum has been a big help, so many thanks there.
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We plan to drive/track/auto-x it for fun so I will try to post about relavant events. We are excited to be one lucky ones to experience such a fantastic ride. It has much soul.

vietboi817 · 05-20-2015, 11:45 PM

More pics of GTR!

135TX · 05-21-2015, 12:24 AM

Congrats on your new purchase! Sorry carmax kinda blew.
vietboi817 didn't you try to steal e92ben s money recently

frenzy757 · 05-21-2015, 12:24 AM

Congrats!

eeghie · 05-21-2015, 02:30 AM

Welcome and thanks for posting your perhaps not so average (you seem to be above average on car mechanics) but successful purchase story. If you let us for market research purpose, of course we want to confirm the price (particularly in relation to MSRP).

Quote:

Originally Posted by travestyevo

... no keyless start with a button? WTH, it has a FOB but I still have to put it in the slot....

The only automation around this that you can program additional is that the FOB is released automatically (instead of having to push it back into the car first) on engine off if you hold the start/stop engine button for 1 second (parameter KOMFORT_EJECT in the CAS module)

Quote:

Originally Posted by travestyevo

... swapping a battery? Yeesh! Yes... I will be coding that on my own. ...

It took me a while to pick up BMW coding, and I'm still learning. Coding the car to work with a new battery is actually on my to-do list, so I'll race you towards posting a 1M battery swap DIY. My car is also a stripper (09/11) and I do not have the IBS battery nor the matching connector. Planning to use the yet unfamiliar INPA software, but many E9X DIY's already available.

IEDEI · 05-21-2015, 06:52 AM

congratulations! it is an amazing car! drive it and enjoy it!

JimD · 05-21-2015, 07:30 AM

Congratulations! I ordered my e88 back in 2009 and only added the sports package. I enjoy driving it. It needs the evaporative pump right now but it doesn't affect operation so it isn't a high priority for me. My bimmer had been reliable, never let me down, and this pump is the first non-warranty part replacement. The battery thing is a hassle but with either NCSExpert/INPA or BMWhat you can just take care of the programming. Putting a battery in is otherwise like other cars.

I've only done a few little things to it but one was putting in my own Garmin on the dash. I had to take the instruments out to do that and was impressed by the quality of the connectors. I also had the headlight compartment open and that is a different design and probably better. There are questionable decisions (like a speedometer that says you're going 3mph faster than you are and can't be changed) but overall, I still am very happy with my bimmer.

We haven't purchased a car at CarMax but my wife told her Tundra to them. I thought they gave her a price a bit on the low side. I also thought the prices on the lot were a little on the high side. But it is a very different experience from the last time I bought a used car. I prefer to buy from the prior owner and the CarMax experience is more like a new car purchase experience. I think you pay a bit for it but it isn't bad at all. We looked at several brands of SUVs while waiting on the offer on her truck. They were very polite and professional.

V TACH · 05-21-2015, 04:50 PM

Congrats! I'm in Austin as well. Is that a Honda Grom I see in the background? If it is, that's the third one I've seen incidentally on this site in the last week! I guess the type of people who purchase 1Ms must have a thing for those little bikes--I have two! Good luck with car--one of the best I've ever owned.
V

travestyevo · 05-21-2015, 09:26 PM

Two Groms?!? Impressive! I can only ride one at a time.

They are easily one of the best smiles per mile you can buy. I ride mine to work farily regularly but not since the rain started. They are very hoon worthy and a riot to wring out. Looking at a 180 BB kit as currenty I can only hit 62mph with my elbows in, 9hp doesnt get you very high top speeds. But up to 45mph it is plenty entertaining.

tvo9 · 05-21-2015, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 135TX

vietboi817 didn't you try to steal e92ben s money recently

e92ben · 05-21-2015, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 135TX

Congrats on your new purchase! Sorry carmax kinda blew.
vietboi817 didn't you try to steal e92ben s money recently

Hahaha

///BYU · 05-25-2015, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travestyevo

pedal placement for heel toe is spot on.

One the best things about the 1M. Congrats on your purchase!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by V TACH

Is that a Honda Grom I see in the background? If it is, that's the third one I've seen incidentally on this site in the last week! I guess the type of people who purchase 1Ms must have a thing for those little bikes--I have two!
V

I just bought a Grom on Saturday!

05-20-2015, 10:59 PM	#1
travestyevo New Member 0 Rep 5 Posts Drives: EVO Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Austin iTrader: (0)	Carmax experience.... Bought 1 Thought I would share our Carmax experience with the forum. It has both pluses and minuses. These are my personal experiences and opinions so they arent worth much. This was my first Carmax experience. Wife and I were hunting around and stumbled into a 1M on Carmax website per our normal jalopnik tarvish/doug demuro day dreaming websurfing. Only experience I had with the 1 series was in 2008 during a back to back test drive between new 135i and a E90 M3. I had a bigger grin on my face after the 135 and the 1M should be even better right? I pretty much dismissed the idea of getting a new 1M based on how hot they were at the time and demand. Didnt want to slug it out with a dealer. Moved on. Welp, did some quick hunting on the interwebs and found the previous owner here. Talked to him offline and things seemed normal. Some mods, nothing serious. He put back some stock parts (prefer stock parts). Vouched for the condition of the car. Put a deposit down, get it shipped to the north austin store. Apperently when you put a deposit down they take it off the site. Went down that weekend to look it over. A few minor issues but nothing I couldnt deal with. Some scrapes on front bumper,plate holes on bumper (ughs), lots of tint residue on front windows, and some moisture in the pass headlight. Everything else looked good for a stripper model. No rust, no wheel rash, clean side skirts. I didnt want them to wash it, or scrape the residue off the windows. I wanted the moisture fixed in the headlight. Welp.... the service manager said they would blow out the head light and re-seal it. I relunctantly agreed as long as they didnt do something silly and drill holes in it to let it dry(Ask a Range rover owners). Service manager said they had "BMW Certified Techs" and would take care of it. Told him I was nervous because I dont really trust any tech, certified or not. He reassured me they would make it right. They "blew" it out. I tried to get them to knock 1k off instead, but Carmax doesnt move. Didnt push them to hard for the reduction. Took delievery after a short test drive and drove it home. I did have a 5 day money back garantee, however I didnt get a chance to go over it closely until the next weekend. Found they had broke a mounting tab off the headlight assembly (confirmed with previous owner) and high beams (lense) wasnt working. Sigh. I make a appt to get it fixed. They own up to breaking it and want to make it right. Long story short, Carmax ordered wrong parts. Takes 3 weeks to get the right parts. I finally take it in and you have to pull the bumper off to get the headlight assembly out. Takes 3 hours, and bonus they let me keep the old part. Drive away happy drama is over. Clean the car and tint residue off (using goo off). Change oil and filter, who knows what oil/filter carmax uses. Find the battery is a bit low on voltage. Try to recondition the battery, no help. Still need to replace battery (AGM 70Ah) and tell IBS about the new battery. Want to baseline tranny, diff, brake fluids and get an alignment check. Maybe replace the front bumper to fix the scrapes and plate holes. So the good part is Carmax is large enough not to sweat the little stuff like fixing their mess up. I dont think a private seller or small used car shop would replace a head light assembly at 1500+ without a huge fight. Bad part is like any car dealer, they can do questionable work. Hit or miss depending on situtation and/or tech. And with that being said, I kept my 3500 for the extended warranty. Save it for when I need it. About the car.... It is awesome! Such a great all around ride and those fender flares make it. Has 12k miles and my wife wont stop driving it. I havent had as much seat time with it as I would like but since she washes\details our cars, I am not complaining. Love the exhaust note, and that shifter is perfect. Love the thickness of the steering wheel and pedal placement for heel toe is spot on. Just a great driver's car. Engaging and sexy to look at. It rox! Couple of minor things I dont care for. Since it is a stipper model, nit-picking, but no keyless start with a button? WTH, it has a FOB but I still have to put it in the slot.... and since this is my first BMW, so a bit nervous about longevity. For example the cost associated with swapping a battery? Yeesh! Yes... I will be coding that on my own. I do all my own wrenching so I am mostly just nervous about "German Engineering" as I am moslty used to Jap Crap. A little concerned about the BMW tax, but since it is mostly a entry car (ack 1 series) hopefully it wont be as bad. And this forum has been a big help, so many thanks there. We plan to drive/track/auto-x it for fun so I will try to post about relavant events. We are excited to be one lucky ones to experience such a fantastic ride. It has much soul.
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05-20-2015, 11:45 PM	#2
vietboi817 Private 10 Rep 57 Posts Drives: Le Mans Blue 2011 135i Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Fort Worth iTrader: (0)	More pics of GTR!
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05-21-2015, 12:24 AM	#4
frenzy757 Second Lieutenant 78 Rep 204 Posts Drives: MB M2cs, 2022 X5e, 2008 T4R Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Bay Area iTrader: (0)	Congrats!
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05-21-2015, 06:52 AM	#6
IEDEI Banned 1130 Rep 4,686 Posts Drives: L'Orange Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Brooklyn, NYC iTrader: (0) Garage List 2011 BMW 1M [8.40]	congratulations! it is an amazing car! drive it and enjoy it!
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05-21-2015, 07:30 AM	#7
JimD Brigadier General 368 Rep 3,547 Posts Drives: 128i convertible Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Lexington, SC iTrader: (0)	Congratulations! I ordered my e88 back in 2009 and only added the sports package. I enjoy driving it. It needs the evaporative pump right now but it doesn't affect operation so it isn't a high priority for me. My bimmer had been reliable, never let me down, and this pump is the first non-warranty part replacement. The battery thing is a hassle but with either NCSExpert/INPA or BMWhat you can just take care of the programming. Putting a battery in is otherwise like other cars. I've only done a few little things to it but one was putting in my own Garmin on the dash. I had to take the instruments out to do that and was impressed by the quality of the connectors. I also had the headlight compartment open and that is a different design and probably better. There are questionable decisions (like a speedometer that says you're going 3mph faster than you are and can't be changed) but overall, I still am very happy with my bimmer. We haven't purchased a car at CarMax but my wife told her Tundra to them. I thought they gave her a price a bit on the low side. I also thought the prices on the lot were a little on the high side. But it is a very different experience from the last time I bought a used car. I prefer to buy from the prior owner and the CarMax experience is more like a new car purchase experience. I think you pay a bit for it but it isn't bad at all. We looked at several brands of SUVs while waiting on the offer on her truck. They were very polite and professional. __________________ 128i Convertible, MT, Alpine White, Black Top, Taupe Leatherette, Walnut, Sport Ordered 5/22/09, Completed 6/4/09, At Port 6/9/09, On the Georgia Highway 6/13/09, Ship Arrived Charleston 6/24/09 at 10pm, PCD 7/21/09 Last edited by JimD; 05-21-2015 at 07:50 AM..
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05-21-2015, 04:50 PM	#8
V TACH Private 6 Rep 53 Posts Drives: 1M, Exige S260 Sport Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Texas iTrader: (0)	Congrats! I'm in Austin as well. Is that a Honda Grom I see in the background? If it is, that's the third one I've seen incidentally on this site in the last week! I guess the type of people who purchase 1Ms must have a thing for those little bikes--I have two! Good luck with car--one of the best I've ever owned. V
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05-21-2015, 09:26 PM	#9
travestyevo New Member 0 Rep 5 Posts Drives: EVO Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Austin iTrader: (0)	Two Groms?!? Impressive! I can only ride one at a time. They are easily one of the best smiles per mile you can buy. I ride mine to work farily regularly but not since the rain started. They are very hoon worthy and a riot to wring out. Looking at a 180 BB kit as currenty I can only hit 62mph with my elbows in, 9hp doesnt get you very high top speeds. But up to 45mph it is plenty entertaining.
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