Wrecked 135i, good or bad idea?

[kits135i]

Sorry, a wrecked car is never a good idea. I can see it if you can pay cash for the car, a machanic for a living, get ahold of cheap parts, and have another ride as backup.

[cagekicker]

stay away!!!

[Esser]

I had a bit of a look around german Ebay yesterday, to see if I could find some of the parts the car is missing.
To be honest, most of them seems too cheap..? There were xenon headlights for around 300 USD for the pair, two front wings for around 200 usd, a front bumper for around 200 usd, and so on...
At those prices, the parts can't possibly be original BMW parts, can they? It's some china crap, isn't it...?

[makrop]

Originally Posted by Esser

I had a bit of a look around german Ebay yesterday, to see if I could find some of the parts the car is missing.
To be honest, most of them seems too cheap..? There were xenon headlights for around 300 USD for the pair, two front wings for around 200 usd, a front bumper for around 200 usd, and so on...
At those prices, the parts can't possibly be original BMW parts, can they? It's some china crap, isn't it...?

Yeah my insurance quoted me $574 (USD) EACH for the OE adaptive xenons. While I'm sure there was a bit of markup straight from BMW, there is no way you can get good quality for $300 for the pair.

[Esser]

Originally Posted by krop135i

Yeah my insurance quoted me $574 (USD) EACH for the OE adaptive xenons. While I'm sure there was a bit of markup straight from BMW, there is no way you can get good quality for $300 for the pair.

Thank you for that reply I thought it seemed a bit too cheap!

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by tracer bullet

Total random numbers here, you will have to fill them in correctly, but this would be my guide:

1) What is the car worth if it was in perfect condition and never had an accident? Let's say $25,000.

2) What would this car be worth if it was in perfect condition some day later on, but did have this accident damage that was fixed? Let's say $18,000.

3) What would it costs in parts and labor to repair it? A couple of airbags, fenders, lights, etc. Take a good look at everything that has to be purchased, perhaps it needs $5,000 in parts. Also what is your labor worth? Let's say you think you will have to put 100 hours into it, what is your time worth to you? Let's say that's $2,000.

4) Take $18,000 for it in perfect shape, minus $5,000 and $2,000 for parts and labor, and buying it for $13,000 is your break even point.

5) How much further beyond that do you need to pay for it to be a good deal? If the other numbers were about right and you are pretty confident in the selling price, and your parts and labor content, then maybe buying it at $10,000 would be right?

That's how I'd look at it. No idea what you could sell it for or what you'll have to put into it. You will have to figure that out for yourself. Even if you don't plan to just fix it and sell it, you still have to take all of that into account for the day that you eventually do.

This is a great post! I'd add a bit though.

6) Consider the risk that your estimate for repairs may be off by a factor of 3 to 5 times the amount actually required. Estimation is easily the most difficult part to get "right".

When you buy a wrecked car, you're also buying the risk that something "unseen" is wrong with the car. Frame damage is easy to spot. Frame "tweaks" are difficult to spot. Next thing you know, you've got a car that eats tires every 8,000 miles, and can never be aligned properly.

This risk should be factored in to the purchase price of the car, which is why wrecked cars are usually far less expensive than the estimated cost of repair. The extra discount is for taking on the risk. The bottom line is that you might discover something irreparable is wrong with the car. You have to be willing to risk your money on that proposition.

7) Legal matters. I don't know how this works in Denmark, but in the US, you have to have a "clean title". Sometimes when cars are wrecked in the US, they can only get a "salvage title". Licensing a salvage title car on the road is difficult, and insurance can be hard to come by as well. Make sure that the car has a clean title, or whatever equivalent you have in Denmark.

[Esser]

Alright, I emailed the owner, and he responded in less than perfect english... He told me that the engine runs fine, but "the body of the steering" needs to be changed. What could that possibly mean...?
I tried asking him, but he kept telling me that the steering needs to be changed...
To me it looks like the car only took a real hit on the front left corner, so I don't really understand what he means by "the steering"

Any guesses?

[bradleyland]

Body of the steering could possibly be:

Steering rack
Steering column
Steering components who knows where

I really don't understand why you're even considering this at this point. I understand that you feel you're mechanically competent, but the chances you'll bump up against the limits of your ability in this project are close to 100%. You're making a HUGE gamble by buying a wrecked car with the intention of doing the repair work yourself with little or no background. I could see if the car was in a minor fender bender, but this car has clearly been wrecked.

[Esser]

Originally Posted by bradleyland

Body of the steering could possibly be:

Steering rack
Steering column
Steering components who knows where

I really don't understand why you're even considering this at this point. I understand that you feel you're mechanically competent, but the chances you'll bump up against the limits of your ability in this project are close to 100%. You're making a HUGE gamble by buying a wrecked car with the intention of doing the repair work yourself with little or no background. I could see if the car was in a minor fender bender, but this car has clearly been wrecked.

You are probably right...