Cat-D BMW 3 series, is it worth buying?

makkan00

Hi,
I want opinions of experienced people out there.

BMW 3 series
Petrol
2005
85K

driver side front and read door need replacing
side airbag of driver and roof airbad need replacing

minimal damage to front driver side panel and scratch to read side panel

The agent is looking for 3650 and I reckon 1000 is the minimum which will go for repair.

Car may cost me 4650 approx.

Is it worth of buying and taking all the hassle of repairing it and applying for V5, and waiting for ages for V5 to arrive so I can tax it and insure it?

Any suggestion welcome.


Thanks.

Hintza

Personally when I buy CAT D cars for repair I tend to avoid ones with blown airbags as they tend to be expensive you will also need interior trim.

The way I would calculate it would be:-

What would the car cost me in good condition (non writeoff) subtract 30%. Then subtract cost of repairs (repairs always tend to cost more than you think so if in doubt push them up).

Search ebay and breakers for the parts so you can cost them.

To be honest I don't know wht it books at but it sounds expensive.

Go to the copart site and watch a few auctions and see what comparable ones go for.

rodenal

If its taken a hot to the doors like that I would be concerned about the sill and possibly roof having been damaged. You may also have issues with the front wing having been twisted slightly, even if its only showing apparent minor damage.

As above airbags can be a pain, with BMW you'll probably need a dealer or specialist to reset the light, so keep that in mind. As before replacement trim might actually cost more than you think too colour dependent.

The indicative calculations above look sound to me when working it out

makkan00

Thanks very much for quick replies.

Here are the photos. please add (h t t h : / / ) at the start of the links as forum does not allow me to post the photos.
oi52.tinypic.com/2yv8boy.jpg
i52.tinypic.com/2vmdd9g.jpg
i56.tinypic.com/rvw0p3.jpg

Now as same cars on same mileages are going for 6 - 6.5 K depending on the options. whick makes it 4.5/6-6.5K about 75-80% of the value.

As damage varies from cars to cars therefore on auction website, cars are more damages than this one and some of them are cheap but difficult to repair.

Now looking at fleabay I can get both doors and airbags for approx 450 -500 including the roof trimming. But not sure about the seat trimming.
And I am adding max of 500 for changing the door and colour and reseting the airbag light (can be hassle as mentioned above.)

Now looking at all circumtances and considering I know the damage which is not major and changing the doors make it very reasonable.

So getting the car with 30-25% of its market value, does it make reasonable deal?

Thanks.

Hammyman

It certainly doesn't look too bad - mostly sorted by replacing the doors as you said.

vax2002

It should be cat c if Airbags have been deployed.

Hintza

You also need a front wing. Have you checked the B pillar in person?

s_b

no log book?
make sure its not a car c then, lots of places pull this one so be careful
a quick check on the dvla tax my car website usually shows if car needs a vic
i cant get the pictures to load but it doesnt sound cheap
its not straight forward to turn the airbag light out by the way
you need to take advice because it might be controlled by the main body control rather than just a stand alone module
seriously you need to talk to an independent bodyshop who can cost the job start to finish for you rather than turning up with it on a low loader,there might be any damage extra
(you cannot go on cat c or d as damage limitation anymore vax2002 because insurance companies are just plain companies now and will cat it as a d if it will attain more money as salvage for them)

makkan00

Hintza wrote: »

You also need a front wing. Have you checked the B pillar in person?

Thanks for pointing that out. I cant personally check that as the car is 300 miles away from where I live.
But will ask the seller.
Cheers.

makkan00

s_b wrote: »

no log book?
make sure its not a car c then, lots of places pull this one so be careful
a quick check on the dvla tax my car website usually shows if car needs a vic
i cant get the pictures to load but it doesnt sound cheap
its not straight forward to turn the airbag light out by the way
you need to take advice because it might be controlled by the main body control rather than just a stand alone module
seriously you need to talk to an independent bodyshop who can cost the job start to finish for you rather than turning up with it on a low loader,there might be any damage extra
(you cannot go on cat c or d as damage limitation anymore vax2002 because insurance companies are just plain companies now and will cat it as a d if it will attain more money as salvage for them)

No log book, and I have been told that they are in the process of obtaining it (lie I guess).

In bmw 3 series the airbags are controlled by module. I am going to my local body shop tomorrow to check
I will def run RAC HPI before considering to buy and if its C, I am leaving the car alone.

Thanks to all of you who replied.

rodenal

makkan00 wrote: »

Thanks very much for quick replies.

Here are the photos. please add (h t t h : / / ) at the start of the links as forum does not allow me to post the photos.
oi52.tinypic.com/2yv8boy.jpg
i52.tinypic.com/2vmdd9g.jpg
i56.tinypic.com/rvw0p3.jpg

Now as same cars on same mileages are going for 6 - 6.5 K depending on the options. whick makes it 4.5/6-6.5K about 75-80% of the value.

As damage varies from cars to cars therefore on auction website, cars are more damages than this one and some of them are cheap but difficult to repair.

Now looking at fleabay I can get both doors and airbags for approx 450 -500 including the roof trimming. But not sure about the seat trimming.
And I am adding max of 500 for changing the door and colour and reseting the airbag light (can be hassle as mentioned above.)

Now looking at all circumtances and considering I know the damage which is not major and changing the doors make it very reasonable.

So getting the car with 30-25% of its market value, does it make reasonable deal?

Thanks.

Not really tbh as that's about what its value will be once its repaired. I would also say you may be underestimating the cost of repairs, especially considering how hard silver is to match (I.e you'll need a good bodyshop)