New ZHP Owner!

[Hooch]

Hey Guys,

First off I'm glad to be here, and wish you all well from Los Angeles. Just last week I picked up my new ride, having upgraded from an e36 328i 5 speed. Looks like some of you are already familiar with her :p!

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?11656-FS-2004-BMW-330i-white-blakc-6MT-81k-mi-8-985-North-Hollywood-CA

I jumped on the listing the first day, in fact I would have lost the car if I was 10 minutes later. Given the shifty nature of the dealer and the "too good to be true" aspect of the listing I was skeptical. However, the car's PPI went well and the carfax came back clean. The issues with the car are as follows:

1. Belonged to a smoker (been driving with the windows down and it's getting better)
2. Driver side camshaft position sensor was out (dealer replaced both)
3. Bald tires (dealer owes me some "trade offs")
4. Leaky oil pan and oil filter housing gaskets (very slow leaks)
5. Needs new front control arm bushings
6. Painted trim is already chipping
7. Scraped up front bumper, sagging headliner in back and other small cosmetic issues.

The dealer refused to budge on the price, do you guys think I got an alright deal with the above issues? I'm no stranger to getting some grease under my nails and once my bank account recovers I'll get around to maintenance. Also, as far as I can tell it's not a respray. If it is then it was decently done, any tips on where to look to find out for sure?

Thanks Guys! :roundel

[danewilson77]

Hooch, Welcome.

The guys here will take care of you.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Avetiso]

Not bad issues at all. I think you hit a home run.

As far as respray, check for paint drips, paint lines inside door jams, orange peel (heavy texture to paint), and color mismatches around the car.

Welcome to the forum. :thumbsup

[Lanister]

Welcome Hooch! The price IS right but I really hope you get that smoke smell out. That could be a challenge but not impossible.

[yura]

I like body-matching trim, and I think if I had a ZHP sedan that's something I'd do, too.

I think for the price, you got a pretty damn nice car, even with the necessary maintenance.

[johnrando]

Welcome. Cooling system (especially the tank) is a must redo if you don't know that it's been done "recently".
1 - I hear coffee grounds in bags in major heat with the windows up for a few days gets rid of that smell
2/3 - good
4 - not a hard DIY by any means
5 - very common on these cars
6 - bummer
7 - bumper is not hard to fix, sagging headliner isn't uncommon, there are some DIYs around on that... essentially you just glue it back.

WRT respray, the paint code is inside the engine compartment on a tag above the wheels wells. That might help us figure that out. GL!

[Avetiso]

+1 on the coffee. That's how we did it when I worked at a dealership, but we just used whole beans. Not sure which works better.

[3ZHP]

Welcome

[Hooch]

Thanks for the quick responses guys! I'll definitely try the coffee trick out tonight. Have any of you had experience with ozone treatments? I would only use it as a last resort, and I read it can damage rubber and other interior components.

[Avetiso]

Thanks for the quick responses guys! I'll definitely try the coffee trick out tonight. Have any of you had experience with ozone treatments? I would only use it as a last resort, and I read it can damage rubber and other interior components.
Never heard of it. I'd steam clean all carpet surfaces before you do the coffee thing.

[Avetiso]

I like body-matching trim, and I think if I had a ZHP sedan that's something I'd do, too.

I think for the price, you got a pretty damn nice car, even with the necessary maintenance.
It would be color-dependent for me. I'd do it with silver gray, for sure. Probably black and the blue shades, as well. Not sure if I'd do Alpine or Imola.

[kayger12]

Welcome to the family

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[PirateZHP]

Welcome!

[derbo]

Hey Guys,

First off I'm glad to be here, and wish you all well from Los Angeles. Just last week I picked up my new ride, having upgraded from an e36 328i 5 speed. Looks like some of you are already familiar with her :p!

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?11656-FS-2004-BMW-330i-white-blakc-6MT-81k-mi-8-985-North-Hollywood-CA

I jumped on the listing the first day, in fact I would have lost the car if I was 10 minutes later. Given the shifty nature of the dealer and the "too good to be true" aspect of the listing I was skeptical. However, the car's PPI went well and the carfax came back clean. The issues with the car are as follows:

1. Belonged to a smoker (been driving with the windows down and it's getting better)
2. Driver side camshaft position sensor was out (dealer replaced both)
3. Bald tires (dealer owes me some "trade offs")
4. Leaky oil pan and oil filter housing gaskets (very slow leaks)
5. Needs new front control arm bushings
6. Painted trim is already chipping
7. Scraped up front bumper, sagging headliner in back and other small cosmetic issues.

The dealer refused to budge on the price, do you guys think I got an alright deal with the above issues? I'm no stranger to getting some grease under my nails and once my bank account recovers I'll get around to maintenance. Also, as far as I can tell it's not a respray. If it is then it was decently done, any tips on where to look to find out for sure?

Thanks Guys! :roundel

Welcome!

1. Ditch your floormats if you have the carpet ones. They hold in alot of the smell. Also ditch the cabin filter too. +1 on the Coffee in the car also helps mask a bit of the smell. I would use ground coffee as it has a stronger smell that beans itself.
3. I wouldn't want "tradeoffs." I personally just get brand new tires on my own since their trade offs most likely be terrible.

Checking if it has been resprayed:
Aside from the color mismatch there are a few other ways to finetooth check:
You can check if it is a respray by checking how rough the body panel edges are. Most bodyshops will not buff panels off the car and it will have rough edges and not smooth like factory. Check body panel bolt heads to see the bolts have been removed. This wont tell you its painted but would give you a sign to look closer in the area as the bolts have been unbolted for a reason. Find that reason and it could lead to other bolts undone and more information on why the bolts were removed. Chances are if a fender bolt was removed, it was to paint it.


Welcome abroad! Looks like there is some minor TLC needed but not too bad!

[ELCID86]

Welcome. Glad you picked her up. Looking forward to your progress/project thread.

[SoarinZHP]

I think you got one of the unicorn cars. Those Alpine Whites are hard to come by. Even with the mx items, nothing is too terrible... Nice catch!

[BavarianZHP]

Dude. Awesome buy. For the record, I would totally let all of you smoke a pack in my car to save like 4G's:rofl

A friend of my brother was in your same shoes with the smoke issue. He eventually did the ozone treatment and man, you can't even tell it was ever smoked in. It was that good and before it was baaaad. It really works. Good luck with the maintenance and congrats on the ride!

EDIT: I would like to add that ozone 'works' since the chemistry is sound. It isn't a gimmick or sort of placebo effect.

[imola red zhp]

Welcome

[fredo]

Welcome, sir ! You will like this forum. AW FTW ! :biggrin

[Hooch]

Good to hear the ozone treatment works well, I can go that route if the more conventional methods of cigarette smell removal don't do it. Thanks for the warm welcome everyone, you have me feeling good about my purchase. I was beginning to second guess myself!

[Oli77]

Howdy new Mafia member.

[330blast]

Welcome!

I think you got a steal even with all listed "issues" (nothing really major). It's a unicorn with low mileage.

Enjoy.

[Vas]

Welcome.

Would love to see more pictures of it.

[iya_e46]

Congrats on your new AW!! Looks Good

[E_Rak]

I'm very familiar with ozone machines, we have one at work. They do work well but it tends to leave a chlorine smell behind, sobering I personally am not a fan of.

Sent from my oversized iPhone | HTC One

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Welcome.