D5 Suspect History?

[bigh]

Evening all,
I have been looking for a D5 and I was pointed to an interesting car at a dealers, (not BMW) with full BMW history, 1 owner and under 100k. and nice options. The car is located over 4hrs from me, so before I set off for a day out, I decided to give the dealer a call to ask more questions and ascertain if it was going to be worth my time. After the call, everything was still looking promising, with all of my questions being answered satisfactorily. The cars advert had a dealer 'show' plate on it, so I asked them for the registration, so I could check the cars MOT history etc. This is were it gets interesting. The MOT history states that the last MOT expired nov 2017, with only 3k miles less than the car currently has on it!

Obviously alarm bells are ringing, and my first thought is that the car has had the mileage tampered with. If i get the VIN from the dealer I can check the history further through the HPI checker.

Would BMW give me the service details over the phone if I have the VIN number?

Thanks guys

[Simon Rose]

I think they would tell you service data with reg and vin , ensire its mw and alpina vin in case !
You need to find out what happeed since 17 !

[Bob]

Hard to say for certain but I expect the BMW dealers will hit you with Data Protection and decline to give you any history. They are more frequently doing this even for owners.

Presuming you are talking about #092/B1VUL. It is a little alarming but to my knowledge this car has been with the same dealer in Bradford since early 2018 at least. If you are talking about this one, then I also know two other ALPINAs that members have purchased from this dealer although they weren't for sale such a long time (both were E9x B3S'). Not heard any horrors stories after the purchases.

The earliest advert I have saved is attached.

[Norrie]

If the dealer you are referring to in Bradford is the same one as I am thinking, then it took them 6 years to sell a B7, it is alleged. So 2 years on that basis is not long?

[Bob]

That’s a different dealer Norman, assuming you’re thinking of Khan’s.

[woolley11]

There’s stuff on eBay that look so tempting - I rang about one once - they messaged me through eBay to say WhatsApp them with my mobile number.

It was an M5 I was looking at, which funnily enough hadn’t been on road since early 2018

They would deliver with a non-refundable deposit - yea right .

If it doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t.

Mind you, I bought a mk 1 golf gti off someone at Sheffield railway station and handed over £2700 cash - one of the best cars I ever had - clean as a whistle

[Norrie]

Different dealer? Ok. I only went to Braford once on business. So would not know. It was not memorable.

[bigh]

Hard to say for certain but I expect the BMW dealers will hit you with Data Protection and decline to give you any history. They are more frequently doing this even for owners.

Presuming you are talking about #092/B1VUL. It is a little alarming but to my knowledge this car has been with the same dealer in Bradford since early 2018 at least. If you are talking about this one, then I also know two other ALPINAs that members have purchased from this dealer although they weren't for sale such a long time (both were E9x B3S'). Not heard any horrors stories after the purchases.

The earliest advert I have saved is attached.

Thanks very much the information, and advert, it certainly makes a bit more sense following a conversation I had with them last week. Yes the dealer is Central Motors in Bradford, and the car is B1 VUL. The car is used by their 'director' apparently, but I was given a different story when I queried the lack of MOTs since 2017. I do have the VIN number from the V5, and I am awaiting the VIN from the car, so I can then try BMW for the cars service history. Good to know that the other two members didn't have a bad experience, as many of the online reviews of the dealer are pretty bad.

I will follow up with more information, once I hopefully get the 'other' VIN.

As this car is over 4hrs from me, I will also be looking at the other D5 (FJ62 DGY)with Kings Motors, (30 mins away) which although isn't as well specified, has less miles, and obviously a bit cheaper. This car again has been with the dealer a while (seems like Alpina's are well liked by the owners of dealers) and has a full BMW SH.

[bigh]

If it doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t.

Exactly! thats the first thing that went through my mind, but after speaking with them I am not so sure

[Norrie]

Maybe its just my suspicious and untrusting nature. I have never bought a car from anyone except a main dealer. That is save for one for 500 pounds and the guy died. My feeling is that any serious amount of money I want a 12 month fully comprehensive warranty and a guarantee that there is a big enough target for litigation should something be major or misrepresented.

Over the years I have bought 6 New BMWs, 3 Audis, 2 Hondas, 2 Mitsubishi and 2 Nissans and 1 (used) ALPINA all from main dealers, never had a worry or concern that they were anything but what they represented to be.

I am sure many have bought from individuals or other methods and been totally satisfied, but its not for me unless I write off the money at the point of purchase.

[SIN6H]

Hi guys, I purchased one of the e9x b3s’s from this dealer and the experience was fine,

I actually saw this d5 there and took it for a spin whilst they finalised the paperwork on my b3s, I cant believe they still have it!

The car was at the back of quite a large lot and I spotted it whilst mooching, from memory it drove spot on but required nearly everything on the on-car service menu (idrive) hope this helps

[bigh]

Hi guys, I purchased one of the e9x b3s’s from this dealer and the experience was fine,

I actually saw this d5 there and took it for a spin whilst they finalised the paperwork on my b3s, I cant believe they still have it!

The car was at the back of quite a large lot and I spotted it whilst mooching, from memory it drove spot on but required nearly everything on the on-car service menu (idrive) hope this helps

Many thanks for the reply, thats very useful.

[The Hybrid]

Sorry for bumping this thread but I'm new to the forum. I was talking about purchasing an Alpina D5 here.
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=25342

When a member pointed me to this thread about this car.
https://www.centralmotorco.co.uk/used/c ... oor-10048/

So its last MOT was back on 10 November 2016 with 86,483 miles on the clock and then expired a year later on 11th November 2017 but it currently has 89,900 miles on the clock.

According to the garage, it was last serviced in 2015 with 76,000 on the clock, so it needs servicing. They reckon the previous owner passed away but it doesn't explain how and why it's been with them for so long and why they haven't sold it.

I actually saw this d5 there and took it for a spin whilst they finalised the paperwork on my b3s, I cant believe they still have it!

The car was at the back of quite a large lot and I spotted it whilst mooching, from memory it drove spot on but required nearly everything on the on-car service menu (idrive) hope this helps

Can you remember when it was you took it for a spin?

I'm thinking of booking an inspection with these guys to check the car out.
https://www.clickmechanic.com/

So if the inspection comes back and the car is sound, if it's genuinely only had one owner and they have serviced it with BMW.

Do you think it's worth getting?

[Norrie]

There was a E65 B7 number 111 sold in the last 6months of so from a Bradford dealer, had been there over 5 years! So difficult to judge how long a car might hang around before selling especially an ALPINA.

[The Hybrid]

Thanks Norrie. They reckon it's been in storage, so I'm going to view it tomorrow morning and if it seems genuine, then I'll get an inspection. If that comes back all good, then I'll might take a gamble and purchase it.