For Sale - 1999 B3 saloon #160 V791 ENN

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Hi everyone, hope all well.
Can anyone give me more detail on this. Says "Cat D due to small dings to front bumper but professionally re-sprayed and painted Apart from that the condition is immaculate/Rust Free." Just wondering how big those 'small dings' were to justify writing it off.
Many thanks.

[Bob]

I'd not heard of this one until it appeared back in Feb-20, so don't know any of the back story unfortunately.

The car has been advertised with the same description under a couple of different seller accounts on Facebook and eBay. There are quite a few errors in the ad and despite the seller being made aware of them, he's never updated the adverts.

[Charles]

And on the latest Facebook ad, he's switched off any opportunity to comment or ask questions!

[AG]

if its been classed as a cat D then at some stage (dependent on when that was ) the company who'd insured it obviously believed the cost of repair was greater than 50% of the vehicle's then total value.

Maybe it was insured as a 328/330i or at a very low value to reduce the premiums?
But if they used genuine BMW parts and services/costs etc it won't be hard to stack up the costs, for example I need to have the front bumper and headlights etc repaired/replaced after some 'scrote' tried to steel the front bumper from my F25 X3, the cost is eye watering and easily exceeds a quarter of the cars value today...

Many e46's are being written off as uneconomical to repair due to their values with the slightest of damage.

[Rav]

It could be a good car. I really liked the colour and interior, but note that the seats are basic and not electric.

Perhaps get the car fully inspected by a competent garage prior to the purchase and this way you will have some assurance that it is a decent buy.

E46s especially the 4 door have fallen into the hands of those who cannot (or dont want) to spend money on them. Many are abused cars.

Tread carefully. I have a B3 3.3 4dr and if you want to see mine and are local, happy for you to take a look.

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Thanks for all your helpful suggestions. It gets more curious ...
The ad came up Friday on Gumtree via my NewsNow Alpina feed. I emailed vendor asking for pics of accident damage and other bits, both Vin nos, engine no (if he had it) or details of this 'special' engine giving 300bhp 'stock'. He replied asking me to whatsapp him as gumtree only allowed 9 pics and he'd tell me all about the "m3 engine etc." He didn't leave a contact number though.
The ad has now been taken off Gumtree yet text still shows on Car and Classics but without pics. I just replied to his email asking for contact number (which he freely gave) but failed to comment on why the ad had been taken down. I'll post any further news.
One other little curiosity ..... clicking on the car on https://www.newsnow.co.uk/classifieds/c ... =231356827 brings up 25 ads for various bmws all in East Ham / Manor Park / Newham. That seems a lot and, although offered by different named individuals from different street locations and with different phone numbers (only checked 4 or 5) some look suspiciously like the same or similar hand - phraseology, spelling / grammatical errors, etc., as this mysterious B3 ad. Perhaps caution has taken over (manual seats?) and I'm seeing things that aren't there.
Thanks for the kind offer to check yours out Rav but as I live in West Yorkshire it would kinda eat into my 5,000 pa mileage allowance. Hmm - 96 miles per week; I cherish every one and try not to squander them on boring motorways.

[PhillV8S]

In my experience, if something appears dodgy it is not without reason. I would move on, plenty of genuine cars to be spending your hard earned money on without gambling on this sort of seller imo.

[simon13]

its getting close to being an engine donor price wise as no one seems interested in it. The original seller did a great job of putting people off on facebook

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Final update from me:

The seller sent me a few more pics but not the revealing ones I'd asked for - accident damage, both Vin nos on turret, etc. Reckoned he did have FSH but has misplaced it. One pic shows a full original book pack and wallet including service booklet but he won't tell me how many stamps are in that booklet, who's serviced it and when, nor the Vin no from the first page.

He's since come back saying "I ain't giving you Vin unless you come down and pay me cash for it mate I'm not to sure but had from 30k-110k service history a knob who Reversed and crashed the whole bumper" followed by "Will need to get in touch with previous owner as he showed me the pics when I bought it" [verbatim quotes]. Now if that's the correct service booklet for that car why can't he just answer my service history and Vin no questions? So I'm no nearer finding out about this "american M3 engine giving 300bhp stock" or how a few "small dings to front bumper" became "crashed the whole bumper" and a Cat D total loss. With no other frontal damage? Reversed into? Oh, and his original ad had said it was a "p/ex to clear" yet he purports to be a private seller.

I can't deal with people like that so I've had no further contact with the seller. Pity really as it might have been a worthwhile buy if he'd been a bit more amenable and forthcoming. Why do people do this?

[James_G]

I posted about this car back in May this year (viewtopic.php?f=57&t=24301) and there was reference to it being Cat D due to roof damage, so something is not quite right for sure.

Like you the wording of the advert and to some extent, the location, really put me off. Which is a shame as I'd like to get back in an Alpina and would happily drive it, even with the Cat D marker, if everything else had checked out. Quite what is going on with all the name changes on FB and a price which seems to go up and then down again on a weekly basis isn't clear but the last time I checked there was the "if it doesn't sell this weekend then I'll break it for parts" threat.

None of which helps this car which surely just needs an enthusiastic owner to take it on and bring it back to life. Sadly can't be me though as I've bought an Audi instead....(runs and hides)

[hap]