help needed on 2011 Bmw M3!!

[sam911]

This is the story. I find a 2011 3M for sale and guy is up front and tells me it has a salvage/ rebuilt title from flood which he has bought from insurance auction. it has appr 33k. I go test drive and car drives great . plenty of power no lights on in car by computer. wants 15 k below book at around 24k. everything works . so i do some digging and find out through carfax that car was driven into high water by driver at 31500. car is then towed to an actual BMW service center by tow not running and tech removed air box and drained removed intake manifold and drained. . then removed all 8 spark plugs . performs compression test and found cyl 4 low on compression and states bent rod!! then states vehicle needs complete engine. Cost $1200 by BMW service center just to diagnosis. so now car goes to insurance auction sells to this dealer who is now selling. as i understand fluids changed by auction house? car now has 33k and drives great. My question is would the car either run bad with engine lights on or just completely die?? am i wasting time to just forget or should i take to another BMW facility for compression test ?? if the car had a bent rod would the car still run great??? confused and need help with good advice from a person real knowable with these car.( preferable a BMW tech adviser?

[porsche4life]

No way I'd buy an E90 series car thats been swimming, at any price.


And my head hurts, ever heard of a paragraph?

[onewhippedpuppy]

The fact that you have to ask means you should walk away. You are seriously playing with fire.

[Gogar]

You've gotta be kidding. Don't buy that car.

[SeanPizzle]

Go ahead and roll the dice and buy it.

[pwd72s]

With a flood car, the mechanicals are a small part of it. It's only a matter of time before all kinds of electrical gremlins show... Run like the devil himself were after you!

[Eric Coffey]

[speeder]

Just hit yourself in the nuts w a rubber mallet while standing in an ice cold shower tearing up hundred dollar bills. It will be more fun.

[masraum]

I had a sister in law that bought a flood vehicle. I think she drove it for about a year and then needed ECU and wiring harness or something like that.

You might buy it and it would be a great car. You might buy it and get a turd. Are you a gambler? I'm not, at least not like that.

You don't need a BMW tech - you need to goog flood cars. If you buy it anyway, you need a class in critical thinking.

[RANDY P]

15K below book, he took the car and subtracted the cost of the engine, and that's it.

No. not even at 1/2 that price.

PS Flood cars have bacteria issues, yuck.

[yellowperil]

Buy it!! What could possibly go wrong??

[MBAtarga]

Replacement engine is the ONLY thing you know about right now. As others have pointed out, wiring harness, computer gremlins and various other wiring issues will be surfacing shortly.

[GG Allin]

Originally Posted by sam911

This is the story. I find a 2011 3M for sale and guy is up front and tells me it has a salvage/ rebuilt title from flood which he has bought from insurance auction. it has appr 33k. I go test drive and car drives great . plenty of power no lights on in car by computer. wants 15 k below book at around 24k. everything works . so i do some digging and find out through carfax that car was driven into high water by driver at 31500. car is then towed to an actual BMW service center by tow not running and tech removed air box and drained removed intake manifold and drained. . then removed all 8 spark plugs . performs compression test and found cyl 4 low on compression and states bent rod!! then states vehicle needs complete engine. Cost $1200 by BMW service center. so now car goes to insurance auction sells to this dealer who is now selling. as i understand fluids changed by auction house? car now has 33k and drives great. My question is would the car either run bad with engine lights on or just completely die?? am i wasting time to just forget or should i take to another BMW facility for compression test ?? if the car had a bent rod would the car still run great??? confused and need help with good advice from a person real knowable with these car.( preferable a BMW tech adviser?

That $1200 figure might be missing a digit.

[asphaltgambler]

Or in more layman's terms..........no such thing as a good, cheap horse. I've seen BMW engines with bent connecting rods. Its pretty rare when it happens as it's just enough liquid in the combustion chamber for the rod to bend causing the piston to locate lower in the cylinder. In these instances the compression was lowered just enough to cause occasional misfires, especially when cold.

Depending on the number of misfired the CE light might stay off for a while, but always returned at some point. If there was enough water to enter the intake - that level is very high. You could only assume the previous driver opened the door to get out in the emergency.......letting all the water inside.

It appears that the only thing addressed was the engine, not the electrical system, its a time bomb. Plus a lot of insurance companies won't write a comp / collision policy on a salvage vehicle

[sam911]

happened over a year ago. now car runs great. everything works inside now. this was invoice!! wonder if dealership helped guy buy new car?? one owner car purchased from them and always serviced by them. somebody told me if bad compression and bent rod lights should be going on and stored in computer??? car now has 33k and runs great /shifts amazing. hell i think 120 mph in seconds!!looks like only way to know is have compression test done again!!!would a BMW dealership lie to insurance company

[recycled sixtie]

Sam you have had multiple well qualified guys above say run. If you go against their advice then likely there is likely no helping you anymore......

[MBAtarga]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

Sam you have had multiple well qualified guys above say run. If you go against their advice then likely there is likely no helping you anymore......

hey- but Pelican does sell BMW parts! So at least he's in the right location.

[aschen]

my friend did the same thing in his m3. I have no further data, but I think these cars can injest water well before they flood the rest of the car.

The V8 in those cars is maginificent. The rest of the car is just ok by me. It wouldnt shock the hell out of me if it still felt strong on 7.3 cylinders. Not sure if the engine could run smooth in that state however.

All that said, I would run away, wouldn't even consider buying the car for a second.

Sam - do not buy this car. It will drain you and with a flood title, you will be hard pressed to ever sell it.