[iggy]

I spent a year, on and off, searching for the right M3 and I finally found it.

Its a 99 Estoril Blue coupe with 120k miles and the only mod being angel eyes and an intake.

I'm driving out to Harrisburg to buy the car on Saturday the 24th. I made an appointment with the local BMW dealer to get a PPI before the transaction is made.

We'll have three hours that morning to take care of everything; PPI, driving back to owners home (roughly 25 minutes) and take care of the paperwork at AAA.

Is it necessary to get a compression check done, in addition to the PPI, before purchasing the car?

[hencini]

Compression check may be part of the PPI, but probably not. Anyway, it's not as telling as a leakdown test.


It's probably not a bad idea to do the compression test, but if you're going that route, you might as well go a bit further and do leakdown.


Good luck!!

[JPoland]

Also consider you've waited a year to find the car so being thorough seems like a prudent route at this point, if nothing else you'll get piece of mind and further confirmation of a healthy motor.
Estoril FTW! (here come the Avus owner comments)

[iggy]

I know you guys are right, but that would also mean having to take a day of work which i'm trying to avoid.

[Zoomzoom951]

I second the Estoril good choice.

[fiveightandten]

What exactly is limiting you to 3 hours of time? This doesn't sound like something you should be rushing through. Why does the PPI have to be done that day? Contact the dealer and have the seller take the car down there a few days before you drive out.

A compression test shouldn't take the dealer more than 30 minutes, though they may charge you an hour's labor to do it. Necessary? No. A good idea? Sure. When I had the PPI done on my car I planned on getting it done. The shop that looked at it for me told me the car ran very strong and it wasn't necessary. They said they'd do a test if I wanted it, but they didn't feel it was something they needed to check. I elected to listen to them. Then again, my car was 30 minutes down the road.


Try to set things up so you're not on a time limit and rushing something you waited a year for.

[iggy]

Originally Posted by fiveightandten

What exactly is limiting you to 3 hours of time? This doesn't sound like something you should be rushing through. Why does the PPI have to be done that day? Contact the dealer and have the seller take the car down there a few days before you drive out.

A compression test shouldn't take the dealer more than 30 minutes, though they may charge you an hour's labor to do it. Necessary? No. A good idea? Sure. When I had the PPI done on my car I planned on getting it done. The shop that looked at it for me told me the car ran very strong and it wasn't necessary. They said they'd do a test if I wanted it, but they didn't feel it was something they needed to check. I elected to listen to them. Then again, my car was 30 minutes down the road.


Try to set things up so you're not on a time limit and rushing something you waited a year for.

I’ve wanted an E36 for about 5 years now, but little things like school and lack of a job got in the way. I’ve been honestly searching for the right car for about a year and am, understandably I think, a bit anxious at this point. But you guys are right, I’ve waited so long what’s another two days?

I was going to have everything done on a Saturday. Unfortunately the dealership is only open from 9am to noon and AAA closes at noon, which is why we’d only have three hours to tackle it all.

I already contacted the owner and am going to pick up the car the following Monday. I’ll have time to take it to the dealer for a full PPI and leakdown test, transfer the title and not be in any sort of rush.

The dealer wants 1 hour of labor for the PPI and they quoted an additional 1.5-2 hours of labor for the compression test. Do the M3’s have some sort of weird, hard to get to piece that warrants this? I think its one of those “we don’t want to do it, but if you give us enough money we will” scenarios.

I might also contact the local independent shop, Jack’s Auto and Aero in Harrisburg. Jack has serviced this car for the past 5 years and already told me the car is in good shape, so maybe the leakdown isn’t even needed.

[fiveightandten]

Originally Posted by iggy

I’ve wanted an E36 for about 5 years now, but little things like school and lack of a job got in the way. I’ve been honestly searching for the right car for about a year and am, understandably I think, a bit anxious at this point. But you guys are right, I’ve waited so long what’s another two days?

I was going to have everything done on a Saturday. Unfortunately the dealership is only open from 9am to noon and AAA closes at noon, which is why we’d only have three hours to tackle it all.

I already contacted the owner and am going to pick up the car the following Monday. I’ll have time to take it to the dealer for a full PPI and leakdown test, transfer the title and not be in any sort of rush.

The dealer wants 1 hour of labor for the PPI and they quoted an additional 1.5-2 hours of labor for the compression test. Do the M3’s have some sort of weird, hard to get to piece that warrants this? I think its one of those “we don’t want to do it, but if you give us enough money we will” scenarios.

I might also contact the local independent shop, Jack’s Auto and Aero in Harrisburg. Jack has serviced this car for the past 5 years and already told me the car is in good shape, so maybe the leakdown isn’t even needed.

Cylinder #6 is half under the wiring box that's bolted to the firewall. But it's really not hard to get at at all...there should be no reason why a compression test would take 1.5-2 hours. But I wouldn't be surprised if that's the book time on it, and that's what they'll charge you.

I'd recommend against having the PPI done at a shop that's seen the car, and has a relationship with the owner. It's a conflict of interest. They're obviously not going to point out issues with the work they did, or issues that would make the seller question why it wasn't mentioned to him before. That would cause you not to buy the car, and them to loose the customer.

On the other hand, if they give the car a clean bill of health and ignore a few things...you buy the car, the seller is happy...the car is gone, and they continue to get business from him.

Find another shop that's impartial, or take it to the dealer.

[iggy]

Originally Posted by fiveightandten

Cylinder #6 is half under the wiring box that's bolted to the firewall. But it's really not hard to get at at all...there should be no reason why a compression test would take 1.5-2 hours. But I wouldn't be surprised if that's the book time on it, and that's what they'll charge you.

I'd recommend against having the PPI done at a shop that's seen the car, and has a relationship with the owner. It's a conflict of interest. They're obviously not going to point out issues with the work they did, or issues that would make the seller question why it wasn't mentioned to him before. That would cause you not to buy the car, and them to loose the customer.

On the other hand, if they give the car a clean bill of health and ignore a few things...you buy the car, the seller is happy...the car is gone, and they continue to get business from him.

Find another shop that's impartial, or take it to the dealer.

Very good point.

Just spoke to the dealer, they want 3.5 hours of labor to do the PPI and leakdown test. $350 will be well worth the peace of mind knowing that the car is healthy.

Now all that's left is finding a date that the owner can drop off the car for the appointment and picking up the car. Assuming the leakdown test is good, pick up will happen sometime late next week or on Monday the 26th.

Can't effin wait.