First Time Buyer Guide?

[BigFatRaccoon]

Hey guys - long time lurker first time poster, hoping to get some wisdom from you all.

Looking at seriously purchasing this example of a '15 F80 6MT, about 50k miles. Clean title, no damage, plenty of service records and everything seems to check out.

1) Is there anything I should ask the shops to specifically check during the PPI for this car platform or is a general once-over good enough?

2) How has your guys' ownership experience been? Is there anything you wish you knew before buying or something to specifically look out for as an owner? What's your mileage at for the long-term owners?

-My understanding is that the F80 platform is pretty reliable (especially when stock). I'm pretty familiar with the regular maintenance as my daily for the last 5 years has been a N55 X5, and previously we had a stage 2 F10 M5 in the garage.

3) For the 6-speed owners, is there any sort of "jult" coming out of 1st gear?

-The seller reports that occasionally when the car is warm, it may do that from a start/stop (attributed to a small hotspot on the flywheel), but the techs who drove it from the shop it was regularly serviced at said that it was not an issue and they couldn't identify it with the test drive.

-Regardless, I've budgeted about $2.5-3k in case the flywheel+clutch go out in 10-15k miles from my local independent BMW shop. ($2k in parts, $1k in labor), although I don't suspect it will present any issues at least for a year since I'm not going to track it, clutch dump often, etc.

Any info or suggestions you guys have are greatly appreciated, I just want to make sure I'm doing my due diligence before buying.

[wishbone]

Originally Posted by BigFatRaccoon

Hey guys - long time lurker first time poster, hoping to get some wisdom from you all.

Looking at seriously purchasing this example of a '15 F80 6MT, about 50k miles. Clean title, no damage, plenty of service records and everything seems to check out.

1) Is there anything I should ask the shops to specifically check during the PPI for this car platform or is a general once-over good enough?

2) How has your guys' ownership experience been? Is there anything you wish you knew before buying or something to specifically look out for as an owner? What's your mileage at for the long-term owners?

-My understanding is that the F80 platform is pretty reliable (especially when stock). I'm pretty familiar with the regular maintenance as my daily for the last 5 years has been a N55 X5, and previously we had a stage 2 F10 M5 in the garage.

3) For the 6-speed owners, is there any sort of "jult" coming out of 1st gear?

-The seller reports that occasionally when the car is warm, it may do that from a start/stop (attributed to a small hotspot on the flywheel), but the techs who drove it from the shop it was regularly serviced at said that it was not an issue and they couldn't identify it with the test drive.

-Regardless, I've budgeted about $2.5-3k in case the flywheel+clutch go out in 10-15k miles from my local independent BMW shop. ($2k in parts, $1k in labor), although I don't suspect it will present any issues at least for a year since I'm not going to track it, clutch dump often, etc.

Any info or suggestions you guys have are greatly appreciated, I just want to make sure I'm doing my due diligence before buying.

I flew to a different state and for the PPI just ensured it was at a BMW dealership. Was only $180 bucks for some piece of mind.

Items I might scan for include (beyond your flywheel, which I wasn't concerned about since my car was at 16,5k miles) rotors, tires, would scan the under tray for damage which could be damaging to cooling-related items (e.g., auxiliary radiator coolers, oil cooler, radiator), would look for any trim bolts that are missing which might indicate modification and/or repair damage, look for visual oil leaks, ask for a code scan to see if anything is hidden, check for boost leaks. Feel like those are routine but never hurts to formally ask.

I've had my f80 for about 18 months and have only done routine maintenance and my own light modifications.

The first to second gear shift isn't the smoothest but feels very similar to my f30 so i really don't chalk it up to anything. Sport + makes it less smooth. I don't think it's operator error but maybe I could always be mistaken. I've had my f30 6-speed for 8 years so that's also my point of reference.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by BigFatRaccoon

Hey guys - long time lurker first time poster, hoping to get some wisdom from you all.

Looking at seriously purchasing this example of a '15 F80 6MT, about 50k miles. Clean title, no damage, plenty of service records and everything seems to check out.

1) Is there anything I should ask the shops to specifically check during the PPI for this car platform or is a general once-over good enough?

Check the TMIC as it tends to leak.
Check the normal coolant reservoir as it tends to leak at the seams.
Check for any oil filter housing, valve gasket leaks #NormalBMWThings


2) How has your guys' ownership experience been? Is there anything you wish you knew before buying or something to specifically look out for as an owner? What's your mileage at for the long-term owners?

I just passed 50K miles but mine is a 2019.

Had 1 out of warranty repair (Valve Cover due to PVC Failure)

Under warranty had these issues.

Back up camera turns off while in use. (Still an issue to this date)
Brake Pedal Squeak - Ended up being the Master Cylinder)

-My understanding is that the F80 platform is pretty reliable (especially when stock). I'm pretty familiar with the regular maintenance as my daily for the last 5 years has been a N55 X5, and previously we had a stage 2 F10 M5 in the garage.

3) For the 6-speed owners, is there any sort of "jult" coming out of 1st gear?

-The seller reports that occasionally when the car is warm, it may do that from a start/stop (attributed to a small hotspot on the flywheel), but the techs who drove it from the shop it was regularly serviced at said that it was not an issue and they couldn't identify it with the test drive.

No, it's a dual mass flywheel. It should be really smooth when engaging the clutch. Anything else could be an issue.


-Regardless, I've budgeted about $2.5-3k in case the flywheel+clutch go out in 10-15k miles from my local independent BMW shop. ($2k in parts, $1k in labor), although I don't suspect it will present any issues at least for a year since I'm not going to track it, clutch dump often, etc.

Any info or suggestions you guys have are greatly appreciated, I just want to make sure I'm doing my due diligence before buying.

See my response in red.

[BigFatRaccoon]

Originally Posted by N1rve

See my response in red.

Thank you so much for the input!

[BigFatRaccoon]

Originally Posted by wishbone

I flew to a different state and for the PPI just ensured it was at a BMW dealership. Was only $180 bucks for some piece of mind.

Items I might scan for include (beyond your flywheel, which I wasn't concerned about since my car was at 16,5k miles) rotors, tires, would scan the under tray for damage which could be damaging to cooling-related items (e.g., auxiliary radiator coolers, oil cooler, radiator), would look for any trim bolts that are missing which might indicate modification and/or repair damage, look for visual oil leaks, ask for a code scan to see if anything is hidden, check for boost leaks. Feel like those are routine but never hurts to formally ask.

I've had my f80 for about 18 months and have only done routine maintenance and my own light modifications.

The first to second gear shift isn't the smoothest but feels very similar to my f30 so i really don't chalk it up to anything. Sport + makes it less smooth. I don't think it's operator error but maybe I could always be mistaken. I've had my f30 6-speed for 8 years so that's also my point of reference.

Thank you for this Wishbone! I'll be sure to mention this to the tech that does the PPI to try and spot anything early on.