01-13-2009, 06:35 AM
It was a CPO car ("certified pre-owned"). BMW supposedly has a detailed inspection/repair program for those, and sells them with supplementary warranty all the way out to 100,000 miles. They'd screw their reputation up if they sold wrecks under that program. That's how I felt comfortable buying on the basis of pictures and carfax only. Also note that a good friend of mine has the near identical car so I drove his to see if I liked the feel of it before buying. I was also quite prepared to jump back on the plane and fly home without signing anything if I didn't like the car when I got there.