[bngcruiser]

Hey guys,

Test drove a 2018 M2 this early afternoon. Pulled fantastic, brakes were great, rear tires felt a little worn in the rear (measured to a 4).

However, I popped the hood and I found fluid pooling in two areas of the engine bay. Very odd in my opinion, not sure what to think of it and thought others could chime in.

It's listed at $46k with 10.6k miles on it. If i can get a credit for the rear tires needing to be swapped and some curb rash I am thinking I might pull the trigger, but am slightly nervous about the fluids.

Check out the video and let me know your opinions:

[bngcruiser]

Trying to get a working link:

[bngcruiser]

I am usually pretty computer literate .. no idea whats going on here.

Trying YouTube

[M3nford]

Originally Posted by bngcruiser

Hey guys,

Test drove a 2018 M2 this early afternoon. Pulled fantastic, brakes were great, rear tires felt a little worn in the rear (measured to a 4).

However, I popped the hood and I found fluid pooling in two areas of the engine bay. Very odd in my opinion, not sure what to think of it and thought others could chime in.

It's listed at $46k with 10.6k miles on it. If i can get a credit for the rear tires needing to be swapped and some curb rash I am thinking I might pull the trigger, but am slightly nervous about the fluids.

Check out the video and let me know your opinions:

I'm not completely sure, but this could be from the hood.
Look under the hood, see if there's a residue coming out from the points that correspond to where you see the oil on the headlight and engine bay.

As I understand it, it's from the paint process and it happens when temp heats up.

[bngcruiser]

Originally Posted by M3nford

I'm not completely sure, but this could be from the hood.
Look under the hood, see if there's a residue coming out from the points you see the oil on the headlight and engine bay.

As I understand it, it's from the paint process and it happens when temp heats up.

I pushed it, wanted to see if there were any hiccups.

There is fluid run and dried on the headlights, same fluid.

Hard for me to understand that it's coming from the hood ... why is there fluid in the hood, the hood struts?!!?

[M3nford]

Originally Posted by bngcruiser

I pushed it, wanted to see if there were any hiccups.

There is fluid run and dried on the headlights, same fluid.

Hard for me to understand that it's coming from the hood ... why is there fluid in the hood, the hood struts?!!?

It'll be around the edges.
It's a solvent being used during the painting process and could reappear under heat.
Also you might notice a crayon like smell as well.

If you can get another look at the car, just check under the hood and see if there's the same residue there.

[bngcruiser]

Thanks guys, this makes a lot of sense. It was 98 degrees out and I drove it hard (for a test drive, of course).

Guess I've gotta have that talk with the wife then.

[DanG]

Take it to a BMW dealer or independent BMW shop and get an inspection. Better safe then sorry.

[bngcruiser]

Originally Posted by DanG

Take it to a BMW dealer or independent BMW shop and get an inspection. Better safe then sorry.

CarMax gives me an opportunity to return the car 7 days no questions asked - which seems too good to be true. I would certainly go to my Indy shop immediately and get a good opinion before keeping the car.

[DanG]

Originally Posted by bngcruiser

CarMax gives me an opportunity to return the car 7 days no questions asked - which seems too good to be true. I would certainly go to my Indy shop immediately and get a good opinion before keeping the car.

I would do it before purchasing the car. Cheap peace of mind.

[matty_f]

On the hood there are spring buttons next to the U-shaped metal. They are a little oily on my car with ~12k miles. You can see a little circle of oil/grease in the second photo where they touch. But it’s not oily like in your vid. I touched the same areas and my fingers were clean and I don’t have any oil on my headlights.

[Al Bundy's Dodge]

Originally Posted by DanG

Take it to a BMW dealer or independent BMW shop and get an inspection. Better safe then sorry.

Agree with this.

OP - I bought my 2018 OG BSM at CarMax Broadway. I did the inspection after my purchase. As long as you don't destroy the car you'll be able to return it if you don't like what your Indy finds.

That said, I kinda hope you don't buy. I like having the only 2018 OG BSM in Denver.

[AndrewC1989]

Pretty sure it's just left over cosmoline from overseas shipping leaking from the inside of the hood onto the outer edge of the engine bay. My car does it every so often, mostly in very hot weather. In my case you can see it's clearly coming from the holes in the hood.

[bngcruiser]

Originally Posted by Al Bundy's Dodge

Agree with this.

OP - I bought my 2018 OG BSM at CarMax Broadway. I did the inspection after my purchase. As long as you don't destroy the car you'll be able to return it if you don't like what your Indy finds.

That said, I kinda hope you don't buy. I like having the only 2018 OG BSM in Denver.

Ayooooo. I'm going to try and grab it, so we will def need to do a photo sesh sometime!

[MKParris]

Maybe someone spilled some oil during the last change and did a crappy job cleaning it up.

[DarthFader]

Originally Posted by MKParris

Maybe someone spilled some oil during the last change and did a crappy job cleaning it up.

That's probably what happened - having done this myself

If you buy it, immediately take it for inspection for peace of mind. Can always return it if it fails the inspection.

[Al Bundy's Dodge]

So are you buying this thing or what? I don't see it on Carmax website

[LuvMyE92]

$46K with 10K miles needing tires seems expensive to me...

[bngcruiser]

Originally Posted by LuvMyE92

$46K with 10K miles needing tires seems expensive to me...

I agree, they aren't budging on price. Not sure I'm coming home with it.

[Al Bundy's Dodge]

Originally Posted by bngcruiser

I agree, they aren't budging on price. Not sure I'm coming home with it.

Carmax is no haggle...but they will lower the price on their own if nobody buys. I was patient on mine, watched for around 30 days. And when they lowered it $1k, I jumped...it was close enough to what I thought was reasonable and I didn't want to miss out on the car.

Proved to be a good move...this is the first low mileage 6MT BSM LCI I've seen pop up since I bought back in February. Don't let a few hundred Dollars get in the way of what you want...it's nothing in the grand scheme of life

[bngcruiser]

Originally Posted by Al Bundy's Dodge

Carmax is no haggle...but they will lower the price on their own if nobody buys. I was patient on mine, watched for around 30 days. And when they lowered it $1k, I jumped...it was close enough to what I thought was reasonable and I didn't want to miss out on the car.

Proved to be a good move...this is the first low mileage 6MT BSM LCI I've seen pop up since I bought back in February. Don't let a few hundred Dollars get in the way of what you want...it's nothing in the grand scheme of life

I agree - but there is an M2 comp for sale in Santa Cruz I'm in talks with the seller about.

I'm not afraid to fly and drive but you are correct, I want BSM manual - however, this is a "fun" car for me and I've gotta believe the market will be in favor come cold weather time.

[lax01]

The whole idea of a pre-purchase inspection is to do IT PRE-PURCHASE so you can negotiate the price down to cover the issues

Doing an inspection AFTER purchase seems counter-intuitive to me - even if you can return the car within 7 days