'97 M3, Salvage Title, Help?

[Kentium]

I've been looking around online and locally for a used 3 series, when this M3 caught my eye, because it was in the price range I'm looking at. http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_...1981&cardist=11
The seller is out of town until this sunday (the 20th of March) so I havent received a phone call back yet.
I ran a Carfax and got this: http://www.carfax.com/cfm/FSBO.cfm?r...FX000008663509 ghead
Salvage Title Issued by New Jersey DMV
Carfax also tells me that "AZ, FL, GA, IL, MN, NJ, NM, NY, OK and OR issue Salvage Titles to identify severely damaged and/or stolen vehicles. Not all stolen vehicles are total losses; many can be recovered with minor or no damage. "
So, my hopes are that it was simply stolen an recovered (with some damage probably).
So it comes down to should I buy it or not (and If so, ask for less than about fair market value which is what the price is now)
As long as its nothing major, I'd be willing to work on this car and if it needs it work some bugs out too. I'm just worried about things that make it an M3 like frame damage etc.
Any help or opinions would be greatly appreciated
Thank You

[Cruzin 323is]

if u do decide to take a chance with it.. i'd go take a look at it.. then bring it to a body shop, and see if there was any damage to the car.. unless your able to see it with your own eye!

[Kentium]

Thanks, I was planning on taking it to two mechanics (local BMW dealer and independent) and then having a friend (who raced BMWs for about 25 years) drive it and look at it.
Ive heard that if it was wrecked and repaired by BMW the fenders will be marked as such (with an orange/yellow sticker)
carfax shows the airbags have not been deployed, so it might have been stolen and recovered.

[CiscoKid]

they wont have the vin number on the repaced body panels. And make sure that the mechanic checks to see if the frame is straight

[MadBMW]

I would not buy it. There are so many M3 out there. Just save your money and one will pop up and you can jump on it. I just picked my 97 up for 13900 with 100K. Spend the extra cash and get one that is worth it. Once you buy that, you might not be able to sell it. I used to align cars and one that were in bad accidents would never drive down the road straight. If you are going to spend that much, you should get your money's worth.

[BMWjesterFAN]

Here's my two cents: I bought a wrecked M3, from a source I had never worked with, but whom I grew to trust over the time I spent researching the car. They were upfront and told me everything they knew. SO far, I have not found a single thing that is not as they told me. I got this really, really cheap though. Less than $5k, including shipping from Massachusetts to Las Vegas. THAT, was a good deal. $10 for one with decent miles and a prior salvage title? NOT a good deal. Notive that the car was sold before, after it was repaired. The owner only had it for a little while, and is now selling it. For $10k, you can definitely find a better deal.
-Tim

ps: I bought mine to rebuild/modify, and I have decided to swap the entire drivetrain and anything else that will work over to my 318i. Anybody want to swap a sedan set of Vaders for my black coupe set?

pps: Hit the 100 post mark tonight. Yeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaa

[BaLLZacK]

Someone can tell you salvage is stole recovery but you'll never know unless you check for frame damage. Salvage car is not worth the hassle, may never drive right, insurance may not cover the car, and your screwed when you go to sell it..