This is never something that you want to see, but I recently had a friend of mine reach out saying that he noticed something strange in an E92 M3 ad that was posted in a Facebook group.
(The current seller is not the scammer) he was sold the car with fake paperwork FYI from a dealership)
This 2008 BMW E92 M3 popped up for sale on Facebook marketplace which was a super nice example of an M3. Black over red with a 6 speed manual. This car had a standard listing on Facebook with exterior and interior photos, but at the very end there was a super blurry photo of the rod bearing paperwork that just seemed strange. Here's the post.
2008 BMW E92 M3 listed for $32,500 with 129,000 miles DCT in Clover, SC
I had a person reach out to me saying that they found this listing on Facebook. He told me that he noticed the binder on the bottom left of the photo was actually his. He started going through the photo and saw all the totals added up and then he cross referenced all the numbers. It ended up matching 100%. Here's what he said to me via Instagram DM's.
The person who DM'd me on Instagram had sent me the original photo of the rod bearing paperwork because the one that was listed in that E92 M3 post was cropped. The top of it had all the original customers info along with the VIN.
Here's the photo that was posted to the Facebook Marketplace listing:
And then here's the original paperwork below that was sent to me. If you cross reference the VIN that was sent to me via Facebook to the rod bearing paperwork below, you can see that they do NOT match up, but it is the same paperwork that was posted to the listing.
I figured I'd reach out to the seller to see what was going on.
Me:
Hi, is this available?
Seller:
Yes Me:
for sure, are the rod bearings done
Seller:
Yes
Me:
ok do u have paperwork for it Seller: Yes in the last pics of ad Me:
its super blurry for some reason I cant read it I dont have the best eyes. do you have the original paperwork I can look at by any chance
Seller: I bought the car at a dealership they would not give me the paperwork as it had the previous owners name for legal reasons so the sells man took those pics for me. So that’s all I got Me:
Do you have the VIN so I can run the carfax please Seller:
Vins at the top He sent me this photo in the chat -
Me:
Ok got it. I wanted to ask if you were aware of the fact that the rod bearing paperwork is not for your car? I'm not sure if it's a mistake or if you're using it on purpose, but the paperwork belongs to a friend of mine and the VIN number does not match up to your vin number from the original paperwork. Seller:
No not at all. Do you have proof of this? I sent him the original paperwork which was this photo. I blurred out some of the personal information for privacy.
(The photo of the rod bearings paperwork is above)
Me:
Binder on the bottom left, all totals are the same etc - different VIN
Seller: I bought this car from a dealer in Florida and that’s what the sellman gave me Seller: That’s crazy Seller: Thanks for that Me: yeah, I didnt want to go pointing fingers because you never know, but being in the community I wanted to help wherever I can. Me: my page is www.instagram.com/m3list so I study the market daily and I felt like this kinda sucks for everybody involved and it hurts the community if a dealer did this without you knowing and hurts you as well plus the valiue Seller:
********* changed the listing description.
Seller:
Photo removed thanks for your help
Me:
Of course, you're welcome. Best of luck on the sale. I can reshare your listing on my page for free as well if you'd like. sorry to have this happen to you
Seller:
Yes that’s fine
Me:
Thumbs up
So at first I was thinking that the seller may be trying to fake it to get more value for his car, but if you think about it... how many times have you bought a car with paperwork, or photos of paperwork saying something and you "just" believed it? Have you ever confirmed your paperwork with the shops and cross referenced VIN numbers?
Imagine you were told the bearings were done and you supercharged the car, or started tracking it hard, or just started going to car meets and driving around town... then suddenly your engine seizes up because the rod bearings that you were TOLD were done actually were not.
I'm glad to hear that the seller wasn't the one who was trying to fake it, but I'm also upset that this guy got a car with fake rod bearing paperwork and had no idea, and now he's going to end up getting much less for his car since the bearings are not done, and he probably bought it thinking he was all set with fresh bearings in the car.
I was really happy that the original owner of the rod bearing paperwork was open minded, he didn't attack anybody and he didn't get malicious. He was nice enough to send me a DM letting me know the details WITH proof, and giving everybody the benefit of the doubt. That's how you calmly handle situations and make the car community stay positive and supportive.
Just to be safe, always check and verify your paperwork when buying a car!
Stay safe.
-Spencer Berke
@M3List
@M3Parts
DBa M3ALERTS, LLC
@m3list @m3parts - We have over 100,000+ BMW aftermarket & factory parts on our website with discount codes to help you save money! Want sell your M3? Visit our website M3List.com and click “sell your M3”. Join our Discord to see cars that don’t make it to our social media by clicking the link in our bio. Spencer@M3List.com for all questions. #bmw #bmwm3 #m3 #e92m3 #e90m3 #e93m3 #e30m3 #e36m3 #e46m3 #f80m3 #g80m3 #carsforsale #bmwforsale #m3parts #carmarket #m3list
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