[sensible]

There a lot of speculation about how firearms cars are used. This will massively vary from force to force. In the West Midlands many were armour plated which meant the windows wouldn't wind down and massively adds to the weight. They are also involved in a lot of pursuits and hard stops and are raced around from job to job. There are a lot more firearms incidents than people think.

With any ex Police car it is used 24/7 and driven very hard, and BMW's are only used for roles that involve performance driving. Maintainace is regular to keep it on the road, and most cars will have had some sort of bodywork repair at some stage. The interior is likely to have holes in the dash and bits missing where the ancillary equipment was, as well as the boot/behind rear seat where the radio and power packs were bolted down. As others have said firearms have a gun box bolted down where the back seat would be. Tell tail holes in the floor would confirm if it was ever a firearms car.

I have seen cars repaired and put back on the road that have had significant damage that you would normally write off.

Would I buy one....no, simply knowing how they are treated. They are a workhorse and nobody's pride and joy, plus they are likely to have more issue at three years old than a private car will have in a lifetime. I would also wonder why the Police sold it with a relatively low mileage.

I think that the majority of people that buy these cars have never seen first hand how they are used and simply have the impression that the cars are 'well maintained.' There may also be some kudos in owning an ex Police car, and is a talking point that will be mentioned when ever talking about the car. Generally, anyone that has used them on a daily basis wouldn't buy one.

Good luck to the OP, and hope he has bought one that is the exception to the rule.