Unroadworthy car purchase, my options?

[Greenberg111]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice. Sorry for the long text, I just want to give as much info as pos. Two weeks ago I purchased a car from a seller on eBay which I bid on and won for £5900. It's a BMW Z4 2004. The car was advertised as one previous owner full service history. In the advert it states it has brand-new BMW alloy wheels, which when I emailed to question them he stated in the email they were genuine BMW CSL wheels which I know if genuine with new tyres are an added bonus to the car as are expensive to purchase. The advert goes on to list all the service intervals with milage and all looks quite genuine. I was impressed with the advert as he is very descriptive of how clean the car is and how well he has maintained and looked after. His advert also states he has had some work done to the car in which he has the invoices to prove. Also I emailed the owner about the leather bolsters on the driver-side he stated there was away somewhere wasn't available to take any photos which to show me, but also meant I was unable to go visit the vehicle prior to the auction ending.after winning the vehicle on eBay I travelled from Essex to Wakefield via train. The owner met me at the station with the car where I had a quick look round which all looks quite good except I notice I misted headlamp which I thought must've happened when he cleaned it. (also the leather bolster on the driver-side I had asked to have a picture of had a hole in due to wear) I then drove the car from the station to his home where all seemed to drive quite nice, as you can imagine I wouldn't be driving hard as it was the first time I had drove a sports car like this and being a manual for some time. The engine felt nice as did the gearbox and I thought it seemed all in all a good car. I did notice a slight pull now and then on the steering but thought it could prob do with some tracking. When we got to the house he went over everything with the car outside and looked and seemed genuine my only concern was the headlamp. He had stated in his advert - "Please note: you are bidding to buy the car, not simply come and take a look to then decide. Winning bid is final and the winning bidder is bound by eBay and legal terms of sale to make payment and complete the sale" so on inspecting the paperwork I noticed that the car Actually had six previous owners plus the current owner being number seven. But like the advert stated I bid to buy. I wasn't pleased with this as this was a good price for the car with one owner but with seven owners is really quite high. But in my mind I can offset the costs against the alloy wheels. Also when I questioned him on the paperwork for the alloy wheels and the new springs and of work he had done he told me there was upstairs among stuff and he would forward them on to me which I have yet to receive. The car had been mot'd that day and I hadn't really gave it much thought until my friend pointed out that it would've been an MOT failure with a misted headlamp. Once the purchase was completed I made my way to the A1 to complete the 200 mile journey home. About 20 minutes into my journey I noticed the steering keep pulling in both directions after a feeling of getting stuck in the middle. I ended up stopping six times on the hard shoulder on the way home as it was so difficult to drive. I have got the car booked in to be inspected and a report written as I feel this this fault was known to the previous owner when selling the vehicle and I wonder if it will hold up in court if it came to that. Also since then I've been on some forums regarding this problem which seems to be a common fault on the car. A lot of People have also stated this doesn't happen overnight it's a long slow process of wear inside the steering column. I feel this car is unroadworthy and dangerous to drive. The icing on the cake was today when I was looking through the service book and at the beginning of the book it states date of first registration which is written 19/9/2003, which I thought this was strange as it's a 2004 car. I then checked my HPI report and it states the car was manufactured in 2004 and it was registered on 22/04/2004 so it looks like I may have a fake service history. I've looked into having the steering column repaired at BMW and am looking at about £2250.

If anyone could give me any advice on how to approach the seller about taking the car back or where to go with taking him to the Small Claims Court. No receipt was given when I purchased the vehicle stating sold as seen and tested. And nothing was signed other than the logbook. Not sure if this helps in my favour.

Thanks in advance

Richard.