Thoughts on Heilderberg QM46

I'm thinking of buying a QM46 press for 2 colour work. I've noticed that there's a load of them for sale especially Ebay.
Are these presses any good and is registration in 2 colour accurate? Due to the amount going for sale, I'm a bit skeptical as to their performance.
Is there anything specific that I should be looking at when viewing a second hand QM46?
It's the compact size that attracts me or otherwise I'd get another AB Dock 9995.
Thanks in advance.

 

They have sold a lot of these machines in North America. They were not so popular in Europe. Heidelberg used to sell 10-15 machines everyday in those days. It will hold color and registration till the last sheet. Blanket wash and Auto plate works properly and once you get used to this machine you will love it. Due to digital machines these machines are not in demand. Expensive to operate. I had a customer with 10 AB Dick machines. Now he has 10 Konica machines and 1 AB Dick. 10 Digital machines operated by one person.

 

Thanks for your excellent answer. I've got 2 Xerox digital machines, and I'd like a small offset for fliers and carbonless sets, and quantities that aren't viable on digital. I'll now definitely look into the QM 46.
Is there anything common to the QM 46 that I should be looking out for in a used machine? Any common faults or known issues?

 

If you can afford it try & go for the PM46 (silver & grey guards) which was the updated version of the QM46 (purple & grey guards) in which Heidelberg fixed a few annoying issues & in my opinion is a better machine.

 

Heidelberg is the most trusted name in offset printing. Heidelberg QM46 includes features such as program-controlled printing, fully-automated plate changing with Autoplate, central sheet-size adjustment, monitored sheet control, self-regulated inking and dampening systems, inching and crawl speed modes, and automated wash-up devices. With its inherent flexibility, ease of use, and numerous automated features, the Heidelberg QM46 effortlessly achieves reliable, superior quality.

 

Having run many Heidelberg press, Gto's 1 & 2 colour, SORMZ, KORD, TOK, and T & GT Platens, also a few Ryobis, the QM we have really needs dumping in the canal, it's awful, the self centering feed, the plates never going on correctly only being able to move the second colour unit 20 mm, the blanket wash is crap, the roller train is under par a shared blanket is not ideal. Heidelberg should have left automated portrait presses to the Japanese, except for the TOK which was lovely.