BMW and M Power Owners

Raymond Lin · 18 Mar 2013 at 15:17

Just curious, what is the general running cost for a Z4 like (those that had one). Either the Z4 Coupe or the new hard top convertible (sorry I do not know the E numbers) 3.0L, i think its the si engine?

In terms of running costs. discounting petrol costs, that is person to person dependant, how much is the warranty on one of these under 60k miles, and how much is servicing from BMW? I don't need exact numbers, I guess a rough figure to the nearest £100 would suffice

What are, if any, known problems are there for these 2 cars? Obviously the Coupe has a hard top so no roof mechanism to go wrong in that aspect.

How much better is the new 09 convertible over the Coupe, I know the Coupe is based on the old Z4 convertible, are these built in Brazil with the same standard of workmanship?

Is the car more desirable in Manual or Auto? Is it a personal thing or is the Auto box in this much prefered ?

Many thanks

Sorry with all the questions!

[TW]Fox · 18 Mar 2013 at 15:29

The warranty is 500 quid a year or so, more important on the current shape than the previous shape which is by comparison quite simple.

Meds · 18 Mar 2013 at 16:03

BMW have 0% finance on their select Finance

Only really sod is that its only on the beefy models, like an M5, 6 series.... I would have snapped up a new 535d if it was available on those

ANyone know of any dealers where I could get 0% on a 328i or a 535d? Brand new

SDK^ · 18 Mar 2013 at 16:09

maccapacca said:
Something that's been niggling me for a while.

Climate on the E39 & E60 (assume others as well), why is there a hot and cold option, on the E39 it's a roller on the vent and on the E60 it's in the iDrive jobber, do you really need an option for a cold 19 degrees or a warm 19 degrees or am I missing something??

These settings are to control the temperature from the middle vents. Options for a warm climate with cool air coming from the middle vents or vise versa.

[TW]Fox · 18 Mar 2013 at 16:11

Meds said:
ANyone know of any dealers where I could get 0% on a 328i or a 535d? Brand new

Nobody will offer you 0% on one of those unless it's a manufacturer backed offer which as you've pointed out is only on the models they are having trouble selling.

mjt · 18 Mar 2013 at 16:28

acemastr said:
Odd one

tl:dr... why are my brakes better in the wet?

Because of the layer of rust on them?

Basher · 18 Mar 2013 at 16:38

Raymond Lin said:
Just curious, what is the general running cost for a Z4 like (those that had one). Either the Z4 Coupe or the new hard top convertible (sorry I do not know the E numbers) 3.0L, i think its the si engine?

In terms of running costs. discounting petrol costs, that is person to person dependant, how much is the warranty on one of these under 60k miles, and how much is servicing from BMW? I don't need exact numbers, I guess a rough figure to the nearest £100 would suffice

What are, if any, known problems are there for these 2 cars? Obviously the Coupe has a hard top so no roof mechanism to go wrong in that aspect.

How much better is the new 09 convertible over the Coupe, I know the Coupe is based on the old Z4 convertible, are these built in Brazil with the same standard of workmanship?

Is the car more desirable in Manual or Auto? Is it a personal thing or is the Auto box in this much prefered ?

Many thanks

Sorry with all the questions!

I have an '09 Z4 sDrive 35i. I've just renewed my warranty and it's a touch over £50 per month for the comprehensive cover with zero excess.

I bought mine with a 2 year AUC service pack so all servicing is covered for that period.

Excluding tyres and fuel, it hasn't cost me a penny yet (had it just about a year).

Meds · 18 Mar 2013 at 16:48

[TW]Fox;23961519 said:
Nobody will offer you 0% on one of those unless it's a manufacturer backed offer which as you've pointed out is only on the models they are having trouble selling.

Didnt think so, but you never know

Raymond Lin · 18 Mar 2013 at 16:49

Basher said:
I have an '09 Z4 sDrive 35i. I've just renewed my warranty and it's a touch over £50 per month for the comprehensive cover with zero excess.

I bought mine with a 2 year AUC service pack so all servicing is covered for that period.

Excluding tyres and fuel, it hasn't cost me a penny yet (had it just about a year).

This is the hard top convertible right?

How much was it when you paid for it? I see you can get them for £16k now.

Basher · 18 Mar 2013 at 16:53

Raymond Lin said:
This is the hard top convertible right?

How much was it when you paid for it? I see you can get them for £16k now.

Yep it is.

I paid £24k. Which one's are you looking at (engine/spec) for £16k?

[TW]Fox · 18 Mar 2013 at 17:32

Raymond Lin said:
This is the hard top convertible right?

How much was it when you paid for it? I see you can get them for £16k now.

£16k doesn't really buy good ones, it buys base spec 23i's.

AndrewP · 18 Mar 2013 at 19:14

Raymond Lin said:
Just curious, what is the general running cost for a Z4 like (those that had one). Either the Z4 Coupe or the new hard top convertible (sorry I do not know the E numbers) 3.0L, i think its the si engine?

In terms of running costs. discounting petrol costs, that is person to person dependant, how much is the warranty on one of these under 60k miles, and how much is servicing from BMW? I don't need exact numbers, I guess a rough figure to the nearest £100 would suffice

What are, if any, known problems are there for these 2 cars? Obviously the Coupe has a hard top so no roof mechanism to go wrong in that aspect.

How much better is the new 09 convertible over the Coupe, I know the Coupe is based on the old Z4 convertible, are these built in Brazil with the same standard of workmanship?

Is the car more desirable in Manual or Auto? Is it a personal thing or is the Auto box in this much prefered ?

Many thanks

Sorry with all the questions!

I've got an old-shape convertible (E85) with the 3.0si engine, warranty when I checked this time last year was £44/month (haven't bothered taking it out). Servicing is the usual Oil, Inspection 1, Oil, Inspection 2 and repeat, 12-15k miles or 2 years between services. Inspection 1 was £320 including oil and £200 without from a main dealer - oil cost me £50. Common issues on the coupe (E86) would be window regulators and rear springs, though both are cheap to fix.

http://www.z4-forum.com

Raymond Lin · 18 Mar 2013 at 20:07

[TW]Fox;23962046 said:
£16k doesn't really buy good ones, it buys base spec 23i's.

Like this one.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...id/2c9219273d686887013d70fd0d4f000d?logcode=p

This one at £17k

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...id/2c9219273d686887013d70fd0d4f000d?logcode=p

One with Nav on sale at £18.5k

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...id/2c9219273d686887013d70fd0d4f000d?logcode=p

AndrewP said:
I've got an old-shape convertible (E85) with the 3.0si engine, warranty when I checked this time last year was £44/month (haven't bothered taking it out). Servicing is the usual Oil, Inspection 1, Oil, Inspection 2 and repeat, 12-15k miles or 2 years between services. Inspection 1 was £320 including oil and £200 without from a main dealer - oil cost me £50. Common issues on the coupe (E86) would be window regulators and rear springs, though both are cheap to fix.

http://www.z4-forum.com

Thanks

Atari · 18 Mar 2013 at 21:14

Been looking at finding ways to upgrade the factory nav/multimedia capabilities of the E46 recently. I've not been sold on the Dynavin nor it's many clones due to what I perceive to be a horrible UI and what looks like a 'clunky' set of features that appear to have been thrown in to help them look better than they are.

I saw a post today regarding the Parrot Asteroid Smart which has made me think that perhaps swapping out the factory nav unit might be worthwhile. My E46 came with 16:9 nav but with a tape deck behind it :| losing it wouldn't be a huge loss to be fair.

Anyone had any experience with these units? I believe they're quite new out but I've not seen any real reviews for it.

http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/79098...t-android-shallow-depth-double-din-head-unit/

Looks really smart and from the videos it appears to have a good screen and quite a nice UI.

SS-89 · 19 Mar 2013 at 08:25

Raymond Lin said:
Like this one.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...id/2c9219273d686887013d70fd0d4f000d?logcode=p

This one at £17k

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...id/2c9219273d686887013d70fd0d4f000d?logcode=p

One with Nav on sale at £18.5k

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...id/2c9219273d686887013d70fd0d4f000d?logcode=p

Thanks

Well ok you found a base spec 3.0l for 15.5 but the other two are 1.4k and 2.5k higher than the 16k you initially stated. The 18.5k one looks to be a nice spec, I'm not personally a fan of the SE (compared to the m sport) visually but otherwise definitely the one I'd consider.

Stephen B · 19 Mar 2013 at 09:04

SS-89 said:
Well ok you found a base spec 3.0l for 15.5 but the other two are 1.4k and 2.5k higher than the 16k you initially stated. The 18.5k one looks to be a nice spec, I'm not personally a fan of the SE (compared to the m sport) visually but otherwise definitely the one I'd consider.

perhaps, but certainly a lot more informative than "£16k doesn't really buy good ones, it buys base spec 23i's£

[TW]Fox · 19 Mar 2013 at 09:06

Which is pretty much true. £16k is the bottom of the market really - it's only going to find you low spec low engine ones or the odd miley low spec better engine car.

Basher · 19 Mar 2013 at 09:21

SS-89 said:
Well ok you found a base spec 3.0l for 15.5 but the other two are 1.4k and 2.5k higher than the 16k you initially stated. The 18.5k one looks to be a nice spec, I'm not personally a fan of the SE (compared to the m sport) visually but otherwise definitely the one I'd consider.

You won't get an M-Sport for that price as they weren't around in 09. There's not too much difference, anyway is there?

Raymond Lin · 19 Mar 2013 at 09:24

SS-89 said:
Well ok you found a base spec 3.0l for 15.5 but the other two are 1.4k and 2.5k higher than the 16k you initially stated. The 18.5k one looks to be a nice spec, I'm not personally a fan of the SE (compared to the m sport) visually but otherwise definitely the one I'd consider.

Lol, I know you guys are picky and all but I am not going to enter into a debate whether you could or could not get a 3.0L Z4 for £16k or what level of kit they come with. The point is that they are starting to be at around that bracket now, one being under £16k and couple just a fraction above it shows me that they are cheaper than I and everyone here thought they were. Which is a good thing.
There was actually another one at £16k on the dot but it was from Car Giant so I left it out.

So, moving on, I don't want to nip pick on that irrelevant above, I would love to know about what the car is like to own. Like what is the boot size like with the roof up/down, does it attract chavs at the lights trying to give you a race etc

stuff like that.

[TW]Fox · 19 Mar 2013 at 09:27

Raymond Lin said:
Lol, I know you guys are picky and all but I am not going to enter into a debate whether you could or could not get a 3.0L Z4 for £16k or what level of kit they come with. The point is that they are starting to be at around that bracket now, one being under £16k and couple just a fraction above it shows me that they are cheaper than I and everyone here thought they were. Which is a good thing.

They are not 'cheaper than everyone thought they were', low spec Z4's have been comfortably under £20k for a long time now. But by the time you find ones with decent miles, specification, engine and colour combinations you end up spending at least £20k. The other thing with the Z4 is that every engine that isn't the 35i is pretty much pointless - the Z4 never got N53 engines, it has N52 engines, which means the other engines are hardly any more economical than the 35i, so you end up with 35i running costs but without 35i performance.