Buying a 15 Year Old BMW Z4 with a N54 Stupid?

[Dominic-Toretto]

I am considering buying back a BMW Z4 35is (N54 Engine W DCT Gearbox) that I sold privately 5 years ago, it was a lovely space grey with walnut interior. I have had three Z4 35is cars and absolutely enjoyed all of them, however I appreciate that it is now a 15 year old car. These days I am only driving around 5k miles a year, so it would likely spend 5 days a week parked in my garage, with 2 days of driving here and there. Now I am aware of all the issues with the N54, when I sold it 5 years ago it had done 50k miles, it is now only on 65k. In my ownership I personally changed all 6 injectors to the latest revision index 12, replaced a leaking valve cover, crank case hose, updated to 1 step colder spark plugs, and elder coils. At the time it did not have any signs of waste gate rattle, or hpfp or water pump issues. The car was also running a modest 400bhp at the time. The car when I sold it was flawless and ran great, it was lowered and had forged wheels etc and it was sold to an older gentleman who I am sure would not be the type to abuse the car. My question is, am I taking a huge risk buying this back, aka am I viewing it through rose tinted glasses? I can DIY all jobs that don't require the car to be lifted.

Would buying this back likely present me with lots of issues? Given that it is 15 years old, what sort of additional wear and tear will the car start to see?

Thanks!

 

[Martynt74]

I imagine it's impossible to answer without seeing the car. The fact you've done a lot of the maintenance on it you presumably know the car pretty well. The fact its 15yrs old isn't necessarily an issue. You still see lots of them around

 

[Armageus]

Would buying this back likely present me with lots of issues? Given that it is 15 years old, what sort of additional wear and tear will the car start to see?

You know at least some of the history of the car - that's got to be better than buying a car with completely unknown history from a random.

At 15 years old I would imagine things like suspension components, bushes etc will be getting tired through age rather than mileage. Additionally coolant pipes / reservoir / plastics etc can get brittle with age.
However I personally wouldn't consider 15 years old to be so old that it's a deal breaker (my current "daily driver" is 13 years old!), especially if it's a car you like, can enjoy and are able to DIY a lot of jobs on.

 

[panthro]

I would take a punt if you can pay for any potential repairs and preventative maintenance, they're great cars.

 

[Feek]

Do it.

(I may not be the best person to give this sort of advice)

 

[Diddums]

the real questions are how long for a standing quarter, and will it have a starlight headliner?

 

[Bear]

It’s not a 10s car, so no

 

[ezekial]

I think its fine. The n54 is reliable except for injectors and the leaks which it seems youve already taken care of and its still pretty low mileage. I say do it!

Especially as you can diy. I am the same and the amount of money I saved on all my previous bmws (330d, 335i, 335d and current 440i) makes it much more affordable.

 

[sparton_SPA]

It's better to buy a car you know than another that you just have to take the history as a given.
At the price point I'm expecting it to be, assume the risk is relatively low for you if it ends up being a shed that you just need to move on quickly?

 

[tom_nieto]

It’s done 3000 miles a year since you sold it. If you loved the car so much that you want to buy it back and you’re not paying over the odds, just get it bought! Of course it might develop issues in the future, but most cars will. Especially cars with complex 400bhp turbocharged DFI engines.

 

[Dominic-Toretto]

Thanks all for the input, will take it all onboard and have a think!

 

[Diddums]

Thanks all for the input, will take it all onboard and have a think!

No no no, this is nonsense. You worked bloody hard to earn your online image and now you're going to just destroy it?

No. Say something funny Mr funny man.

 

[Dominic-Toretto]

No no no, this is nonsense. You worked bloody hard to earn your online image and now you're going to just destroy it?

No. Say something funny Mr funny man.

I live my life a quarter mile at a time. Nothing else matters, not posters on ocuk forums, not my team and all their ****. For those ten seconds or less, I'm free.

 

[Feek]

Thanks all for the input, will take it all onboard and have a think!

Have you bought it yet?

 

[the shadow]

It doesn't matter what's under the hood. The only thing that matters is who's behind the wheel

 

[Cristian]

Sounds like the recipe for bargain basement fun!
Given you've sorted the injectors and can DIY the only potential painful bill would be the turbo actuars but even that can be done for about £1k these days, there's people losing that in depreciation monthly on a new car!

For things like these the ability to DIY is an absolute game changer, especially for something very popular in the States and you'll find lots of quality guides on anything that can go wrong.

My only question mark is around that DCT, having had lots of pain with the supposedly reliable DL501 wet clutch DSG on my S4 I'm always wary of them, in stark contrast to the very much bombproof ZF6 and ZF8.