Z4 buying advice

Ok, i've found another one to go look at. This one is an 03 plate 3.0 litre with 42k on the clock in titanium silver with all the toys including satnav and parking sensors and full BMW service history.
Problem is it is a little out of my price range at £9995. Spoke to the salesman and he would take £9500 but wouldn't be able to factor in the wheel refurb he was planning (the split rim alloys are flaking badly).
This is one of the few dealers prepared to take my RX8 so i'm still tempted to have a look. Opinions anyone? Mr Fox?
 
The split rim alloys all corrode and flake badly so unless its a fresh refurb you'll find it very hard to find a car without this problem.

This particular car sounds nice - but if you are stretching to afford it, you sure about the running costs?

Having said that, the Z4 is actually a pretty cheap to run car when nothing goes wrong - it's suprisingly economical and servicing through BMW is reasonably priced, but tyres are quite expensive (Though probably only about 30-40 quid each more than your RX8).

If its not had a roof motor yet, though, it'll need one in the near future. They pretty much all fail, and it's an £800 job to fix it. Rear springs are a common failure but it's not expensive to fix this.

I've just been out in the Z4, really makes me wish I wasn't such a build quality snob. It really is such a fun place to be when it isnt raining and it turns far more heads than a normal BMW :(
 
Many thanks for the reply Fox, much appreciated.
I'm pretty sure I can handle the running costs after owning an RX8 for a year. Should save myself quite a bit in petrol costs whilst having a quicker car. I guess as you say, it's only cheap to run if things aren't going wrong. I'll ask the salesman about the roof motor to see if it's been done. Don't fancy an £800 bill soon after buying :eek:
Are you saying the build quality isn't great on the Z4? I thought all BMW's were well built cars?
Anway, i'll go have a look tomorrow and report back with my findings :D
Cheers!
 
[TW]Fox;17123722 said:
I've just been out in the Z4, really makes me wish I wasn't such a build quality snob. It really is such a fun place to be when it isnt raining and it turns far more heads than a normal BMW :(
Click to expand...
Are you referring to the rattles and squeaks?

Does a soft top that doesn't rattle even exist?
 
To the OP, although it's been answered in terms of numbers, a good rule of thumb is 10k miles/year. That's considered the industry standard in terms of annual mileage, and is the reason why insurance often hikes up after that!
 
The one I'm looking at now only has 42k on the clock, so hopefully plenty of life left in it. Especially with a full BMW service history. I'll just be happy to be away from rotary engines and compression problems.
 
mjt said:
Are you referring to the rattles and squeaks?

Does a soft top that doesn't rattle even exist?
Click to expand...

Quite a lot about the Z4 feels quite cheap - there are loads of rattles and squeeks, cheap plastics, doors that go clang, etc. It's built to a price in the USA and the build quality is noticeably different to the rest of the BMW range.

But it's great fun!
 
IvanDobskey said:
Ok, i've found another one to go look at. This one is an 03 plate 3.0 litre with 42k on the clock in titanium silver with all the toys including satnav and parking sensors and full BMW service history.
Problem is it is a little out of my price range at £9995. Spoke to the salesman and he would take £9500 but wouldn't be able to factor in the wheel refurb he was planning (the split rim alloys are flaking badly).
This is one of the few dealers prepared to take my RX8 so i'm still tempted to have a look. Opinions anyone? Mr Fox?
Click to expand...

I'd find out what 'all the toys' actually means. If anything that's slightly underpriced considering it's from a dealer.

Heated electric memory seats?
10 speaker upgrade?
Wind deflector?
Gradient tinted windscreen?
Internal storage nets?
Xenons?

etc.
 
It was obviously crash repaired :( shame as it was a lovely car.
Looking at a blue 2.5 litre 53 plate with 60k on the clock for 9k now.
One question, do the split rim type alloys come in more than one size? Are they all 18 inch?
 
Well, the blue one was in tip top condition! Really outstanding for a 53 plate! So I've gone and snapped it up :D fingers crossed it's a good un. Thanks for the help all.
 
Will probably be picking it up next week after i've got the money sorted out, so will take some snaps then :D It's funny that i've been all over the place on long trips trying to find a good one without any luck, then one comes up 4 miles down the road :p
 
Well, i've just picked her up and i'm well pleased :D Looks and drives superb. One small problem I've noticed though, is the wipers don't park themselves properly. They always end up coming to rest a couple of inches higher than the lowest sweep point. Anyone got any ideas on this? Will try and post some pics soon :)
 
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