Z4 or Boxster £5k

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Discussion

ShadowsB

Original Poster:

10 posts

114 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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I have been for a test drive in both a 2.7 Boxster (2000) and a Z4 (03) and I am still not quite sure.

I want a Boxster, I just think I probably want a £15k Boxster. Your help is needed!

I want the car for 3 years, I am based in London most of the time, it will not be driven every day but I will take it to Oxford once a week. It will live outside.

Car price up to £5k. I've budgeted £1k a year for maintenance, I don't really want any nasty surprises as I could not get a car and wait a year or two and spend more.

Pro's and Cons time

_Boxster_

Pros;
  • It's a Porsche
  • Looks great
  • Good Image (not a hairdresser!)
  • The Drive

Cons
  • Older Car
  • Expensive to maintain
  • Risk of nasty surprise
  • Interior is dated at this price
_Z4_

Pros;
  • Decent look
  • Newer Car
  • Drives well
  • More up to date interior (though cheap)
  • Less expensive to maintain/less risk
Cons:
  • Not a Boxster
  • Image
  • Less fun

thatdude

2,654 posts

126 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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I would have a Z4...I think it looks better, and I like the straight 6 engines.

That being said, are they availiable without the SMG (i.e. as a normal manual)?

A neighbor of mine has one, he's very happy with it. He did have an expensive fault with the sunroof mechanism though. Otherwise it has held up well despite him not really being a car fanatic and neglecting it a bit (it lives outside too, and near the coast).


Have you drvien any (good) examples of either car?

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

245 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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I don't know much about running an older Boxster but £1,000 p.a. sounds a bit on the light side to me.

Mind you, a Z4 can probably deliver some interesting bills as well.

If was forced to base the decision off maintenance costs I'd probably lean towards the BMW, but both are a significant risk. Cars that cost Fiesta money don't necessarily have Fiesta running costs.

T0MMY

1,558 posts

175 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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Have you overlooked the S2000 option or are you not keen?

Soupie69uk

922 posts

216 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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I would get the boxster over the Z4 or consider a 3.0 Z3 if you can get one in budget.

Prefer the shape of the Z3 over the Z4.

HughG

3,538 posts

240 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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A friend of a friend bought a £5k Boxster, had it for a year and probably spent another £5k on it on to keep it running right, think he had an ECU, new coils, alternator, shocks, brakes. Not a massive list but as he found out nothing Porsche comes cheap. He got fed up with it and shifting it about a year later.

I'm sure they're not all like that, so on that basis history is probably key.


motco

15,919 posts

245 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
Get an ///M version if you can. Blow the Boxter away!

Prof Prolapse

16,160 posts

189 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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If you can't afford a decent Porsche you certainly can't afford a cheap one.

On your budget a Z4 3.0 is cheaper, faster, more reliable and much less likely to explode. Don't get a Z3 unless you want something older, more awkward looking, with inferior driving dynamics.

I just sold my Z4 3.0 for just shy of £5,000 with some niggles but it was a very good car. You will easy get a good one in budget with FSH, low miles, no issues.

I was never that impressed with an S2000. To me it's the most bargain basement of the three, it's not a nice place to sit for most blokes,and in the real world I'd say the Z4 had the edge because of where it makes power.

All good in their own way mind!

Bennet

2,119 posts

130 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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Additional Z4 cons:
Idiotically hard ride, even on 17s. (I haven't tried switching to none run-flats so I suppose this may help.)
Not especially pleasant manual gearbox.
You have to stick the nose out about 10 feet into the road before you can see past parked cars.
Lacks real steering feel.
The doors are too high to lean your elbow on when waiting for the lights to change.
You feel like a bit of a tt in it sometimes.

Chris Harris, I think, wrote a piece a while ago saying that BMW had never really gotten the hang of decent manual gearboxes. If my wife's z4 is anything to go by, I agree with him.

ShadowsB

Original Poster:

10 posts

114 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
The advantage of a Z4 is it's newer, a Z3 would partly negate that.

I hadn't considered a S2000, I sort of put them in with the mx5 (great car but for 5k I'd rather something else), perhaps unfairly?

The way I look at used cars is, I'll have it for 3 years so I spread the cost over time and including maintenance I don't want to spend more than £3k a year.

The age of the Boxsters available worries me slightly (won't get newer than 2002 for a decent example).

I've done quite a bit of searching, I feel it would be easier to pick up a Z4 (less to check/worry, ims, new clutch etc) and maintenance will almost certainly be lower on average.

But then I start to drift back to a Mx5, just not a fan of the image (I know..)

nunpuncher

3,364 posts

124 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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I set out to buy a 986 boxster a few years back, a Z4 wasn't even on my alternatives list but after looking at lots of tired boxsters, elises, S2000s I ended up buying an 03 plate 3.0 Z4.

In terms of bills they are ridiculously cheap when you consider what you are driving for the money. The engine is bomb proof and the roof motor going is about the scariest bill you will hear about (roughly £500 to fix). I ran mine for a year and it cost me next to nothing other than routine maintenance.

Not long after I bought my Z4 a friend bought a 2002 986 (non S). It was in good condition but he got it cheap because it was a horrible blue with a diarrhoea coloured interior. He sold it on quite quickly and he agreed my Z4 drove as well, sounded better, was more comfortable, more modern and had the added bonus of not giving the nagging thought that the engine may well st itself at any minute (IMS failure).

I'd buy a 987 over a E85 Z4 but not a 986.

Prof Prolapse

16,160 posts

189 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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Have you checked the rear springs aren't shattered? The run flats don't help but it really isn't that hard. They're much softer than most hot hatches for example.

The box is standard BMW. I wouldn't be surprised if it's straight from an E46 as a lot of the components were.

daveco

4,122 posts

206 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
Bennet said:
Chris Harris, I think, wrote a piece a while ago saying that BMW had never really gotten the hang of decent manual gearboxes. If my wife's z4 is anything to go by, I agree with him.
Are you sure?? Their manuals are great!

Bennet

2,119 posts

130 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
By criticising the Z4, I'm not advocating the porsche by the way. If I were looking for a sub 5k convertible I'd probably be looking for an MR2 with a TRD body kit. It depends how fast you feel you need to go.

daemon

35,724 posts

196 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
Prof Prolapse said:
If you can't afford a decent Porsche you certainly can't afford a cheap one.

On your budget a Z4 3.0 is cheaper, faster, more reliable and much less likely to explode. Don't get a Z3 unless you want something older, more awkward looking, with inferior driving dynamics.
Would agree totally.

Porsche = high running costs and prospective big bills
BMW Z4 = decent car, 3.0 litre engine note
BMW Z3 = ancient and was never a good car even in its time.

Hackney

6,810 posts

207 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
Prof Prolapse said:
If you can't afford a decent Porsche you certainly can't afford a cheap one.
This.

With your budget I'd be looking at an S2000

J4CKO

41,284 posts

199 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
Z4 is definitely the safer bet, they dont break as a rule, well, the odd spring but in general they are robust, the beauty of them is they share some much in terms of components (no M versions) with other BMW's, those engines were across the whole range really, the 3.0 was in the X5, 5 series, 3 series, 5 series etc so a lot of parts are very cheap, brake disks, pads etc.

Not saying a Boxster isn't a good car and a better drive but it will be knocking on 15 years old and parts prices are a lot more expensive for Porsches.

I had the same dilemma and went for a 350Z convertible but I was looking at nearer 10 grand, I got a 2007 with FSH and 33k for under 8k which still feels like a new car compared to some of the tired old dogs I looked at.

Bennet

2,119 posts

130 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
daveco said:
Are you sure?? Their manuals are great!
"Never got the hang of" was my misremembering. The article in question was this one, I think:

http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=52&i=2827...

It's not actually even by CH, but this sentence captures it well for me:

"But, like many BMW shifts, there's a length of throw, vagueness of gate and notchiness of engagement - matched with an indistinct biting point on the clutch..."

Edited by Bennet on Monday 22 September 16:50

Prof Prolapse

16,160 posts

189 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
He's right about the clutch. BMW fit a small value "clutch delay valve".

Again it's standard fitment on BMWs for a long time. It stops you dropping st loads of power through the drivetrain.

Personally I'd have removed it if I'd planned to keep the car.

ShadowsB

Original Poster:

10 posts

114 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
I'm starting to lean towards the Z4! Watched Top Gears (old) review, for me it was a hairdressers car far more than the boxster!

I can afford a few £k more or increasing the maintenance budget, I just don't want to have to.

To put it in perspective, a really good condition Boxster at this pricing is around a 1999. The z4 is at least going to be 4 years younger, that's quite a bit.

Any good examples?

I'm not in a rush but definitely starting to lean towards the BMW. I like the front end..