BMW Z4 (E85) | Shed of the Week
Good Friday? Good find day, more like!
Shed always likes a debut, so he’s happy today because here we have the first appearance in Shed of the Week of BMW’s E85 Z4 two-seat sports car. This comes just in time for some summertime top-down fun with the postmistress, who by the way has agreed to help Shed sort out his lockup where he keeps many treasures in old luggage items of various sizes and ages. He expects to be showing her his Edwardian chest while she is looking forward to having a rummage through his trunks.
Delving into the trunk, or boot as it is called in English, is something the next owner of our Z4 might well end up doing. Not to find a long-lost piece of treasure, but to put right its biggest fault.
We’ll get into more detail on that in a minute. First, let’s recall what BMW did with the Z4. It was bigger and stiffer than the old Z3, and in the opinion of many it was more handsome too, although views on Bangle stuff have been shifting in a more positive direction in recent years. The Z4 was built between 2002 and 2008 (with UK sales starting in early 2003) at a plant in the infrequently visited region of Germany known as South Carolina. It started off as a convertible, with a coupe coming along in 2006. Engines were 2.2, 2.5 and 3.0 M54/N52 inline sixes with a 2.0 N46 inline four being added for the European market only in 2005.
This 2.0 engine powers our Shed, where it produces 150hp and 148lb ft, enough for a 0-60mph time of 7.9sec, a useful official combined fuel consumption of 38mpg and vehicle tax of £290 a year. The mileage is low at 127,000 and the condition looks fine. Better yet it’s an Edition Sport, a last-year 2008 run-out with M Sport seats and steering wheel and a choice of four two-tone leather seat colour schemes. You could have Estoril Blue, Phoenix Yellow, Silverstone, or as here Imola Red, with Anthracite Black as the contrast. Edition Sport body colours were Titanium Silver, Space Grey, Montego Blue (one for the British Leyland fans there), Black Sapphire, or a new black called Carbon Black. Shed’s Amstrad screen doesn’t quite have the resolutionary powers to distinguish between black and black, or to be absolutely honest between any two colours, so he can’t tell you which one this is, but he is confident in the knowledge that someone will provide the correct answer on the forum.
We found another 2008 Edition Sport for sale in the UK, a 99,000-miler with an impressive twelve former owners. The price of that was £5,500, making the £1,995 for our one seem quite attractive, even with its faults.
Ah, at last, the catch. First, the small stuff. The MOT runs to September and the only advisory at the last test was for a worn front tyre. The leaky exhaust on which it initially failed was mended last year by the testing garage. The biggies here are a non-functioning hydraulic roof and an illuminated ABS light – but maybe these aren’t as big as you think.
The motor for the roof was in a barmy location, or an excellent one if BMW’s plan was for the motor to act as some kind of water collection device. As a result of this design fault, loads of Z4 roof motors fail through corrosion, but they are often recoverable. If the one on this car isn’t, replacements are available for about £150 and there are videos a-plenty showing you where to relocate them to keep them dry.
Skinflints can of course save money by doggedly sticking with the manual opening procedure. There’s a bit more fiddling about involved but not a disastrous amount. First, you disable the hydraulic system, a one-time operation, by tugging on a small boot-mounted ring-pull thoughtfully provided for the purpose. Then you lift the roof over, MX-5 style, and hope that the electronic front screen rail latching system is still functioning. If it isn’t then you’re still okay, because you can manually activate the roof rail latch via an Allen bolt that sits behind a detachable internal roof flap thoughtfully provided for the purpose. It’s almost as if BMW knew the mech was going to go wrong. Whatever, good on them for providing a decent backup system.
As for the ABS fault, well, even that might be easily fixable. It depends on your luck. A quick OBD diagnosis might tell you that it’s your lucky day and it’s just a wheel speed sensor that’s gone, in which case you’re looking at less than fifty quid for a new one plus free labour (yours) as long as you possess a 5mm Allen key and a far from massive amount of patience. Alternatively, it might need a servo brake sensor, which is a bit more expensive but still affordable at £150 fitted or thereabouts. Or it could be the sensors on the side of the ABS/DSC pump, which again are replaceable. Beyond that, repair of the ABS pump module and ECU is a service you’ll see online for under £200, and some of the repairers who are offering that service will come to you for an extra £100 or so as long as you don’t live somewhere silly like the Isle of Muck. Which, by coincidence, is where Shed dreams he will one day take the postmistress for a Muck-y weekend.
Roof motor relocated by a BMW engineer who'd turned it Into a after hours job.
Great shed, I'd also check the rear sub frame and shocks. At shed money, not too much to put right and back to form with the Postmistress!
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