why the hate for z3's. my 2.8 purchase
Discussion
Going through the forum's there seem to be a bit of hate for these cars.
Well I just picked this up yesterday and while its not the best thing in the world it's not the worst either.
For me it handles fine but this one is on upgraded suspension added to the fact that I dont take corners at a hundred miles an hour.
It also has an remus exhaust on it which makes a wonderful sound. Loud when I want and quiet when I need it. Thoroughly recommended.
Huge stack of bills and all the things work but no air con and heated seats but for the price I paid I cant complain.
Continentals all round, though I dont know if the alloys are genuine but they are in great condition. The guy also gave me another set of mv's with winter tyres as he said he doesnt want to ruin the big uns in the winter.
Also got a bmw car cover, a griffin itrip thingy and a huge bucket of autoglym products.
A few niggly problems like the passenger seat wont move forward though it does go up and down so the motor is working, hopefully its just the switch.
The chrome stickers on the dash I need to take off cause as it does look a bit naff and it reflect the street lights at night.
Needs a new window seal doesn't leak but the window is catching on it.
But overall for a 15 year old car it doesnt have rust or stone chips , I reckon its had a bit of paint sometime in the past.
But by and by it's a lovely old thing and it did 33mpg all the way from stafford to glasgow.
118k with fsh and a bit looked after. The price....well my cousin bought a set of winter alloys and tyres for his e92 conv and I paid less than him. Happy days
Well I just picked this up yesterday and while its not the best thing in the world it's not the worst either.
For me it handles fine but this one is on upgraded suspension added to the fact that I dont take corners at a hundred miles an hour.
It also has an remus exhaust on it which makes a wonderful sound. Loud when I want and quiet when I need it. Thoroughly recommended.
Huge stack of bills and all the things work but no air con and heated seats but for the price I paid I cant complain.
Continentals all round, though I dont know if the alloys are genuine but they are in great condition. The guy also gave me another set of mv's with winter tyres as he said he doesnt want to ruin the big uns in the winter.
Also got a bmw car cover, a griffin itrip thingy and a huge bucket of autoglym products.
A few niggly problems like the passenger seat wont move forward though it does go up and down so the motor is working, hopefully its just the switch.
The chrome stickers on the dash I need to take off cause as it does look a bit naff and it reflect the street lights at night.
Needs a new window seal doesn't leak but the window is catching on it.
But overall for a 15 year old car it doesnt have rust or stone chips , I reckon its had a bit of paint sometime in the past.
But by and by it's a lovely old thing and it did 33mpg all the way from stafford to glasgow.
118k with fsh and a bit looked after. The price....well my cousin bought a set of winter alloys and tyres for his e92 conv and I paid less than him. Happy days
Edited by hamish88 on Wednesday 24th July 09:24
My Mrs had the 2.8 and I borrowed it for a week and I found the handling just plain scary compared to my Corrado at the time.
Lovely cars though, I'm guessing all of the hate is due to it being based on the BMW compact platform(?) and never being a great handling car and the press being a bit harsh to it (Autocar I think were pretty scathing). Huge sales success so who cares that it wasn't an MX5 in the handling stakes?
I think for 7/10 ths driving it's fine. and the 2.8 is a peach.
Loved my time with it enough to get a Z4
Lovely cars though, I'm guessing all of the hate is due to it being based on the BMW compact platform(?) and never being a great handling car and the press being a bit harsh to it (Autocar I think were pretty scathing). Huge sales success so who cares that it wasn't an MX5 in the handling stakes?
I think for 7/10 ths driving it's fine. and the 2.8 is a peach.
Loved my time with it enough to get a Z4
T1berious said:
I'm guessing all of the hate is due to it being based on the BMW compact platform(?)
This I don't get - people slag off the Z3 and e36 compact for handling/suspension, yet wax lyrical about the e30, when as I understand it to all intents and purposes they are the same!Looks very nice op, would have held out for a/c myself, but very nice!
NiceCupOfTea said:
This I don't get - people slag off the Z3 and e36 compact for handling/suspension, yet wax lyrical about the e30, when as I understand it to all intents and purposes they are the same!
Have you driven both? 'Based on the same platform' doesn't necessarily mean it feels anywhere near the same. Consider things like damping and spring rates, weight distribution, centre of gravity, etc, etc... Plus, I think the Z3 has a different steering rack too.Windymiller said:
NiceCupOfTea said:
This I don't get - people slag off the Z3 and e36 compact for handling/suspension, yet wax lyrical about the e30, when as I understand it to all intents and purposes they are the same!
Have you driven both? 'Based on the same platform' doesn't necessarily mean it feels anywhere near the same. Consider things like damping and spring rates, weight distribution, centre of gravity, etc, etc... Plus, I think the Z3 has a different steering rack too.To be fair, from my experience with both the E30 325 that I had the pleasure of driving was crazy good. Blew the socks off my 205 1.6 GTi which was no slouch in the handling stakes.
Where the E30 rewarded you when pushing on with its balance the Z3 felt really on edge. As we know engineers dial in handling characteristics and if we're honest the chassis was dialed for posing and when pushed punished you with snap oversteer.
(please correct me if I'm wrong) I just remember approaching it as if it was an MX5 which you can take loads of liberties with and almost getting passed by the boot on a mild corner (like really mild)
Where the E30 rewarded you when pushing on with its balance the Z3 felt really on edge. As we know engineers dial in handling characteristics and if we're honest the chassis was dialed for posing and when pushed punished you with snap oversteer.
(please correct me if I'm wrong) I just remember approaching it as if it was an MX5 which you can take loads of liberties with and almost getting passed by the boot on a mild corner (like really mild)
The Z3 shares the same rear suspension set up as the E30's (the E30 M3 is widely regarded as being one of the best handling BMW's of all time) and the front suspension is the same set up as the E36's. It's a little unfair to class the Z3 as a poor handling car (especially on stock or original suspension) as to really get the best from the car you need to invest some money - that coupled with the fact that you're losing structural rigidity by chopping off the roof as well.
My old Z3 was probably the best handling car I've ever had - although I spent a fair amount of money on suspension components and had it properly set up by John at Pro-Grip - which is another error some people make, they spend all this money on upgraded components and don't bother to get it set up properly corner balancing etc).
Here's a picture of my old Z3:
Probably the only car I really regret selling!!!..
Your car looks good (minus the ///M badge) - they do indeed represent outstanding value for money. If your car has the M52B28 non TU engine in it then you might want to check out the M50 intake manifold conversion which will give you a decent performance boost for not much money.
My old Z3 was probably the best handling car I've ever had - although I spent a fair amount of money on suspension components and had it properly set up by John at Pro-Grip - which is another error some people make, they spend all this money on upgraded components and don't bother to get it set up properly corner balancing etc).
Here's a picture of my old Z3:
Probably the only car I really regret selling!!!..
Your car looks good (minus the ///M badge) - they do indeed represent outstanding value for money. If your car has the M52B28 non TU engine in it then you might want to check out the M50 intake manifold conversion which will give you a decent performance boost for not much money.
r1ch said:
I've always quite like the z3 styling, i thought the 3.0 was pretty quick! Nice cars.
Quite like the fact Bond had one
Great film.
that was the 1.9 version.. not the finest example they ever built!! although the limited edition run of 007 cars would probably be one of the most sought after by collectors in the future!..Quite like the fact Bond had one
Great film.
Nice car pangster. This z3 does have aftermarket suspension, forgot the name of it. I saw it as I was leafing through the paperwork although I do remember it was imported from the netherlands.
Why is there m badge at the back?
To balance the one that's on the left of the front bumper . I know I know. God sake I only picked it up last night so give us a few days first....
Why is there m badge at the back?
To balance the one that's on the left of the front bumper
. I know I know. God sake I only picked it up last night so give us a few days first.... Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff