Thinking of buying a Z4 in the new year... few q's

[Mr Whippy]

As always, cost is important, and I'd rather be pleasantly surprised, than unpleasantly surprised.

Assuming nothing major like my engine puts conrods through the block, can anyone tell me if my numbers make sense for a years worth of ownership on a 53 reg average mile 3.0 Z4?

http://www.pistonheads.com/members/showcar.asp?car...


My main one is trying to work out how the oil/insp1/insp2 servicing works. If you were to go through a full cycle (if there is such a thing), how much does the book servicing come to on average per year?

Right now I've kinda come to a figure of £350 a year average for servicing, and another £600 for odds and ends like exhausts, discs/pads, bushes etc (any consumeables I'll do myself, not paying BMW prices for stuff not in the stamp book)

Any comments or thoughts on what I've added up. Not fussed if others generally advise higher figures, as said, I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than unpleasantly surprised

Cheers

Dave

[squeezebm]

Thought most Bmw's were to lardy,slow,overated and not as good as the old uns for such a Pistonhead such as yourself ;)i do hope you have a graph to show us;)

[Mr Whippy]

I can provide you with some graphs if needed

I did some googling while my PC was rendering away.


If I assume 12k intervals and a service a year, as I drive cars fairly hard, and wear out my tyres every year too, then my breakdown looks about right...

Basically it goes about (oil)£200 yr1, (insp1)£300 yr2, (oil)£200 yr3, (insp2)£450 yr4...

So ~ £300 a year servicing on the book, which is a bit less than I guessed, but assuming worst case and I buy one due an insp2 then fair enough



Well, the Z4 isn't really that lardy, considering it got a proper engine (6 pot inline NA petrol), is right wheel drive (rear) and ~ 15 seconds to 100mph is enough for me. I just want something with a foldy roof, 2 seats, and fairly sonorous and interesting to look at... but is still reliable and cheap to run (ie, not a Tamora)

I've never thought BMW's are over-rated, I think they are great. Just not a fan of the more 'normal' ones these days, the big engined stuff that makes nice noises are still hugely appealing (if I could justify it, a 135Ci, 130i 3dr, E46 M3 or B3 S would be what I'd get, but I just want a roadster and the Z4's are cheaper overall to keep)


I have a few options on what to buy, a person I know is selling a well specced SMG 3.0 soon, so it really is a case of me trying out a manual to work out if I'll miss the clutch/gearchanging... (I think I will)

Edited by Mr Whippy on Tuesday 16th December 16:52

[squeezebm]

[MitchT]

Mr Whippy said:

... and another £600 for odds and ends like exhausts, discs/pads, bushes etc...

Exhausts, LOL! My bimmer is nearly ten years old and it's still on its original exhaust. Okay, it's a bit the worse for wear around the back end, but not showing any signs that imminent replacement will be necessary!

[Mr Whippy]

MitchT said:

Mr Whippy said:

... and another £600 for odds and ends like exhausts, discs/pads, bushes etc...

Exhausts, LOL! My bimmer is nearly ten years old and it's still on its original exhaust. Okay, it's a bit the worse for wear around the back end, but not showing any signs that imminent replacement will be necessary!

Sorry, four years of Peugeot ownership for you. A new exhaust every three years is par the course

Either way, £600-£700 a year isn't an unreasonable amount to put aside for service/consumeable items off the book I don't think, and covering the odd biggie...
And if it turns out I've over-guesstimated, quids in... ESS supercharger it is

[StuB]

Dave, Servicing should be cheaper than your budget figures, depending on mileage/use & supplying your own oil and using a good indy is my recommendation.

Ring Autologic in Hessle, Hull 01482 640640 for prices to benchmark against each service (they use OE parts unless you specify otherwise).

Tyre will be an increase in cost on what you're used to, as they're bigger and you'll want the correct speed rating and suitable quality for the car I'd have thought. If you avoid RFT's, that'll save quite a lot on that though.

No major worries with the Z4 though, other than possibly an appetite for oil between services.

What's the insurance like for a young whippersnapper like you anyway?

[Mr Whippy]

StuB said:

Dave, Servicing should be cheaper than your budget figures, depending on mileage/use & supplying your own oil and using a good indy is my recommendation.

Ring Autologic in Hessle, Hull 01482 640640 for prices to benchmark against each service (they use OE parts unless you specify otherwise).

Tyre will be an increase in cost on what you're used to, as they're bigger and you'll want the correct speed rating and suitable quality for the car I'd have thought. If you avoid RFT's, that'll save quite a lot on that though.

No major worries with the Z4 though, other than possibly an appetite for oil between services.

What's the insurance like for a young whippersnapper like you anyway?

I'm not sure what I'll do wrt servicing yet. I have a feeling now the Z4's are dipping under £10,000 for average spec, average mileage early models then a good Indie will start to make more sense.

Ah, Autologic look pretty good on price, very very good infact. Hull isn't a bad drive away either. M62 or the back roads across to Selby and then down and across...


Tyres do vary hugely in price. I'm not too sure what the outright benefit of an RFT is really since the car has a space saver tyre. Michelin PS2's start in the stratosphere, and then Falken FK452's are about half the price, and are not bad apparently. A relatively expensive exercise if I try new ones and don't like them.

Yep, they seem rather solid overall really, no serious show stoppers. I'm not sure on the SMG yet... I have the possibility of a good one at a good price, but I'll have to have a good go in both manual and SMG to decide. I doubt I'd hate the SMG, but I might feel I was missing something after a few months with it...

Insurance is great it seems. About £550-£600. It came down £100 when I put the better half on there, which makes no sense but anyway. The S2000 was over twice that, about £1400 for either me or my partner, a bit mad and I'm not a big fan of high insurance, I'd rather spend the money on petrol and tyres


My biggest thoughts on the whole matter, SMG aside, is if I want to find one with the sports seats. I've sat in both types but I need to drive in them to see which feel right. The MZ4 I sat in felt perfect, and I'm not a fan of sliding up transmission tunnels... the jury on that will be out until I can try both properly!

Edited by Mr Whippy on Tuesday 16th December 21:39

[tomTVR]

Hi Dave looks like we are in EXACTLY the same boat, i am also looking at buying an early Z4 3.0i at the end of january for the same sort of cash. I even plan to get Falken FK452's to replace the runflats even though i have yet to even drive one!

How far are you from York? http://www.atlasautoservices.co.uk/ Is where i have taken my BMW's in the past, these guys really know their stuff (even maintain a race car they sponsor) and are always very reasonable with the labour rates.

[Mr Whippy]

tomTVR said:

Hi Dave looks like we are in EXACTLY the same boat, i am also looking at buying an early Z4 3.0i at the end of january for the same sort of cash. I even plan to get Falken FK452's to replace the runflats even though i have yet to even drive one!

How far are you from York? http://www.atlasautoservices.co.uk/ Is where i have taken my BMW's in the past, these guys really know their stuff (even maintain a race car they sponsor) and are always very reasonable with the labour rates.

Hehe, small world... and some competition (and after a quick look at your Z4 thread, I was also considering VX220T/111S until Z4 3.0's came down into the £10k range and I realised ice puddles in the footwells in winter wasn't so appealing!)

The market for them seems good, but all the 3.0 manuals seem to have literally done a black hole affair around me right now, and I honestly can't be bothered driving 50 miles+ to look at cars at this time of year

Anyway, I'm just waiting until my review in the new year before I go to DEFCON1 (lots of sweet talking to the boss might see me able to up my budget to a 3.0Si Roadster hehe), then I can do some big sums and decide if I want to sell my current car to allow me more money for a Z4... but I'm tempted to go see a few traders who sell lots of these and try a few out with the sports seats (2.5Si) and an SMG, then if they are good I can leave my details and they know what I want and where to find me...

I take it you have a pre-set Autotrader search with many combo's of preferences setup in your bookmarks folder?


That garage seems pretty good, seems to be a few good indies around here... and York is a nice drive from here too!


Oh, just general question to the masses. Has anyone done a normal > sport seat conversion. Is it literally plug and play swap over with the electric memory and heating etc?

Edited by Mr Whippy on Tuesday 16th December 22:40

[tomTVR]

Mr Whippy said:

I take it you have a pre-set Autotrader search with many combo's of preferences setup in your bookmarks folder?

Oh yea

My problem is i am very picky about the colour and wheel combo. It has to be grey or silver and it has to have have either the 107 or 108 style wheels, nothing else will do!

Id also love sports seats, they seem miles better (especially if you are a slim-lad like me!) but they are like hens teeth so if i can find one then thats a bonus, i wont be holding out for them.

[Sticks2]

Mr Whippy said:

Oh, just general question to the masses. Has anyone done a normal > sport seat conversion. Is it literally plug and play swap over with the electric memory and heating etc?

Edited by Mr Whippy on Tuesday 16th December 22:40

I looked into this as I've an 04 SE 3.0 with 14k miles and about the only thing I regret is not getting the sports seats (changed the rfts for Goodyear F1 Asymmetrics btw, v good).

Anyway, to buy a pair of electric sports seats from BMW not including fitting, VAT, or fitting bits which may be needed - £5k.

If you can find a good car upholsterer he may be able to build your seat up to something similar and recover it for about £1k.

Which is prob what I'll do in the new year (cheaper than changing the car) esp as my seats are beige and v unlikely to find any at breakers.

Still, if you hear of any going begging......

[Mattt]

I hate these threads, depreciation makes me cry.

[Zeek]

Sticks2 said:

Anyway, to buy a pair of electric sports seats from BMW not including fitting, VAT, or fitting bits which may be needed - £5k.

I'll sell you my M-Sport seats for 4.5k

Keep searching for one - took me a while to find mine with nav and sports seats.

Edited by Zeek on Tuesday 16th December 23:11

[Mattt]

I might put mine up for sale soon, as I'm moving abroad and no point in keeping it in the garage.

2004 Z4 3.0i SE Roadster 44k miles
Sterling Grey
Black Oregon Leather - M Sport memory seats
Bluetooth + multi-function wheel
Star split rim 18's
SMG
Wind Deflector
Extended storage
Nav Professional
CD changer
Carver Hi-Fi
Aux-In
10k till service, decent tyres all round, and still under warranty

[tomTVR]

Mattt said:

I might put mine up for sale soon, as I'm moving abroad and no point in keeping it in the garage.

2004 Z4 3.0i SE Roadster 44k miles
Sterling Grey
Black Oregon Leather - M Sport memory seats
Bluetooth + multi-function wheel
Star split rim 18's
SMG
Wind Deflector
Extended storage
Nav Professional
CD changer
Carver Hi-Fi
Aux-In
10k till service, decent tyres all round, and still under warranty

Damn that would be perfect apart from id really prefer a manual, doh!

[Mattt]

I did too, until I tried the SMG. At first it takes some getting used to, but with Sport mode turned on, it's pretty good IMO. It also makes round town traffic very easy, although I only use the car at weekends so isn't too much of an issue personally.

[Mr Whippy]

Mattt said:

I might put mine up for sale soon, as I'm moving abroad and no point in keeping it in the garage.

2004 Z4 3.0i SE Roadster 44k miles
Sterling Grey
Black Oregon Leather - M Sport memory seats
Bluetooth + multi-function wheel
Star split rim 18's
SMG
Wind Deflector
Extended storage
Nav Professional
CD changer
Carver Hi-Fi
Aux-In
10k till service, decent tyres all round, and still under warranty

That is a nice spec car... I'd be tempted if SMG is 'for me'

Never had a paddle shifty car before, but it'd be nice to get a good one as my first one, rather than a crappy one

Dave

[Jimbeaux]

Mr Whippy said:

I can provide you with some graphs if needed

I did some googling while my PC was rendering away.


If I assume 12k intervals and a service a year, as I drive cars fairly hard, and wear out my tyres every year too, then my breakdown looks about right...

Basically it goes about (oil)£200 yr1, (insp1)£300 yr2, (oil)£200 yr3, (insp2)£450 yr4...

So ~ £300 a year servicing on the book, which is a bit less than I guessed, but assuming worst case and I buy one due an insp2 then fair enough



Well, the Z4 isn't really that lardy, considering it got a proper engine (6 pot inline NA petrol), is right wheel drive (rear) and ~ 15 seconds to 100mph is enough for me. I just want something with a foldy roof, 2 seats, and fairly sonorous and interesting to look at... but is still reliable and cheap to run (ie, not a Tamora)

I've never thought BMW's are over-rated, I think they are great. Just not a fan of the more 'normal' ones these days, the big engined stuff that makes nice noises are still hugely appealing (if I could justify it, a 135Ci, 130i 3dr, E46 M3 or B3 S would be what I'd get, but I just want a roadster and the Z4's are cheaper overall to keep)


I have a few options on what to buy, a person I know is selling a well specced SMG 3.0 soon, so it really is a case of me trying out a manual to work out if I'll miss the clutch/gearchanging... (I think I will)

Edited by Mr Whippy on Tuesday 16th December 16:52

I have a 3.0 Zed with an SMG....love it!

[Jimbeaux]

Mr Whippy said:

Mattt said:

I might put mine up for sale soon, as I'm moving abroad and no point in keeping it in the garage.

2004 Z4 3.0i SE Roadster 44k miles
Sterling Grey
Black Oregon Leather - M Sport memory seats
Bluetooth + multi-function wheel
Star split rim 18's
SMG
Wind Deflector
Extended storage
Nav Professional
CD changer
Carver Hi-Fi
Aux-In
10k till service, decent tyres all round, and still under warranty

That is a nice spec car... I'd be tempted if SMG is 'for me'

Never had a paddle shifty car before, but it'd be nice to get a good one as my first one, rather than a crappy one

Dave

If you don't like paddles, use the stick. As said above, with the sport button on, the SMG is great!

Edited by Jimbeaux on Wednesday 17th December 20:21