Need to know about Z3's

[Battersea]

Have been looking to get a 'toy' for a while and am thinking about a Z3, hoping to get some unbiased information that would be much appreciated.

Top of the list at the moment is a 2.2 or 3.0ltr Automatic, April 2001 or earlier to keep tax to a minimum (i.e up to 'X'). It would only be doing about 3k a year and used on days when its practical to have the hood down. I know that can be infrequent in Britain but I am retired so don't have to wait for dry weekends.

Thanks

[BMWBen]

I certainly enjoyed mine - good little car, was let down by the fact that mine had a noisy drivetrain that always caused concern. Quiet with the roof up, not too windy with it down if you've got the wind deflector. Decent fun, driving position over rear wheels.

[DaveR]

My only experience with a Z3 was on Rob Gravett's Ultimate Car Control course where he used a manual 2.2i Z3 as his tuition car.

I thought it was a nice neutral, neatly balanced little thing and I could see why Rob used it for teaching purposes.

[texasjohn]

Battersea, I have a 3.0i Steptronic (2001) with 43500 miles for sale, link to the advert is in my profile. It is in A1 condition and just MoT'd today, it flew through.

Click on the 'texasjohn' name next to this post then you will see the weblink.

I am negotiable on the price. That will help on the tax front and I guarantee you will not find a nicer example outside of the AUC network, the car is pictured below:



If you decide it is not for you then no problem, and good luck in your search for the right car!

Edited by texasjohn on Thursday 9th July 22:36

[MrsNemo]

I am also thinking about getting a Z3, need a bit more info though. Like what the running costs are etc? I will be keeping the Service Hist up to date. Anything particular to look out for? Problems that occur frequently? I was looking at the 2.8.

[BMWBen]

get yourself over to www.zroadster.net.

All the info is there

[texasjohn]

MrsNemo said:

I am also thinking about getting a Z3, need a bit more info though. Like what the running costs are etc? I will be keeping the Service Hist up to date. Anything particular to look out for? Problems that occur frequently? I was looking at the 2.8.

You don't really need to use BMW dealership for a car of this age but I would suggest that a good independent technician is employed for servicing.

The inline 6 engines are very reliable and doing little work to pull around a car of this size. The engines have camchains so you do not have to worry about a cambelts. As Ben says, zroadster.net is a great site with a wealth of information and a very friendly crowd.

I think there is a detailed 'what to look for' thread over there too.

[Battersea]

texasjohn said:

Battersea, I have a 3.0i Steptronic (2001) with 43500 miles for sale

I saw your ad previously and thought how good it looked. If I decide to go with a Z, I will certainly consider it.

To put you in the picture, I made a short list of five cars to gather information on. Three were discounted fairly quickly leaving the Z3 and a Boxster.

At this point I am trying to gather as much information as possible before deciding. As yet I haven't looked for a Z to actually check things out but have looked at a couple of Boxster's, also have to drive both and see how the wife gets on with them as well.

So as you will gather this process is still going on but I do hope to get something sorted soon as the summer is getting shorter.

[texasjohn]

No problem at all, if you have any specific questions about Z3s generally (not necessarily my car) then I will answer them as best I can.

I have never owned a Boxster and of course I am biased but at this sort of price point I would say that the BMW is a safer bet in terms of reliability, however this is only my opinion based on the research I carried out. Your own research may or may not lead you to the same conclusion.

What I will say however is that the Boxster is a lovely car to drive and handles like a dream. I have been close to buying one on a couple of occasions myself but decided to stick with cars I am more familiar with and those I perceive as less likely to be costly if anything were to go wrong. I have had two Z3 3.0i (both automatics), a Z4 3.0i and two Honda S2000s in terms of two seater sports cars so I am not speaking from my own experience of owning a Boxster of course, just what I have read on the internet.

I wouldn't want you to be swayed by my opinion however and you need to decide which car is right for you.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy the car purchasing process, test drives etc!

I have decided to move to a 5.5 V8 :shock: Mercedes SLK, hence the reason I am putting my car up for sale, although I have not driven one yet I am viewing a couple of cars local to me tomorrow. I would imagine I will fall in love as soon as I drive it!

[Battersea]

Thanks for the offer of advice, very good of you.

My budget is £11k tops and it has now become clear that for the same year I wouldn't need to go to that for a Z3, your car is a prime example of whats available. To get a Boxster within my budget is not going to be easy particularly in Devon where the choices for either cars seems to be pretty limited. I looked at a Boxster 'S' on Monday, bang on budget, which on the face of it seemed about right, 67k with a full 'on schedule' SH at the main dealers in Exeter. But there was something about it that made me feel uneasy, you know the thing; cant quite put your finger on it; but !!!! Luckily there is a really good Porsche indi in Barnstaple and I gave him a call. He knew the car and had actually done an inspection on it a few weeks ago, it was a minger so back to square one.

The S2000 was on the list but got excluded as no automatic option. Plus I thought I was a bit long in the tooth for an engine that 'likes' to be revved to 8k+ !!!

Going to make a concerted effort to find an example of both cars, even if not the right model, to answer the questions about seating positions, visibility etc. This is the one problem my wife may have with the 'Z' as she is of small build and has had problems in the past with being 'comfortable' driving large cars. She has always managed it but is getting more 'fussy' as she gets older, bless her heart, lol.

Good luck with the SLK, 5.5 V8, you sure thats big enough, lol.

[Battersea]

After much searching and deliberating I have decided to get a 'Z' and have found one not too far from me. Was going to give texasjohn a call but noticed that his blinder has gone, shame, I think that one would have done nicely.

One found is from a Trader, 2002 3.0 Sport Auto with 62k, full service history, pretty good spec with all the accentual's for 8k. Comes with full PDI, new MOT and 1yr parts and labour warranty. I will be negotiating of course, thinking to start at 7k, how does that sound? would appreciate anyones views.

Its got standard 'Sports' wheels which I think would be 18", can anyone confirm that please? If I buy it and they are 18's, I may want to do a swap for some standard 17" wheels. Is a swap a likely possibility or should I allow for forking out for new 17's?

[texasjohn]

Good luck, it sounds like a great car. I think to drop £1000 might be too much but you don't know unless you ask.

You are right, I did sell the Z3...within 24 hours of putting it on eBay. I have taken a deposit and we are waiting for the funds to clear.

I will be sad to see it go really, but I have found an SLK that I like and will be looking forward to that.

Join zroadster.net now then! Hope to see you over there.

Edit: The wheels are 17" I believe. The ride is not very hard on these cars / wheels (IMHO)

Edited by texasjohn on Monday 13th July 22:10

[aarondrs]

I had a Z3 3.0 manual and absolutley loved it. It was a Y reg, silver, blue leather and aluminium trim. I know the Z3 gets bad press but I can only say from my own experience that I loved it.

Good luck

[AB]

Ive driven the 2.2 and the 3.0 and the 3.0 is so much better. I'm told the 3.0 is really the only one worth having and that it is much better than the 2.8 - true or not? Who knows.

However, my initial thought was that £8k nearly gets you into a Z4?

[Battersea]

AB said:

However, my initial thought was that £8k nearly gets you into a Z4?

Without looking too deeply the Z4's seem to be fetching £2-3k more unless you go for much higher mileage cars. But in any case I prefer the Z3, irrational as that may seem.

It was the first practical 'Z', they have lost most of the major depreciation and will gain 'classic' status sooner. Also, I actually prefer the looks. Just as important is that the first thing the wife said on first viewing was 'em, thats a nice looking car', a rare statement from one that thinks cars are four wheeled boxes that all look the same. lol

[Battersea]

texasjohn said:

Good luck, it sounds like a great car. I think to drop £1000 might be too much but you don't know unless you ask.

Join zroadster.net now then! Hope to see you over there.

Edit: The wheels are 17" I believe. The ride is not very hard on these cars / wheels (IMHO)

I agree, £1000 is likely too much and would be happy with £500.

I have already joined, just waiting for the email confirming access.

The ride was what I was concerned about but as they are 17" and not 18" I'm sure it will be fine.

How long before you get the SLK?

Edited by texasjohn on Monday 13th July 22:10

[christer]

Battersea said:

will gain 'classic' status sooner.

Tbh, no. I looked at a load recently before I purchased an SLK230K for my GF. The 1999 2.8 Z3's in good condition are already fetching only £4K or less in some cases. The Z4 is a far superior car from what I hear - although ofc its your money and your taste - so I am not going to bang on about it (Althought you may consider a 2000 car for half what yuo are intending to pay there).

No classic status for Z3's or 4's IMHO.

[Battersea]

christer said:

No classic status for Z3's or 4's IMHO.

I didn't mean 'classic' in its purest sense and so probably used the wrong word entirely.

I take it from your comments you expect all 'Z's to finally end up as £50 scrapers?

If that were to be the case it wouldn't really bother me, this is a toy and I intend to keep it until it no longer pleases. Hopefully that will be a good number of years away and by then, no matter what its final value, it would have given me a lot of enjoyment.

[texasjohn]

Battersea said:

How long before you get the SLK?

Hopefully it should only be a week or so, I am aiming for next Wednesday

[christer]

Battersea said:

I take it from your comments you expect all 'Z's to finally end up as £50 scrapers?

I don't think we need to take everything to extremes. IMHO, the Z3 and Z4 will not reach classic status - i.e. (by my definition) that their values will stabilise and then increase over time. On the other hand, it is not necessarily the case that they will all be "£50 scrapers" (although I am sure some already are). I just wanted to point out that you could pay £8K for a 2002 3 litre, or you could pay £4K for a 2.8 2000 (from what I have seen). Individual cars command more money than others ofc, and you have to compare apples with at least another type of fruit () - but it was just a comment to highlight the relative values so that you can make the most informed decision possible. Especially in light of your comment on residual values. I assumed that you made the comment because it held some importance for you - but now you have clarified that the residuals are totally unimportant then I apologise for the detour - although I would claim that you took us there

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.