Z4MC v's SLK55 vs Cayman
Discussion
donutsina911 said:
Cheers - how silly are the running costs?
The MC has service costs as follows:Oil Service: £180-£230 depending on dealer / price matching
Insp 1: £600-£900 depending on dealer / price matching
Insp 2: £800-£1200 depending on dealer / price matching
And they run:
Oil
Insp 1
Oil
Insp 2
With 12k miles/12 months apart.
The costs on my Z4C are literally half.
Very much depends on what you want it for...
The porsche is very much more the drivers car (according to reviews), though I'm stil waiting for a slk55amg to be available to drive...
I'm very close to pressing the button on a new SLK55AMG to replace my boxster, and have had a cayman and a 911 (997) in the past. Due to past history with the local BMW dealer (and they run all the local dealerships) I cannot face a Z4.
Looking for more of a GT car and think the SLK fits this role better than the boxster/cayman, pound for pound it's better equipped, though suffers in terms of boot space. I'm also liking the panoramic roof. Have driven the slk350 with dynamic handling - and it's a great 7/10ths car didnt get much chance to go beyond that though it was handling the country roads well...
Simes.
The porsche is very much more the drivers car (according to reviews), though I'm stil waiting for a slk55amg to be available to drive...
I'm very close to pressing the button on a new SLK55AMG to replace my boxster, and have had a cayman and a 911 (997) in the past. Due to past history with the local BMW dealer (and they run all the local dealerships) I cannot face a Z4.
Looking for more of a GT car and think the SLK fits this role better than the boxster/cayman, pound for pound it's better equipped, though suffers in terms of boot space. I'm also liking the panoramic roof. Have driven the slk350 with dynamic handling - and it's a great 7/10ths car didnt get much chance to go beyond that though it was handling the country roads well...
Simes.
GroundEffect said:
The MC has service costs as follows:
Oil Service: £180-£230 depending on dealer / price matching
Insp 1: £600-£900 depending on dealer / price matching
Insp 2: £800-£1200 depending on dealer / price matching
And they run:
Oil
Insp 1
Oil
Insp 2
With 12k miles/12 months apart.
The costs on my Z4C are literally half.
Not true. Oil Service: £180-£230 depending on dealer / price matching
Insp 1: £600-£900 depending on dealer / price matching
Insp 2: £800-£1200 depending on dealer / price matching
And they run:
Oil
Insp 1
Oil
Insp 2
With 12k miles/12 months apart.
The costs on my Z4C are literally half.
They use condition based serviceing, which for most people works out at between 15k-17k between services. You don't need a service every year if you do fewer miles than that (i do about 15k/year in mine so it does work out roughly annually). The only time-based service item is brake fluid which is every 24 months.
I've have mine nearly 2 years, 22k miles, and it's cost me about £280 in service costs (oil service plus brake fluid). All done at BMW dealer.
Inspection 2 coming up though .. mine is over 4 year old now so this will be 15% off (4+ scheme)
pilchardthecat said:
The only time-based service item is brake fluid which is every 24 months.
Although you're also supposed to have at a minimum an oil service every 24 months - but that may simply be for warranty/goodwill purposes.I also do a interim DIY oil service (oil, oil filter, air filter) at about 7k miles for peace of mind, and a brake fluid change every 12 months at a minimum. For the £100 cost for doing them both myself it's a no-brainer.
I do 20k a year and follow the OBC schedule - which works out about 14k miles between services for me (combination of motorway, 'Ring trips, weekend hoons and city centre driving). Averaging over 25mpg since I bought it, and getting over 30mpg on my Liverpool to London commutes.
Edited by mmm-five on Monday 27th February 14:42
what do you want to know?
running costs get talked up on the z4mc due to the road tax bieng £460 per year, but be realistic it's only a couple of tanks of fuel extra every 12 months.
servicing is linked to fuel economy, drive it like your nana 7 it'll take less servicing but do lots of short journeys or track work it'll soon come down.
that said there are many, many specialists who will charge you hundreds of pounds less than a main agent for the inspectionII that's the biggie (transmission fluids changed as well as everything else).
mine is getting on for 6 years old now (2006my) & done 25.5k miles, it's had:
running in service (imperative)
oil service £250
inspection I £850
oil service but with brakes done £1200
inspection II £1100.
add in some tyres & it's really not expensive for the calibre of car over 5-6 years
never driven a slk55 but have extensive porsche experience. cayman is better balanced & will keep up in the twisties but even an S will be utterly monstered by the Z4MC's power.
great build quality, meaty controls & no horror stories about IMS seals, scored bores, cylinder ovalling or d-chunk failures like the cayman S.
that it's five grand cheaper is something i couldn't ignore, regardless of the fact my last two cars were air cooled 911's.
the caymen is better balanced for sure, but the big engined Z just makjes up for it in sheer character & performance.
did a full day at oulton park last week & was among the quickest cars there, in fact, given a set of cups or 888's & a good geo it would have been the quickest of the none out & out track/race cars. brakes could be improved but i was on standard bmw pads, i thought i'd come away wanting an upgrade but sticking to 6 lap stints it was fine
anything else you want to know just ask
running costs get talked up on the z4mc due to the road tax bieng £460 per year, but be realistic it's only a couple of tanks of fuel extra every 12 months.
servicing is linked to fuel economy, drive it like your nana 7 it'll take less servicing but do lots of short journeys or track work it'll soon come down.
that said there are many, many specialists who will charge you hundreds of pounds less than a main agent for the inspectionII that's the biggie (transmission fluids changed as well as everything else).
mine is getting on for 6 years old now (2006my) & done 25.5k miles, it's had:
running in service (imperative)
oil service £250
inspection I £850
oil service but with brakes done £1200
inspection II £1100.
add in some tyres & it's really not expensive for the calibre of car over 5-6 years
never driven a slk55 but have extensive porsche experience. cayman is better balanced & will keep up in the twisties but even an S will be utterly monstered by the Z4MC's power.
great build quality, meaty controls & no horror stories about IMS seals, scored bores, cylinder ovalling or d-chunk failures like the cayman S.
that it's five grand cheaper is something i couldn't ignore, regardless of the fact my last two cars were air cooled 911's.
the caymen is better balanced for sure, but the big engined Z just makjes up for it in sheer character & performance.
did a full day at oulton park last week & was among the quickest cars there, in fact, given a set of cups or 888's & a good geo it would have been the quickest of the none out & out track/race cars. brakes could be improved but i was on standard bmw pads, i thought i'd come away wanting an upgrade but sticking to 6 lap stints it was fine
anything else you want to know just ask
cragswinter said:
that it's five grand cheaper is something i couldn't ignore, regardless of the fact my last two cars were air cooled 911's.
the caymen is better balanced for sure, but the big engined Z just makjes up for it in sheer character & performance.
:
Really appreciate that - exactly the kind of info I was looking for. I'd be looking at a boggo Cayman for my budget so price per smiles seems unbeatable in the Z4MC the caymen is better balanced for sure, but the big engined Z just makjes up for it in sheer character & performance.
:
cragswinter said:
did a full day at oulton park last week & was among the quickest cars there, in fact, given a set of cups or 888's & a good geo it would have been the quickest of the none out & out track/race cars. brakes could be improved but i was on standard bmw pads, i thought i'd come away wanting an upgrade but sticking to 6 lap stints it was fine
The downhill braking from over 100mph into Knickerbrook is a killer, but you can carry more speed through there than you initially think - which is useful in dragging yourself up Clay Hill.Once you've got your confidence up (and the weather's on your side), it's amazing how little heavy braking you have to do at Oulton.
No need for Cups or R888s, or any other 'track' tyre, just put on Pilot SuperSports and you'll think you're a driving god, as they're as good on track as they are on the road.
Edited by mmm-five on Monday 27th February 14:48
mmm-five said:
cragswinter said:
did a full day at oulton park last week & was among the quickest cars there, in fact, given a set of cups or 888's & a good geo it would have been the quickest of the none out & out track/race cars. brakes could be improved but i was on standard bmw pads, i thought i'd come away wanting an upgrade but sticking to 6 lap stints it was fine
The downhill braking from over 100mph into Knickerbrook is a killer, but you can carry more speed through there than you initially think - which is useful in dragging yourself up Clay Hill.Once you've got your confidence up (and the weather's on your side), it's amazing how little heavy braking you have to do at Oulton.
without going off-topic too much i also found it hated the bumpy entrance into the first corner after the main straight, in the wet i was keeping the traction control on but knocking it off for that corner, it just tied itself in knots. i'm guessing the back end was going light & tricking the computer into triggering the abs but apart from that it really was the only problem all day.
nurburgring & spa at the end of march/beginning of april so can't wait to see what it's like there :drivin:
The Z4M coupe is much rarer (only 625 or so sold in the UK I think) than the roadster, stiffer and to my mind better looking... And better looking than the Cayman and SLK as well.
The original reviews which pitted it against the Cayman all came out in favour of the Porsche as a package due to the superior handling but a lot of that was down to the woeful OEM Continental tyres that the Z4MC was supplied with which were outdated at the time of the reviews... mine is wearing Michelin Pilot SuperSports and feels very planted and superior in every way to the OEM tyres. I'm not saying it would now out handle the Cayman but the gap certainly won't be as great as at launch and the engine is simply fantastic.
The original reviews which pitted it against the Cayman all came out in favour of the Porsche as a package due to the superior handling but a lot of that was down to the woeful OEM Continental tyres that the Z4MC was supplied with which were outdated at the time of the reviews... mine is wearing Michelin Pilot SuperSports and feels very planted and superior in every way to the OEM tyres. I'm not saying it would now out handle the Cayman but the gap certainly won't be as great as at launch and the engine is simply fantastic.
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