RE: BMW Z3 3.0i: Spotted

[thecremeegg]

Just get a Z4 instead - cheaper and probably better to drive!

[petemurphy]

helix402 said:

The original 1.9 had an lsd as standard. If you’re tall you won’t fit well in a Z3.

really? i'm 6,2 and had 2 of them and never had an issue.

no doubt people will slate them but I absolutely loved them - so practical and good value. loved the way the back end would come out at the corner - always brought a smile to my face and i had an s2 elise and that was boring in the real world in comparison. great you could just reach back and stick up the roof with one hand. loved my z3's!

[J4CKO]

Think we will look back and marvel at how cheap stuff like this was, could get a 1.9 for a few hundred quid, maybe still can but they arent a bad motor all said and done, doesnt seem like a lot of money these days.

[helix402]

petemurphy said:

really? i'm 6,2 and had 2 of them and never had an issue.

!

I’m a few inches taller so that must explain the different experience!

[Renn Sport]

derin100 said:

daveco said:

cerb4.5lee said:

daveco said:

Drove a 1.9 version of these, at 1150kg they move along nicely even with little horsepower.

I remember having some fun in my Z4M with a 2.2(I think) Z4, and while I was trying to get the power down off a roundabout the 2.2 Z4 just sailed off into the distance. I remember thinking from that day on that sometimes less is actually more.

Very good point. I owned a 318ci before moving onto the 325/330 models and I had a very distinct memory of how little inertia or body roll there was in tight corners when driving the 318. A late model with the 2.0 litre 140hp engine 318 would be a match on a technical track against a 330 imo.

I had a similar experience years ago, in my E30 M3 being chased by my friend in his E30 318is. I just couldn't lose him!

I know my old 320ci with the 2.2 engine was a sweet running and super tractable unit. I even drove it around Spa last year.

Sometimes less is very much more indeed.

[Greg the Fish]

Ugly little runt isn't it.

[J4CKO]

Greg the Fish said:

Ugly little runt isn't it.

"I think he can hear you Ray...."

[youngsod]

J4CKO said:

Greg the Fish said:

Ugly little runt isn't it.

"I think he can hear you Ray...."

Bravo sir, bravo!

[Greg the Fish]

J4CKO said:

"I think he can hear you Ray...."

Not quite a 'bravo sir' because it was ".....an ugly little spud"

But not a bad shout

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/537826dd-1bb5-4b53-81...

[petemurphy]

helix402 said:

I’m a few inches taller so that must explain the different experience!

keep the top down

[lee_erm]

These were less structurally rigid than the MK1 MX5 amazingly. Right old puddings.

[ChezzaV8]

I have a Z3M and I love it. Admittedly I've had to do a fair amount of work to get it how I want it (new shocks, springs, poly bushes, top mounts, ARBs, drop links, strut brace) but now it handles like a go kart and the engine is sublime, especially at the 8500rpm red line!

[slipstream 1985]

I have a 2.8 widebody.

it is a great cruiser power wherever you want it and a nice kick higher up the rev range. Handling is very "boaty" but suits the car. Treat it like an american muscle car and you'll be fine.

[mrbarnett]

cerb4.5lee said:

I wasn't really that keen on these when they were first around, I quite liked the 6 cylinder ones for the engines though. Whereas now I find them strangely appealing.

I feel the same way. There's a chap parks one at my local station everyday and I suddenly realised one day how much better proportioned it is compared to other cars. My girlfriend calls it the "little BMW", yet it makes a lovely bellow when fired up from cold (I personally think a far better noise than the M4 that parks there). It's only the 2.2 i6, but those cute exterior dimensions combined with the excess of cylinders and modest power feels like something from 40 years ago, rather than 20. It's lovely.

[Trevor555]

There'll always be one in my garage.



I also wasn't keen on them when they were launched. Too retro I thought at the time.

I get some nice comments from people at petrol stations.

[WJNB]

The sit-up-&-beg driving position annoyed me also & at the time it was derided as a two-seater 3 Series.
Agree that most MX-5's get messed with by youths.
Then the follow up Z4 was just dam ugly.

[832ark]

ChezzaV8 said:

especially at the 8500rpm red line!

8000rpm red line

[jbaddeley]

Renn Sport said:

Ryvita said:

I was always of the opinion / had been told, that the 2.2 M Sport was the one to have? I believe it also has the LSD and the suspension tweaks? 170BHP, so slower, but also somewhat lighter and less weight over the front wheels improving the balance?

Certainly, prices seem to be independent of engine (even down to the 1.9s... Some silly priced dealer examples): https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Edited by Ryvita on Thursday 9th May 08:26

Really they came with a LSD? ... not the larger engined cars?

That's interesting.

I didn't think they came with an lsd. I understood the widebody 2.8s did but didn't think the 3.0 did. Anyone know what diff case size it is?

[soad]

Looks tempting. Even comes with a hard top which is always a bonus.

[rizzrazz]

I have one in a 2.0 M52 guise, and although I've always had my eye on 3.0 M54s, I can only reiterate what others have posted - sometimes too much power is wasted, especially on street driving - bar the blast down a slip road on the motorway etc, you never really push a bigger engine at all. With my 2.0, she sounds amazing, I can drive her to her (near enough) limits on B Road blasts, keeping the revs up and still bags of fun.

Also I have a nice gruppe M replica carbon airbox, which gives a gorgeous induction growl!

Oh and it has an LSD. To my knowledge, all the face-lift 6 pots (2.0,2.2 and 2.8/3.0) had LSDs in the sport spec guise.