Z4M Coupe owners please chime in
Discussion
I started a general car buying thread with a 35k budget looking for a sporty weekend car that would hold value and possibly creep up. Was thinking supercharged Exige or similar.
I love the shape of the Z4m coupes and they seem to have a following.
So can you give me any pointers please namely
Servicing costs ( minor/major)
Any issues such as cracked subframe on these?
Any known major faults (vanos?)
Any other things to watch for. It would be a 3k miles pa weekend toy. Current car is a 993S Carrera.
Cheers
I love the shape of the Z4m coupes and they seem to have a following.
So can you give me any pointers please namely
Servicing costs ( minor/major)
Any issues such as cracked subframe on these?
Any known major faults (vanos?)
Any other things to watch for. It would be a 3k miles pa weekend toy. Current car is a 993S Carrera.
Cheers
I cannot comment as a Z4M owner but as an M3 owner there are a few similarities.
Engine
The servicing schedule goes as follows:
-Oil service every 2 years or 15,000 miles. ; I do an interim oil change every year.
-Inspection I every 30,000 miles or every 4 years.
-Oil Service between this and and Inspection II. Oil service is again every 15,000 miles or 3 years.
-Inspection II every 4 years or 30,000 miles.
On a car that did 60,000 miles the servicing would be as follows if it were put on a timeline of mileage and age.
Oil Service>>>>>>>>Inspection I>>>>>>>>>>Oil Service>>>>>>>>>>Inspection II
Yr2/15000 miles>>>>Yr4/30,000miles>>>>>>>Yr6/45,000miles>>>>>>Yr8/60,000 miles.
Hopefully that makes sense!
On top of that the coolant needs changing every 3 years and the brake fluid every 2 years, not much different to many cars out there.
For the services done correctly by a specialist (quite a few don't do them correctly due to the valve clearances being fiddly and awkward to do) the costs are as follows
Good Specialists/BMW
Oil Service = £160ish/230
Inspection I = £500/715
Inspection II= £700/915 ; BMW recently did put this up to £1.5k but have dropped the price again it seems.
While the costs are not cheap they are not too horrific IMO.
What can be expensive are other parts including:
Brakes : Around £800 all round for pads, discs and sensors
Tyres : Around £140-170 a corner depending on brand.
Some M parts can be pricey but quite a bit is Z4 based as well.
VANOS can go, with the seals tending to go first at the solenoid packs and on the VANOS units. The cam sprocket bolts can also come undone as can the oil pump drive tabs shear off. A friend of mine who is a BMW technician has said in his opinion the VANOS is generally OK on the S54 from what he has seen.
Head gaskets can also fail but again it is something to look out for rather than worrying about IMO. As long as you have a bit of a slush fund you should be OK. Like with many cars almost all have some form of issues once you start your research as you probably know being a 993S owner!
AFAIK I think the Z4s have a strengthened rear boot floor, but they are not immune.
There is a thread below about buying an M3 of which the relevant parts will be handy for you to read. But I'll wait for the others to chime in here about the Z4 experience. IIRC Polarbert and Beedub own a Z4M.
Engine
The servicing schedule goes as follows:
-Oil service every 2 years or 15,000 miles. ; I do an interim oil change every year.
-Inspection I every 30,000 miles or every 4 years.
-Oil Service between this and and Inspection II. Oil service is again every 15,000 miles or 3 years.
-Inspection II every 4 years or 30,000 miles.
On a car that did 60,000 miles the servicing would be as follows if it were put on a timeline of mileage and age.
Oil Service>>>>>>>>Inspection I>>>>>>>>>>Oil Service>>>>>>>>>>Inspection II
Yr2/15000 miles>>>>Yr4/30,000miles>>>>>>>Yr6/45,000miles>>>>>>Yr8/60,000 miles.
Hopefully that makes sense!
On top of that the coolant needs changing every 3 years and the brake fluid every 2 years, not much different to many cars out there.
For the services done correctly by a specialist (quite a few don't do them correctly due to the valve clearances being fiddly and awkward to do) the costs are as follows
Good Specialists/BMW
Oil Service = £160ish/230
Inspection I = £500/715
Inspection II= £700/915 ; BMW recently did put this up to £1.5k but have dropped the price again it seems.
While the costs are not cheap they are not too horrific IMO.
What can be expensive are other parts including:
Brakes : Around £800 all round for pads, discs and sensors
Tyres : Around £140-170 a corner depending on brand.
Some M parts can be pricey but quite a bit is Z4 based as well.
VANOS can go, with the seals tending to go first at the solenoid packs and on the VANOS units. The cam sprocket bolts can also come undone as can the oil pump drive tabs shear off. A friend of mine who is a BMW technician has said in his opinion the VANOS is generally OK on the S54 from what he has seen.
Head gaskets can also fail but again it is something to look out for rather than worrying about IMO. As long as you have a bit of a slush fund you should be OK. Like with many cars almost all have some form of issues once you start your research as you probably know being a 993S owner!
AFAIK I think the Z4s have a strengthened rear boot floor, but they are not immune.
There is a thread below about buying an M3 of which the relevant parts will be handy for you to read. But I'll wait for the others to chime in here about the Z4 experience. IIRC Polarbert and Beedub own a Z4M.
I'd say check the z4-forum as it is a massive resource for prospective owners. Start there. Basically a very reliable sports car for not much cash. All I've done this year is an oil service and tyres. I have never heard of a boot floor issue with the z4m so you have the usual s54 concerns - very well documented elsewhere. Not sure I could buy one and only do 3k miles a year though, they are very easy to get on with!
I've owned mine for about 18 months now and think it is the best all round car I've owned. In that time I've taken part in 10 or 11 trackdays including a couple at Spa and the 'ring. The only fault was a throttle position sensor that took a couple of minutes and not much money to replace.
It's been an easy car to work on, I'm a bit obsessive when it comes to oil changes, so I've changed this every two trackdays and will be carrying out the inspection service myself at Christmas.
Brakes are quite pricey, although I'm running an AP set up all round now.
Standard coil springs are known for cracking, making it a good excuse to upgrade to Eibachs.
As mentioned above, get over to the Z4 forum, a friendly bunch. If you buy one it's worth having the CSL style 'M Track' software added which gives a half way house between DSC on and off.
Worth reading the PH guide, a good number of us helped out with contributions http://www.pistonheads.com/features/ph-buying-guid...
A recent thread gives links to some reviews for further reading: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&am...
Regards, Dave
It's been an easy car to work on, I'm a bit obsessive when it comes to oil changes, so I've changed this every two trackdays and will be carrying out the inspection service myself at Christmas.
Brakes are quite pricey, although I'm running an AP set up all round now.
Standard coil springs are known for cracking, making it a good excuse to upgrade to Eibachs.
As mentioned above, get over to the Z4 forum, a friendly bunch. If you buy one it's worth having the CSL style 'M Track' software added which gives a half way house between DSC on and off.
Worth reading the PH guide, a good number of us helped out with contributions http://www.pistonheads.com/features/ph-buying-guid...
A recent thread gives links to some reviews for further reading: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&am...
Regards, Dave
Z4MR but the're much the same
Total Cashflow
2,309 Purchased Stratstone Chesterfield
Key's programmed and Bluetooth code retrieved Woodmans -£58.52
Aux Kit Accessory -£40.00
Cup holder - O/S Accessory -£24.00
Nokia 6021 Cradle Accessory -£53.96
Nokia 6021 Cradle - expenses Accessory £53.96
9,555 Replace Exhaust Sensor Woodmans Warranty
9,555 Routine Maintenance Check Woodmans -£38.07
11,407 Oil Service Woodmans -£169.33
12,144 Brake Fluid Replacement Batemans -£48.00
14,012 Replace Exhaust Sensor Woodmans Warranty
15,579 Replace Rear Tyres eTyres -£400.00
19,687 Sat-Nav Inoperative Halliwell Jones Warranty
24,157 Inspection I Batemans -£640.00
24,157 MoT Batemans -£54.00
24,694 Replace Exhaust Sensor Batemans Warranty
33,666 MoT Batemans -£27.42
33,666 Brake Fluid Replacement Batemans -£59.40
33,666 Gearbox Oil Batemans -£73.60
33,666 Diff Oil Batemans -£78.97
33,666 Tyre sealant Batemans -£29.53
36,960 Oil Service Batemans -£148.07
37,031 Replace All Tyres eTyres -£799.22
40,000 Replace Battery Varta e39 AGM -£122.96
41,275 MoT Batemans -£27.42
46,381 Replace Suspension Springs Batemans -£83.33
46,381 Replace Exhaust Sensor Batemans -£83.33
46,381 Replace Handbrake Ratchet Batemans -£83.33
47,247 Replace Exhaust Camshaft Sensor Lloyds Blackpool -£174.00
49,153 P130A Camshaft Position Sensor 'B' Segment Timing Error (Bank 1) Reset
49,322 P0365 Camshaft Position Sensor 'B' (Bank 1) Reset
49,733 Brake Fluid Replacement Batemans
49,733 Gearbox Oil Batemans
49,733 Diff Oil Batemans
49,733 Inspection II Batemans -£561.26
P0365 Camshaft Position Sensor 'B' (Bank 1) Batemans
MoT Townsends -£38.00
56,506 P2415 B2 S1 O2 Sample Error Reset
56,648 P2415 B2 S1 O2 Sample Error Reset
58,170 P2415 B2 S1 O2 Sample Error Reset
58,373 Replace Exhaust Sensor Batemans
58,373 Replace boot brake light Batemans -£400.00
61,486 Replace Suspension Springs Bowker -£367.49
61,486 Brake Fluid Replacement Bowker -£62.02
61,486 Replace alternator belt Bowker -£86.63
Puncture - OSR Townsends -£11.00
62,341 Oil Service Batemans -£196.10
Total Cashflow
2,309 Purchased Stratstone Chesterfield
Key's programmed and Bluetooth code retrieved Woodmans -£58.52
Aux Kit Accessory -£40.00
Cup holder - O/S Accessory -£24.00
Nokia 6021 Cradle Accessory -£53.96
Nokia 6021 Cradle - expenses Accessory £53.96
9,555 Replace Exhaust Sensor Woodmans Warranty
9,555 Routine Maintenance Check Woodmans -£38.07
11,407 Oil Service Woodmans -£169.33
12,144 Brake Fluid Replacement Batemans -£48.00
14,012 Replace Exhaust Sensor Woodmans Warranty
15,579 Replace Rear Tyres eTyres -£400.00
19,687 Sat-Nav Inoperative Halliwell Jones Warranty
24,157 Inspection I Batemans -£640.00
24,157 MoT Batemans -£54.00
24,694 Replace Exhaust Sensor Batemans Warranty
33,666 MoT Batemans -£27.42
33,666 Brake Fluid Replacement Batemans -£59.40
33,666 Gearbox Oil Batemans -£73.60
33,666 Diff Oil Batemans -£78.97
33,666 Tyre sealant Batemans -£29.53
36,960 Oil Service Batemans -£148.07
37,031 Replace All Tyres eTyres -£799.22
40,000 Replace Battery Varta e39 AGM -£122.96
41,275 MoT Batemans -£27.42
46,381 Replace Suspension Springs Batemans -£83.33
46,381 Replace Exhaust Sensor Batemans -£83.33
46,381 Replace Handbrake Ratchet Batemans -£83.33
47,247 Replace Exhaust Camshaft Sensor Lloyds Blackpool -£174.00
49,153 P130A Camshaft Position Sensor 'B' Segment Timing Error (Bank 1) Reset
49,322 P0365 Camshaft Position Sensor 'B' (Bank 1) Reset
49,733 Brake Fluid Replacement Batemans
49,733 Gearbox Oil Batemans
49,733 Diff Oil Batemans
49,733 Inspection II Batemans -£561.26
P0365 Camshaft Position Sensor 'B' (Bank 1) Batemans
MoT Townsends -£38.00
56,506 P2415 B2 S1 O2 Sample Error Reset
56,648 P2415 B2 S1 O2 Sample Error Reset
58,170 P2415 B2 S1 O2 Sample Error Reset
58,373 Replace Exhaust Sensor Batemans
58,373 Replace boot brake light Batemans -£400.00
61,486 Replace Suspension Springs Bowker -£367.49
61,486 Brake Fluid Replacement Bowker -£62.02
61,486 Replace alternator belt Bowker -£86.63
Puncture - OSR Townsends -£11.00
62,341 Oil Service Batemans -£196.10
Edited by ian in lancs on Monday 28th November 19:43
Reliable cars considering the 'ample' performance.
Any 'common' faults are still fairly rare
The main things you will see a few times if you google enough are:
Broken springs.
exhaust clamps.
Water in headlights.
The odd sensor.
Stone chips on the front bumper.
People removing the clutch delay valve to improve gear changes, especially 1-2
Rod bearings (although this seems to be very rare and on unusual use profiles- track day cars, etc)
You can pay from 12k for a cat d or something with six figure mileage. Through 15-18 for average mileage( for this type of car 50-80k ) with a full dealer/Specialist Indy history.
Then if you want to use it rarely or store one, then you can pay anywhere between 20-50k for a super shiny one with low miles.
Any 'common' faults are still fairly rare
The main things you will see a few times if you google enough are:
Broken springs.
exhaust clamps.
Water in headlights.
The odd sensor.
Stone chips on the front bumper.
People removing the clutch delay valve to improve gear changes, especially 1-2
Rod bearings (although this seems to be very rare and on unusual use profiles- track day cars, etc)
You can pay from 12k for a cat d or something with six figure mileage. Through 15-18 for average mileage( for this type of car 50-80k ) with a full dealer/Specialist Indy history.
Then if you want to use it rarely or store one, then you can pay anywhere between 20-50k for a super shiny one with low miles.
Gruber said:
The Z4M is a good car, but I wouldn't sell a 993 to own one.
If it goes the 993 is going for the financial benefits unfortunately as it's now got to the point I darent trackday it or put too many miles on it as the values have gone crazy recently.I love the car but I also want to try some other performance cars hence looking around. I've a budget in mind of upto 35k for something fast and holding its value that looks nice too and is a drivers car.
I've had a Z4M for 3 years and it's been faultless. It's angry, characterful and a complete blast. I used to run a 996 alongside it but flogged it as it was too anodyne in comparison. I have an M140i with similar power to the Z but the Z makes the 140 feel pretty vanilla. Values for Z4Ms in Germany and in the rest of Europe are at least double what they are here so it's a good time to but as prices are likely to rise more
200Plus Club said:
Gruber said:
The Z4M is a good car, but I wouldn't sell a 993 to own one.
If it goes the 993 is going for the financial benefits unfortunately as it's now got to the point I darent trackday it or put too many miles on it as the values have gone crazy recently.I love the car but I also want to try some other performance cars hence looking around. I've a budget in mind of upto 35k for something fast and holding its value that looks nice too and is a drivers car.
My experience of the Z4MC was essentially that I loved the engine, the looks and the way it felt "special" every time I drove it. But over time I was left a bit disappointed by the build quality and the (to my mind) unresolved handling. To me it just lacked that suppleness that I look for in a car. Now clearly, this is just a personal preference thing and there are many on here who really love their Z4MCs. I guess my advice would just to to make sure you take a good long drive in one (or more) to really make up your mind.
flimper said:
Full Leather would be nice but is rare. Think the general consensus for the coolant change is that is doesn't need to be done, but happy to be proved wrong.
Given it's a mixed metal engine (alli head with a cast iron block) and it uses by the looks of it (but happy to be proved wrong) an older type of IAT coolant (which works on "coating" the metal inisde and not actively curing the corrosion etc.) I would personally change it for peace of mind.That and mixed metal engines have a habit of blocking radiators historically speaking due to the coolant breaking down and silt forming (aluminium after all can be more reactive than steel etc.).
Likewise I've not heard many issues but why risk it? It's not a hard or pricey job either.
Billy_Whizzzz said:
Get one without Nav. It's ugly and useless.
Whilst I love my nav, upgrade to a later firmware and disc, I find it ever so useful. Yes, the graphics are old but in function it works as well as the latest TomTom my wife has, plus I like the phone and cd player displays. talksthetorque said:
Options = Weight. 
No need for heated seats, Nav or anything like that on a driver's car is there.
We've owned one for three years and I think they're great.
But I am still surprised nobody has said TVR yet?
Are they on your radar at all?
yes i started a thread on car buying and the tvr was mentioned, which i do like but so many horror stories.No need for heated seats, Nav or anything like that on a driver's car is there.
We've owned one for three years and I think they're great.
But I am still surprised nobody has said TVR yet?
Are they on your radar at all?
currently i am fancying any one of these lovely cars, assuming the 993 sells.
1. Audi R8 4.2 V8 manual
2. Supercharged Exige 240/260bhp
3. BMW Z4M (and a fair bit of cash sat in savings earning feck all) :-)
4. possibly a noble, but wary.
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