Using my "investment opportunity" - BMW Z3 M Coupe
Discussion
Last week I completed my first road trip, hiking and camping around the West coast of Scotland in this little breadvan, having bought it just over a month ago. It’s got right under my skin, and I thought I’d start a thread about it.
It’s completely standard (and will remain that way) so there won’t be any stories of performance upgrades or heroic mechanical fettling. It’s really just an excuse to post some pictures and document my more interesting trips. I’ll try to include some bits and pieces on running costs etc.
I know it’s a bit of a marmite car but I remember being captivated by it when it was first launched. I would have been 11 or 12 at the time, and as my Dad liked his BMW’s, I had pictures of them all over my wall. Fast forward 20 years or so and I was looking for something to replace my Lotus with. The opportunity to buy this came up and I almost bit the seller’s hand off.
It’s an S50 car (sans traction control and with the engine from the E36 M3) with a lovely low mileage and in unbelievably good condition, having spent the last couple of years in storage. It even has the running-in instruction sticker still stuck to the windscreen. The previous owner liked originality and replaced its AC Schnitzer wheels with some standard ones, so it has all new wheels and tyres. The only thing wrong with it was a vibration through the wheel at around 50mph. An easy fix – the car hadn’t been used since the wheels were replaced and there were no balancing weights on them.
A few days of annual leave for my girlfriend and me coincided nicely with a cracking weather forecast and a plan was hatched. Drive some of Scotland’s best roads, hike some of its best mountains and camp in some of its most beautiful places. Use this M Coupe as it was meant to be used.
One immediate advantage over the Lotus – the luggage space, albeit a little reduced by the CD auto-changer which sits right in the middle . I haven’t seen one of them for about 15 years!
I think this is accurate… it certainly felt like it. It’s so refreshing to see analogue gauges, with such lovely attention to detail. They just don’t make cars like this anymore.
Sunset near our camp spot on night one. I could have taken pictures all night but it seemed the midges had planned a banquet.
Waiting for the ferry to Skye. Possibly my favourite angle of the whole car.
Camped on the idyllic beach just outside Applecross. I thought about having the wheels done in shadowchrome as I love the look. Brake dust seems like a better solution.
At the top of the Bealach na ba. I'm not sure what I expected of this road, but I was a little disappointed. It's incredibly scenic but it's a single-track road with a lot of traffic on it, which sort of detracts from the driving pleasure a bit.
I’m not sure I could have picked a better car for the trip, it did absolutely everything asked of it. We even managed to negotiate a couple of pretty rough tracks without any fuss. A perfect combination of fun and use-ability. For what it’s worth, the car returned around 25 mpg (30 on the average speed camera festooned A9) which was about what I expected, not that it really matters.
I share my daily driver with my girlfriend so this will be used for weekend trips and the occasional journey to work when I need some cheering up. I’m currently dreaming up my next adventure. I'm pretty into my mountain biking so a bike rack in the near future can't be excluded. A step too far perhaps? Watch this space.
It’s completely standard (and will remain that way) so there won’t be any stories of performance upgrades or heroic mechanical fettling. It’s really just an excuse to post some pictures and document my more interesting trips. I’ll try to include some bits and pieces on running costs etc.
I know it’s a bit of a marmite car but I remember being captivated by it when it was first launched. I would have been 11 or 12 at the time, and as my Dad liked his BMW’s, I had pictures of them all over my wall. Fast forward 20 years or so and I was looking for something to replace my Lotus with. The opportunity to buy this came up and I almost bit the seller’s hand off.
It’s an S50 car (sans traction control and with the engine from the E36 M3) with a lovely low mileage and in unbelievably good condition, having spent the last couple of years in storage. It even has the running-in instruction sticker still stuck to the windscreen. The previous owner liked originality and replaced its AC Schnitzer wheels with some standard ones, so it has all new wheels and tyres. The only thing wrong with it was a vibration through the wheel at around 50mph. An easy fix – the car hadn’t been used since the wheels were replaced and there were no balancing weights on them.
A few days of annual leave for my girlfriend and me coincided nicely with a cracking weather forecast and a plan was hatched. Drive some of Scotland’s best roads, hike some of its best mountains and camp in some of its most beautiful places. Use this M Coupe as it was meant to be used.
One immediate advantage over the Lotus – the luggage space, albeit a little reduced by the CD auto-changer which sits right in the middle . I haven’t seen one of them for about 15 years!
I think this is accurate… it certainly felt like it. It’s so refreshing to see analogue gauges, with such lovely attention to detail. They just don’t make cars like this anymore.
Sunset near our camp spot on night one. I could have taken pictures all night but it seemed the midges had planned a banquet.
Waiting for the ferry to Skye. Possibly my favourite angle of the whole car.
Camped on the idyllic beach just outside Applecross. I thought about having the wheels done in shadowchrome as I love the look. Brake dust seems like a better solution.
At the top of the Bealach na ba. I'm not sure what I expected of this road, but I was a little disappointed. It's incredibly scenic but it's a single-track road with a lot of traffic on it, which sort of detracts from the driving pleasure a bit.
I’m not sure I could have picked a better car for the trip, it did absolutely everything asked of it. We even managed to negotiate a couple of pretty rough tracks without any fuss. A perfect combination of fun and use-ability. For what it’s worth, the car returned around 25 mpg (30 on the average speed camera festooned A9) which was about what I expected, not that it really matters.
I share my daily driver with my girlfriend so this will be used for weekend trips and the occasional journey to work when I need some cheering up. I’m currently dreaming up my next adventure. I'm pretty into my mountain biking so a bike rack in the near future can't be excluded. A step too far perhaps? Watch this space.
Edited by Stu-C123 on Tuesday 12th June 23:41
Edited by Stu-C123 on Tuesday 12th June 23:45
Mr Tidy said:
Fantastic car OP - I love them! 
But my budget wasn't going to get me one of those, so I have a Z4 Coupe instead.
Good to see you enjoyed your trip though.
I didn't get to drive a Z4 before this one but it is meant to be a better all-round car. I'd have been curious to try one. But my budget wasn't going to get me one of those, so I have a Z4 Coupe instead.
Good to see you enjoyed your trip though.
Save the manuals said:
Wonderful car! Remember drooling over one at a car show back in the day. One of the most interesting cars BMW has made, and from it’s best era in my opinion.
What’s it like to drive compared to the Lotus? Is it a hardcore sports car or more of a laid back cruiser?
I totally agree that this is from BMW's best era. What’s it like to drive compared to the Lotus? Is it a hardcore sports car or more of a laid back cruiser?
Vs the Lotus, it's a lot more refined and quite a different experience. On paper the Lotus is faster but the torque this has makes the acceleration feel at least as dramatic, if not more so. The Lotus was stiff, direct and planted but pretty noisy and you could feel just about every bump in the road - not the most comfortable on longer journeys. The M Coupe has more of a range - a bit of a hooligan when you want (although its reputation for spinning scares me a bit) but not as compromised.
A few years back I test drove one of these and loved it but as I wanted a bit more space ended up going for an E46 M3 instead.
Love the look of them and if I see one on the road or at a car show I always make a bee line for them.
Nice to see you are enjoying it the way it was meant to be used on fabulous roads.
Love the look of them and if I see one on the road or at a car show I always make a bee line for them.
Nice to see you are enjoying it the way it was meant to be used on fabulous roads.
A nice write up and photos. What a great way to get to know a new car. Those breadvan things are so quirky and just so much lovelier than anything BMW has made for years. A 'mate' of mine bought one new back in the day and within a month had invalidated his BMW warranty because of the way he had driven it en route to some pretty big mechanical damage. He seemed highly amused by the whole thing but I just wanted to punch him..before you start worrying his was in Estoril Blue!
ilovequo said:
Making healthy money!!
http://www.4starclassics.com/for-sale/bmw-z3m-coup...
And will only go up, since they don't make them anymore?http://www.4starclassics.com/for-sale/bmw-z3m-coup...
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