Z3 advice and pointers ....
Discussion
Hi all ......looking at getting a very usable classic at the moment ....and the Z3 (in 1.9 widebody guise) keeps popping up ......
I remember driving a friends waaay back when they first came out and thinking it was a lot of fun .......
Having never owned a Z3, or indeed a BMW, before it would be great to get some thoughts and pointers from you lovely lot.
Is there a decent buyers guide anywhere?
what are rough running costs?
are there any must haves?
what are some of the pitfalls?
budget wise i am looking around £2.5 - 3k .......which on a casual look around sees me in a 75k and up millage motor
over to you ......convince me / talk me out of!
thanks
S
I remember driving a friends waaay back when they first came out and thinking it was a lot of fun .......
Having never owned a Z3, or indeed a BMW, before it would be great to get some thoughts and pointers from you lovely lot.
Is there a decent buyers guide anywhere?
what are rough running costs?
are there any must haves?
what are some of the pitfalls?
budget wise i am looking around £2.5 - 3k .......which on a casual look around sees me in a 75k and up millage motor
over to you ......convince me / talk me out of!
thanks
S
My friends literally just bought one of these.
First impressions a surprising car.
The widebody only comes as the 2.8 and M car.
Wouldn’t bothered with anything other than the 2.8 straight six which comes as standard with a lsd which is a must.
Few rust problems as with all old BMW’s he has a couple of nicks in the roof which we couldn’t find till jet washing.
Nice and smooth and pleasant to drive. When pushing Harder though you quickly find the limits of the handling.
I’d say go for it only going to increase in value if you don’t like it. For god sake don’t buy a 1.9 what a load of s
t.
First impressions a surprising car.
The widebody only comes as the 2.8 and M car.
Wouldn’t bothered with anything other than the 2.8 straight six which comes as standard with a lsd which is a must.
Few rust problems as with all old BMW’s he has a couple of nicks in the roof which we couldn’t find till jet washing.
Nice and smooth and pleasant to drive. When pushing Harder though you quickly find the limits of the handling.
I’d say go for it only going to increase in value if you don’t like it. For god sake don’t buy a 1.9 what a load of s
t. The widebody was available in all engine sizes apart from the basic 1.9 or 1.8.
I has a 2.0 six cylinder wide body Z3 that I had bought to see me "between jobs" around seven years ago. I liked it so much that I kept it as my daily driver for three years and it racked up 52,000 miles without fault or major expense. All it needed was servicing and tyres.
You'll find that the costs of running one are very little different regardless of the engine size, so I'd ignore the basic 1.9 / 1.8 and get one of the larger engined models.
In terms of budget, well I sold mine four years ago for £3,250 with 135,000 miles with the optional hardtop.
I has a 2.0 six cylinder wide body Z3 that I had bought to see me "between jobs" around seven years ago. I liked it so much that I kept it as my daily driver for three years and it racked up 52,000 miles without fault or major expense. All it needed was servicing and tyres.
You'll find that the costs of running one are very little different regardless of the engine size, so I'd ignore the basic 1.9 / 1.8 and get one of the larger engined models.
In terms of budget, well I sold mine four years ago for £3,250 with 135,000 miles with the optional hardtop.
zroadster.net
zroadster.org
two great owners forums with the answers to every question you might need to ask...
good cars, not the ultimate in handling, but not bad (a strut brace under the bonnet transforms them), with a range of engines... the low end engine is lighter and perhaps gives a better balanced car, but the 3.0 litre is an addictive straight sixth that revs willingly and howls at you
mine is an auto (not through choice, used to be my sister's car) but even the auto is a lot of fun as you can choose and hold the gear you want... I have had it 6 years and it is currently in having some paintwork done as I doubt I will ever sell it... after 6 years it is worth more than I paid for it and owes me almost nothing during that time, a very cheap car to run...
zroadster.org
two great owners forums with the answers to every question you might need to ask...
good cars, not the ultimate in handling, but not bad (a strut brace under the bonnet transforms them), with a range of engines... the low end engine is lighter and perhaps gives a better balanced car, but the 3.0 litre is an addictive straight sixth that revs willingly and howls at you
mine is an auto (not through choice, used to be my sister's car) but even the auto is a lot of fun as you can choose and hold the gear you want... I have had it 6 years and it is currently in having some paintwork done as I doubt I will ever sell it... after 6 years it is worth more than I paid for it and owes me almost nothing during that time, a very cheap car to run...
Roon205 said:
My friends literally just bought one of these.
First impressions a surprising car.
The widebody only comes as the 2.8 and M car.
Wouldn’t bothered with anything other than the 2.8 straight six which comes as standard with a lsd which is a must.
May have been different in other markets, but the only uk z3 that came with lsd was the z3m. Still good fun to drive even without them thoughFirst impressions a surprising car.
The widebody only comes as the 2.8 and M car.
Wouldn’t bothered with anything other than the 2.8 straight six which comes as standard with a lsd which is a must.
I’ve had my 1.9 M44 (140bhp) now for a few years and must say it’s the most reliable car I’ve owned and the most common problems are movement in the seat bases and broken (seized) door mirrors and boot leaks from the 3rd brake light seal on earlier cars (£2 for a new gasket)
Both are cheap fixes I think it cost £10 for the seat repair and I bought a good secondhand mirror for £80 but there’s repairs kits available now which comprises of a new mirror skeleton made in a plastic resin which is better than the original design.
The M44 is a bullet proof engine but on mine I changed the cooling system to be on the safe side being as that’s the BMW Achilles heel on a 20 plus year old BMW but even the plastic impeller bladed water pump was as good as new when I removed the item and the pipes water pump, thermostat and radiator all came in well under £150 for genuine quality parts.
I wouldn’t buy a M43 1.8 though as I imagine the performance would be a bit lacklustre but they are not bad engines but only developed around 115bhp
Both are cheap fixes I think it cost £10 for the seat repair and I bought a good secondhand mirror for £80 but there’s repairs kits available now which comprises of a new mirror skeleton made in a plastic resin which is better than the original design.
The M44 is a bullet proof engine but on mine I changed the cooling system to be on the safe side being as that’s the BMW Achilles heel on a 20 plus year old BMW but even the plastic impeller bladed water pump was as good as new when I removed the item and the pipes water pump, thermostat and radiator all came in well under £150 for genuine quality parts.
I wouldn’t buy a M43 1.8 though as I imagine the performance would be a bit lacklustre but they are not bad engines but only developed around 115bhp
Edited by Vince70 on Sunday 8th July 18:36
Edited by Vince70 on Sunday 8th July 18:38
Elliot2000 said:
Roon205 said:
My friends literally just bought one of these.
First impressions a surprising car.
The widebody only comes as the 2.8 and M car.
Wouldn’t bothered with anything other than the 2.8 straight six which comes as standard with a lsd which is a must.
May have been different in other markets, but the only uk z3 that came with lsd was the z3m. Still good fun to drive even without them thoughFirst impressions a surprising car.
The widebody only comes as the 2.8 and M car.
Wouldn’t bothered with anything other than the 2.8 straight six which comes as standard with a lsd which is a must.
to be fair - that is the facelift - not a widebody... but still a uk z3
Get yourself onto Zroadster.org.
The best forum I've ever been on.
£3500 will get you a very nice 1.9, after the facelift in 1999 even the 1.9 got a wider body. Not quite as wide as the early 2.8 but not far off.
As said above, look for rust, if the engine compartment is all rusty you need to check the rear suspension arms very carefully, they can rust through and are expensive.
The best forum I've ever been on.
£3500 will get you a very nice 1.9, after the facelift in 1999 even the 1.9 got a wider body. Not quite as wide as the early 2.8 but not far off.
As said above, look for rust, if the engine compartment is all rusty you need to check the rear suspension arms very carefully, they can rust through and are expensive.
Elliot2000 said:
akirk said:
wrong... - my UK 3.0 came with an LSD - still on the car in fact
to be fair - that is the facelift - not a widebody... but still a uk z3
Well I never knew that, it does seem your right!to be fair - that is the facelift - not a widebody... but still a uk z3
The 6-cylinder engines are streets ahead of the 1.9 but finding a decent 2.8 for sensible money is difficult- I found the 2.2 to have enough power for a sensible price.
The Z3 strut brace massively improves the handling but is overpriced- get an E36 strut brace for a third of the cost & grind out the tiny bit of metal in the way of the earth bolt (10 minute job).
The Z3 strut brace massively improves the handling but is overpriced- get an E36 strut brace for a third of the cost & grind out the tiny bit of metal in the way of the earth bolt (10 minute job).
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