3.0 Z4 Coupe - economy?

[Nano2nd]

anyone running a 3.0 (265bhp) Z4 coupe or late roadster for that mater, whats the real world MPG like?

i'm considering wussing out replacing my Z4M Coupe with a cheaper 3.0 Sport to save some cash on fuel/tax/servcing/tyres/yadda yadda.. not really what i want to do as i love the M, but with the state of the economy these days!

i was averaging about 26mpg in the M, though most of that is 80lepton motorway work on my commute... a spirited drive through wales yeilded 19mpg... on a slow 60 mile motorway cruise at 70 it would do 30-31


edited to say i do 22,000 miles a year so i couple of MPG better makes a big difference at the end of the year i'm not tight LOL

Edited by Nano2nd on Thursday 10th April 22:19

[immigrant]

I just got a 130i with that motor and it averages between 27 and 29mpg with a mix of town and motorway driving, the latter cruising at around 80. I get around 300 miles out of a tank like this. Pure town driving will see that drop substantially.

One thing that will probably annoy switching to the 3.0 is the electronic throttle.

[dan101smith]

The g/f's does 25mpg according to the OBC. And it will not deviate from that, however it is driven!

[VerySideways]

130i (265bhp) and i'm averaging 25.6mpg
At 80 i'm into the mid 30's, but around town i'm getting about the same as your Z4M.

22000miles / 25mpg = 880 gallons @£5 that's £4400

22000 / 28mpg = 786 gallons, therefore £3930

So, for a potential saving of £500 a year, is it worth changing?

[wrighty78]

VerySideways said:

At 80 i'm into the mid 30's, but around town i'm getting about the same as your Z4M.

I've got a 3.0 Z4C. My figures are much the same: 33/34 ish on a M-way cruise. Average high 20's overall - around 27/28 mpg - once around town and cross-country blatting are taken into account.

I'd have thought the rogering you'll get doing the deal will more than outweigh the relatively small saving in fuel, even at your mileage.

[Nano2nd]

VerySideways said:

130i (265bhp) and i'm averaging 25.6mpg
At 80 i'm into the mid 30's, but around town i'm getting about the same as your Z4M.

22000miles / 25mpg = 880 gallons @£5 that's £4400

22000 / 28mpg = 786 gallons, therefore £3930

So, for a potential saving of £500 a year, is it worth changing?

i know what your say i was thinking more like

22000miles / 26mpg = 880 gallons @£5 that's £4230

verus (hopefully)

22000miles / 31mpg = 880 gallons @£5 that's £3548

not to mention how much fuel will cost this time next year!

so thats like £700 less, plus £300 on my insurance, then 200 this year on tax, and half price servicing and tyres - i've be looking at £1500-£2000 a year saving.

I haven't got the M any more (wrote it off ) just waiting on the insurance, but i'd also be looking at saving about 7k on the purchase price, the replace M i'm looking at is £34500 and the 3.0 is £37850

its a lot of little things that add up to a fair chunk of money! this is all assuming i get a decent settlement from the insurers...

[wrighty78]

Ahhh! The picture becomes clearer and I see what you mean.

Certainly worth taking a spin in the 3.0. Everyone seems to think it's a cracking engine. Obviously not as quick or as flexible as the M, but I guess there's a debate to be had about "real world" difference.

Good luck!

I guess you could also take a look at the 135i coupe, if you can cope with the looks...

[VerySideways]

Ahh, yes now it makes sense.

In which case get out and drive a Z4 3.0 si (coupé or roadster). The engine is a marvel.
Though i think if i were in your position i'd be tempted by the 330i coupé:

[Nano2nd]

yeah thats what i'm thinking about real world performance, its unlikely i'd take it on the track i can't afford to crash uninsured! plus i spend most of my time cruising up and down the M1 worring about fuel economy LOL

don't like the 1 series, but the 330 does look nice however my missus is adament we get another sports car coz i made her have a 4 seater so we had at least one practical(ish) car

[photo_ed]

My Z4C 3.0 does an average of 29mpg on my everyday commute - a mix of b-road, m-way, and a fair bit of urban nose to tail stuff.

On a longer trip I'm seeing about 32mpg - for example recently did a 1500 mile Highland Tour and returned about 32 av this included some pretty 'spirited' drives, at one point on the motorway I did an experiment, sticking to the limit & driving sensibly I was seeing just over 39!!!! over a 200 mile stretch, which I thought was pretty damn impressive.

On my recent trackday @ Oulton Park I was getting about 10 though!

HTH.

[bras0782]

Nano2nd said:

so thats like £700 less, plus £300 on my insurance, then 200 this year on tax, and half price servicing and tyres - i've be looking at £1500-£2000 a year saving.

I haven't got the M any more (wrote it off ) just waiting on the insurance, but i'd also be looking at saving about 7k on the purchase price, the replace M i'm looking at is £34500 and the 3.0 is £37850

its a lot of little things that add up to a fair chunk of money! this is all assuming i get a decent settlement from the insurers...

If you are spending over £30k on a car, what the difference of an extra £1500-2000 considering the amount you'd lose in depreciation?

If you want to save money wouldn't you be better off getting one a couple of years old?

Edited by bras0782 on Friday 11th April 12:34

[sharkfan]

Get yourself an Alpina Roadster. Mine does around 27mpg average and 33-34 on the motorway (with the cruise on around 75ish). The road tax is around £200 a year (no official CO2 figure helps) and insurance isn't bad either. It will also hit 60 in 5 secs for when you want some fun...

Ps. Did I mention mine's for sale?!

[VerySideways]

sharkfan said:

Get yourself an Alpina Roadster. Mine does around 27mpg average and 33-34 on the motorway (with the cruise on around 75ish). The road tax is around £200 a year (no official CO2 figure helps) and insurance isn't bad either. It will also hit 60 in 5 secs for when you want some fun...

Ps. Did I mention mine's for sale?!

That sounds like it's worth looking into...

[wrighty78]

sharkfan said:

Get yourself an Alpina Roadster.

An Alpina Roadster is currently top of my list for when the current deal comes to an end on the Z4C next year (it's important to plan ahead!). IMHO, Alpina did a cracking job putting the finishing touches to an already very good car. That engine is, apparently, an absolute pearl.

Sharkfan - your's looks a good'un. Good luck with the sale: http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/430693.htm

And in the meantime I would rather like a set of those wheels for the Z4C...

[sharkfan]

wrighty78 said:

sharkfan said:

Get yourself an Alpina Roadster.

An Alpina Roadster is currently top of my list for when the current deal comes to an end on the Z4C next year (it's important to plan ahead!). IMHO, Alpina did a cracking job putting the finishing touches to an already very good car. That engine is, apparently, an absolute pearl.

Sharkfan - your's looks a good'un. Good luck with the sale: http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/430693.htm

And in the meantime I would rather like a set of those wheels for the Z4C...

Thanks for the kind words on the car. It's a wrench to sell it but the head is shouting "new house" over the top of the heart's "weekend toy"...

[wrighty78]

Nah! The housing market is a minefield - best to stick with the weekend toy.

(sound financial advice the Pistonheads way...)

[Nano2nd]

bras0782 said:

If you want to save money wouldn't you be better off getting one a couple of years old?

there aren't any old M coupes really (plus i'm fussy with spec and condition)

yeah Aplina Roadster is on my list too, though i do prefer the coupe and its a little more practical...

i've also fancy a Cayman but the Z4's represent much better value at the mo, your paying a awful lot for that porsche badge!

[pgilc1]

my g/f has one - averaging around 30mpg on a 25 mile commute into city, not much stop startwork though. Previously around 27mpg when commuting into belfast - heavier traffic

[gizlaroc]

The Z4 M and coupe looses so much money in the first year, trying to save a few quid on fuel seems ludicrous to me?

Buy a year old and a Z4M will cost you about £450 a month, buy new and they are about £700 a month, massive difference and far bigger than any fuel/tax/insurance saving.

[greygoose]

Nano2nd said:

anyone running a 3.0 (265bhp) Z4 coupe or late roadster for that mater, whats the real world MPG like?

The computer says 28 mpg for mine with mainly motorway and A road usage.