Z3 ownership experiences??
Discussion
HI
i currently have a rangie classic as my workhorse and a 5 litre chimeara as my fun car. I'm trying to be a bit financially astute as I have some debts it'd be nice to clear.
I'm therefore considering selling the chim and getting an oldish/leggy z3 for about 4-4.5k. the reasoning being i'd like something rear wheel drive, ragtop and I do love bmw's. It'll be an interim car as I should be able to afford something daft in a year or 2.
so just a few questions about the ownership experience really
-Is the 2.8 the only one to go for in terms of power or would the 2 be ok? I love driving the 1.6 mx5 but find it gutless. so feel only the 2.8 will do especially coming down from the chim
-is it worth hunting one out with the power hood? is said hood reliable? i dont take the top off the chim enough becuase its a chore to take it off and put it in the boot. so convenience will lead to more toplessness
-reliable? common problems? i presume its not bad being a bmw
sorry for the vagueness of questions , but any point of view is appreciated
i currently have a rangie classic as my workhorse and a 5 litre chimeara as my fun car. I'm trying to be a bit financially astute as I have some debts it'd be nice to clear.
I'm therefore considering selling the chim and getting an oldish/leggy z3 for about 4-4.5k. the reasoning being i'd like something rear wheel drive, ragtop and I do love bmw's. It'll be an interim car as I should be able to afford something daft in a year or 2.
so just a few questions about the ownership experience really
-Is the 2.8 the only one to go for in terms of power or would the 2 be ok? I love driving the 1.6 mx5 but find it gutless. so feel only the 2.8 will do especially coming down from the chim
-is it worth hunting one out with the power hood? is said hood reliable? i dont take the top off the chim enough becuase its a chore to take it off and put it in the boot. so convenience will lead to more toplessness
-reliable? common problems? i presume its not bad being a bmw
sorry for the vagueness of questions , but any point of view is appreciated
The 2.8 is very reliable.
The power hood has rarely been problematic. Just hunt out one that has been regularly serviced and cherished.
All the info you want is on
www.zroadster.net
Plus there are several for sale there that might fit the bill
The power hood has rarely been problematic. Just hunt out one that has been regularly serviced and cherished.
All the info you want is on
www.zroadster.net
Plus there are several for sale there that might fit the bill
matt12023 said:
HI
i currently have a rangie classic as my workhorse and a 5 litre chimeara as my fun car. I'm trying to be a bit financially astute as I have some debts it'd be nice to clear.
I'm therefore considering selling the chim and getting an oldish/leggy z3 for about 4-4.5k. the reasoning being i'd like something rear wheel drive, ragtop and I do love bmw's. It'll be an interim car as I should be able to afford something daft in a year or 2.
so just a few questions about the ownership experience really
-Is the 2.8 the only one to go for in terms of power or would the 2 be ok? I love driving the 1.6 mx5 but find it gutless. so feel only the 2.8 will do especially coming down from the chim
-is it worth hunting one out with the power hood? is said hood reliable? i dont take the top off the chim enough becuase its a chore to take it off and put it in the boot. so convenience will lead to more toplessness
-reliable? common problems? i presume its not bad being a bmw
sorry for the vagueness of questions , but any point of view is appreciated
Don't for one minute consider the 1.9. I have owned both. The 1.9 is underpowered & in my case had intermittant gearbox/clutch problems for the year I owned it. My (brand new) 1998 2.8 ran faultlessly for 5 years. And, yes it had a faultless power hood.i currently have a rangie classic as my workhorse and a 5 litre chimeara as my fun car. I'm trying to be a bit financially astute as I have some debts it'd be nice to clear.
I'm therefore considering selling the chim and getting an oldish/leggy z3 for about 4-4.5k. the reasoning being i'd like something rear wheel drive, ragtop and I do love bmw's. It'll be an interim car as I should be able to afford something daft in a year or 2.
so just a few questions about the ownership experience really
-Is the 2.8 the only one to go for in terms of power or would the 2 be ok? I love driving the 1.6 mx5 but find it gutless. so feel only the 2.8 will do especially coming down from the chim
-is it worth hunting one out with the power hood? is said hood reliable? i dont take the top off the chim enough becuase its a chore to take it off and put it in the boot. so convenience will lead to more toplessness
-reliable? common problems? i presume its not bad being a bmw
sorry for the vagueness of questions , but any point of view is appreciated
I owned a 2.8 for 4 years, i covered around 25K miles in it including two holiday tours of France, the car was faultlessly reliable. mine was an R plate 98 car, first of the 2.8 series 1's
the car was only a toy and i wanted to do other things so the car had to go. and boy do i miss it.
as other posters have said look on zroadster it is by far the best website for these cars.
dont bother with all of the pants about the handling of the cars as this is easily fixed with a set of poly bushes and a front strut brace. these mods will transform the chassis. the standard brakes are ok for road use, i upgraded mine with mintex rotors and pagid pads, and the only difference i noticed was that the wheels got a whole lot dirtier a whole lot quicker.
you can even get a rear strut brace and longitudinal chassis braces if you want to go a little further but i felt these were unnecessary.
If i was in the market for another one of these then i would probably go for the 3.0L in a series 1 body as i prefer the rear styling, although thats a personal choice, there are far more series 2's around with this engine. the 3.0L has around 30 more HP and pulls a lot better than the 2.8, but it will cost you more to tax. TBH the 2.8 was just quick enough most of the time.
a common problem with all Z3's is the seat mounting. they have a very undernourished bush inside the electric seat traversing mechanism. they all split and cause around 1-2mm of end float under braking and acceleration. this can be a little irritating but is cheaply if not easily fixed, you can get better replacement bushes from an American website for the princely sum of £12 for a set, it just take a while to fit them, but there is a link on zroadster that tells you exactly how to do it with pics.
anyway, the 2.8 is a great car loads of fun and now is a good time to buy, but go for the 3.0L for extra punch, or the 2.8 if you dont fancy the extra running costs, and whatever you do dont let anyone tell you that the MX5 is a better car, its just not in the same league, better than the 1.9 is a possibility, but anything else in the range then just forget it.
HTH
the car was only a toy and i wanted to do other things so the car had to go. and boy do i miss it.
as other posters have said look on zroadster it is by far the best website for these cars.
dont bother with all of the pants about the handling of the cars as this is easily fixed with a set of poly bushes and a front strut brace. these mods will transform the chassis. the standard brakes are ok for road use, i upgraded mine with mintex rotors and pagid pads, and the only difference i noticed was that the wheels got a whole lot dirtier a whole lot quicker.
you can even get a rear strut brace and longitudinal chassis braces if you want to go a little further but i felt these were unnecessary.
If i was in the market for another one of these then i would probably go for the 3.0L in a series 1 body as i prefer the rear styling, although thats a personal choice, there are far more series 2's around with this engine. the 3.0L has around 30 more HP and pulls a lot better than the 2.8, but it will cost you more to tax. TBH the 2.8 was just quick enough most of the time.
a common problem with all Z3's is the seat mounting. they have a very undernourished bush inside the electric seat traversing mechanism. they all split and cause around 1-2mm of end float under braking and acceleration. this can be a little irritating but is cheaply if not easily fixed, you can get better replacement bushes from an American website for the princely sum of £12 for a set, it just take a while to fit them, but there is a link on zroadster that tells you exactly how to do it with pics.
anyway, the 2.8 is a great car loads of fun and now is a good time to buy, but go for the 3.0L for extra punch, or the 2.8 if you dont fancy the extra running costs, and whatever you do dont let anyone tell you that the MX5 is a better car, its just not in the same league, better than the 1.9 is a possibility, but anything else in the range then just forget it.
HTH
3.0 only available in new shape and all came with DSC. 3.0's have a lot more thirst for oil and generally cost quite a bit more than a 2.8 to buy, being a lot newer.
2.8's came with very crude ASC (utterly rubbish IMO).
On older 2.8's power hoods were an option I think, so check 1st.
Loads for sale, no Nikasil issues on Z's as they were all built after this issue had been resolved.
All Z's are sensitive to tyre choice, like your chimp will have been as they prefer softer sidewalls. General advise is not to mix'n'match tyres at all.
HTH
2.8's came with very crude ASC (utterly rubbish IMO).
On older 2.8's power hoods were an option I think, so check 1st.
Loads for sale, no Nikasil issues on Z's as they were all built after this issue had been resolved.
All Z's are sensitive to tyre choice, like your chimp will have been as they prefer softer sidewalls. General advise is not to mix'n'match tyres at all.
HTH
I had a z3 3.0 sport a few years ago and TBH I didn't like it... yes it was reliable and I quite looked the look of the interior at the time (mine had tan leather and the aluminium finish on the centre console).
However, the handling was very wooden with little steering feel. The performance was good upto 90 mph but it wasn't very exciting. Overall not a car in would recommend.
However, the handling was very wooden with little steering feel. The performance was good upto 90 mph but it wasn't very exciting. Overall not a car in would recommend.
StuB said:
3.0 only available in new shape and all came with DSC. 3.0's have a lot more thirst for oil and generally cost quite a bit more than a 2.8 to buy, being a lot newer.
2.8's came with very crude ASC (utterly rubbish IMO).
On older 2.8's power hoods were an option I think, so check 1st.
Loads for sale, no Nikasil issues on Z's as they were all built after this issue had been resolved.
All Z's are sensitive to tyre choice, like your chimp will have been as they prefer softer sidewalls. General advise is not to mix'n'match tyres at all.
HTH
as i said above there are far more 3.0L in a series 2 body, but there are a few in a series 1. 2.8's came with very crude ASC (utterly rubbish IMO).
On older 2.8's power hoods were an option I think, so check 1st.
Loads for sale, no Nikasil issues on Z's as they were all built after this issue had been resolved.
All Z's are sensitive to tyre choice, like your chimp will have been as they prefer softer sidewalls. General advise is not to mix'n'match tyres at all.
HTH
the reason the Zed's dont have Nikasil problems is because the engines are built in the states to a different spec to the European engines, as all cars with problem engines in Europe were fitted with the Zed engines from USA.
Ran mine on Uniroyal RainSports, IMO these suited my car very well, never had a problem with them.
as for the crude ASC?? always left mine on and never spun it, although there have been plenty of stories on zroadster of brave people who have turned there's off for a bit of fun and regretted the repair bills at their leisure. BTW dont be tempted to lower the car or fit V large wheel and tyre combos as these mods ruin the car.
as the OP may have picked up by the responses to the post, many of these cars have been modified, most sympathetically
Thank you for all the replies people
it all backs up that it'll make a good interim car, so i can stick to the budget i'll probably aim for an earlish 2.8, first hurdle though will be to sell the chim. I'll look into if any part ex's my way would be ok value but i'll probably end up selling it first, then browsing for a zed
it all backs up that it'll make a good interim car, so i can stick to the budget i'll probably aim for an earlish 2.8, first hurdle though will be to sell the chim. I'll look into if any part ex's my way would be ok value but i'll probably end up selling it first, then browsing for a zed
damn it looks like my changing car to release some funds plan has fallen at the first hurdle. I pay 320 to insure the tvr on a 2k mile policy, and 550 on my classic rangie, a tad high because of an annoying ts10 on my licence.
all my no claims are on the rangie, so i spoke to adrian flux who its insured with and even with a discount the best quote for a 4.5k 98 2.8 z3 was 1200. thats a bit strong for me so i'll ring my specialist insurer on the tvr and see if they can help failing that there'll be no interim car
all my no claims are on the rangie, so i spoke to adrian flux who its insured with and even with a discount the best quote for a 4.5k 98 2.8 z3 was 1200. thats a bit strong for me so i'll ring my specialist insurer on the tvr and see if they can help failing that there'll be no interim car
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