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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

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rhetoric
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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by rhetoric » Fri Feb 02, 2018 2:01 am

Bought a beautiful 07 z4 3.0i w/ 120K and am ready to start getting after a few things (valve cover gasket, suspension, maybe a respray of the front for some gravel/paint chips).

Not sure if anybody cares, but I think it's a fun purchase story...

I owned a Spitfire for my first roadster and it was an absolute blast... when it was running. And while I enjoy mechanical repair, I wasn't interested in rust repair, and it needed alot of work. So I sold it and about this time last year I started looking for a replacement. My list? Roadster, running, no rust, fun, fuel injection, under 7K. Not on my list? High performance, prestige, flawless condition, over 7K. I don't need a show car, but I knew this would put me in the 90's Miata, maybe an Audi TT or lower and I was fine with that. I did find Z3s from time to time, but nothing I wanted. I spent alot of time on C-list. We live in snowy western NY, so it's not easy finding a car w/o rust.

But as fate would have it, we were headed to North Myrtle Beach SC and I thought, "Gee, I should check the cars down there," and, of course, the above mentioned car had just listed. More than my car, because I never dreamed I would be able to swing a z4, but it checked off everything on my list and everything on my not list. Apart from the paint chips, it is flawless.

I knew it would be gone in a flash. But, just for grins and giggles, I sent the guy and email and lamented that he was selling "my car" and why'd couldn't he have listed it in a month later. He sent an email back and said, "I'd hold it for you." So I called him and we chatted for a while... I told him we normally come earlier but my son was graduating from the Trooper Academy and bla bla bla... He said, "I was a LEO! I'll tell you what -- you send me a non-refundable $100.00 check and I'll hold it till May (about 5 weeks)." I told him, "In turn, if the car is as described, I won't dicker about the price." It was as described. (great guy -- never even cashed my $100 check!).

I'm not sure why he was selling it for (literally) half of what i was seeing them go for, except that it was his commuter (maybe lost some of the fun?) and that he was buying a golf cart and needed cash. I couldn't have bought a 2007 Civic for the price I paid.

We drove it home and (despite putting her away for the winter) we are having a blast! (Happy wife, happy life!)

Looking forward to using the forum to take care of some maintenance issues.

Paul
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BSVA
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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by BSVA » Fri Feb 02, 2018 3:35 am

Rhetoric, welcome to the forum. It looks like you got a sweet car and deal. I'm living in Virginia, but was born and raised in upper state New York. You will find this forum very informative. Good to see another Zee from the states.
2004 BMW Z4 3.0i, Titanium Silver, Black Leather, Premium Pkg, Sport Pkg, Xenons, Ellipsoids,
Continental ProContact RX SSR's.

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enzed4
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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by enzed4 » Fri Feb 02, 2018 6:06 am

Great story, and welcome to the forum.
Before you know it, you'll be on the hunt for some m-sport seats and wondering why they didn't come standard :lol: .
Get rid of that whippy aerial pronto before you lose an eye :poke:
Had to look up what the Trooper Academy is, and now I know. Best of luck to your son :thumbsup:
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srhutch
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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by srhutch » Fri Feb 02, 2018 7:53 am

Hi and welcome. :D
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Smartbear
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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by Smartbear » Fri Feb 02, 2018 8:06 am

Hi, always good to hear of someone getting a bargain car :)
Tons of info on here but we are mainly uk based, so may be asleep when you need us!
Rob
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e89 Sdrive 20i, plenty of mumbo & good economy-the thinking bears z4
e89 Sdrive 30i, this ones busted, pass me another...
e85 3.0si sold

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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by Marlon » Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:50 am

Welcome aboard - looks like you've got yourself a great Z4 at a great price, well done sir :thumbsup:
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ph001
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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by ph001 » Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:15 am

Looks sweet and sounds like you got a real bargain too. All the 3.0 Z4's from 2006 onwards use the N52B30 engine which is a great piece of engineering by BMW. You have to wonder what mods would be required to take it from 215bhp (the 3.0i) to 261bhp (3.0Si). That's a hell of a jump... maybe just intake / map???
2007 E85 Z4 3.0Si manual :driving:
19" CSL's | Eibach Springs | Aeroskirts | Z4M front bumper | Clear brake light | ZHP | RCH+| Stubby

2004 E46 M3 coupe manual - gone but not forgotten.

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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by jamie_z4 » Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:19 am

ph001 wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:15 amLooks sweet and sounds like you got a real bargain too. All the 3.0 Z4's from 2006 onwards use the N52B30 engine which is a great piece of engineering by BMW. You have to wonder what mods would be required to take it from 215bhp (the 3.0i) to 261bhp (3.0Si). That's a hell of a jump... maybe just intake / map???
its just massively down tuned to 215bhp.

like the n52b25 fitted in the 2.5i facelift - I had one, it was 177bhp and it was totally gutless for a 6 pot,

then the majority of the facelift are 2.5si which are 218bhp which isn't an unusual bhp figure for a 2.5 straight 6.
18 Z4s owned to date.

Current: 2.5i Titan silver

Daily driver: 480bhp M140i Shadow edition.

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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by Crazy Harry » Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:22 am

Hi and welcome - 3.0 roadster just what I went for :thumbsup:

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ph001
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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by ph001 » Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:27 am

jamie_z4 wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:19 amits just massively down tuned to 215bhp.
..so a remap might be all that's required to liberate 46bhp and 48lbft! Although IIRC the US spec 3.0Si cars were 255bhp rather than 265bhp but that's almost certainly down to a fuel octane issue.

UPDATE: Just done a bit of digging and apparently the power difference IS map and intake, but the 3.0Si intake can be retrofitted no problem and in conjunction with a remap you can get the same power. Differences can be summarised as below:

Intake manifold & sound generator
ECU (prob just map)
Final drive ratio (N52 3.0i = 3.38, N52 3.0Si = 3.23)
Usual optional stuff like M sport suspension, seats etc.

There was no UK equivalent to the 215bhp 3.0i as sold in the states. All 3 litre European cars after 2006 were badged Si. We got the 215bhp output in the form of the 2.5Si instead.
Last edited by ph001 on Fri Feb 02, 2018 11:12 am, edited 2 times in total.
2007 E85 Z4 3.0Si manual :driving:
19" CSL's | Eibach Springs | Aeroskirts | Z4M front bumper | Clear brake light | ZHP | RCH+| Stubby

2004 E46 M3 coupe manual - gone but not forgotten.

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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by RustyZ4 » Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:34 am

Hi & Welcome :thumbsup:
Great story, im sure you are going to love it
Z4 Mineral Grey, 28i MSport Auto, lots of goodies
Z4 E85 3.0, gone but now with son :D
Growing Old is Mandatory But Growing Up is Optional

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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by jamie_z4 » Fri Feb 02, 2018 12:01 pm

ph001 wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:27 am
jamie_z4 wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:19 amits just massively down tuned to 215bhp.
..so a remap might be all that's required to liberate 46bhp and 48lbft! Although IIRC the US spec 3.0Si cars were 255bhp rather than 265bhp but that's almost certainly down to a fuel octane issue.

UPDATE: Just done a bit of digging and apparently the power difference IS map and intake, but the 3.0Si intake can be retrofitted no problem and in conjunction with a remap you can get the same power. Differences can be summarised as below:

Intake manifold & sound generator
ECU (prob just map)
Final drive ratio (N52 3.0i = 3.38, N52 3.0Si = 3.23)
Usual optional stuff like M sport suspension, seats etc.

There was no UK equivalent to the 215bhp 3.0i as sold in the states. All 3 litre European cars after 2006 were badged Si. We got the 215bhp output in the form of the 2.5Si instead.
and we got the 177bhp 2.5i facelift thus dropping the 2.2i m54
18 Z4s owned to date.

Current: 2.5i Titan silver

Daily driver: 480bhp M140i Shadow edition.

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jabber
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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by jabber » Fri Feb 02, 2018 12:53 pm

Hi and welcome to the forum :thumbsup:
Z less again
14 E89 Z4 2.0 msport grey gone now
10 E89 Z4 3.0 Black auto now. Very sadly gone
Gone 04 E85 z4 3.0 Maldives blue smg

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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by Mr Tidy » Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:59 pm

Welcome to the forum OP. :thumbsup:

That's a great story, and it sounds like you got a real bargain - enjoy. :driving:
Coupes because stunning!
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Gone - Montego Blue
Gone - Ruby Black

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rhetoric
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I bought (you'll never guess) a Z4!

Post by rhetoric » Sat Feb 03, 2018 2:04 am

I'll try to type w/ my best English (aka, Monty Python) accent. (Indeed! Quite so!)

Modding, for the purpose of increasing power, is new to me. That will come after I do all the basics, (vanos, fluid changes, suspension, and paint).

But I'll get after that antenna/whip right away!

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