Question - should I buy a 2005 Z4 for £2000?

[merlineater]

Thanks for all your feedback everyone - much appreciated!

Sounds like the consensus is largely 'yes' which is great news. There's been a couple of mentions around engine issues around the 2.0l engine - do you think this is a big deal? Am curious to know a little more about the particular problems

In any case, I do believe it's been well looked after and I doubt anyone's trying to pull a fast one if that's the case perhaps I have bigger relationship issues to sort out

[ph001]

The more serious problems are timing chain / tensioner related. Exhaust manifolds / cats crack frequently and there are common but more minor emissions related fault codes that seem hard to resolve. Valvetronic motors seem to be more prone to failure on the N46 as well for some reason.

[Ewazix]

........And lest we forget... this isn't a German car. It's cheaply build American made crap with parts made in Mexico. True story. My dead abs pump was Hencho En Mexico.

Interesting that the Crap American E85/6 suffered significantly lower warranty claims than the German built E89 according to Warranty Direct's figures. The e85/6 was better than average with a score of 95, the E89 scored worse than average with 124. https://www.reliabilityindex.com/

[ph001]

I don't think where they are screwed together has much of an impact on reliability these days. Manufacturers have pretty good processes in place. More to do with the actual parts used, and of course BMW don't make parts - the Pierburg electric water pump on the N52 is a good example. In terms of the N54 E89, I suspect the fuel pumps / injector / wastegate / cracked alloys issues alone amount to more warranty claims than there was in the entire E85/E86 production run.

[AveZ4coop]

Buy it!! Is a bargain. As said before, if you don't like it or want more power, sell it at a profit and buy something else.

[merlineater]

Hi everyone!

I decided to go for it, subject to a successful test drive but don't anticipate any issues. Got it for £2k and will even get £500 if I also trade in my old Corsa via webuyanycar. Not bad.

Will be picking it up on 11 August. Very much looking forward to it

Any tips for the first few rides?

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice - it was invaluable in helping me make a decision!

[Jembo]

Hi everyone!

I decided to go for it, subject to a successful test drive but don't anticipate any issues. Got it for £2k and will even get £500 if I also trade in my old Corsa via webuyanycar. Not bad.

Will be picking it up on 11 August. Very much looking forward to it

Any tips for the first few rides?

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice - it was invaluable in helping me make a decision!

Don’t ask this place for any more advice... they’ll have you spending triple the price you paid for the car in mods before its next petrol fill up

[RustyZ4]

Hi everyone!

I decided to go for it, subject to a successful test drive but don't anticipate any issues. Got it for £2k and will even get £500 if I also trade in my old Corsa via webuyanycar. Not bad.

Will be picking it up on 11 August. Very much looking forward to it

Any tips for the first few rides?

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice - it was invaluable in helping me make a decision!

Please, please don't ask for tips,,, Jembo has it right, you will be spending more time putting mods on and detailing it, than driving it,,

Any well done, from what I saw, a no brainer, enjoy it

[skelters]

Hi everyone!

I decided to go for it, subject to a successful test drive but don't anticipate any issues. Got it for £2k and will even get £500 if I also trade in my old Corsa via webuyanycar. Not bad.

Will be picking it up on 11 August. Very much looking forward to it

Any tips for the first few rides?

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice - it was invaluable in helping me make a decision!

Don’t ask this place for any more advice... they’ll have you spending triple the price you paid for the car in mods before its next petrol fill up

1st thing to do is gets some pictures posted!

Get a check done on the car for any fault codes then work through the codes fixing them.

It probably doesn't have run flats on it. Ditch them if it does.

Get it serviced.



When you've done all that come back and we'll start on the modifications!

[sticky]

Tank it up, drive it, enjoy it and if you don"t like then take one of the current offers for it.

[blackabbot]

That's a very good price but bear in mind the 2.0l engines seem to suffer far more reliability issues than the 6 pots so you may well need an additional pot of money to keep it sweet when it goes wrong.

Had my four pot 2.0i OP since febuary last year and not had one single issue with it regarding reliability

[firebobby]

As skelters said...photos are a must, then get yourself a ticket to Zedfest and come and show it off.
Where are you in the country ??

[Mr Tidy]

Well done OP - and you've bought it at the right time of year!

Don't forget the photos once you've picked it up!

[wonkydonkey]

Good move!

As it's unknown to you, might I suggest holding onto your Corsa for a few weeks just in case any issues arise with the Zed? Once you've got a week or two of reliable BMW motoring under your belt and have completed any servicing you have planned, THEN move the Corsa on. Fixing a second car is easy, but fixing your ONLY car can be a royal nuisance!

[merlineater]

Good move!

As it's unknown to you, might I suggest holding onto your Corsa for a few weeks just in case any issues arise with the Zed? Once you've got a week or two of reliable BMW motoring under your belt and have completed any servicing you have planned, THEN move the Corsa on. Fixing a second car is easy, but fixing your ONLY car can be a royal nuisance!

Good idea - I'm planning to keep the old car for a while anyway - it's taxed and MOT-ed so no real issues for the time being.

Looking forward to picking it up tomorrow and driving off into the sunset! Will share some photos and initial thoughts etc! Then see if any improvements can be made.