Looking at a 'new' E85 Z4 - couple of questions & concerns

[ryushe]

Hi there,

I used to own a very nice sterling grey 2003 3.0i a long time ago, but had to sell that great car due to an international move I went through. Now that I'm back in a place / position where I'm able to actually own a vehicle longer term again, I've been looking at getting a new (for me) Z4 again, as I miss my old one.
My search has led me wading through a bunch of 2.5 and 3.0 versions, of which one has certainly stood out so far. In particular, this one: https://www.marktplaats.nl/a/auto-s/bmw ... elaar.html

It's a Maldives Blue with black interior and black top and it looks stunning sitting there in the sun. Also only has ~65.000 km (~40.000 miles) on the clock which I've verified as far as I can reading out the car. The car is second owner, and was imported from Japan. According to the seller, this means the manual and such were trashed when he got it, as they were completely in Japanese, so all he has left are both keys and the valet key. Warning labels and stickers under the hood are indeed in Japanese, so the story seems likely. However, there's absolutely no history on the car that I can find or the seller knows of before it being imported to the Netherlands. Current owner says the car was imported around 2 years ago, and he's only driven around 1000 miles with it so far.

Now, here's my concerns and questions about this great looking 40k miles car:

• Main concern: it's an SMG. I've heard some horror stories in the past about SMGs, and am a bit apprehensive about getting a first generation SMG gearbox. That being said, I've test driven this particular car, and especially in sports mode the shifting seems flawless (little bit of a hesitation in upshifting when not in sports, which is way less in sports mode).
  What's the general feeling about the BMW SMG gearbox in these things?

• As mentioned, it's a ~40k miles car. However, someone installed all new disc brakes all around, something I've not even done on previous cars I've owned with way more miles on them. What makes me a bit apprehensive here is that disc brakes are usually a pretty good indicator of vehicle age, and having new discs in a car with a low mileage like this one makes me a bit wary. Sure, brakes can warp under heavy use and sudden cooling, but that's pretty rare. Would you trust this?

• The roof motor has been moved to the trunk to mitigate the whole issue with some of those motors getting water damage. Which is great, as I've already had a roof motor die on me in my old one. That being said, the motor is not as flawless as I would've expected or remember it to be. It's certainly a hell of a lot louder than I remember. Could this be a sign of motor issues?

• Again, for a low mileage car, the wishbones and lower control arm bushings have all been replaced already. Don't remember having to have that done on my old one until it hit around 70-80k miles. Is this a bit early or am I just being paranoid here?

• Steering wheel is slightly off center to the left. Seller claims this might simply be an alignment issue. Does this sound plausible?

• No cruise control. I've always owned cars with CC, and would sorely miss this. Is this something that I can add back to the car at a later date?

All in all, if you've taken the time to look at the pictures (in the link above) and read all this, what would your impression of this car be? Anything in particular I need to further ask the seller about?
Thanks in advance for any input you might have.

[Rockhopper]

it might be low miles but its a seventeen year old car. Brakes and bushes etc deteriorate over time and are cheap to replace and really refresh the car. The roof motor will sound noisy in the boot but its cheap and easy to replace if you want to.
The SMG would put me off as they are not known for reliability.

[parabolica]

I’ve got an ‘03 SMG and it’s been faultless the 4 years I’ve had it (60k-85k fyi). There are stories of the brushes wearing and needing replaced, much like a starter motor - but I’ve only seen this on 150k+ mile cars. A 40k car should be fine.

The rest of the work just seems like preventative maintenance to me; assuming everything is working correctly I don’t see what you would be concerned about.

ETA cruise control can be retrofitted. Alignment likely cause of an off centre steering wheel but check bushings and ARB just in case.

[Rockhopper]

Oh yes the off centre wheel - if it was just as easy as doing the tracking then why wouldn’t the seller get it done?

[ryushe]

Thanks for the replies guys.

@Rockhopprer, good point, and I'll be sure to ask him. The car is getting it's equivalent of an MOT on Monday, so perhaps he can get this sorted there as well while he's there. That's assuming it's an alignment issue.

@parabolica, good to hear RE: your experience with your SMG. If I may ask, does my feeling with the SMG (bit slow and juddering (?) on the upshift in regular mode, faster in sport mode) sound familiar? Is the SMG that can be recoded somehow as well?

[Mr Tidy]

I don't know anything about the SMG gearbox other than what I've read which suggests it can be expensive to fix if something does go wrong!

You wouldn't normally expect to replace discs in 40K miles, but 40K over 17 years is very limited use so it's possible the car had a sticky caliper (or two) which might cause excessive disc wear.

Regardless of mileage I would have thought 17 year old bushes would be past-it so new ones would be a bonus, and might explain why the alignment isn't quite right.

UK models from 2003 & 2004 were pre-wired for cruise control so all you need to buy is the control stalk, remove the lower steering column cowl and cut out the area marked on the inside to fit it then plug it in. Probably best to check the connector is there first though, just in case!

It's worth asking if the roof motor is working properly and what condition the rear brake pipes are in as they tend to corrode just in front of the rear wheel (passenger side on UK cars, presumably driver's side on LHD cars). On such a low mileage car it might also be worth asking what the date codes on the tyres are too.

Good luck anyway.

[Mike6]

I agree that you might question accuracy of mileage but not sure how easy it is on these cars to wind back mileage. If you buy on condition and car is reasonably priced then low mileage is a bonus whether or not it is true. My car is on 58000 miles and it had new calipers and coil springs fairly early in its life so I assumed that these original items were perhaps a bit fragile.

[parabolica]

Thanks for the replies guys.

@Rockhopprer, good point, and I'll be sure to ask him. The car is getting it's equivalent of an MOT on Monday, so perhaps he can get this sorted there as well while he's there. That's assuming it's an alignment issue.

@parabolica, good to hear RE: your experience with your SMG. If I may ask, does my feeling with the SMG (bit slow and juddering (?) on the upshift in regular mode, faster in sport mode) sound familiar? Is the SMG that can be recoded somehow as well?

My car can sometimes be juddery when pulling away from a stop in 1st, but only until the engine warms up. I’m still investigating the cause but I don’t think it’s related to the gearbox, I’m thinking MAF or similar. Shifts in normal mode can seem a little bit slow until you get used to it; but if your driving it in a relaxed manner you shouldn’t notice it. Should be no hesitation in sports mode and that’s what I drive mine in 90% or the time.

I have no judders between shifts in normal or sports mode; I do tend to treat it like a normal manual where I’ll let off the gas for a split second whilst shifting and that ensures everything is nice and smooth. If you’re on it and change up gears with your foot to the floor it should still change without hesitation but in the lower gears that can make it jerky.

I believe you can reset or recode the SMG but I’m not sure how - not by Carly for sure but maybe by the older INPA software.