Car advice

[Skye 1872]

Hi all
New member looking to purchase z4mr in next couple of months any thoughts on this car,price etc thanks

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... sed&page=1

[flimper]

Some big claims and a big asking price. But who am I to say they are unsubstantiated, could be a corker

[Mr Tidy]

Well first off welcome to the forum.

And bonus points for jumping in at the deep end with an M!

That car certainly looks smart with shiny paint and unmarked wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport tyres fitted. Power-fold door mirrors are quite a rare option, and while it doesn't have Cruise Control if that matters to you it isn't too hard to retro-fit. The stalk costs just over £100 and there is a forum member who can supply the section of wiring loom required, complete with fitting instructions, for beer money. The driver's side seat bolster looks a bit rubbed, but you can get colour matched repair kits reasonably cheaply from firms like The Scratch Doctor - although I haven't used one. And that Evolve carbon airbox is a bonus - they aren't cheap!

The best news is it has had the crank rod bearing shells replaced, just check when they were done. Even a good Indy will relieve you of £1K for that job! Service History is crucial, especially Inspection Services, because they involve checking valve clearances and adjusting with shims so you want to know when it last had one of those. Cost is probably £600/700 at an Indy.

And it would help to know what suspension it has fitted - if it's original after 83K miles it will be past it's best. If it isn't you want to know what it has on it and how old it is.

Roof motors tend to suffer from water damage because of where BMW put them, and new ones are expensive. Luckily there are a few members on here who can often revive tired ones but more importantly can relocate them into the boot out of harm's way for arond £200. So you'd want to check the roof opens and closes properly.

So a careful trawl through those £12K of invoices would be essential to see exactly what has been done.

Rear brake pipes can suffer from corrosion just in front of the rear wheel on the passenger side so the MOT history is worth looking at too if you can get the Reg No.

Price-wise that certainly isn't cheap, but over the last year or so prices have climbed significantly and I'm struggling to keep up. :rolleyes: And while A/T say it's £848 above market average they won't have factored in the £1,000 bearing shell job!

But then I'm a bit more familiar with Coupe prices as all my Z4s have been Coupes.

Anyway whether you but that one or another good luck.

I have found Z4s great, but Ms really special!

[mmm-five]

Don’t forget to factor in any potential increase in insurance (and less insurers willing to quote) due to the intake, alpha-n tune and KW coil overs.

Price seems to be at a bit high compared to a standard Z4MR at that mileage, but that’s probably the dealer just adding on a premium for the mods.

I also hope Evolve have found the cause of the rare failures of the intake trumpets. It will sound very nice though

[Beedub]

its crazy how much the ride height and spaced wheels totally transform this cars looks... that looks, squat and sensational! i think the price is right with the desirable mods on the car without being too crazy.

[RedUn]

It depends if the mods add value to you or not... I'd be surprised if someone on here doesn't know that car with the tweaks it's had done

[buzyg]

Looks like a nice car. As others have said. Have a trawl through those invoices and see what the 12k was spent on. If ins2, shells and a suspension refresh are all in those recent invoices, then the price is not unreasonable. Perhaps just me, but why has some one just spent12k on maintenance and is then selling the car. Lots of genuine reasons I am sure, but quite unusual.

[BMWZ4MC]

I would spend a little time searching You Tube and social media for any evidence that it might have been used as a track car. Of course, plenty of cars that see only road use will have had expensive suspension and a very expensive airbox fitted. However, I wouldn't have made many of the modifications I've made to mine if it were solely a road car.
Whilst a history of track use shouldn't necessarily put you off buying it, the dealer implies that the price asked reflects a history of careful use and regular maintenance. As such, any evidence that it has had a hard life should be used as a negotiation tool.

[Skye 1872]

Thanks everyone for some really good advice and pointers
I had same thoughts of why spend £12,000 and sell car 2 years later
Is there a problem with the evolve set up?
Definitely have plenty to investigate

[tomscott]

Its also good to point out that these cars cost money to look after. I am in a similar position my car has 71000 I've had it 2 years.

My list of things to do in the short term:

Bearings
INS II
Suspension - my dampers literally have no damping left which is another common issue
Engine mounts and bolts

That will cost I would think 4k and these are just standard serviceable items. On top I need a new set of tyres and I've just taxed and insured it. The tax and insurance was £600 each and the tyres will be about £800. Thats another 2k but you can't really add those things in but they are costs you have to spend.

Something else on my mind is to have the Vanos serviced too as the guides tend to disintegrate at 60k+ I would think there is decent amount of wear on all these cars.

That's roughly 6K I've had the car 2 years and already spent 3k on repairs and servicing for example a new set of discs and pads all round will be about £1200. I also had window regulator issues where it failed and I needed it rebuilt. The door handle cable has stretched in the passenger door which was a bit costly too.

I bought a strut brace some Aero Skirts and some extended leather items. These parts are like hens teeth the brace was £350 and the Aero skirts were £1000 and need painting

Worth checking the roof too, they have 3 layers but its a really annoying but they all wear catching the rubber seal when putting it down and tend to wear through mine has one on each side. Also being in the UK when the sun comes out people put it up and down but if you put it down wet the material stretches and over time the material starts to go in high torsion areas around the frame. It is an aesthetic issue as the skin won't allow water through but its still an annoyance and the only way to fix is a new roof which is £800 then fitting.

Obviously at 71k its no spring chicken and needs some paint too the front bumpers tend to get rash and are low so easy to catch the fangs. Mine had a carbon fibre wrap on the valances and the wing mirrors. The front was hiding what looks like roadkill damage but not a big deal, the rear water got under and when removing the wrap the paint came with.

Bonnets are long too and mine does have a few chips so do the wings. Depends how anal you are but I could probably spend 2-3k having the paint sorted too.

Once they get to this age its not difficult to spend money to the point it the cars value becomes a bit of a secondary. The fact is you can't buy cars like this anymore so the more money spent the better from an enthusiast point of view but its unlikely to make you money like some of the stories of other brands currently the Z4M has been super stable and has highs lows and lots of middle priced cars. Not to say the god ones won't appreciate but I wouldn't bet on buying one for that reason. Thats not to say there aren't good examples at good prices but there are a lot of shoot for the stars cars that aren't great and people jump on the bandwagon.

Although 12k sounds a lot I'm far off that without the mods.

Theres also an element of making the car as good as it can be with the M3 CSL being a great goal... the CSL airbox really makes the car sound fabulous. There is a lot of scaremongering about things you should and shouldn't do but honestly these cars are 13-15 years old and at 70-100k there will be a fair amount of maintenance.

This is why when buying its key to get a well documented car. At 15-16k (average Mroady price) sounds like ok value until you get savvy with what potentially needs doing then the value of the car is pretty much redundant.

I would assume that was the plan for the previous owner of this car and then life takes over and another opportunity arises so you cut your losses and move on which ends up a good opportunity for someone else.

The risk is buying one where the previous owner didn't have that level of due diligence and you end up with a money pit. When I was looking the majority of them were just that. Took me 2 years to get into this one and I let heart over head determine my purchase too. Although I've had one before and well versed with issues sometimes cars come up in certain specs that are hard to find... mine is one of 4. It also has everything apart from folding mirrors and extended leather (which was only available with certain interior options) funnily enough 2 of the 3 have just come up for sale and both are low milage but significantly more than what I paid. That being said it has cost me some money but at the same time its all documented and gives me peace of mind. Its all a bit of a journey.

All worth bearing in mind.

This is my second Z4M and I've got a 996 C4S and had a Boxster S too and just ended up gravitating back because I really do love these cars they are just murderous in the best possible way with a nice enough interior and a boot you can hit Europe with no issues.

Last thing to note is these things can be tackled over time not all is nessasary and obviously this can probably read a little daunting but your in the same boat with what ever high performance low tolerance 15 year old car...

The C4S came with £35ks worth of paperwork.... thankfully everything was done with that one so the Z is my project car lol!

[mmm-five]

Is there a problem with the evolve set up?

There were a couple of reports of failures on a Z4M and a V10 M5 - but the outcome/solution has been kept quiet, so don't know what (if anything) Evolve did about it.

https://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1762921

I'd still consider one though (Evolve, Karbonius or GSR)

[Skye 1872]

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post lots of good advice and info given
The link about evolve made interesting reading

[Justino]

That looks reasonable money to me, its one of the last being an 09 plate.

[beanie]

Given the amount of air boxes they’ve sold and there only being a couple of reports of failure (one on an S54?) I wouldn’t let it put you off.