10 Months Of Ownership

[Roberltd2]

My old Triumph Thuderbird was forever frying ignition coils and Boyer units. This went on for years and got to the point of not wanting to ride the bike any more. As a last throw of the dice, I had the bike rewired for the second time, during which I discovered the ammeter had only very limited movement. Replacing this revealed that the regulator was also faulty and was not regulating the voltage at all - hence the fried components. Once the regulator / rectifier was replaced the bike felt like a different machine. Happy days.
So I hope you persevere as much as your funds allow. You'll get there in the end. :winner:

 

[R60BBA]

@CryptoWhale what's the mileage on the car?

 

[Smartbear]

@CryptoWhale what's the mileage on the car?

It’s 115000 ish i think.
Rob

 

[R60BBA]

@CryptoWhale what's the mileage on the car?

It’s 115000 ish i think.
Rob

Hmm…in that case I wouldn’t get upset about the issues OP as it isn’t exactly a new car and has done a fair bit of mileage.

As you know, once cars get to a certain age or mileage, components start to fail and eventually require replacing; a phenomena called wear and tear…

It sounds like you have spent some change already but hopefully the car will not cost you much more.

If you are truly concerned about the car get it booked in with a BMW specialist for a health check. A technician will go around the whole car and write up a report of things that are wrong with it (or likely to fail in the near future) - which will put you in a better place of whether you want to move the car on or not.

Note it is good practice to get a health check done as soon as you purchase a car so you know what you are in for from the beginning.

Also sometimes in these cases, it is better the devil you know. You could sell your car and buy another car which turns out to be even more of a moneypit, thus putting you in a worse off situation.

If it helps my experience of Z4 ownership was very positive and I didn’t have any issues whatsoever (although I bought my car a few years ago, when it had covered just 30,000 miles).

Anyways hopefully your issues aren’t too bad and you can enjoy some problem-free motoring. Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[Chris_D]

...or you could have saved a chunk of change by getting clued-up, rolling your sleeves up, opening the toolbox and having a crack at the majority of those jobs yourself?
I bought my zed with various issues and in the first few months of ownership I replaced a failed throttlebody, replaced the ccv system, replaced the thermostat, waterpump and oil filter housing gasket in one go. I also replaced the gearbox and transmission oil, removed the clutch delay valve, valve cover gasket and cam position sensor all without any prior experience of this engine. The forum was priceless in providing both knowledge, guidance and encouragement. It’s all documented here on my longest thread.
I could have easily p!ssed away a lot of bunce by taking it to a garage but my philosophy has always been to have a crack at things yourself. It’s also immeasurably rewarding when those repairs work and that you did them yourself.

So, the point is; for the next thing that goes wrong first canvas the forum for advice and guidance to see if you can DIY!
You will find that members with knowledge are only too willing to impart wisdom, guidance and knowledge, as well as a healthy dose of sarcasm occasionally

 

[bigwinn]

...or you could have saved a chunk of change by getting clued-up, rolling your sleeves up, opening the toolbox and having a crack at the majority of those jobs yourself?
I bought my zed with various issues and in the first few months of ownership I replaced a failed throttlebody, replaced the ccv system, replaced the thermostat, waterpump and oil filter housing gasket in one go. I also replaced the gearbox and transmission oil, removed the clutch delay valve, valve cover gasket and cam position sensor all without any prior experience of this engine. The forum was priceless in providing both knowledge, guidance and encouragement. It’s all documented here on my longest thread.
I could have easily p!ssed away a lot of bunce by taking it to a garage but my philosophy has always been to have a crack at things yourself. It’s also immeasurably rewarding when those repairs work and that you did them yourself.

So, the point is; for the next thing that goes wrong first canvas the forum for advice and guidance to see if you can DIY!
You will find that members with knowledge are only too willing to impart wisdom, guidance and knowledge, as well as a healthy dose of sarcasm occasionally

Couldn’t have put it better Chris!

And as previously offered if OP is in the vicinity I’ll always be happier working on a Z4 than having to go shopping with the missus

 

[Zulu4]

I'll third the above and say have a go at fixing stuff yourself. E85/E86 are fairly easy cars to work on. It's part of the fun of old cars and you learn a lot.

You cannot expect a 12+ year old car to not need a lot of fettling now and again. It's the second law of thermodynamics - The entropy of the universe is increasing; order goes to disorder.

 

[Mike6]

Not particularly helpful but with older cars you really do need to have some mechanical competency otherwise you are at the mercy of garages. As an old bloke I learnt mechanics from my dad before I was even old enough to drive. That was just how it was done in those days . It simply amazes me that people now cannot change a wheel and even have to go to Halfords to get a lightbulb changed.

 

[thecremeegg]

I think you bought a lemon sadly. I've had mine 5 years and in terms of essential repairs it's probably cost me £1000-1500 at most.

 

[colb]

If your new to DIY mechanics the outlay on a decent socket set, some open end and ring spanners and some torx sockets and bits plus a set of Hex bits to go with screwdrivers and a set of pliers and a half decent OBD2 scanner like a Creator 310+ would see you right to do most tasks that crop up with our cars. Halfords socket sets have a good reputation and Screwfix have a good range to offer. Probably recoup what you spend out on tools first time you do a service on your car seeing what garages charge these days. I am surprised by the younger generations who can't do jobs on their cars, my son in his 30's now is one who showed no interest when I was doing any jobs on our cars but give him a problem with a computer and he will sort it with his eyes closed. Learnt the basics from my Dad on motorbikes then on cars, most of my generation did the same.