156k too much of a risk ??

[Southwestz4]

I have my eye on a z4 coupe that has 156k miles on it ...I currently have a nice z4 roadster with just over 70k. Is it a risk too far ? The coupe is up for £7200 and has fsh .
Should i say or should i go !!! :?

 

[Jameszy]

An interesting one - depends what work has been done on it to be honest. What is provided with the car? Just the service history booklet, or do you have all the receipts and proof of non-service work?

Assuming nothing was done other than service items, you'd be looking at a complete suspension overhaul, liquids (engine, transmission, differential), the clutch could need doing, gaskets (valvetronic, eccentric shaft, rocker cover), seals, potentially glass (windscreen likely to be pitted) and more.

Then again many of these things could have been done already.

The engine itself has been proven to be reliable beyond that, so I'd consider it. At c. £7k I'd expect to have evidence of a lot of recent work though.

 

[pvr]

It would certainly not be for me, but I am sure there will be plenty of people that will say that it depends on the FSH etc but that still would not matter to me.

How much is one with half the mileage?

 

[bigwinn]

I’d take a high miler over a garage queen anytime

That’s just personal preference and the diligence is up to the buyer

I had an E30 on the M20 2.5 engine that reached 300k still beating strong!

 

[tomscott]

TBH even the ones with half the milage will have the same issues as they are the same age.

My Z4M is an 06 has 74k on it and it feels its age, needs all the usual suspects sorting like suspension, the dampers do very little etc ive spent a lot getting mine where I want it and still have quite a lot of the big ticket items to do. Can feel rubber items like mounts etc when accelerating hard on the motorway for example you can feel the drive train move more than it should down to past it mounts. I suppose because I had a low miler M coupe when they were newish I know how they should feel to drive. They all need money spent atm and they can become money pits quickly. I payed a reasonable amount for mine but the money spent won't return unless they magically double in price like the E46s have but they have been stable money for years now.

So it depends on how you look at it, it may drive relatively well when pootling around but when pushing you can tell and depends on how much you want it to feel like it should out of the box. That being said they dont get to that milage with no maintenance and I would expect a lot of things should have been done but its knowing what and how fastidious the owners have been.

A low miler might drive poorly too as its not just milage but age, those rubber components just dont survive anyway.

The benefit of the lower milage versions is all the other bits have less wear like paintwork, the inside trim seats steering wheel etc

 

[Southwestz4]

Thanks all ...its at a dealer so not sure on the paperwork side . I'm not afraid to get the spanners out ( just done suspension refresh on mine ...what a difference it made ! ) . I know the engines are strong .
The dealer is a couple of hours away from me but I will be in the area over the weekend so might have a look at it

 

[Southwestz4]

This is the car !

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203822813886?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=psg6cPDDT1G&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=duusq00NSVa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[Southwestz4]

I’d take a high miler over a garage queen anytime

That’s just personal preference and the diligence is up to the buyer

I had an E30 on the M20 2.5 engine that reached 300k still beating strong!

I have worked in garages etc years back and like you I always reckoned that a car moving is better than a car parked up for accumulated years of its life ?
As the e85 is my first z4 just wondered how they fair at higher miles

 

[enuff_zed]

Sun's coming out and you want a roof??

I'd think it would be due another water pump by then if not already done?

 

[Southwestz4]

It would certainly not be for me, but I am sure there will be plenty of people that will say that it depends on the FSH etc but that still would not matter to me.

How much is one with half the mileage?

One with 70-80k is plus £3k

 

[plenty]

My Renault Clio is on 150k miles and drives extremely well, but has had a lot of money spent on it. I've owned many cars with similar miles. And I just picked up a Z4MR on 115k that feels very tight, albeit I've not driven a low-miles car to compare.

IMO condition and history matter far more than odometer readings for the actual intrinsic quality of any vehicle - however the problem with high-milers is that they are hard to sell on as many people simply won't consider them. So it's only really worth it if the price is right.

 

[Southwestz4]

My Renault Clio is on 150k miles and drives extremely well, but has had a lot of money spent on it. I've owned many cars with similar miles. And I just picked up a Z4MR on 115k that feels very tight, albeit I've not driven a low-miles car to compare.

IMO condition and history matter far more than odometer readings for the actual intrinsic quality of any vehicle - however the problem with high-milers is that they are hard to sell on as many people simply won't consider them. So it's only really worth it if the price is right.

Thats good on a Renault....I also have a x5 40d on 123k but that is starting to be a pain in the backside !

 

[Zedebee]

This is the car !

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203822813886?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=psg6cPDDT1G&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=duusq00NSVa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

It looks great. Well-specced, rare cirrus trim and good seats. There are few reported problems with high mileage on these motors, but it will be harder to sell on when the time comes. If you can afford it, go for it. If you can afford a bit more, there are plenty out there.

 

[SonnyA85]

Mileage doesn't matter if it's been well serviced and looked after. Especially when these things are 2 decades old. I wouldn't bother with Jameszy's list. A full service is all it needs including plugs, diff fluid and gearbox fluid. other than that I wouldn't touch anything that isn't broken other than belts. no point fixing something before it breaks you may get another 5 years out of the old parts

 

[bigwinn]

I’d take a high miler over a garage queen anytime

That’s just personal preference and the diligence is up to the buyer

I had an E30 on the M20 2.5 engine that reached 300k still beating strong!

I have worked in garages etc years back and like you I always reckoned that a car moving is better than a car parked up for accumulated years of its life ?
As the e85 is my first z4 just wondered how they fair at higher miles

personally I don’t think (for someone of my ilk anyway) there is a greater feeling of achievement of fixing something a bit busted and making it good again.

Apart from maybe giving it some right foot action once done

Plus when backed up with a great support network like this forum what’s not to like?

 

[Southwestz4]

Sun's coming out and you want a roof??

I'd think it would be due another water pump by then if not already done?

ah yes they have the electric one correct?

sun will be gone all too quickly...always fancied a coupe but at the time I bought my roadster funds were a little tight

 

[Southwestz4]

This is the car !

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203822813886?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=psg6cPDDT1G&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=duusq00NSVa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

It looks great. Well-specced, rare cirrus trim and good seats. There are few reported problems with high mileage on these motors, but it will be harder to sell on when the time comes. If you can afford it, go for it. If you can afford a bit more, there are plenty out there.

I am surprised how many are out there for sale ...must have made more than i thought

 

[pvr]

I had a 2012 X5 40D and had 0 issues with it in the 6 years I had it, but then again it was only on 28k miles when I sold it and the new owner added only 10k to it in the next 4 years without a single issue.

However, on the X5 before I had it up to 80k miles and had expensive repairs when the mileage hit about 70 onwards.

The current X5M is on 14k miles after 4 years, with 0 issues. In my experience, any car that I had in the past getting higher miles had associated breakdown costs, but cars that were the same age with much lower miles had nothing cost wise.

 

[Jameszy]

Mileage doesn't matter if it's been well serviced and looked after. Especially when these things are 2 decades old. I wouldn't bother with Jameszy's list. A full service is all it needs including plugs, diff fluid and gearbox fluid. other than that I wouldn't touch anything that isn't broken other than belts. no point fixing something before it breaks you may get another 5 years out of the old parts

Meh - you bothered with some of the list since we agree on fluids. I had some suspension components changed recently and, after 100k miles, it made a big difference. I did have a before and after to compare it with, however. I can only offer advice based on that.

 

[Southwestz4]

I’d take a high miler over a garage queen anytime

That’s just personal preference and the diligence is up to the buyer

I had an E30 on the M20 2.5 engine that reached 300k still beating strong!

I have worked in garages etc years back and like you I always reckoned that a car moving is better than a car parked up for accumulated years of its life ?
As the e85 is my first z4 just wondered how they fair at higher miles

personally I don’t think (for someone of my ilk anyway) there is a greater feeling of achievement of fixing something a bit busted and making it good again.

Apart from maybe giving it some right foot action once done

Plus when backed up with a great support network like this forum what’s not to like?

Never a truer word said